The Moon Tower

Paul Draper

SWX, Bristol 21/02/2018

I was never a big fan of Britpop in the 90s, being much more into grunge, metal and what at the time was desperately uncool - progressive rock (what do you mean, it’s still uncool?!). Nothing many British bands were doing at the time interested me at all - Radiohead were pretty good, and I loved the Wildhearts (still do) - but the whole Britpop scene totally passed me by. Most of the music press back in 1996 seemed content to lump Mansun in with this genre, which baffled me at the time, and still does retrospectively. The only thing they had in common with other Britpop bands was the "Brit" part, nothing about their music was remotely similar to anything else going on at the time.

While their peers were singing about girls liking boys and rolling with it, Mansun were writing songs based around a universe filled with characters like Egg Shaped Fred, the Stripper Vicar and Moronica. It was all very much reminiscent of something Peter Gabriel would’ve conjured up on an early Genesis album, but Mansun weren't prog rock, they were Britpop. Apparently...

They burned briefly but brightly, from their debut single in 1995, until the last of their three albums was released in 2000, eventually folding officially in 2003. The band members have remained out of the public eye since, apart from singer/guitarist/main songwriter Paul Draper. After 13 years of producing and co-writing for other artists, along with the occasional live appearance, he released his debut solo EP in the summer of 2016.

This was followed up by another EP later the same year, before a full album, Spooky Action, was released in August 2017. Signed to progressive music label Kscope, it would seem Paul has finally embraced his prog rock side. This makes me feel slightly vindicated, since I once emailed in a question to the Q&A section of the Mansun website asking if their music was at all inspired by the likes of Genesis, Marillion and Pink Floyd, only for them to flatly deny ever listening to any of those bands.

I saw Paul on his first solo tour back in September 2017, where he played a set of material from his two EPs and album, along with a few Mansun favourites, but tonight promises to be a different affair all together - the absolute best of both worlds. The “support band” is Draper himself, performing a set of his solo material, before a run through of the entire Attack of the Grey Lantern album. Mansun never did this themselves, so there are a good number of songs that were rarely (if ever) performed live. With that in mind, this promises to be a real treat for long time fans.

But first, the solo material...

The set opens just like the Spooky Action album with Don’t Poke The Bear and Grey House. Don't Poke... is tailor made for opening a set (and closing for that matter, as was the case for the 2017 tour) with its slow synth groove being an ideal base for the band to build on for a good four minutes before the first verse kicks in. Next song, The Silence Is Deafening, from his debut solo release EP ONE, demonstrates that Draper is happily continuing the Mansun tradition of producing b-sides every bit as good as album tracks. The set ends with Feeling My Heart Run Slow and Who's Wearing The Trousers, the former a definite highlight of the first set, featuring a suitably indulgent solo (a good thing) from guitarist Ben Sink.

After a short break, the band walks back on stage to the John Barry-esque string intro which kicks off Attack Of The Grey Lantern's first track The Chad Who Loved Me. When Mansun played this song live, it was a lot rawer and heavier than the album version, but Draper's solo band, also featuring drummer Jon Barnett, bassist Beau Barnard and keyboard player/backing vocalist Christina Hizon, reproduce every nuance of the song. It's a nice touch going for the ultra faithful reproduction, and completely kills off any suspicion that this is just a Mansun nostalgia trip.

As the tracks fly by, I'm reminded just how good Attack Of The Grey Lantern actually is. You'd be hard pushed to describe any of the songs as "filler"; each of them serves a purpose, and the song sequence would be weaker, and just wouldn't work, with any removed or rearranged.

Predictably, the likes of Wide Open Space and Taxloss get the biggest crowd reactions, but for me it's the non-single songs likes You, Who Do You Hate? and Disgusting that are highlights. Again, the band's approach to recreating the album versions of these as closely as possible is jaw-dropping. I suppose modern technology aids this, with a lot of the minor details being triggered samples and loops, but it's still very impressive to pull it off live with such conviction.

The set reaches its conclusion with yet another personal highlight - Dark Mavis. "You could tell we were getting to the end of the album as we ran out of lyrics so just put in loads of na-na-nas" Draper jokes about the song's climactic hook. It's a powerful moment, with almost the entire audience holding their arms aloft, singing along. The band then leave the stage, but shortly return to perform AOTGL's "hidden" track An Open Letter To The Lyrical Trainspotter in keeping with the true-to-album experience.

On tonight's evidence, next year's promised Six-based tour, where Mansun's second album will be performed in full, will be an equally spectacular and memorable experience. With any luck, Paul Draper's rich vein of songwriting form will also continue and he'll be able to air some new solo material too.

Setlist: Don't Poke the Bear / Grey House / The Silence Is Deafening / Things People Want / Jealousy Is A Powerful Emotion / Friends Make The Worst Enemies / Feeling My Heart Run Slow / Who's Wearing The Trousers / The Chad Who Loved Me / Mansun's Only Love Song / Taxloss / You, Who Do You Hate? / Wide Open Space / Stripper Vicar / Disgusting / She Makes My Nose Bleed / Naked Twister / Egg Shaped Fred / Dark Mavis

Encore: An Open Letter To The Lyrical Trainspotter

You can find Paul Draper's official website here.

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