One man down, but wow what a band!
At the end of July Not Advised announced via their Myspace that: - "It is with great sadness and frustration that we have to tell you that Jim has been diagnosed with a serious problem with his larynx and as a result there is no way he will be able to sing on our forthcoming headline tour." However, with that said, they continued with "the ethos of our band has always been that the show must go on - and as a result we will be honouring all shows with the small exception of Camden and Southampton. Ash, our guitarist, will be singing lead vocals and the four of us will be doing everything we can to reward you guys for your support this year".
Could Ash pull off standing in for Jim as lead vocalist for this tour, was the questions on everyone's lips. The answer was YES and he gave one of the most incredible, lively and possibly even more outstanding performances. When the lads took to the stage without their lead man it must have been a little frightening, especially considering this set was to be their first headline date in the capital. However, with their heads up and held high they took to the stage, the fans bellowed with admiration for keeping the tours dates and they began.
It was a little strange that there seemed to be less people in the crowd for the main act than for the previous four support bands, however Not Advised were obviously not bothered by this and gave it all they had, which ultimately got the crowd rowdy and boisterous. One of the finest performances of the set, actually the entire evening, was of 'The A.R.K', which was so incredible that shivers were sent down your spine.
Everyone was obviously missing Jim's presence on stage, the shouts of "where are you?" made this very clear. However, Ash managed more than successfully to make sure the crowd would not be disappointed with the night and Jim was there hiding in the crowd supporting his fellow band mates. Overall, the most impressive, spirited and highly admirable performance Not Advised has ever done in London. We wish Jim well on his recovery and hopefully he'll be back on stage with the band at another London date soon.