Live At The Bonington Theatre – Nottingham 1991 from Iain Matthews with Andy Roberts was issued on CD through Angel Air on 7 May 2021.
Iain and Andy first played together in Plainsong back in ’72 before parting ways. A chance encounter found them reuniting and their alchemy fused a magic that seeps through every note of this 11-track album.
Andy Roberts and I go way back; 1970 to be precise. Yet, in 1990, we hadn’t seen each other or even been in touch for nigh on eight years.
Not since the demise of Plainsong and my move to California.
All of that changed one chilly evening in Brighton and re-cemented our ongoing friendship up until and including last year's lockdown.
Close to the end of the tour (on my newest album “ Pure and Crooked”), we ended up in the nondescript back room of a pub in Brighton. I knew Andy was somewhere in the area, but didn’t know how to contact him and certainly never expected to see him. It must have been the second, or third song when I scanned the crowd, and low and behold, there he was, three rows back, dead center, with his then girlfriend (soon to be wife) Sal, beaming at me like the proverbial Cheshire Cat. My heart soared. I’d like to tell you I remember details of the Bonnington Theatre concert, but I don’t.
After all, it was thirty years and a few hundred shows ago. I do remember that it was a family affair and we were playing a guest spot with Simon Nicol and Rick Sanders, our extended Fairport family. I do remember that touring and playing with Andy back then was always a blast. The performances never fell below an eight on the one to ten scale and this was no exception. - Iain Matthews, January 2021
102-track, 5CD box set retrospective from singer/songwriter Iain Matthews...
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Tracklist
1. A Wailing Goodbye 2. On Squirrel Hill 3. The Ties We Break 4. The Economics Of The Rat And The Snake 5. Back Of The Bus 6. God’s Empty Chair 7. Yo-Yo Man 8. I Don’t Wanna Talk About It 9. Just One Look 10. Mercy Street 11. Tonight ( New shirt)