AL STEWART AND THE EMPTY POCKETS LIVE AT THE QUEEN’S HALL, EDINBURGH

John Scott goes to see Al Stewart and The Empty Pockets at The Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh

If there is a theme to tonight’s gig it is that Al Stewart, despite the wishes of his various record companies over the years,  is incapable of writing a straightforward love song.  This is exemplified by Antarctica from his 1988 album Last Days Of The Century.  The song is a rumination on the ill-fated Antarctic explorations of Captain Scott.  “Alternatively”, says Stewart, “it may be about a rather cold woman who declined to sleep with me”.

Despite this tour’s strapline: Greatest Hits Live, Stewart is quick to point out that he has never had a UK hit.  “Why, why?” he wails, with all the existential angst of a man who has sold millions of albums throughout the world and had a slew of US radio hits during the Seventies.  Stewart is not looking for any answers but personally, I think it’s got a lot to do with the weather.  It’s easy to imagine yourself cruising down a Californian highway in an open-top Cadillac with Year Of The Cat or Time Passages wafting languidly out of the radio;  it’s less easy to see those songs soundtracking a wet weekend in Scunthorpe.

Greatest hits or not, tonight’s setlist centres on the trio of albums that saw Stewart move from Sixties cult folky troubadour to Seventies yacht-rock helmsman. Sirens Of Titan, lyrics based on a novel by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., gets things off to a brisk pace although Stewart asserts that audiences never listen to the first song.  “They are too busy trying to see if you still have hair”.  Those who were listening though will have picked up on the fact that Stewart has teamed up with an empathetic, versatile band.  The Empty Pockets (Josh Solomon: guitars, keyboards; Erika Brett: keyboards, vocals; Nate Bellon: bass; Adam Balasco, drums and, joining the band for these shows, Marc Macisso: sax, flute, harmonica, percussion) take the sound of Stewart’s classic Seventies albums as a template but add their own personality. Al himself has reached an age where he can look back on his career with bemused hilarity: “I’m 77” he says, “I don’t care”.  And with good reason; he has followed his own inimitable muse and it has brought him success.  A run through the highlights of the Year Of The Cat and Time Passages albums show how that success came about; Stewart’s songs are undemanding, verging on easy listening, but each song tells a story and is expertly crafted and, importantly, they have great tunes.

Just in case things get too comfortable, Al throws in a curve ball. “We’re not like other bands” he says, “we don’t play the same songs every night. Here’s a song we hadn’t played together until the soundcheck this afternoon”.  Hanno The Navigator is not a song I am familiar with.  Unfortunately, it’s not a song that Al is familiar with either as he forgets the words early on and the performance grinds to a sudden halt.  After a quick off-mic run-through with Josh Solomon we are back up and running although, afterward,  Al seems relieved to have made it through in one piece.  Fair play to him for having a go.

Inevitably we end with Year Of The Cat with Josh and Marc absolutely nailing their guitar and sax parts.  How do you follow that for an encore? I’d had a cheeky look at the on-stage setlist and there was nothing listed but the audience are on their feet demanding more and so Al and the band return to the stage.  “I didn’t want to do this one,” says Stewart “but Josh requested it” and they launch into a blistering If It Doesn’t Come Naturally, Leave It to top off an evening of first-class entertainment.

Al Stewart and The Empty Pockets are on tour throughout the UK until 5 November.

Setlist 

Sirens Of Titan

Antarctica

The Palace Of Versailles

Time Passages

Flying Sorcery

Midas Shadow

On The Border

Broadway Hotel

Hanno The Navigator

Joe The Georgian

One Stage Before

Year Of The Cat

If It Doesn’t Come Naturally, Leave It

John Scott