This is the third tour in as many years, so it could be seen that McAloon has been building up to this moment in anticipation of the demand from the fans.
The first half of the show is, as promised, a complete run-through of the album, known for its US release as ‘Two Wheels Good’, complete with a bonus track which was planned but never recorded. Compositions such as ‘When Love Breaks Down’, ‘Bonny’ and ‘Johnny, Johnny’ showcase both brothers’ talents, Paddy for gifting such works to the world and Martin for making it sound like he’s playing three guitars at the same time.The reverent audience in Lichfield’s Hub at St Mary’s basked in the purple glow inside the city centre church and soaked up not only the music but also the easy banter between artist and fans. By choosing smaller venues, McAloon has ensured that he gets close enough to the audience to get what he needs out of it, that sense of excitement at being on the road again.
The second half of the show is where McAloon really shines. The impression is that ‘Steve McQueen’ is a great album with outstanding songs, but it’s… predictable. McAloon’s happy place is surprising the audience. The written set list is put to one side, and he invites the audience to shout out requests from across the Prefab Sprout catalogue, the more obscure the better. Revelling in the opportunity to show that he was always so much more than the tall guy at the back, McAloon’s ability to play seemingly any song and also to tell a story about it shows just how committed he is to keeping this music alive.
From playing snooker with Peter Frampton to recording down the corridor from Vince Clarke, the regular anecdotes serve as a reminder that the Sprouts were bona fide rock stars, echoing the words of their own song: “I’d a dream that we were rock stars / And that flash bulbs popped the air / And girls fainted, every time we shook our hair. / We were songbirds, we were Greek Gods / We were singled out by fate / We were quoted out of context - it was great.”
Songs such as ‘Life of Surprises’, ‘I Never Play Basketball Now’, ‘Cowboy Dreams’, ‘Hey Manhattan!’, ‘Carnival 2000’, ‘Nancy’ and ‘The Golden Calf’ wove a path through all of the studio albums that McAloon was involved in. No iPads, no sequencers, no backing tracks and nothing to separate the audience from the music. It’s quite possible that none of the songs were played note-perfect, but that’s not what fans have come to expect from these tours. The performance is raw, immediate and honest. McAloon is warm, humble and approachable, spending quite a bit of time at his own merchandise table to chat and to hear stories about how the songs have changed people’s lives. Such is the poetic prowess and the range of material that there’s a Prefab Sprout song for pretty much any significant life occasion that isn’t covered by more ‘mainstream’ writers.
Whilst the prospect of new material from Prefab Sprout is dwindling, with Martin McAloon on the case, fans can continue to wind back those decades and enjoy the experience all over again.
Peter Freeth
Images: Peter Freeth