About four years ago I was watching Bernie Tormé play a gig when one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen at a concert occurred.
Bernie was playing downstairs and was about 10 minutes into his set – and brother it was loud – when from upstairs, appears one of the entourage of comedian Jasper Carrott, who was doing one of his rock with laughter things in the room above, to demand he stops while the thing is going on.
Bernie acquiesced for a while and then got the boys to plug in and play louder – a bit like Dylan in the famous Manchester Free Trade Hall gig. This wasn’t, you suspect, the first time Tormé hadn’t “Shadowland” is all about that too. “no one buys albums anymore” goes the received wisdom. “Yeah. I am gonna make a double,” says our Bernie. And for this one he’s gone straight to his fans – a little like his friend Ginger Wildheart – this was a Pledge project. But here the Pledgers were not passive watchers. Instead there’s a track called “Innovative Jam” here in which people were invited to play on the song, as Tormé put the licks together to create something truly unique.
On the press pack that comes with it, there is a quote from a review that simply says: “no one sounds like Bernie Tormé. Fact” and that is absolutely spot on. Because when you make the records you want to make, for the fans you know will love them, you can really free yourself up.
Answering here only to himself and his band, “Shadowland” is roughly split into two parts. The short, sharp, boot to the balls rockers and the more sprawling epics, but all with that guitar sound that only Bernie seems to get.
“One To Blame” kicks off, by kicking in with a real chug. The guitars here screech into life. “Water Into Wine” sees drummer Mik Gaffney in thunderous form too as this new band that was assembled for this endeavour really kicks into gear.
Anyone who has any dealings with Tormé on social media knows he is just about as engaged politically as any artist is. “Come The Revolution” which amounts to his “state of the union” address, comes from that place and is a real highlight.
A lot of this, you feel, was about having fun. “Getaway” shows the young pretenders like Jared James Nichols how this bluesy rock thing is done, “Motor Daddy” on the other hand, rather offers the reason why this upcoming tour might be his last: “daddy needs an oil change, to get ‘em rocking good” is his tongue in cheek thought here.
The lead guitar on the incredible ballad “Here Come The Rain” is worth the price of the record on its own. “Prodigal Son” sounds to these ears at least like the best thing Rory Gallagher never wrote, while “6 Foot” races down the fast lane and you’d best not get in its way.
Tormé is an incredible guitarist, that has never, and will never, been in doubt. But there is an astonishing array of styles here. “Living The Dream” (which features his former Gillan bandmate Colin Towns on keyboards) is built around a wonderful slide riff, and when he really lets himself go on the Zeppelin-esque “Forever” the results are superb.
“Sun In Splendour” another eight minute one, is but another example of how good this record is. This time with an acoustic flavour, while the “A Farewell To Arms (Slán Leis An Cogaidh)” which plays this out, is just Tormé and his guitar – and it might be the most emotional thing here. Translated into English as “goodbye to the war” this four minutes is evocative as it gets.
There are though, a couple of others that might just sum up “Shadowland” too. First the blues shuffle of “Honey To The Bee” – the beginning of side two – features a couplet that says: “I live the life I love and I love the life I lead, Like money to the banker, honey to the bee.” The inference here is clear, surely. Music is the driving force to everyone involved. And how about this from the UFO-ish “Rock N Roll Gypsy” (I was hoping for a Saxon cover…..). The first line is one that is tattooed throughout “Shadowland”: “never worked for the money. I only did it for the dream.”
And what a sentiment that is. And how others could watch and learn. That’s “Shadowland” and that’s why it is so wonderful.
Rating 9/10
