Live Reviews

Discovery Festival Japan - September 2001
The Drome - May 1999
The Beach Festival - August 1998
Womad Festival - July 1997
Cream - September 1997

Sunday 16th September 2001: Discovery Festival - Venous Side 16:30 - 17:00 Yokohama, Japan

It was very hot and humid today, we were surprised to be playing in the daytime ! We had already watched 'evolution ' play a blinding set earlier and were keen to impress our first Japanese audience. I noticed someone in the crowd with a green hooj choons shirt on, so I knew we already had supporters.

All the equipment was running live and of course you get small glitches with that - akai etc. but its so much more organic and real if you have the guts to play live and not use a dat tape

This was the first set with the expanded line up of:

david gates - guitars and keyboards
malcolm stanners - key boards and guitar
marc hunt - samples and programmes/arranging
angela john [neve] - vocals

Set List.....

1. butterfly [angel falls] fast mix
2. leaving town
3. on your mind
4. dimension
5. stormchase
6. eugina sargasso /woods/new type mix !

'leaving town' was co written with chicane
'on your mind' will come out on perfecto under the pseudonym 'patient saints'

We ran out of time so couldn't play our new single - ' the energy ', as played by sasha at Creamfields. We enjoyed japan but unfortunately didnt see much of it, we travelled 12000 miles over 28 hours round trip arrived on saturday night and left on monday morning, so we must return for a longer trip.

Saturday 15th August 1998: The Beach Festival Megadog Stage 17:00 - 17:50 Carlyon Bay, St Austell, Cornwall

 

Review.....

With only their second gig of the year at The Beach Festival in Cornwall, you might imagine that Salt Tank would be performing under the sun against the backdrop of the sea. In fact they are due to perform on the Megadog Stage, inside the local theatre hall. Blessed with sunshine, the Salt Tank sound is perhaps more at home in tonight's setting rather than the mud fest that was Glastonbury 98. A healthy expectant crowd has grown to witness the Salt Tank experience following DJ Utopia setting the mood well. In their slimed down incarnation without live vocalist Andy Rose, the band now comprises David, Malcolm and James the new percussionist on the Tom Tom's. James's first performance with the band goes well, giving extra rhythm and live feel to the show.

The opening two tracks "Digital Damage" and "Rezmorize" are the first outings of the new tracks, and from the reaction of the crowd, they went down well. The trance fuelled tracks perhaps loosing some of the more melodic nature of Salt Tank's distinctive sound for a more adrenaline fuelled beat.

"Wave Intruder" maintains the energetic pace, it's almost techno sound at home in this set, however "Badlands" with its killer baseline gets the crowd moving even further. The jumping groove transporting the people at the far corners of the arena onto the dance floor in a dance frenzy.

This is followed by the mellow tones and guitar strings of the top 40 hit "Eugina", the crowd instantly recognising the opening bars. A fan arriving late only to hear the end of his favourite track is really annoyed, luckily for the rest of us, we have just witnessed the highlight of the set. The concluding track is the un-released "p. s.i.", an incarnation of Pi composed several years ago that Salt Tank have chosen to give an airing for inclusion in the Trance nature of tonight's set list.

Judging by the response of the crowd, I would comment that the only problem with tonight's performance is the length. It was simply far too short, the crowd were left wanting more, a sure sign of an excellent performance. Salt Tank would have certainly satisfied the crowd even further, if given a larger time slot.

Sunday 16th May 1999: The Drome - 11 Stainer Street, London Bridge SE1 02:00 - 02:45

The performers were David Gates, Malcolm Stanners, James Stiles [bongos], Graham Brown-Martin [video images] and some misplaced words from special guest Mark E.Smith of the Fall.

Set List..... Digital Damage Badlands Eugina Rezmorize Taj Dimension

Saturday 26th July 1997: Womad Festival - Rivermead Leisure Centre, Richfield Avenue, Reading

Friday 13th September 1997: Cream - Liverpool

Salt Tank played live at Cream in Liverpool on the 13th September. The last in a series of top summer gigs ended at Cream and it was like playing to a home crowd.
Paul Oakenfold, a keen follower of Salt Tank's Wave Intruder single, played a storming set and salt tank made their appearance to an ecstatic crowd.
Salt Tank's live act is an essential experience, live guitar, vocals and percussion kept cream's dance floor in fifth gear, the crowd going wild as they recognise the melodic sounds of Eugina, barely letting the band leave the stage at the end of a tight set.

Salt Tank are one of only 4 bands to have played at cream and from the dance floor's response will be playing again in the near future.

Set List from Summer 1997 Gigs...

1. diamond halo
2. wave intruder
3. taj
4. eugina
5. swell
6. angels landing
7. badlands
8. ritual
9. gaza strip