BARBARA DICKSON - RAINBOW THEATRE, LONDON
(Manana Magazine - 1979)
BARBARA'S SWEET OASIS
To most readers of Manana the name Barbara Dickson conjures up recollections of top 50 hits like "Answer Me" and "Another Suitcase, Another Hall" and I imagine that many of you had given the recent tour and Barbara's latest album, "Sweet Oasis" a miss. I have, however, been fortunate enough to sample both.
In October and November Barbara toured the U.K. extensively culminating in a concert at the Rainbow in London, the proceeds of this gig being donated to the "Save The Whales Fund". Barbara was accompanied on stage by a six piece band and it soon become obvious that Barbara as a live performer had progressed considerably from the days when she used to appear accompanied only by her own acoustic guitar, playing folk based material. Barbara Dickson is now firmly entrenched in contemporary rock music.
The backing band were superb with the long serving keyboards player, lan Lynn, particularly outstanding. The inclusion of a percussionist to augment the kit drummer was a great idea and Jeff Seopardie, of London based jazz/ rock band Pacific Eardrum, made full use of the opportunity afforded him to shine on congas, timbales and similar instruments. The sound mix during the evening that I caught the show was first class and the lighting effects really added to the overall feel of the evening. As good a concert as I saw throughout '78.
The "Sweet Oasis" album is also highly recommended, being the L.P. that I always knew Barbara was capable of. It's her first for C.B.S. and the label decided to issue the only non-original song on the album, Gerry Rafferty's "City To City", as her first single. Barbara does a good rock version of the song, which many of you will recognise as the title song from Rafferty's own recent highly successful L.P.
The Rafferty song is by no means the strongest cut on the album and I feel that one of the nine original Dickson songs on the L.P. would have had more chance of providing the lady with a hit single. Divorcing the album from the question of'commercial success it is a beautifully performed and highly enjoyable offering and must rank as one of the best albums by a British female singer.
A really nice L.P. by a very nice lady.
