McCabe is a fantastic guitarist, he can summon up crystalline snowscapes and bloodsoaked fields of feedback with a flick of a footpedal, only a musician with total mastery of his instrument can do this.
I was there, those were days when music sounded so bloody magic... He sang barefoot, long haired, very very skinny, total black dressed, he was so suffered and intense, simply beautiful. They played at the sunset of a brilliant hot day, the sky was like indaco and i moved towards stage attracted from their music, didn.t know who were the Verve before Glastonbury, but their music touched my soul and i still love them since that unforgettable festival.Thank you for sharing
As I recall it was miday after The Adorable, cloudy and not a sunset in sight. Did you see The Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester too?
Im assuming your unaware of the footage that blows your fairy tale wide open. Cloudy and he's wearing shoes, not all in black. The music was fucking glorious, no mistake there.
I no longer attempt to put words to describe, explain, appreciate, compare...there are no words to convey the sound Nick McCabe produces. His genius is beyond language.
Absolutely agree! People like to point out only one of these aspects...but the magic lies in the combo of the 3 (or 4 if you want to separate Pete and Simon).
Always loved the Verve but my appreciation has grown since watching videos of them playing live. The bass player is amazing - the groove he lays down. And the drummer... rock solid!
Saw them on the same tour at Nottingham, I left in a state of shock, both bands were astounding. It was the night I fell in love with music again after an 8 year break.
wow!!!! Urban Hymns was the first Verve album I heard and it was a brilliant but the best thing about that album is it made me want to hear their early stuff... its just on a different level to any thing else I've heard. The guitar sends shivers up my spine. This is music!!!
This was put out on Radio 1 evening session that year - they cut down the track list but it still sounded amazing . I taped it and took the cassette to university with me must have played it a 100 times and sellotaped it together twenty times the music back then was amazing and Verve wee on fire in the early years x
Amazing, I had recorded this off radio one and I was in a situation where I had to give away lots of my old cassettes, this was one thing that went . . .nice to hear it again.
deep and organic. absolute balance in sound. saw them at Lollapalooza in 1994. There were many bright musicians then, but their performance was mesmerizing
I just discovered this band so many years later I am in awe I have not stopped listening for 2 weeks. the concert from 1998 Wigan got me hooked Nick is amazing I play the guitar and love that style of playing. They would be on top if they were to get together again 🤘😎
you just cant get close to exactly where on the ledge they were around this time... they didnt f'in know just where they were either which makes it so very very special....
Thank you for posting this. I thought I’d ask musically minded folks as to if y’all know where I might purchase live audio recordings of The Verve. Thanks for any help.
They really did regress artistically. Most bands go the opposite way like Radiohead who started out normal and then became experimental and daring where as Verve started mystical and experimental and gradually became shit. Nothing sadder than years later seeing Ashcroft strumming an acoustic like a busker wailing on about a sonnet. It actually shocked me 🤦🏻♂️
@user-bx6zr6my4d No chance. They started to write totally differently , and it was basically a Richard Ashcroft solo project by the end. For people like me, who thought they were a band of equals, that imbalance immediately removed key parts.
