You know, it’s odd. Tonight, there’s more than two hours of brilliant music spread across two sets.
It features some of the biggest, best-known, and most-loved singles in the UK from the last 40 years (we’ll get to them). But you know what goes down best—and feels like the centrepiece of the show? “Cuddly Toy,” that’s what.
Roachford’s 1988 hit is greeted with such fervour that fellow vocalist Tim Howar reckons there’s been a “Cuddly Toy revival.”
The pair—Howar and Andrew Roachford—make up a third of this version of Mike + The Mechanics. And if they’re stunning, well, they have to be just to keep up.
They kick things off with Howar singing “Beggar on a Beach of Gold,” and it’s slick, polished, and exquisitely done. To save repeating that all night, let’s just assume everything else is too.
And those hits? Roachford is at his soulful, smooth peak on “Another Cup of Coffee,” and Anthony Drennan’s solo makes “Get Up” soar.
The band intersperse the classics with a couple of new songs. “Song for You Song for Me” is up first, then they launch into Genesis’ “Land of Confusion.” What’s staggering about its ‘80s vibe is how prescient the lyrics still are. Not enough love to go around? Just watch the news.
Another new track, “East and West of the Sun,” is superb—but when they end the first half with “Silent Running,” they’re in a different league.
The second half opens in more sedate fashion, with an acoustic section. Done almost as a medley, it’s supremely well thought-out and brilliantly executed. “Invisible Touch” is a surprise in this stripped-back format, as is “Follow You, Follow Me.” A couple of Genesis tunes are reworked alongside “Nobody Knows” and “Everybody Gets a Second Chance.”
But these boys are pros. And pros know how to structure a set.
It kind of helps when you’ve got “The Living Years” in your back pocket—and can follow it with “I Can’t Dance,” on which Rutherford knocks out that riff while Roachford delivers a sublime keys solo—before ending on a triumphant “…..Toy.”
Which brings us to the drummer: Nick Collins. Son of. The youngest member of the band is phenomenal throughout.
“All I Need Is a Miracle” has a euphoric feel, and that continues into the encore, “Word of Mouth.”
Turned into a genuine epic, with each band member getting a solo—Rutherford, on crutches after a hip injury, throws in a more-than-passable “Purple Haze” with his—it might lose a touch of momentum, but it reminds you just how good this band is, one last time.
Howar’s background as a Broadway performer springs to mind throughout. This show has a similar quality, that of a recital. You could see Mike + The Mechanics any night, and they’d be this slick, this polished, and this classy.
MIKE + THE MECHANICS @ SYMPHONY HALL, BIRMINGHAM 4/4/2025
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