An Acoustic Evening with Brian Tatler and Sean Harris - JBs Review by Dave Ling


Set List; It's Electric, Ligthning to the Nations, Out of Phase, In The Heat Of The Night, To The Devil His Due, Sucking My Love, Ishmael, One More Night, Makin' Music, Home, Run, Forever 16, Don't You Ever Leave Me.
No, it wasn't a Diamond Head gig, per se. In fact this was the second time in recent months that the band's guitarist and singer had trodden the JB's boards in a low key acoustic stylee. Not so much trodden as sat on stools and strummed, but you get my drift. Nostalgia filled the air; could it really be 19 years since I first witnessed them laying waste to Catford's Saxon Tavern? and was that really long-absent bassist Colin Kimberley and drummer Duncan Scott chatting to Tatler in the foyer beforehand? Scary...
At face value, Diamond Head unplugged is a pointless exercise. For all their imaginative arrangements, the band's songs were about sheer unbridled power. Peel away all that bombastic riffing and what would remain? although not everything worked as they intended, Tatler and Harris, augmented by guitarist/ occasional bassist Floyd Brennan, soon revealed hidden depth to their music. Save for the five tunes from 1983's 'Canterbury' album, 'Run' and 'Home' (from '93's 'Death and Progress' swansong) best suited the format, although the Zeppelin flavoured encore of 'Don't You Ever Leave Me' really set the spine tingling.
Sadly, the bombastic 'It's Electric' and 'Sucking My Love' required significant lyrical and musical changes, but the clever twist administered to 'Lightning To The Nations' paid off. Although the thunderous 'Am I Evil?' proved impossible to translate, the brand new 'Forever 16' got JB's stomping along merrily.
"Would you see us again if we played more gigs?" Harris enquired, grinning: "As long as you keep supporting us we'll keep playing, even if it's just here for the rest of our lives."
So where do he and Tatler go next? Right now they claim that they're playing it by ear. Afterwards, the guitarist revealed plans for the possible release of an acoustic EP, which may in turn lead to a full blown reunion. But, he confided it could all fizzle out to nothing. We'll keep you posted.
Dave Ling