The Afterword

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On the taking of photos at gigs

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I heard something I had never heard before at a gig last night. Just before Richard Thompson took to the stage at the Ipswich Corn Exchange an announcement was made over the PA that anyone who wanted to take photos during the gig should do so during the first three songs only, and that anyone taking videos as well was requested not to share them on social media.

I like to take photos at gigs (in as considerate as possible a way for those around me of course) and that seemed fair enough to me. It endorsed those who wished to take pictures while asking them to stop after a reasonable time. It was one man, one guitar with simple lighting – if you hadn’t captured any of the spectacle on offer after a few songs nothing was going to change after that.

I guess this was the venue’s stipulation rather than Richard’s. He was a recent guest on Chris Difford’s podcast and was asked about phones at gigs. In a reply taking in David Byrne (everyone told to film a particular song the put their phones away) and Chrisssie Hynde (so pissed off she threatened to stop playing if » Continue Reading.

Julian Cope has a new single out

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The song has been around for a while, there are recordings in YouTube from 2017 and I heard him play it on his last pre-Covid tour, but it’s his new single nevertheless and it’s also this evening’s earworm for some reason.

Going anywhere nice this year?

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Yesterday, or more precisely early this morning due to a flight delay, we got from a few days in Venice, our first time ‘away away’ since 2019. We’ve been on various short trips to a variety of places in England, Scotland and Wales in the last couple of years, but not the sort of destination where you can relax in a sunny Campo with a Spritz before dinner, take a gondola ride, or discover that your very poor command of Italian hasn’t improved miraculously by being neglected for such a long time.

It was bliss.

What we most missed during lockdowns and other more restrictive Covid regulations were gigs and holidays, not just the events themselves but having them as points in the calendar to look forward too. These things are subject to change of course, but in the Italy’s case at least the only Covid restriction we noticed was a request to wear a face covering on the bus between Marco Polo and Piazzale Roma. We didn’t take the vaporetti, preferring to walk everywhere, but passengers in those seemed to be masked too (as were staff but not customers in shops). There was no requirement to provide a » Continue Reading.

Venues take on gig merchandise

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It’s a topic previously discussed in this board, but this example was particularly egregious, and the band’s response seems to be part of a growing campaign.

Due to manufacturing delays The Unthanks new album wasn’t available in time for their excellent show at The London Palladium last night, but that wasn’t the reason there was no merchandise desk. The reason, as Adrian McNally told us from the stage, is that Lloyd Webber Theatres wanted a 25% cut of the takings!

This isn’t new, or a post-Covid thing; a few years ago the support for Richard Thompson at The Cliffs Pavilion in Southend said they wouldn’t be selling merch as the Cliffs’ take would mean they lost money on anything they sold. It happens that the last time I saw Richard was at the Palladium, and I enjoyed opener Katherine Priddy’s set enough to seek her out in the interval and buy her CDs. The Wolf EP and her album were £20 between them, and it seems like a fiver of it went to the venue. Part of the reason I like to buy direct from the artist is that I want as much as possible to go directly to » Continue Reading.

Andy Fletcher RIP

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Bloody hell. The Depeche Mode Twitter account has just announced the death of Andy Fletcher. No further details at this time.

I say again, bloody hell …

This evening I am thinking about fathers

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Content warning – you might want to skip this one if you are experiencing grief or family difficulties.

The Light’s father died this morning. She called me from work where she heard the news, and picked me up en route to see him in the care home where he breathed his last at about 4am. It wasn’t a great surprise; when we visited him last weekend it was hard to tell if he was responsive or knew we were there, and he looked as ill as I have ever seen a living person.

She has slept most of the rest of the day and is emotionally exhausted, but frankly he was an awful man who treated her like shit her entire life. The last time she tried help him out of filial duty a few years ago the reaction brought her trauma to a peak, leading to a breakdown which left her unable to work for 6 months. For the sake or her own health and sanity she had kept her distance since then.

When my own father died at the start of the year, from COVID related pneumonia after a lengthy stay in a care home due to Alzheimer’s, » Continue Reading.

Spinal Tap return!

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I’m not 100% sure how to feel about this. This Is Spinal Tap is, of course, the funniest movie ever made and one of the greatest films ever made, but can lightning really strike twice?

https://deadline.com/2022/05/spinal-tap-sequel-rob-reiner-michael-mckean-christopher-guest-harry-shearer-back-1235022317/

Eurovision 2022

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I can’t help but acknowledge the lack of excitement over Eurovision around here, which is presumably down to the assumption that Ukraine will walk it on a good will vote (even if that might make the staging of the 2023 final problematic). I’m not devoted enough to watch the qualifying rounds, which start tomorrow, but as usual we’ll be glued to the TV for the final on Saturday with scorecards, plenty of snacks and lashings of red wine.

My top tip for the hotly contested number 2 spot is Norway.

Your show of the year

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Even if things have still been severely limited by world events in 2021 I hope those of us who like nothing more than live entertainment have managed to attend at least a few events. Checking my calendar I’ve got a heady 13 under my belt this year, which break down into 6 gigs, 2 one-day music festivals, 1 opera, 2 musicals, and 2 comedy shows.

I can’t think of any real disappointments, though I can’t remember much about La Boheme at the ROH (possibly because we had seen the same production a couple of years earlier), and some of the festival acts were pretty much going through the motions, which is standard.

This is comparing apples and oranges, but top pick of the year would either be Richard Thompson at the Palladium, or Frankie Boyle at the Leicester Square Theatre. Let’s give the top mark to Richard, as Frankie’s was a short work-in-progress show and in the afternoon to boot, even if the 30 or 40 minutes he performed left my ribs aching.

Oh good grief …

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I paused the TV less than ten minutes ago because The Light hadn’t shared the pain of the Rod Stewart single One More Time. Now he’s turned up on Graham Norton playing the same song, so she has suffered it twice in quick succession.

It’s like Ed Sheeran had rewritten Galway Girl for his horny grandad to sing and creep everyone out at a wedding reception. It’s hard to pick the worst line. ‘Together we smashed it’? ‘You taught me how to nasty’ my vote goes to ‘the sex was immense by a good old country mile’. And the video – Rod and a group of blonde women with characterful faces strut around London while he mimes the lyrics.

I wouldn’t have known this unique conflation of words, music and images existed if it wasn’t for Twitter, but now that I do, and have inflicted it on my other half, you’ll have to see it too. Be strong – it might seem like a fortnight in Northampton but it’s really only 4 of the longest minutes » Continue Reading.

A Carnival of Snackery

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Author:David Sedaris

Those familiar with David Sedaris’ live readings will know that the highlight of the night is often his diary entries, which come sandwiched between the longer essays and the audience Q+A. This is the second collection of those diaries, and likely to be the last for a while as it takes him up to 2020.

Much as I enjoyed the first collection, Theft by Finding, I am less interested in his journey to writing success (the story his boyfriend Hugh calls ‘David Copperfield Sedaris’) than his finished style and that is what this book contains in great volume. Really, I would have said the short entries make this the perfect toilet book if it wasn’t such a tome at 566pp.

Although there are some running themes, around his family and other common presences in his life, the best and funniest entries and the unconnected mishaps and observations. His typical tone is that of the baffled outsider, wondering why such and such a thing exists, or why a stranger would behave in a certain way. If you are a tuned to his way of seeing things then so much the better, if not you might spend a long time » Continue Reading.

And afternoon with Bill Bailey and an evening with Heathers

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Venue:

The Royal Opera House and Theatre Royal Haymarket

Date: 07/08/2021

When The light decided that she wanted to see Bill Bailey we quickly discovered that the dates for his upcoming tour had been re-arranged due to Covid, and that the ones closest to us in Essex were either sold out (Southend) or had stopped operating (Brentwood). We leapt on Saturday matinee tickets for his residency at the Royal Opera House as soon as it was announced. Not much later we were watching Heathers, the pitch-black Winona Rider and Christian Slater comedy about an American high school nihilist who goes on a murder spree using fake suicides as cover. When I mentioned that Heathers was now a musical being staged in London evening tickets were added to the itinerary.

If that sounds profligate given the recent thread on the cost of tickets these days, these were all bargains. Stalls circle seats for Bill, about 5 rows plus the width of the empty orchestra pit from the stage, were £20 each. They were sold as ‘restricted view’ but that would only matter if you wanted to see an extravagantly staged opera with a huge set, when you don’t need to » Continue Reading.

Dusty Hill

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When the subject of long lasting band lineups rolls around these pages again, as it did recently, ZZ Top always get an honourable mention. Alas no more, as Dusty Hill has left the building. The band statement reads,

“We are saddened by the news today that our Compadre, Dusty Hill, has passed away in his sleep at home in Houston, TX. We, along with legions of ZZ Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the ‘Top’. We will forever be connected to that “Blues Shuffle in C.”

You will be missed greatly, amigo.

Frank & Billy

Folk by the Oak 2021

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Venue:

Hatfield House, Hertfordshire

Date: 18/07/2021

It was no surprise that the 2020 Folk by the Oak was cancelled, but more of a surprise that this years was able to go ahead, albeit with reduced ticket numbers and the usual Acorn Stage for newer acts removed to allow more space for distancing. So I was that on a blazing day in July we headed for a field in the grounds of Hatfield House near Welwyn Garden City for the novel experience of enjoying live music in the company of several thousand like minded people. I think it could catch on.

The 2020 lineup all signed themselves up for a like-for-like bill this year, though in the end Richard Thompson couldn’t manage the date. His spot was filled by The Young ‘Uns who were in turn replaced by festival compere Jim Moray after one Young ‘Un succumbed to Covid. In addition, Sam Sweeney was in a car crash the night before as he was going home from a gig, and although he says he was more shaken than hurt a glance at the state of his car on his FB page will be all you need to confirm that he’ll » Continue Reading.

Bill Bailey Klaxon

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I know there are plenty of Bill Bailey fans here, and those in or near London might want to know he is playing a week of dates at the Royal Opera House from August 2 – 8 (daily shows plus a Saturday matinee). The Saturday dates will be filmed and I’ve just bought a pair for the afternoon show.

The ROH is the most sumptuous venue in London, so this will be a chance to enjoy the building even if ballet and opera aren’t your thing, but comedy is.

https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/bill-bailey-summer-larks-details

It’s Been a Year …

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Since @twang innocently enquired ‘Going out this weekend?’ (link at end) My own response was rather more bullish the the reality. I mentioned gigs that night and a few days later, both of which we went to, and a short break in Edinburgh after, which we cancelled after a sleepless night thinking about it.

So what have learned from a year unlike any other we have ever experienced and hopefully never will again? Some of my bullet point takes, and I’d be interested to see yours (or of course longer discussion).

Humans are extraordinarily adaptable creatures given the basics such as utilities and retail.

Retail workers seem to have been the forgotten heroes, and lets not leave out the supply chain which by and large kept shelves stocked.

Although the last 12 months have been ball-achingly dull they have, for someone like me lucky enough to stay well and stay in full time employment, not been personally unpleasant.

Speaking of work it’s plain that working from home, at least most of the time, if far better for a great many people and should have been introduced years ago.

My opinion of the government, never high, » Continue Reading.

On the stamina of rock stars (bonus Richard Thompson claxon)

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Richard Thompson has announced a short set of solo UK and Ireland dates for October/November (link at the end). I’ve already bought tickets for London of course. Not only would I hate to miss out on a chance to see him, but by the time these dates roll around Richard will be 72. He’s always kept fit, hasn’t touched alcohol for decades and so on, but who knows how long he will want to, or possibly be able to, keep on touring.

And that is what got me thinking. The night before London he’ll be playing in Cardiff. The night before that in Manchester. The night after London he’ll be in Dublin. That sounds utterly exhausting. The travel, the different bed every night, the daily technical checks, maybe some interviews and other press duties, the adrenaline rush of the show late at night and the pressure to give your best for the audience.

I’m almost 20 years younger than Richard and reckon I would collapse after a week of that. Rock stars are just made of different stuff I guess.

https://www.richardthompson-music.com/tour-dates