The Almighty – 29th November – Cambridge Corn Exchange

Review By Mark Pitfield Photos By Mathew Pitfield

On a cold night outside in Cambridge at the Cornhill Exchange, almost 1500 rockers came to witness the The Almighty for their 2024 winter tour.

Having had the chance to relive my youth in 2023 in Manchester, tonight meant just as much to the crowd and myself and as a bonus,s Matthew was with me to capture the event photographically!

Girlschool opened proceedings with a 40-minute set and they went down well for a band in their 45th year, and a near capacity crowd lapped up their performance and having been together for so long the synergy was there to see. (cannot believe it’s the first time I have seen them) The final song of the set was Emergency which sealed their set perfectly.

Next up, although they need no introduction was the introduction from their 1992 Donington appearance came over the speakers. (I was there)

“Would you please welcome
From Glasgow Scotland
The all live
All wild
The all fucking mighty”

And like on this day they opened into Crucify. They were as tight as ever with thunderous bass coming from Floyd who had a huge smile on his face along with Tantrum on guitar, with the beat being timed perfectly by Stump Munroe and the quality vocals of Mr Rickey Warick.

Do You Understand kept up the momentum and what becomes apparent is after I can only assume would have been a small number of rehearsal sessions, how much they must remember from all those years gone by and how tight they still are. Now I liken this to me not remembering what I had done yesterday but I can recall most of the words from most Almighty songs (along with all of the crowd).

Nothing Left To Lose comes shortly after and the way in which the band swap places on stage is a sight to behold, never getting in one another’s way and like a well-oiled machine they cover the stage with ease, interacting with the crowd.

A short break in proceedings to introduce Gift Horse has Ricky telling us about where they wrote and rehearsed the song in Scotland. I love the story behind a song. With the crowd warmed up nicely it’s time for a slower pace in the form of A Little Lost Sometimes, a great song and a nice chance for everyone to regain their composure. Way Beyond Belief, Freedom, Unreal Thing, Over The Edge, Wild And Wonderful have the crowd singing along and then a huge roar for Free And Easy!

I have only given you about 50% of the set as they are still to play Wolverhampton and Glasgow on this run of shows, so I want to add a little surprise to the set. What I can promise for over 90 minutes, is your ears will be ringing, you will be smiling ear to ear, and also horse from singing along and at the end you will be chanting…….All Fucking Mighty, All Rucking Mighty, All Fucking Mighty!!!!!