An evening with Michael Gordon

When a member of The Lovers Rock Rat Pack (Victor Romeo Evans- Peter-Hunnigale-Paul Dawkins-Trevor Walters or Michael Gordon) puts on a function......YOU DON'T MISS IT, and i mean (back in the day type) not to be missed. With the popularity of these men along with their connections, (we're talking about the entire British Reggae music industry) you never know who might show up. An Evening with Michael Gordon was always going to be exciting.......but just how much......well that's what made embarking on the The Good Ship in Kilburn all the more of an appealing prospect. For all those who attended Sunday night, they received overwhelming conformation that the music they so affectionately loved & followed all these years was indeed the right choice! Michael Gordon is a huge character who like to surprise people, so we were all ready to see who the friends were ......which one out of them would perform.....and most of all....... just what Mr Gordon got up his sleeves for this night! Back in the heydays of Lovers Rock, the dominant male Lovers Rock Groups were One Blood- Matumbi, Tradition and The Investigators. They all made extremely important contributions to Lovers Rock music. But there was always something about that group (The Investigators) that quietly seduced everyone with so many big hits that went right up into the eighties. The group had special ingredients, one huge one was Michael Gordon's singing!

The show was hosted by Donna Spence, and started off with an appetizer served in the form of show-casing a young relative of Michael's (Tara Brown) and her up and coming Band. Cool image...Confidant performance & nice sound but not Lovers Rock. Now down to the real business. Giant Top UK Mufti Award Winner (Peter Hunnigale) steps up as you would expect.......the place starts rocking. Women towards the front losing their minds, lighters, hands in the air.......all very normal reaction to Peter Hunnigale's singing......The crowd was treated to a delicious desert of (Perfect Lady - Lets Stay Together ) everyone loved him!....

Next Donna Spence did something that was completely unplanned that almost took the roof off that place. While acknowledging the Stars in the Venue, she gave a shout out to Iris Kirwin Dixon who was way in the back....Lead Singer of The Group Revelation. She was persuaded to come up and do a little ting on the mike. Well it just so happens, that Delroy Murray (the bands musical director) worked on her record (With you boy).....One of the most sexiest Roots Lover's Rock Masterpieces ever made. It was sang & played exact in all of its original glory!.......That shuttle creepy organ intro, steady hypnotic rub-a-dub bass line, cool deep noted organ shuffle throughout, charming melodica sound quietly in the background...With Iris's vocal weaving in and out floating beautifully over the top of it all, it totally destroyed that place! .......Not often (if at all) heard Live! Not so commonly heard on the revival scene ether, but its one of those gem records that was loved deeply back in 1978 that people got starved of. DJs over the years forgotten it's powerful emotional effect on everyone....Proper nasty rub-down (don't want it to end) Lovers Rock.....it was a serious bomb drop that touched everyone!

Ok now everyone's well and truly in the mood, the main man himself (Michael Gordon) steps up. Following on from the destruction of the previous unscheduled show stealer, (the world of magic) Mr Gordon took charge and switched on everyone & did something that was completely unexpected.......I did say he's full of surprises....He fantastically sings one of the most important civil rights songs of the sixties, from the greatest Artist (Sam Cook's- Change is gonna come)......The packed crowd couldn't believe it.......Gordon was singing Soul with all the movement and emotions, demonstrating his class and calibre as a top Singer....He sounded incredible!

After a short break the public was given a real treat in the form of a duet between Lovers Queen Carroll Thompson & The Great Peter Hunnigale. Track taken off of Carroll's New Album titled (if this world were mine) Nothing like seeing great Artist working together......went down very well. Carroll continued on Stage and went thought just a few of her hits ( of which there's many) As always people loved her, but Carroll like Michael also did something different.......She asked for a man to come on stage and dance with her....wow. I was standing there thinking 'oh no....surely there's going be a stampede' Didn't take long before a brother stepped up for the task. So there we were witnessing the Lovers Queen dancing & serenading a guy on Stage, all to great infusionism from the crowd......To mash up everything the brother starts chatting ina Bashment style before exiting off Stage.

Now how can this night get any better..........will it did.......Enters back on Stage Mr Gordon! The master starts to give the people what they came to hear........All those wonderful hit songs one after another ( Love is what you make it, Living in a world of Magic, Baby I'm yours) etc and boy did they appreciated it all. People was rocking like they won the lotto...how does Gordon manage do that to people everywhere he goes!

One of the most important factors of this show apart from the great performances......was the band itself. Delroy Murray of 291 Club Fame etc along with all the other band members made the music sound so authentic . Everything sounded as it did on the original records that people are used to hearing.... and that's normally over looked. It also must be mentioned the good choice of the nights host in Donna Spence. People was given real insite into all the Artist backgrounds with Donna conducting live on Stage interviews with everyone of them.

So there you have it, an amazing evening of indulgences into that magical era when it was high fashion to love one another. A fantastic evening in the company of Lovers Rocks Royalty, industry people and most of all.....the faithful supportive fans! After all....... this is what we come to expect from Mr Gordon and his friends.......Excellent Show!

Kenny Passley