It's confession time. I've always wanted to be the manic fiddle player in THE LEVELLERS, and I've always hoped they would play the old classic "100 Years Of Solitude" again. Tonight, my second wish came true and it was worth the entrance fee for that alone.
With the release of their seventh studio album, "Green Blade Rising", produced by Alan Scott - the guy responsible for their second album, "Levelling The Land" - the Brighton combo have made a gallant return to their roots with a more stripped-down, organic sound.
Being one of the most prolific gigsters of the modern age, The Levellers are no strangers to the Prague stage. They usually notch up more than 200 shows a year, and live they're totally exhilarating. Their sound sits awkwardly between The Clash and The Pogues: their Celtic-tinged abrasive folk songs connect with the audience immediately.
With a colourful array of instrumentation that includes fiddles, guitars, mandolins and horns, the band unleash a power of the most awesome variety. There's a distinct feel good factor as they plough their way through songs from "Green Blade Rising". "Four Winds," "Wild As Angels," and "Pretty Target" go down partciularly well. The band jumps, so the crowd jumps and everybody is enthralled.
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Singer Mark Chadwick doesn't say much, though. He just gets on with singing. Soap box politics are not what The Levellers are about. They haven't got any manifestos to wave about; instead they take the more subtle social approach, allowing the music to speak for itself.
Of the older material, celebratory anthems like "Fifteen Years", "What A Beautiful Day" and "One Way" turn the stage into a rock'n'roll circus. Like carefully orchestrated pandemonium, every inch of the stage is used to maximum effect, taken up mostly by Jon Sevink's psychotic fiddle and bass player Jez Cunningham's over-grown dreadlocks. He maintains an inane grin throughout, the sort that scares little children, and you can't help but think about the type of shampoo required to wash his hair.
The Levellers represent the great unwashed, it's their ultimate key to success. Whilst tackling important global and social issues, The Levellers are both thought-provoking and entertaining as well. It's a winning formula and let's hope they stick to it.
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