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24th June 2001 — Fete de la Musique, Geneva, Switzerland
Setlist
Cloudless
Future Song
Submarine
Flute Song
To Be
Reverie
Jewel
Driving In The Sun
Fragile
Sunrise
Everywhere
Far Away
Adrift
Encore I
Slide
Lilies
Adoration
Review(s)
It was hot, very hot in fact. There were skaters, boarders and bikers and at one end there was a stage. If you walked around the back you could spy the Cranes backstage dressing tent complete with a few actual Cranes coming and going. It looked mainly as though they were trying to keep out of the heat. All the guitars were back there too... how many do they have?
As evening approached the sun ducked behind the tall buildings in the South West which provided a welcome relief to the blaze. The tent ecompassing the audience area was not enormous but certainly able to contain the crowd that built up during the Cranes set. If you cast your eyes beyond the stage you could see the mountains.... what a back-drop. There were a fair few Cranes fans in attendance but I feel there could have been a lot more as there are a lot of Cranes fans in Switzerland. I think this was maybe due to the lack of promotion and information that could have easily been distributed at least a couple of weeks in advance. I myself only got to hear that they were replacing the scheduled headline band two days before and even then had to find my way to the actual stage they were performing on (there were, I think, around 25 stages in Geneve that week-end). Cranes, if you tell us we'll show up. But please tell us because we so much want to show up.
The atmosphere was relaxed with just the right level of anticipation bubbling through the Cranes fans who knew what they were in for and at a little after 9.30pm the harp-like tones of Cloudless began to ring out. Jon and Paul came onstage first followed by Jim and finally Alison. Both Jim and Paul skulked on their respective sides of the stage, Paul ducking behind his keyboard and Jim readying himself for his guitar part. As all the varying parts of the song came together we realised that Cranes were back, they were here in Switzerland and they had a new record to play us.
There was no messing about. After Cloudless the Cranes belted straight into the new record with Future Song which sounded almost identical to the record but louder and larger. Jim took his customery stance of looking slightly sideways across the stage and up towards the sky. Jon and Paul maintaining eye contact at crucial moments and Alison playing the bass guitar. Future Song moved straight into Submarine then onto Flute Song a la the record. Submarine was slightly different to the record version I think but was still fundamentally the same in structure. Before the show I was wondering what would be played and what would not and Submarine came across very well with the slight changes being made for the better in a live situation. Flute Song was truly magical. The thundering bass hits, the slide picked guitar notes against the deep dark keyboard chords. What a song.
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Next came a song from the Population 4 record, in fact the only song from this record that was played. It was To Be and the climatic middle section is really something to behold. I think the band as it stands is definitely the tightest lineup there has ever been. The band really know their parts and they seemed relaxed and at ease even with the trickier moments of the songs.
Reverie was next from the Loved album. The live version sounds slightly heavier than the record which is good to see live. Jims acoustic guitar part along with the drums and bass give that great full sound and then the heavy guitar bursts in. Always good to hear. I think I remember a slight mishap with the initial bass note but it was corrected very quickly and no-one on stage blinked an eye. This was followed by the classic Jewel from the Forever album. The familiar drum intro drew a cheer from the ever growing crowd and the die hard Cranes fans that were in attendance happily jumped up and down.
After Jewel we saw a return to the new record with three songs in a row being played. They were Driving in the Sun, Fragile and Sunrise. Alison paused to gather her thoughts (and her breath) before beginning Driving In The Sun. We see Paul playing bass on this song (there is no bass guitar on the record version) and this gels very well with Jons drums and Jims guitar. Jim sat on the edge of the drum riser to play his part and you could see the concentration on his face. Fragile, again, was almost identical to the record. Jons drumming became almost metronomic as the sparse vocals and periodic bass and guitar floated around this solid wall of rhythm. Actually, I noticed on this song (which made me think about it for a couple of others too) that Alison turns away from the audience quite a few times, literally turning her back to us. Is she really that shy after all these years of doing fabulous shows? I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with this, I just happened to notice it and find it a little strange. It happened (as far as I can remember) on Future, Reverie, Fragile and Adrift. If anyone knows if she really is that shy it would be interesting to know.
Something went a little amiss at the start of Sunrise. I'm not sure exactly what, but it looked as though a least two band members couldn't hear the parts to be able to play the song properly. Paul jumped up on the drum riser with his acoustic guitar (Jim and Paul swapped sides for this song) and everything seemed to fall back into place. Again it was a swift recoverery that could well have rendered a lesser band serious problems. This song was great live. Really good. The repeated chorus at the end of the song built and built. It really came to life and sounded huge at this open air festival.
Finishing the main set was three songs from the Forever record. They are all classics. Everywhere, Far Away and Adrift. Everywhere had everyone jumping and I'd almost forgotten what a storming song it is. Far Away is such a beatiful song that it should never ever be left out of a Cranes setlist. The moment the piano begins, cutting through the air, you are rivited to the ground. This was followed, and rightly so by the mighty Adrift. I had read somewhere (on internet boards) that Adrift had been played differently at a previous show and I wondered (with a little concern) exactly how you could change such a song for the better. Well, at this show it was not changed. In fact it was jaw-dropping. No, really, when you looked around at the audience their mouths had dropped open in dis-belief. I have seen Cranes play four times and this was easily the best Adrift I had ever seen. It was a perfect ending to the main set.
The crowd cheered and cheered. It had grown quite a lot from the beginning of the set which just goes to show you what pulling power great music still has. We were rewarded with an encore of three songs. The first was from the new record,' The Maker of Heavenly Trousers', which is a great name. Jims superb slide guitar and Alisons rhythm guitar complementing each other nicely. Jons drums were laid back, just like the record version and Pauls bass was right with him. A good song that had been played at shows quite a while before the record came out. Next came the raucous Lilies from the Loved record. Alison plays some very loud guitar on this song and if I was seeing correctly Paul was playing both the bass and the keyboard at the same time. There were some extra gaps in this particular version which added to the tension when the wall of sound was let loose. Lilies is another great song.
The finale came with Adoration. At first Paul ran across the stage calling 'No' to Jon..... I think that his piano sound wasn't quite ready and there were smiles all around. When the song started there were cheers and then there was silence. Adoration is a song that comands respect and by the end, with it's scattered vocal and superbly building drums, it becomes an epic that has a whole added dimension over the recorded version. It really is a breathtaking song and it's moments like these that makes it all worth while staying alive.
Then they were gone. We called and called and called for them to come back but that was the end.
Goodbye Cranes. Come back soon.
Cranes have so many good songs it's a shame that the set doesn't have more of the older songs in it. Not that there's anything wrong with the new songs, they are great. But they could easily play for two hours. Easily. And fill that two hours with wonderful, wonderful songs. It was great to see you. Give us a little more information next time and they'll have to get a stage that is twice as big. If you get the chance to see Cranes live then do so. You won't be disappointed.
Review by Jean LeFevre
You may also view a review of this show at Cranes Fan Forum.
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