10cc

Liverpool Summer Pops,

Aintree Pavilion – 15 July 2007

by Alan Weston. 16 July 2007

IT’S mid-July, yet the weather outside was like a wet weekend in Manchester. How appropriate, then, to welcome 10cc, from neighbouring Stockport, to Aintree Pavilion.

Liverpool veterans China Crisis did an excellent job of warming up the audience before the main event. These days, the only original member of 10cc is Graham Gouldman, who was joined on stage by four other superb musicians who were easily the equal of Gouldman’s old bandmates.

There was a time when 10cc were in danger of disappearing off the musical map, mainly because their heyday was before the Year Zero of punk. But good things come to those who wait, with contemporary acts such as The Feeling now citing 10cc as a major influence.

Essentially, what we got was a canter through Gouldman’s musical career, which started when he wrote hits for the likes of the Hollies, the Yardbirds, and Herman’s Hermits in the ’60s. Those songs, such as Bus Stop and No Milk Today, were played in a beautiful acoustic section in the middle of the show.

But the vast majority of the performance – as it should be – was taken up with 10cc’s almost embarrassing wealth of clever, catchy songs. Hit after hit came tumbling out, from the very first (Donna) in 1972, right up to a more obscure later number, which, Gouldman told us, was the last song to be released under 10cc’s name.

They even managed to do justice to the timeless classic I’m Not In Love, which must be one of the most difficult numbers to pull off live, with its multi-layered vocal track and elaborate studio effects. We got not one, but two climaxes – the first with a rousing version of their last Number One, Dreadlock Holiday.

This had everyone on their feet, with Gouldman cleverly adapting its famous refrain to “I don’t like Liverpool. I love it!” This set us up nicely for the encore, an extended rock-out version of Rubber Bullets, which sent everyone home in a good mood – even though the rain was still beating down outside.