10cc - Plymouth Review

Following a busy few weeks of travelling to catch live music, including a few rail-replacement buses, it was nice to go to something local last night. I only got back from an excellent trip to Wolverhampton on Friday, but yesterday I was out again - this time in Plymouth, to the newly-rebranded Plymouth Arena for a night with the quirky pop rockers 10cc. The Plymouth Arena, until recently the Plymouth Pavilions, is a criminally underused venue in the city. Outside of Plymouth Argyle's Home Park, which sometimes hosts large-scale gigs in the summer, the Arena is the city's largest venue - and can hold around 4000 people when configured for a standing show at maximum capacity. Like many venues, though, it can be configured in different ways to suit different crowd sizes - but even this has not attracted all that many bands in recent years. As a seasoned gig-goer, seeing what is not a terrible venue often languishing empty or relegated to hosting comedians, evenings with, and those tribute bands which are now bigger than many original bands is a shame. When I was younger the venue had a poor reputation for sound quality, with some early gigs there I remember sounding quite mushy, but that has not really been the case for a long time at this point - and I have not experienced bad sound there for years. The building opened in the early 1990s, and for a while was busy. Looking back at who played there through the 1990s, I would have been there on a regular basis. This was likely the tail-end of bands generally still playing lengthy UK tours, something which is just not undertaken by many these days, and the building was aimed as an upgrade for and eventual replacement of the Cornwall Coliseum - which had been the South West's major gig venue from the 1960s through to the 1980s. Sadly these days, though, the venue is underused - and if I go there once a year then I have generally done pretty well. Last night was my first and, so far, only planned trip there this year - whilst I went there once last year to see Those Damn Crows and once the previous year to see Squeeze. I do not think that I went there at all in 2023 - and it is also fairly telling that my last three trips were for acts that I would not have travelled to see. Whether this local rebrand will actually lead to any overall improvements in terms of events remains to be seen. Some are of the view that the rebrand has been undertaken in line with Plymouth's upcoming bid to be UK City of Culture - but all that has changed so far is the wording of the sign above the main entrance. Nothing obviously has been upgraded internally, with the chairs still old and not in a good state of repair - whilst the long-closed swimming pool and ice rink still sit empty. I really hope things do pick up, and the rebrand leads to more nights out in Plymouth, but I have been hoping for more bands to come to the venue for nearly 20 years at this point and it has not happened to date. It was nice to get back there last night, though, with 10cc the reason for my trip. 10cc are one of those bands that I knew I should check out, given that so many of the bands I like have been influenced by them, but it was not until this gig was announced last year that I decided it was time. 10cc have been regular visitors to Plymouth over the years so I am not sure why this time was the time - but I have been enjoying slowly working my way through the band's quirky and melodic catalogue over the past few months. Whilst only Graham Gouldman (vocals/guitar/bass guitar) remains from the original line-up, Rick Fenn (vocals/guitar/keyboards/percussion) has been in the band since 1976 - and drummer since 1973 Paul Burgess only retired last year. The band line-up feels legitimate, then, with three newer faces joining the two classic-era members.

The place was pretty full throughout the evening - even if it was laid out in an all-seating arrangement and filled with people very different to those I usually see at concerts. There was a good atmosphere throughout the night, then, and the evening was opened by Welsh singer-songwriter Andrew Park - who played a short set of acoustic and piano-based music before 10cc took to the stage. Park has history with 10cc, having filled in for both Iain Hornal (vocals/guitar/mandolin/bass guitar/keyboards/percussion) and Fenn in recent years when they have been unable to join the band on tour - and he later joined the band on stage for a song to add some additional percussion. As such, he seems part of the wider 10cc family, then, so was likely an easy choice for support act. Person-with-acoustic-guitar support acts are generally my least favourite type of support act for a couple of reasons, Firstly, I just find all-acoustic music to often be quite dull, and, secondly, if the songs being played are usually 'bigger' sounding then a sparser arrangement is rarely the best way to be introduced to them. That being said, Park was better than average for the type of artist that he is. He had some subtle backing to his songs which included drum loops and synths, which did help to fill out the sound a little, whilst his voice was strong. Songwriting-wise, though, there was nothing especially to write home about. I think nearly every song he played had the word 'love' in the title - so the subject matter was very earnest, something which I also generally dislike about this type of act. Between the songs, though, he was engaging and came across as likeable - so his set did conjure up something of an atmosphere which was good. There are certainly worse support acts that I have seen over the year, and his short set did not outstay its welcome, but what Park does is just never really going to be for me.

There was not much waiting around during the evening, as it did not seem long before the lights went down and, following a lengthy intro video, 10cc took to the stage. The show was very much a greatest hits affair, although I am not sure that the band do any other kind of tour these days, with only one of the songs played being released after 1978. As such, even a casual like me was familiar with essentially the whole set - and I enjoyed the band's near-two hour set as a result. Gouldman and Hornal shared the lead vocals throughout, with the latter likely singing the most - but Fenn also co-sang one song, whilst the whole band helped out on the trademark harmonies. Everyone on stage was a multi-instrumentalist, so there was a lot of instrument swapping going on, but this only added to the overall show. The night kicked off with the jaunty The Second Sitting for the Last Supper - and hit after hit followed really. There were quite a few overall highlights for me, but an early one was Art for Art's Sake - with Park adding additional percussion. Songs like this really made me realise where Cats in Space got some of their quirkier side from - and the whole band came together to make the multi-layered piece work. Fenn really impressed as a guitar player throughout the night. His soloing was plentiful and tasteful, including a lot of whammy bar tricks, whilst the playing of Keith Hayman (keyboards/guitar/bass guitar/vocals) often added to the overall upbeat nature of the night. 10cc have a number of different vibes in their sound, from the whimsical to the more hard rocking. Songs like Life Is a Minestrone and Old Wild Men certainly showcased the former, with uplifting pop harmonies and bouncy song structures dominating, whilst the somewhat darker Clockwork Creep, the one song which Fenn took the lead on vocally, and the riffier, bluesier The Wall Street Shuffle showcased the band's somewhat heavier side. 10cc can rock out when they need to, and on these numbers the driving bass of Gouldman tended to provide plenty of weight. The centrepiece of the night, though, was certainly the lengthy Feel the Benefit - with Honral providing additional atmosphere on the keyboards as well as taking the lead vocally. A few of the songs were stretched out to allow for some additional soloing, and this was one of them - with Fenn really letting rip at times. During the set, too, there were a few diversions from the 10cc catalogue. Gouldman later took the lead on an acoustic version of Bus Stop, a song he wrote for The Hollies before 10cc got together, whilst he and Hornal also duetted on Say the Word - a song the pair wrote for one of the latter's solo albums. It is a shame that such a writing partnership has not led to a new 10cc album, as the song fit nicely in with the rest of the set, but new material is clearly not the band's minds - even if both Gouldman and Hornal have released solo albums in recent years. There was not too much time left in the main set at this point, but plenty more hits followed - with original 10cc member Kevin Godley appearing on the screen behind the band to 'sing' Somewhere in Hollywood - before the delicate and harmony-led ballad I'm Not in Love and the pop-reggae of Dreadlock Holiday brought the main set to a fun-filled close. There was time for a couple more, though, and a two-song encore kicked off with an a cappella version of Donna, which saw Hornal hitting some very high notes at times, before a lengthy version of the harder rocking Rubber Bullets saw the set come to a close. Both Fenn and Hayman took lengthy solos during the piece - and it was a fun and bouncy way to end the night of music. The setlist was:

The Second Sitting for the Last Supper

The Worst Band in the World

Art for Art's Sake [w/ Andrew Park]

Life Is a Minestrone

Good Morning Judge

The Dean and I

Old Wild Men

Clockwork Creep

Feel the Benefit

The Wall Street Shuffle

Bus Stop [The Hollies cover]

The Things We Do for Love

Say the Word [Iain Hornal solo material]

Silly Love

Somewhere in Hollywood

I'm Mandy Fly Me

I'm Not in Love

Dreadlock Holiday

-

Donna

Rubber Bullets

It has been a lot of fun to get into the 10cc catalogue over the past few months, and culminating my explorations in last night's gig felt fitting. It was a very enjoyable show from a band with plenty of experience at this point, even given the newer members on board, and the decent-sized Plymouth crowd certainly enjoyed the hits played. I aim to continue on with my 10cc journey, checking out some of the lesser-known albums and becoming more familiar in general with this unique band.