Walked into the venue at about 8:20, they came on around 8:30 and played straight through without an encore until 11:05, so it was well worth the £10 for the ticket just for the length of the gig.

 

The Academy 2 is a small, intimate, sweaty venue and Michael completely captivated the entire audience, he wasn't more than 20 feet away from anyone, so it was a really upclose experience. I can only speak for myself really but I'm sure everyone there was completely blown away by this gig. It is the best I've been to for a long time. Probably ever. Everyone

was dancing, Michael dragged a couple of people up on stage, one to dance with him, the other to freestyle alongside radio active, which would have been really embarrassing under normal circumstances, but somehow it didn't matter that the brummy chap was rubbish, the band compensated for him and made him into a star for a minute.

 

Although they played at a guess I would say 15 songs, every one was an epic version. I would accuse any other band of being self indulgent when they went off on one the way that Spearhead did that night. Every member of the band had his moment to show what a star he was, getting there own solo's at regular intervals. Somehow this wasn't self-indulgent, it was indulging us.

 

There were a few covers, "What's going on" - Marvin Gaye, "Sun is shining" - Bob Marley, and a short break into Nirvana's "Spells like teen spirit" towards the end, A short acoustic interlude in the middle, and an absolutely stunning Beat Box stint from Radio Active. The band stopped, Michael just nodded his head and watched as he gave us 15 minutes of showing off; singing "Salt and pepper's here", over the top of his own drum and bass line, never letting the rhythm slip, playing pan-pipes and a harmonica whilst still keeping the beat, and producing the most realistic scratching noises I've ever heard. He did some freestyling as well, which if I was a cynical person, I was say had been written and rehearsed a thousand times, but hey I'm willing to believe he was freestyling. This alone was worth the entrance fee, the man is a genius.

 

I saw Spearhead when they first came to England, at the Jazz Cafe in Camden, this was a great gig, again a very intimate event, not many people there, I don't think Home had even come out then. I next saw them 3 days running at Glastonbury about 7 or 8 years ago, each day they played on different stages and played the different arrangements of the songs. I hadn't seen them since then, and I am SO glad I went on Thursday night. It has made me remember how perfect a gig can be. There was

not a minute during the 2 and a half hours or so, that a smile left my face, I danced so much I think I may have lost weight. I didn't care what kind of a fool I looked with my dancing, because apart from the fact that there was far too much going on up on the stage for anyone to even notice me, I just knew that the audience were all way too cool to judge me even if

they did... That's what Spearhead do to you.

 

In future whenever I can get to see them I will, I will make sure I'm not too busy, I will find the money from somewhere...

I regret missing so many shows over the last 7 years and feel truly blessed to have seen this show. I only decided to go the day before, and a friend paid for my ticket because I'm skint. When I came out I realised that I couldn't let my friend pay. I have spent much more money in the past having a rubbish night out, and for just a tenner, this was one of the best

nights I can remember.

 

Tell everyone to go and see Spearhead, it doesn't matter if they have never heard them before, they will love them, I can't honestly see how anyone could fail to.