Tim Bowness and The Butterfly Mind, Kidderminster

 

Tim Bowness and The Butterfly Mind, Kidderminster.

by Pete Clemons

Listening to a record 20 or 30 years on from its original release creates different feelings to those gained when you first heard it. And the same, it seems, applies to those who created it.

Founding member of the 1980s experimental pop rock band No-Man, Tim Bowness, appears to have found a fresh spring in his steps. And he has every reason to. He has recently put together a really excellent and fresh band called The Butterfly Mind. Together, Tim and the Butterfly Mind have been quietly gaining traction via several live shows that showcase, not only Tim's solo career, but also the wonderful music of No-Man.

Add to that the release of the recent box set, 'Housekeeping – The One Little Indian years 1990-1994' and its accompanying album 'Swagger', new life has now been breathed into the whole world of No-Man. But that was then.

After a recent gig an upbeat Tim said: 'I hope to do more gigs with the current band and we'd all be up for performing a more comprehensive tour. As it currently stands, we have two festival dates in April and July (I think!)'.

Tim continued 'As well as my forthcoming solo album (expected Summer release), we'll be (probably!) putting out a live album this year and that would be good to support with dates. In answer to your question re: the arranging of gigs, I used to have a booking agent, but at the moment I await offers or put things on myself (Kidderminster and Hope & Anchor, for example)'.

On this new line up Tim says 'While we want to be faithful to music it will never be note for note'.

At Kidderminster Tim and the band were on fire. At times it felt almost theatrical. There was drama and tension as you are drawn into the songs. Tim paces the stage like a caged animal but in a conspicuous way. Tim agreed 'It worked really well live, especially with Theo Travis on there. The band has really enjoying going through the No-Man catalogue.

A brief version of the familiar 'Another Winter' opened the Kidderminster set. This was quickly followed by 'Time Travel in Texas'. From there it was straight into the mesmerising section of 'All the Blue Changes' and 'Wherever There is Light'.

The tempo changed gear slightly as a clutch of songs from Tim Bowness' solo albums followed. But it all cranked up ferociously as the No-Man songs took off again.

A huge surprise of the evening was the announcement of 'Sweetheart Raw' a song not heard live in decades. The band handled it magnificently.

Another source of excitement came during the encores when 'Mouth Was Blue' was introduced. Again it held a certain familiarity.

The set was wrapped up with the final song 'A Stand-Up for the Dying' which is a song from Tim's next solo album.

Is this fresh impetus in No-Man shared by all its protagonists?

On that Tim mentioned: 'Hopefully No-Man will record together again with original violinist Ben Coleman. I think we can recapture spirit and do something different with it. The Butterfly Mind was possibly a direction No-Man could have gone in. There is still lots of life in that No-Man material when played live. As such Tim feels more comfortable producing that music live now than ever. Steven Wilson is less keen on nature of touring.

The last time we reformed no-man was that my band. They knew the music inside out and Steven could just join in with us.

Now I have a completely different band and, musically, they are different again. This is as exciting a band I have ever been with. The music has been redirected and refashioned and I think Steven would quite enjoy it.

Its all very mouth watering but only time will tell.