I bought my ticket in advance, I made my way to the venue which was the Victoria Bikers Pub, a lovely venue which was in fact a biker’s pub.

Sadly this was the most bizarre month of May I have ever experienced it was sodden with rain, and I suspect it put a damper on things hence why the gig was not a capacity crowd.

I had got there early enough to witness Ray and the band sound check, Ray and the band went off to get something to eat and I entered the bar area. I noticed Simon Funnell and his mate appear through the doors so we got chatting.

Time soon flew and the gig was about to start, we then made our way inside to the gig area.

I got chatting with Ray’s manager, and the gig started Ray seemed moody perhaps it was the weather?

As the show went on Ray seemed to lighten up and tell some unheard of stories one of which concerned a friend of his whom had gone to a music festival, he had felt the need to go to the toilet in the middle of the night whilst under the influence and had forgotten to do something rather fundamental only to wake up hours later to discover which fundamental step he had forgotten.

There were other stories some of which reflect back to his time with Genesis, although Ray seemed to dwell less on that period during the show.

It was nice to be able to see other work from Ray’s time with CUT and Stiltskin as well, It was an all round interesting gig and chance to learn more of Ray’s back catalogue of music.

The band were on good form as ever, I think this demonstrates that Ray knows what he is doing having kept a good band behind him.

The set list mainly comprised CUT and Stiltskin numbers, with a few Ray solo songs, and of course the beautiful Carpet Crawlers from the Genesis catalogue of songs that Ray has been known to play live.

In fact one of the highlights of the whole show was the acoustic version of Carpet Crawlers.

Setlist

• Sunshine and butterflies
• She
• Space oddity
• Another day
• Lemon yellow sun
• Adolescent breakdown
• Taking time
• Constantly reminded
• Fly high
• Change
• Carpet crawlers
• Goodbye baby blue
• Hey hey
• Sarah
• Gypsy
• Ghost
• Footsteps
• Inside
• Fame
• Along the way

The band

• Ray Wilson Vocals/Guitar/Mouth Organ
• Ali Ferguson Lead/Rhythm Guitar
• Laurie McMillan Bass Guitar
• Ashley McMillan Drums and Percussion

The gig seemed to end all too soon, which is always the way when your having a good time. Ray came out to sign items for fans, and to pose for a few photos he even answered a few questions.

I had actually pre arranged an interview with Ray that day before the gig, alas he wasn’t really in the mood for it. Although at the end of the gig when Ray was packing his own equipment away he and I had an informal chat.

On the strength of this performance I went and saw Ray at Milton Keynes later on that year, Ray is a worthy night out for anyone serious about music.

For more information about Ray Wilson and of course Stiltskin please visit raywilson.co.uk