03Apr2006

Review: Fest

“Bass play­ers are ten a penny, but a good wit is hard to find”, David Gilmour has said of Grammy Award win­ning Guy Pratt, and what’s true of bass play­ers is dou­bly so for Fringe com­edy shows. So thank God Pratt’s taken time out from his duties with Bryan Ferry, the world’s smoothest Geordie, to regale us with his life as a sought after musi­cian in My Bass and Other Animals. It’s a tricky bal­ance to strike, shar­ing anec­dotes about David Bowie and Michael Jackson with­out sound­ing like a smug toss­rope. Luckily for us Pratt doesn’t even get close, com­ing across as the world’s coolest uncle, his deliv­ery warm and assured, if lack­ing the final pol­ish of vet­eran stand-ups. He has every rea­son to brag, he’s seen some pretty out-of-hand stuff over the past quar­ter cen­tury. As if that wasn’t enough he has an effort­less skill with the bass that leaves the audi­ence with no choice but to clap wildly after every mini-per­for­mance he treats us to. Sure, com­edy aimed squarely at the Q crowd is never going to change the world, but how often do you get to hear a first-hand tales about Madonna’s idea of a wake-up call (“Time is money and the money is mine!”) the hered­i­tary insan­ity of the Womack soul clan, song­writ­ing with Jimmy Nail (the world’s sec­ond smoothest Geordie), or Michael Jackson’s unortho­dox approach to audi­tion­ing prospec­tive band mem­bers? What’s truly refresh­ing is that Pratt is no music snob, at home with the finest in disco and funk as much as his more “seri­ous” gigs with the likes of Pink Floyd and Roxy Music. He clearly loves his work, his boy­ish enthu­si­asm endear­ing and infec­tious. Ultimately a fas­ci­nat­ing glimpse behind the rock n’roll cur­tain, rather than a hour of full-on funny, this is undoubt­edly an hour well spent for most, if a lit­tle incom­pre­hen­si­ble to cer­tain age groups. If you don’t know your Duran Duran from your Steely Dan, you might be in a wee bit of a pickle. For every­one else, get your­selves front row tick­ets to the cosiest sta­dium show in town.

****

09Sep2005

Review: The List

An hour of rip-roar­ing anec­dotes from a pro­fes­sional bass player who co-wrote a song with Jimmy Nail? No, come back! It’s bet­ter than it sounds, with the speed of Guy Pratt’s nim­ble fin­gers on his instru­ment (ahem) sur­passed only by his ever ready wit. Stories of ridicu­lous ego­ma­nia involved in work­ing as a live and ses­sion musi­cian with the likes of Madonna, Pink Floyd and Michael Jackson could have eas­ily made for a dry arti­cle for a mature music mag­a­zine. The upshot, how­ever, is con­sis­tently top-flight com­edy and gives Pratt – and his audi­ence – the last laugh of all.

****

18Aug2005

Review: The Independent

Guy Pratt is in a dingy punk club in London in the late Seventies when a punk called some­thing improb­a­ble like Poison Hatchet approaches him. “So what’s your name?” says the Mohawk. “Guy Pratt,” replies the cowed bassist. There is a pause before the Mohawk replies: “That’s bril­liant.”

The punk-moniker anec­dote is a per­fect micro­cosm of Pratt’s won­der­ful show, an hour of sto­ries and sub­lime bass-play­ing from a man who has stood in the wings of recent pop his­tory. From Madonna to Michael Jackson, Ice House to Pink Floyd, Pratt has played bass with them all. And, like the shy teenager with the punk name, one senses that Pratt has been a hero by acci­dent rather than design.

But what tales he has to tell. It’s hard to pick a favourite. Is it the story of play­ing a fes­ti­val with Crosby, Stills and Nash, only for David Crosby to spend his entire time in Pratt’s car­a­van putting the gas hob to insalu­bri­ous use? Or lay­ing down a bass track for a Michael Jackson song, as the star issued instruc­tions while hid­ing behind the amp? Or per­haps being asked out on a date with Madonna, only for there to be no pho­tog­ra­phers to catch the glo­ri­ous moment?

The refresh­ing aspect of this pop-anorak heaven is Pratt’s mod­esty. “When I started out”, he admits, “bands recruited a roadie and a lawyer before a bass player.” Funny, then, that Pratt is now the star attrac­tion.

 

****

Ed Caesar