Stuart Morrison's verdict: three stars
The reunion bandwagon rolls on, with bands reappearing from various eras with astonishing regularity.
Mott The Hoople were one of the truly great seventies bands, revered by everyone from Brian May to Mick Jones.
My only previous exposure was when I roadied for a, by then, Hoopleless, Mott at Strathclyde University in 1976.
So that it was with some interest that your correspondent took his place amongst the faithful. Alas, in this case, time has not been kind.
With original drummer Dale Griffin unable to play through illness, Martin Chambers, from the Pretenders, stepped in behind Ian Hunter, Overend Watts, Mick Ralphs and Verden Allen, launching them into Rock and Roll Queen.
It was an ok mid-paced rocker, but it set the tone for a seemingly interminable 90 minutes, punctuated by a couple of highlights only.
Ballad of Mott the Hoople and Hymn For The Dudes were fine and Sucker was aggressively up tempo, but overall it was pretty lame.
Hunter's voice was just about coping and Watts seemed to be permanently about to keel over under the weight of his bass.
Then, when all seemed lost, for the last 10 minutes, they wheeled out the hits. Honaloochie Boogie, The Golden Age of Rock and Roll and All the Way From Memphis, closed the show, with Roll Away the Stone and the magnificent All the Young Dudes as encores.
Why on earth they waited until the end to play all of these was a mystery, but they, at least, were terrific. Dudes, in particular, was worth the admission alone.
'It's not like the old days, is it?' asked Hunter, at one point. A sadly rhetorical question, as it turned out.
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