Having missed last year’s London gig by the reformed The Almighty and reading Paul Monkhouse’s glowing review of that very gig in these pages, there was no way I was missing out on one of this year’s Three And Easy dates. Even slow rush hour traffic heading into Cambridge could not dampen my enthusiasm for what was to come and I certainly was not disappointed.
The Almighty
Cambridge Corn Exchange – 28 November 2024
Words: Robert Adams
A no-frills stage featuring two huge banks of Marshall’s flanking Stumpy Monroe’s drumkit and a massive black backdrop with the classic The Almighty logo on it was as much production as the band needed. The Almighty would much rather let the music do the talking for them.
The lights dim, and The Almighty backdrop is swathed in red, white, and blue lights, and the intro tape blasts gunfire and helicopter noises. Stumpy takes his place behind the kit to a resounding cheer from the Cambridge faithful as he starts on a very familiar drum tattoo.
Bassist Floyd London is next on stage. He plants his feet wide and joins Stumpy in the unmistakable intro to Crucify. Floyd’s bass is certainly moving air and you can feel it bouncing off your body in the best possible way. Andy’ Tantrum’ McCafferty and a fit and lean Ricky Warwick join their friends and it’s heads down, foot to the floor mayhem right from the start.
Destroyed, Do You Understand, Wrench and Ultraviolent follow in quick succession before Ricky comes up for air and bids Cambridge welcome, to yet another resounding cheer.
The show is set from then on and there is not an inch of the Corn Exchange stage that is not covered by Tantrum, Floyd or Ricky. The energy pouring from the stage is contagious, and the fact that these middle-aged gents do not let up for a second is a testament to their professionalism, and they sound even better than they ever have.
Ricky tells a tale of the fledgling Almighty rehearsing in a barn on his dad’s farm in Strathaven in Lanarkshire, Scotland. He says it was great in the summer but freezing cold in the winter, with only a two-bar electric fire to combat the chill. This leads into the first song The Almighty wrote together, Gift Horse.
Warwick breaks out a beautiful-sounding white jumbo acoustic guitar for Little Lost Sometimes, and it sounds glorious. Why this was not a massive hit still baffles me to this day.
It’s foot to the floor time again with Crank And Deceit, Way Beyond Belief, Jonestown Mind, Power and Takin’ Hold flying past in a supersonic blast of rock goodness before Ricky’s white acoustic comes out once again for Bandaged Knees.
We are into the closing straight now, and the pace never lets up for a second. The Unreal Thing, Devil’s Toy and a tremendous Over The Edge lead us into a bona fide Almighty classic. Wild And Wonderful features the now obligatory call and response between Ricky and the Cambridge faithful. It is a no-brainer of a song to end the set with.
Cambridge make sure The Almighty return and we are treated to a sumptuous version of Jesus Loves You….But I Don’t before they say their final goodnight to what else but a raucous version of Free And Easy.
Twenty-one songs seemed to fly by in one hour and forty-five minutes, and the only way yours truly knew the set was that long was when I tried to move my aching old legs to get me back to my car for the journey home.
If you have not got a ticket for next year’s Three And Easy dates yet, I suggest you beg, borrow or steal to secure yourself one. The Almighty are in the form of their lives and put most bands half their age to shame.
Personally I can’t wait for next year as I’m going back to my homeland to catch The Almighty at their hometown return to Glasgow Barrowlands on St Andrew’s Day 2025. That should be a very special gig indeed.
Never had a band’s intro been more apt than “Will you please welcome, from Glasgow, Scotland, the all loud, the all wild, The All Fucking Mighty.” Just incredible.
