Venue:

ICC Birmingham

Date: 29/12/2017

There’s a genre of entertainment – and that is the right word – so far little touched upon within these walls. Elton’s done it, Celine, Britney – and magicians. It helped fund those sandwiches and guns for Elvis, and who knows maybe Laibach will do one as an ironic art project one day. I’m referring of course to the ‘Vegas residency’. Which is shorthand for a style of universally-appealing ‘show’ which can be lengthened until the cows come home and franchised all over the world. I’ve not been to Vegas, and the second-mortgage prices required for Cirque de Soleil have likewise left their charms untested round here.

But who’s this at the Birmingham ICC over Christmas? It’s globe-franchising Vegas-residing conference-atttendee-satisfying coloured people The Blue Man Group. Tickets while not cheap, were realistic, and so yesterday evening family Mole attended.

The BMG appreantly started life as an edgy Manhattan street theatre happening thing in the late eighties, but thirty years down the line they, in the usual jargon, couldn’t be more middle of the road if they had two white lines painted down their blue foreheads

After some scroll and roll fun with audience » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Tooting Tram & Social, Tooting, South London

Date: 20/12/2017

The splendidly named Tooting Tram & Social was an almost accidental host for this gig. Thea had struggled to find a venue for her London Christmas show, more usually held at the Half Moon in Putney, and when she finally secured The Sound Lounge on Tooting Road it promptly closed down leaving her to seek a last minute replacement. This worked to her advantage because the Tooting Tram & Social turned out to be a great space, a disused tram shed with white tiled walls, huge ceilings, a bar down one side of the main area, a raised seating section down the other and a small, low-ceilinged stage at the end opposite the door. Tricked up for Christmas with decorations and huge chandeliers it looked a treat.

Nigel Stonier, Thea’s right hand man in music and life, opened proceedings with a few solo numbers. He’s a very fine songwriter and built a relaxed rapport with the early attendees. Even so he lacks the crucial extra factor which would make him a headliner in his own right rather than a much valued producer, arranger and song writer for others. His » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Lichfield Guildhall

Date: 17/12/2017

Well, I both got in and stayed at this one, a first of 3 recent events, these troupers really showing how it can be done. Tribute band, Retro? Well, sort of, except this time they are all pros in their own right, old pros at that, being Steve Gibbons, the Steve Gibbons, the THM* of yore, still world famous in Brum, Dave Pegg and Gerry Conway from Fairport, PJ Wright, erstwhile Gibbons sidesman, latterly lead of Little Johnny England and Trad Arr, and Phil Bond, still a Gibbons band regular. Bloody hell, these guys can play, with Gibbons the consummate Dylan copyist, being a full month younger than Bob, 76, having been chucking in Dylan songs since forever, or 1980, when I first caught him, the difference being he references Dylan before his voice went to shit. And, no mere memorex of performances past, with updates, restyles and reinterprets aplenty, but in a way where you can actually recognise the song, if not the arrangement. No easy retread of the greatest hits, either, these were often, at least in the first half, deeper cuts from less well-celebrated moments. Hell, barely a song from Blonde » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Ritz, Manchester

Date: 16/12/2017

Christmas time is here again which means local heroes returning home for a celebratory gig or two. Hooky was laying waste to the Academy last night with the New Order/Joy Division songbook. Liam of Burnage is at the Arena. Across town, The Chameleons are doing their annual Xmas shindig. This year I’ve decided to spend Xmas at ACR’s place which tonight is the lovely Ritz ballroom. I make my way through the freezing fog and the leery, amateur boozers in Christmas jumpers outside, and inside….oh my god.. civilization. I find a thousand or so groovy folk in the lovely Ritz ballroom looking for A Certain Ratio. It’s pretty rammed, but there is room to dance..it will be needed.

A career spanning set is promised and ACR decide to start mid-period with industrial Jazz funk instrumental ‘Sounds Like Something Dirty’ which showcases Donald Johnson’s powerhouse drumming and Tony Quigley’s ace Sax before going right back to the early Factory days with ‘Do The Du’ which, make no mistake about it, is the ultimate crossover of Funk and Punk and influenced Talking Heads never mind LCD Soundsystem and legions of copyists. They play a lot from » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Royal Festival Hall, Southbank, London

Date: 13/12/2017

I think anyone who has followed The Unthanks career from small folk club nights above pubs to the acoustic dreambox on the south of the Thames knows this is exactly where they were headed. Although at the same time it shows a will to break out from their roots and do what they bloody well please.

I recall when I first saw them I went online to discover more and encountered unrest on the folk forums. They had just signed a deal with a major label to distribute their acclaimed 2nd album ‘The Bairns’ and this was seen as worse than the devil himself. I thought notions of ‘selling out’ or ‘breadheads’ had died with Jerry Garcia but it was alive and well in the straitjacket folk cognoscenti. They appeared to miss that this was a fresh unique pair of voices that could reach a larger audience. They hate being labelled, as anything and have always defied expectations.

I had seen The Unthanks perform with an orchestra in Liverpool in 2015 and they were clearly nervous about the performance. Tonight they showed no signs of anxiety as an early doors » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Royal Festival Hall, Southbank, London

Date: 13/12/2017

I think anyone who has followed The Unthanks career from small folk club nights above pubs to the acoustic dreambox on the south of the Thames knows this is exactly where they were headed. Although at the same time it shows a will to break out from their roots and do what they bloody well please.

I recall when I first saw them I went online to discover more and encountered unrest on the folk forums. They had just signed a deal with a major label to distribute their acclaimed 2nd album ‘The Bairns’ and this was seen as worse than the devil himself. I thought notions of ‘selling out’ or ‘breadheads’ had died with Jerry Garcia but it was alive and well in the straitjacket folk cognoscenti. They appeared to miss that this was a fresh unique pair of voices that could reach a larger audience. They hate being labelled, as anything and have always defied expectations.

I had seen The Unthanks perform with an orchestra in Liverpool in 2015 and they were clearly nervous about the performance. Tonight they showed no signs of anxiety as an early doors » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Back Stage, Green Hotel, Kinross

Date: 08/12/2017

They’ve been around in one form or another, for ever. I’ve never heard anything new from them for well over 30 years, yet they only played 4 songs that I wasn’t familiar with. I suppose you could call it a greatest hits tour, because that’s more or less what they played. Rod Clements is the only original, though I think everyone else has been there for over 20 years. Dave Hull- Denholm takes on most of the lead singing and front man duties as he’s much younger and fitter than Clements, though Clements still gives his all as a multi instrumentalist. Hull-Denholm is married to Alan Hull’s daughter. I think he had 4 different 12 string guitars on stage. In fact, I counted 14 guitars in total! This was the first night of their winter tour, and I  felt it showed in the first few numbers, but from then on they were as tight as a gnat’s chuff, with Steve Dagget encouraging the crowd to join in on the anthemic parts…which, of course,  we all did.

The audience:

I’m not quite 60, but I was probably the youngest there.

It made » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Town Hall, Birmingham

Date: 07/12/2017

I know I may be writing here an invitation to hatemail, there being many who revere this wellonthewaytobeinganationaltreasure of a band. Indeed I like much of their material, if sometimes finding the saccharine taste in their salty-sour songs a little too cloying. So I was looking forward to the show, my first for them. Having seen clips of their shows when augmented with brass bands to be a delight, the idea of an orchestra seemed not too alarming. Wrongity wrong……… Arriving a tad late, an illness on the train ahead, a euphemism for on the tracks I feel, had meant a 30 minute wait at Erdington, I and others were kept outside in the foyer until a break in performance. You know, like in a real posh concert, not for folk-club hardened veterans used to bar banter as loud as they. OK, I’m harsh, but it annoyed me. That and the tutting of the grey-rinsed pillars of the community I had to squeeze past to get to my seat even more. Still I had but missed the, what do they call it, the overture. I was in time for the delightfully shambolic introductions » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Buyers Club, Liverpool

Date: 01/12/2017

These days ‘Psychedelia’ or as ‘ver kids call it ‘Psych’ usually refers to endless amped-up riffage – a sort of supercharged Black Sabbath as peddled by Thee Oh Sees (or whatever they’re called now) and and endless number of hirsute, no-chord wonders dialing FX pedals up to one billion. That’s all fine, and much loved on Merseyside. However, back in the mid 90s when Oasis ruled the airwaves I was in love with a strange Welsh band called Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci. Their early albums ‘Tatay’ and ‘Bwyd Time’ and ‘Barafundle’ were totally out of step with the times and influenced by Matching Mole, Brian Wilson and The Incredible String Band at a time when everyone wanted to be The Jam. Those records still sound otherworldy, and to my ears a lot weirder than anything todays crop of ‘psych’ bands serve up.

Gorky’s Frontman Euros Childs has been solo for the past 15 years and now touring his latest album ‘House Arrest’ which is a rather stripped down affair sounding home-recorded with just him at the keyboards and beatbox. It has the somewhat queasy feel of ‘The Beach Boys Love You’, but » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Band on the Wall, Manchester

Date: 23/11/2017

I blame Luke Haines. He wrote an article in Record Collector last year extolling the virtues of the later Soft Machine albums. The ones they made after Robert Wyatt and Kevin Ayers departed and they dropped the Psychedelic whimsy and went full tilt bonkers Art Rock/Weird Jazz. I’d previously never got past Soft 3 where it goes very noodly, but Luke persuaded me to delve into Soft 7 which is indeed a monstrously good record. I’ve been dipping into that later stuff since and finding gems in those later record like ‘Soft Space’, the relentless Moroder-esque disco stormer that ends ‘Alive and Well’, and curiosities like the ‘Bundles’ album. So Soft Machine are in town and it’s a real treat to get to hear some of this stuff played live.

The Softs might be one of the first bands to keep going through various line-up changes until they ended up still performing and recording with nobody left from the original group, and probably didn’t notice as they were engrossed in an extended solo. Tonight’s version of Soft Machine comprises the ferocious rhythm pals – the mighty John Marshall on drums » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Met, Bury

Date: 24/11/2017

What is it with gigs and start times?. I scoured social media but the only message from Bury Met was ‘8pm’ which seems early but sure enough – the lights go down and it turns out China Crisis are going to be their own support so we get two sets. The first being a run through some deeper cuts, album tracks and some new stuff saving the big tunes for the 2nd half. It’s a pared down version of the band, Gary and Eddie are joined by an excellent Sax and Keyboard player with everything else sequenced, but as we’re reminded this is a more authentic recreation of their synthpop roots.

Gary Daly makes sure that nobody gets restless waiting for the hits by walking us through each song with probably the funniest and warmest between-song banter I’ve ever heard at a gig. He has the audience in stitches, describing the early days of the band from their humble beginnings in Kirkby Merseyside to their appearances on Top of the Pops and of course Pebble Mill at One. There are some priceless anecdotes – the one about Marc Almond and the Prawn » Continue Reading.

Venue:

O2 Apollo Manchester

Date: 24/11/2017

Like most I first became aware of Future Islands via the viral video of their performance of Seasons on David Letterman. 3 years, 2 albums and numerous failed attempts I finally get to see them in the flesh. Entering to a darkened stage the opening notes signal a transformation into a red backdrop, the up lights marking Sam T Herring as some possessed preacher fighting demons’ song by song for the next 2 hours. Each synth pop opus sees him gyrating and sliding across the floor, his voice switching from a smooth baritone to death metal growl in an instant. Punching, pleading, winning each battle against the unseen hordes before taking a breath and starting all over again. He is not alone in his endeavour, watched over by William Cashion (bass), Gerrit Welmers (keyboards) & Michael Lowry (drums) who propel the tales of melancholia along with sublime dance beats. The crowd cheering and dancing, willing Sam on to reach the heights. It truly is a site to see. Promoting the current album, The Far Fields and covering much of the Singles album you cannot help but get caught up in the whirlwind before » Continue Reading.

Venue:

University of London Union

Date: 17/11/2017

I think I have probably seen Chuck Prophet, either fronting his own band or as part of Green On Red, more than any other artist. I estimate all the time I’ve spent standing in front of stages watching, listening to and enjoying Chuck’s playing and singing amounts to about two days of my life. (I realise this is as naught compared to dedicated Springsteen followers or Deadheads who probably can count weeks of their existence spent in front of their favourites, but it is a significant time for me).

What that means is I’ve seen performances of varying intensity and enjoyment over the years. There is a group of friends I go to CP gigs with, and we’ve been in agreement that his last couple of London gigs have been rather lacklustre. When I was sorting out the tickets for this gig, people were actually questioning whether we wanted to go.

That won’t happen next time because this was a fully energised, fun-loving, concentrated, dedicated, brilliant performance.

The band came out, started up then Chuck bounded out. A huge grin on his face. They play an intro, which something of an » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Gullivers, Manchester

Date: 20/11/2017

I remember very much enjoying Amusement Parks on Fire’s majestic LP ‘Out of Angeles’ which was, wow, over 10 years ago. They kind of fell off my radar (apparently they moved to LA and there was a 3rd LP which passed me by entirely). I presumed they’d joined the ‘great lost bands of the 00s’ list, so was pleased to learn they were back on, and coming to Gullivers (the fine old Manchester pub, not the Theme Park I hasten to add).

I feel like hearing some new bands so I get there in time to see the supports they’ve brought along. First up is Sewage Farm. Sewage Farm?! They’re actually a decent, grungy power trio with some big, spirited, soaraway tunes and a rib-cage rattling bass sound. They’re from York, and they sound like they’re thoroughly gigged-in and ready to tear up your festival, illegal rave, squat-party, wherever their tour van takes them. Next up are Misty Coast, hailing from Bergen in Norway, and things get a bit more cerebral, but no less powerful. They’ve a majestic, swirly and psychedelic sound with some electronic backing and almost Cocteau Twins-like, heavily processed vocals, » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Oran Mor, Glasgow

Date: 19/11/2017

I do like Jim White, so much so that I body-served the option of Chuck Prophet at home in sunny Edinburgh, to travel out to the weedge to see JW instead. I have to say: good choice. He was ably backed by his support band, Cicada Rhythm and took us on an extended tour of his back catalogue and new album (Waffles, Triangles and Jesus). However it wasn’t just the material, strong though it is, that made this a top gig. It was Jim White’s stage presence, hilarious yarns and general bonhomie that made it a special occasion. For all I know, he says the same stuff every night but it didn’t feel like that. It felt like the spontaneity and associated risk that makes going to a gig worthwhile. JW made several mentions of his history of mental illness, which I’d not been aware of. Good for him. Special mention for his nightly ”shirt off my back’ auction, which has enabled him to make significant donations to Doctors Without Borders (“They think I’m a millionaire!”) No Tornadoes or Still Waters though *sad face*.

The audience:

Varied but, well, I didn’t feel out » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Camelot Lounge, Marrickville (that’s inner western Sydney for most of you)

Date: 17/11/2017

This was bloody brilliant. The whole of the Black Sea album (pre re-issues and re-masters), rendered so well that I now have to go back and reconsider Burning With Optimisms Flames because I think I misjudged it.

Then after an intermission a quick canter through the rest of the catalog, a few hits (like Nigel) and some famous tracks (Chalk Hills and Children). Great musicianship (as promised by Mousey), really authentic sounding. They even managed to emulate a lot of double tracking, for voices, guitars, keyboards, drums…and you don’t hear Travels In Nihilon every day now do you ?

The audience:

The audience was one of *the* amazing things – it was The Massive incarnate, like every Mingle photo I’ve ever seen extrapolated. If there was an Afterword demographic in inner western Sydney they all turned up – 200-300 in a pokey fire trap warehouse; what’s not to love.

It made me think..

I’ll be back for a Nonsuch night. And I finally realised (through a bit of googling) that when I actually saw XTC in Dunstable in 1981, it was their last-but-one UK concert. » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Pavilions, Plymouth

Date: 16/11/2017

I had mixed feelings before this gig – sure, it would be great to see Robert Plant once again (last time was a rather larger event at the O2 10 years ago with one of his old bands whose name escapes me), and I really like the last 4 albums (Raising Sand onwards)… but…oh, I don’t know….I was expecting a whole heap from the new album and probably a couple of Led Zep re-workings to keep the old fans happy.

So, what was it like..? Flippin’ amazing, that’s what. Seth Lakeman had done a great half hour support slot totally solo – he was clearly delighted to be involved in all this, and he was on home turf (‘This is my easiest ever commute to work – 9 miles!’) and the crowd were very warm and enthusiastic. ‘Imagine you’re in a folk club’ he said at one point, and it was great to hear him in this large venue. He mentioned family a freinds in the audience and I spotted his Dad, Geoff Lakeman, during the interval looking suitably chuffed.

After a rather unnecessary half hour interval, the Sensational Space Shifters hit the » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Liverpool Cavern Club & O2 Academy

Date: 14/11/2017

I not only got the opportunity to see Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul on Tuesday night, but I also was invited to a very special lunchtime show at the Cavern Club where the full band performed a short set of Beatles tunes. So I was met at the back door of the Cavern Club by Steve’s Tour Manager who ushered us into the legendary crypt where sound check was under way (working their way through Good Morning). Trying to fit 15 members of the band onto the stage was a non-starter so they were split into two groups with the horn section and the backing singers stationed to the left of the main stage. I was front and centre when the doors were opened and was joined by a couple who had been queuing since 5.30 that morning and a guy who had been there since 7am. That’s dedication. Little Steven and the band took to the stage and ripped straight into Magical Mystery Tour. Steven talked of his love of the Beatles and how if his religion was rock and roll then he was in his Mecca » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Northern Steamship Company, Quay St, Auckland

Date: 13/11/2017

Personnel: this was pretty much a scratch outfit, four expats who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Any fears that they might not gel were dispelled right away by a riff on a shared favourite album which came to no real conclusion but segued into a rollcall of favourite Afterword keywords: Bowie, Zappa, drummers, Stones, Depeche Mode, Stevie Wonder, H P Saucecraft, various aspects of politics, life stories, living in ANZ, and plenty of other things I can’t remember. Drink was taken, toasts were made, and bollocks was talked non-stop for about four hours.

[Interlude] Two nights earlier Nick and I found ourselves in a funky if hard-to-find basement on the edge of the Red Light District (allegedly) listening to a series of piano players doing their thing. Highlights included a young girl with the face of an angel playing Monk, a young Frenchman playing Mernk, and another young chap with a full range of blues faces playing an astonishingly difficult Scriabin piano sonata from memory. The main attraction though was none other than Mousey, playing selections from his Abbey Road album and chatting » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Manchester Academy

Date: 08/11/2017

‘What a year we’ve had” smiles a radiant Steve Hogarth, as the band close with final encore Three Minute Boy. Clearly jubilant, Marillion are going through a golden period at the moment; they played the London Palladium the night before and Prog Magazine awarded them band of the year. With a five star review in the Guardian for their album F.E.A.R. and a recent triumphant show at the Albert Hall, all things are gold in the Marillion camp at the moment. The packed ‘family’ of Marillion fans look like they want to remain, ignore the curfew and carry on singing (at times badly),but they can’t complain, this has been a set which just gives and gives.

Beginning with the most thought provoking and at times heart wrenching Eldorado suite from F.E.A.R. it climaxes with the title track, Steve Rothery’s powerful guitar chords and Hogarth screaming “You Can’t See Into My Head”. With themes of terrorism, the state of our once proud nation and world, it’s a sombre start, but is dispelled as Mark Kelly’s fluttery piano signals the intro of Slaine Mhath from their 1987 Clutching At Straws. Originally sung by Fish, Hogarth » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Albert Hall, Manchester

Date: 11/11/2017

The People’s Concert marks the 100th anniversary of an event of the same at this very venue back when it was a Wesleyan Church – it was nothing of any great significance – an old handbill given to the venue owners reveals a classical recital and a ‘humorous entertainer’ were on the bill back in 1917 but it’s good name for a shindig featuring several top bands for a very reasonable £20.

Girl Ray are on early doors but I only saw them a week ago and very good they were too (imagine The Raincoats produced by Nile Rogers) – so they lose out to pre-gig eats. I arrive in time to catch Boxed-In who I’ve see a few times. They’ve a very contemporary dance-pop sound but with that somewhat dour Hot Chip angle and are also named after a Francis Bacon painting yer see. They definitely win a few new fans as the venue gradually fills up.

Dutch Uncles are up next, they’re the main draw for me. I love their weird, skewed take on pop complete with odd time signatures, Xylophone solos, proggy keyboard workouts, Talking Heads/XTC style jerky » Continue Reading.