Photo Credit: Thomas Michael Cole
Guitarist John Etheridge is a very busy man. For four consecutive nights, between 4-7 September 2024, he played four sold-out concerts at Pizza Express Jazz in London, starting with this gig with Soft Machine (the other nights he played with his Frank Zappa tribute band, the Zappatistas; the Art Themen Quartet, and Vimala Rowe Quartet).
At 76, you might have expected Etheridge to take things a little easy on this opening gig, but not a bit of it – the whole band played with fire and fury. John Etheridge has been associated with Soft Machine for almost 50 years (he first played with them in 1975). Soft Machine was originally formed in 1966, and not surprisingly, has undergone numerous line-up changes in that time. The current band consists of Etheridge; multi-instrumentalist Theo Travis (he joined the band in 2006); bassist Fred Baker, who first played with Soft Machine in 2008, but joined the band in 2021, replacing Roy Babbington, and drummer Asaf Sirkis, who replaced John Marshall in 2023.
Filling John Marshall’s shoes was no easy task and Etheridge explained how the band tried out many drummers before asking Sirkis to join them. It was a great choice, and the whole band sounds as if they have been playing together for many years – at one point in the concert, Etheridge stated that he thought this was the best Soft Machine band he had played in.
The audience at the packed out Pizza Express were treated to almost two hours of music, spread over two sets. With such a huge legacy, it can’t be easy putting together a set-list that satisfies the numerous generations who have followed the band, but this group was more than up to the task, with tunes taken from the first Soft Machine album (released in 1968) right up to the band’s most recent offering, the 2023 album Other Doors.
The band was introduced to the stage by Jon Newey, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Jazzwise magazine, who recalled first seeing the band as a sixteen year-old at a 1967 event called The 14 Hour Technicolour Dream (in fact, it lasted twelve hours), which took place at Alexandra Palace on the 29 April, and included acts such as Pink Floyd, Pete Townsend and Yoko Ono. Newey saw the band again in October and recalled how the music: ‘Took my head apart.’
video by Thomas Michael Cole
The band kicked off with ‘Facelift,’ a Hugh Hopper tune from the 1970 album, Third, and which Etheridge noted was ‘Nearly a hit,’ for the band. This was followed by ‘Burden of Proof,’ a John Etheridge composition from the 2013 Soft Machine Legacy album of the same name. After playing the opening two tunes, Etheridge addressed the audience. This is a man who knows how to connect with a crowd, and throughout the evening, his banter, anecdotes and witty introductions kept the audience constantly amused.
‘Fell To Earth’ is a throwback to the sixties prog rock era, with its brooding saxophone intro, fluttering flute lines, out-of-tempo sections, pounding drums and aggressive guitar playing. Sirkis is a powerful, inventive drummer, but he’s never overpowering. He’s a terrific addition to the band.
Karl Jenkins’ ‘The Tale of Taliesin’ began with Travis playing swirling lines on electric piano and Sirkis laying down a heavy beat. Etheridge plays the theme. The last section has the band shifting up a gear, with Etheridge playing a lightning guitar solo, using a touch of overdrive to create a gritty sound. The rhythm section of Baker and Sirkis drives him onto greater heights, before a hand signal from Travis takes the band into the coda.
‘Drifting White,’ from the 2018 album Hidden Details, is a short, reflective solo guitar piece, which segued into ‘The Stars Apart,’ from Other Doors, which has a lovely, light, jazzy groove. Baker comes to the fore with a solid bass solo. ‘Fourteen Hour Dream’ a Travis composition, is a nod to the 60s psychedelia era, with a pounding drum beat, lots of flute and a furious guitar solo. The first set ended with Mike Ratledge’s ‘Gesolreut.’ Baker started it off with a superb solo that included Jaco Pastorius-style harmonics and the heavy use of a fuzz pedal, before the band joined in with a blazing performance.
The second set opened with the sublime ‘Penny Hitch,’ a Karl Jenkins tune from the 1973 album Seven, and revisited on the Other Doors album. Baker plays the song’s slow, powerful bass riff and Travis delivers the song’s sweet melody on soprano sax. It was one of the evening’s highlights for me. The band’s first single (from 1968) ‘Joy Of A Toy,’ has a bright, happy theme, which explains why it was seen as a potential hit. As Etheridge explained to the audience, ‘It’s a tune! It’s in E-major!’
‘Kings And Queens,’ from the 1971 album Fourth followed, with Etheridge declaring that it was his favourite Hugh Hopper composition. It’s a tune that puts Travis centre-stage on flute, with echo and reverb added here and there to great effect. Sirkis plays with great sensitivity too, starting off with brushes, before switching to sticks. A 15-minute medley has the band seamlessly switching from ’10.30 Return To The Bedroom,’ to ‘Hidden Details,’ and then ‘Hazard Profile (Part 1)’. Sirkis solos on the first tune; Travis plays blistering tenor sax on the second, and Etheridge plays some furious guitar lines on the third.
Unfortunately, there was only time for one encore, with the band playing a combination of ‘Backwards’ and ‘Noisette.’ It all started off in a mellow mood and ended excitedly, as the band cranked up the energy. It was a fitting climax to a memorable night.
