Kelly Jones, Symphony Hall, Birmingham - review
This was not a night for the Stereophonics purists - instead a unique occasion for long-time fans of the band who thought they had seen and heard frontman Kelly Jones do it all.
Jones delved into his vast archive of songs, with rarely-heard album tracks mixed in with different arrangements of some of the Welsh rockers’ classics and a few covers to boot.
Jones’s usual bandmates were given the night off - except for a guitar-screaming cameo on I’ve Put A Spell On You later in the night by Birmingham’s own Adam Zindani, someone Jones met at Wolverhampton’s Varsity in 1997 and who otherwise spent his evening watching from the Symphony Hall stalls.
In their place, the multi-talented Gavin Fitzjohn played just about every instrument going, Fiona Brice brought subtlety with the violin and piano, and Cherisse Osei’s booming energy on the drums was a particular highlight of the evening.
Artist and audience freed from the shackles of what you would expect from a usual Phonics gig, a relaxed Jones took fans on a tour through his song-writing, adding background and context to his hits.
This was not a talk-heavy two-and-a-quarter hours by any stretch of the imagination, all his anecdotes adding something, whether it be comedy or emotion.
Past encounters with David Bowie and The Rolling Stones brought the laughs, and memories of former drummer Stuart Cable the tears.
Cable - who formed the Phonics with Jones in 1992, was sacked in 2003 and died in 2010 - was remembered with a beautiful rendition of Before Anyone Knew Our Name that had the audience reaching for the tissues.
Jones has the most distinctive - and, arguably, best - voice in British rock, with the acoustics of the stunning Symphony Hall in Birmingham only highlighting this further.
Patricia Lynn of support act The Wind and The Wave also found this earlier as her hauntingly beautiful vocals carried into every corner of the building.
Jones, who had already appeared on stage to introduce Lynn and bandmate Dwight Baker, returned to kick things off with Phonics favourites Hurry Up And Wait and You’re My Star before stopping by five tracks from his 2007 solo album Only The Names Have Changed.
More highlights followed - too numerous to mention them all - with Stopped To Fill My Car Up, Feel and Rainbows And Pots Of Gold among them.
Singalong classic Traffic brought the house down during the encore, with the crowd - who knew every word - helping Jones out as he became a little lost in the middle.
With the time perilously close to 11pm, Maybe Tomorrow appeared as though it would be his final song of the evening just long enough to get everyone out of their seats to rock along with Dakota before heading out into the night with that warm glow of having witnessed something a little bit special.
Jones completes his solo tour with stops in Manchester (tonight), Nottingham (tomorrow) and Liverpool (on Saturday).
