Venue:

London’s Union Chapel

Date: 02/05/2019

This was my 15th or 16th time seeing Becky & Rachel Unthank and like other artists I have seen many times it’s the fact that each time can be different which keeps me coming back and keeps their live shows fresh. Over the years I have seen them a 5 piece, ten piece, with an orchestra, the Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band and The Army Of Generals. Their constant search for the new and unearthing their traditional folk roots to a wider audience brings Becky, Rachel with violinist Niopha Keegan sans fiddle to “one of our favourite places to play”.

The Unthanks often joke onstage about their mournful and depressive reputation with songs of lost love, unhappy marriage and death but god I adore proper melancholy. Their opening trio of tunes are soaked in dark duende, sung in the half light of the setting sun through the chapels large stained window. Niopha takes lead on ‘Weary From Lying Alone’ showing off a deeper tone than the sisters – and as they point out as she intros the song “we don’t usually let Niopha speak cos people realise she’s nota Geordie’.

The uptempo ‘Sandgate » Continue Reading.

Venue:

State Theatre, Sydney, Australia

Date: 10/05/2019

I have to say I never go to these tribute shows, I hate the whole idea of them, and there seem to be more and more of them about these days. But on this occasion there was, first of all, the opportunity to hear pianist Mike Garson, and secondly, my mate Snapper was doing the lighting and offered me free VIP tickets. So I thought why not?

So the good things first – it was an excellent band. Mike Garson was in superb touch on the piano – some kind of Roland electronic faux-grand (apparently they couldn’t get a grand piano into the dear old Art Deco State Theatre), although for a lot of the piano solos he used a Kronos keyboard. He was also MD and did all the introductions, a very friendly persona, and many respectful mentions of DB. Gerry Leonard on guitar was superb, doing all the lead parts. Like Jon Hetherington in Steely Dan these days he plays almost note for note versions of the great solos we know and love (in this case Ronno, Fripp, Belew etc), but injects his own phrasing and sounds to keep it » Continue Reading.

Venue:

EartH, Hackney, Dalston, Stoke Newington, That London

Date: 06/05/2019

‘It always makes us nervous playing new songs’ says Richard about mid gig, ‘ I hope you don’t mind’.

A wag in the audience suggesting they play some old is jovially called a ‘see-you-next-Tuesday’ before the band launch into ‘Tonight The Streets Are Ours’ after which Hawley gives the fella a thumbs up and grin. Its been two and a half years but at the opening night of his two night stand in the capital its very much business as usual

EartH, down one end of Stoke Newington High Street, was once a Savoy picturehouse which fell into disuse during the 80s cinema slump, faded into a snooker hall and then pigeon roost & toilet. A multi million pound grant has seen it reopen as a multi use venue although a bar & restaurant tacked on the side is the most obvious sign of where the cash has gone. The actual auditorium is shorn of any fittings, seats or facilities – beer is sold in cans and its £2 to hire a cushion to save your bum chaffing on the stone steps. However as Richard described it as “a » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

Date: 06/05/2019

West Side Story is older than me, first being performed on Broadway in 1957. The story itself is as old as the hills, based on Romeo And Juliet, which, in turn can be traced back to Ovid’s Pyramus And Thisbe in 8AD. Arthur Laurents wrote the book, including the ‘jibba-jabba’ pseudo-street talk. Leonard Bernstein wrote the music, Stephen Sondheim debuted as a lyric writer and Jerome Roberts oversaw the concept and choreographed the show.

The 1961 film cleaned up both at the box office and at the Oscars. Rita Moreno as Anita was the first Latina actress ever to win an Oscar. The soundtrack won a Grammy and was number one for a whole year.

In 1984, Leonard Bernstein wanted to emphasise the operatic nature of the music and re- recorded a double album of the score with classically trained singers led by Kiri Te Kanawa as Maria, José Carreras as Tony and Tatiana Troyanos as Anita. All the hit songs, Something’s Coming, Maria, Tonight, America, I Feel Pretty and Somewhere, shone through.

The show returns to Manchester, the city that first brought it to the UK public’s attention in 1958. » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Hammersmith Odeon, that London

Date: 04/05/2019

Wow. I mean Wow!. Sod that, I mean WOW!!!! I am still reeling. Shows like this a few and far between, this feeling more akin to a religious experience, entering as an interested acolyte, leaving positively evangelical. As a latecomer to DCD, via, first, the solo records of singer extraordinaire, Lisa Gerrard, and, secondly, the records of Brendan Perry, no slouch himself in the vocal department. And I have picked up some of their later stuff, including last years terrific ‘Dionysus’, where they provide the missing link between Banco de Gaia and his source material, organica/dance, if you will. But this tour was not, apparently and emphatically, to showcase that but to air the lesser known alleys of their 28 year, on and off, existence. The UK got but 2 dates in this ‘Life and Works, 1980 – 2019’ world tour, both at Hammy Odeon, last night and again tonight. Both sold out. A fairly blank stage forms the set up, with several keyboards and many percussion kits, including an orthodox ensemble, midline at the back. At the front the stage seemed split, stage left, between the hammered dulcimer of Gerrard, and » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Cafe Oto

Date: 14/04/2019

Although the book launch happened three weeks ago I am only now putting finger to keyboard to write this review. I stayed in London for a week after with only a dodgy tablet to use (since repaired and now broken again after falling down the stairs this morning, both of us that is)

Because of my tardiness and feeling strangely strange I was beaten to this review by the Sun which says that the band played ‘with wit, warmth and some of the old wide-eyed wonder.’

Arriving early at the sold out show I rested my weary bones on a seat outside and watched as the queue built steadily with a preponderance of mostly silver-haired folks. People had travelled far and wide to be there.

Iain Sinclair (filmmaker and friend) started proceedings off with a talk about the Strangelies in Dalston (which I why the launch took place in Dalston) and the band and Adrian read the parts of the book about their stay with Renchi, (an old school friend of Tim Goulding’s), Goulding’s new shoes from the Kingsland Road and early gigs.

Then to the band proper Tim Booth, Ivan Pawle and » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Roundhouse, that London

Date: 03/05/2019

Well this was fun! A full 42 years since I last darkened their doors, here was I back in the drizzle of Chalk Farm Road, queuing up with more eager elders than a post office on pension day. And hasn’t it polished up well? No sooner inside than a tap on the shoulder, and it was @philpirrip, each of us gagging for a pint. After a brief check of our credentials, concerts seen and records heard, in we went to catch McNally Waters. Strange, I thought, that the support group for a Pink Floyd offshoot, if I can call them that, should contain a Waters, and, of course, it was indeed the son of Rog. Quite the wrong band for this evening, they weren’t bad, playing a very Band like set of songs, ragged harmonies and tinkling piano. Only an incongruous drum solo reminded us we were in dinosaur territory. So much for nepotism, they played perhaps 30 minutes, and, in another setting, outside, mid-afternoon at a festival, I think they would go down as well as a pint in the sunshine. A short break and momentous music, all feedback and 60s » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Mill,Digbeth

Date: 02/05/2019

I first saw Alabama 3 in their acoustic incarnation at SXSW in Austin in 2008. I was bowled over and saw them about 7 times in the next 3 or 4 years which was easy enough to do as they are one of the hardest working bands on the circuit. I bought all their albums including fan site releases. In short I was a big fan and then about 3 years ago I kind of stop following them – they played Birmingham shows but I was absent. I only saw that this gig was on 4 days before the actual show but as it was the acoustic band that excited me all those years back I decided to go. The show perfectly encapsulated what I found exciting about them and what had also made my interest wane. They are ramshackle and that is part of their charm, Hearing We don’t danse to Tekno anymore and Speed of the Sound of loneliness brought those memories flooding back but there was a feeling that they haven’t evolved in any significant way which is a little disappointing.There were a couple of new numbers released sine I stopped » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Smokehouse, Ipswich.

Date: 03/05/2019

Robyn Hitchcock at the intimate and bijou The Smokehouse in the heart of swinging downtown Ipswich. A career-spanning ad-hoc set which climaxed with a stunning encore version of Visions of Johanna. A word, if I may, for the exemplary engineering – the guitar sounded like a twelve string at times, and the ‘tween song instructions regarding the effects (“A bit of rock n’ roll echo on this one”, “Like George Harrison being double-tracked in 1967”, “Like someone playing along with a Richard Thompson album in the next room”) were all adhered to strictly to the letter. “I’m going to count down from five to one, and then pan the stereo while ladling on a lot of echo and reverbing that in turn” led to a positively Roundhousian 1967 vibe at one point. (Ed. – please insert ‘Sonic Cathedrals’ reference here).

Kudos too, to opener Polly Preacher, whose effects-laden guitar and harmony-enabling bass player led us to an interval conversation about who is our favourite ‘Polly’.

The audience:

A bit Life of Brian “Are there any women here..?

It made me think..

I must look up Robyn Hitchcock’s cat’s Instagram profile. His account of » Continue Reading.

Venue:

de Montfort hall, Leicester

Date: 26/04/2019

Three nights of Marillion; three different 2.5 hour sets, including the rarely played “life is the road”, 2000 obsessive fans, (thankfully) only one track from pre-1988, some of the fanciest visuals possible for the progressive band that sings of love, laughs at itself, makes mistakes, and, 30 years into their career, still makes music you want to hear (not something that can be said about many of the original progressive greats who have made a lot out of a very thin creative period, when you think about it). The lead singer gave it loads (actually, they all gave it loads, and they were all apparently delighted by the event and the reception), and the band were mostly tight. When they weren’t, it was endearing, as there was a lot of music to play, and this was busy stuff. Each night was a delight, with enough variation to not be bored at any point.

The audience:

Marillion muthas, proudly uncool (a t-shirt for sale even says “Marillion: Uncool as Fuck”), mostly of a certain age and bigger boned. More women and children than you might think, I think because this was a family » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Forum, Melbourne

Date: 23/04/2019

There’s a lot of reasons why I might attend a gig and whether or not I enjoy it.

Let’s start with why go? Love the band Know some stuff but want to explore more A bit meh on record but supposed to be great live Want to stretch your boundaries, explore something new Great venue, always rocks, good sound, comfy seats etc. Superb musicians Partner loves em/ want to impress partner current squeeze

Then there is whether or not you like the gig or not Band on fire/off night Sound great/shit Excellent seats/crap seats, clear line of sight/tall bloke with afro right in front of you Great time with partner, mates, people around you right into it / annoying bunch of bastards Good mood /bad mood: drugs working/ working against you Set balance just right / too long, too short

So the whole thing is a matrix. So how did it all pan out seeing Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul.

So why did I go?

LSATDP were here as a sideshow to the mega Byron Bay Blues Festival held in Northern NSW. I don’t go anymore preferring to see a few » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Meeniyan Hall, country Victoria, Australia

Date: 16/04/2019

Lukas Nelson arrived onstage jetlagged or stoned or both wearing Tom Petty’s top hat, literally and left the stage 2 and half hours later having given us a fantastic show of Americana, classic country and classic rock plus even a bit of James Brown soul with the moves and the screams to boot.

A 5 piece band with Lukas the star attraction and a star he is. Mrs. Wells reckons the marriage is over and she’ll be heading over to Austin to stalk Lukas. Great voice, can sing anything. Yes, he sounds like Willie, especially on the high notes but he ain’t no copy. Pretty fine guitarist too. Some lovely solos on his Les Paul Junior. Sort of a cross between the sweetness of Dickey Betts and the angularity of his Dad. No slouch on acoustic either.

My mate, a serious music fan said that was an excellent show for quite a poor songwriter. That set me back as he went on to say, “mainly the lyrics are the weak point”. And I guess if you compare him to the old man; how old was he when he wrote Crazy; » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington

Date: 16/04/2019

I will start out by saying that this play by Samuel Beckett focuses on a woman buried up to her waist in a mound of earth. She monologues her thought processes and every fleeting idea occasionally interrupted by her barely glimpsed companion. I am not as well versed in theatre as I would like so can understand how this might not sound like a good night out.

What ‘Happy Days’ in fact is, in this production at the Tower Theatre, is a funny surreal look at a woman’s life stuck in a moment that she can’t get out of. Winnie (Ruth Sullivan) is a outwardly cheery sort, atop a slate mountain with her large bag of objects and precious things that help her cope each day. Her husband, Willie (Ian Hoare), is visible only behind a paper with his straw hat and hankie but his interjections and grumbling are vital to the show.

However this is very much Ruth Sullivan’s play and her performance is absolutely knockout. She has a lovely light comic touch, bringing a real energy to the text’s rhythmic repetition. Her characters constant chatter rather than becoming annoying is » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Tanks, Tate Modern, London

Date: 12/04/2019

This was a truly unique musical experience, though I can admit to only enjoying about 15% of the complete performance. Some forty years ago, Gavin Bryars got hold of a fragment of tape of a homeless man singing an unknown religious melody – “Jesus’s Blood Never Failed Me Yet”. He created a loop of it, so that it ran for as long as anyone cared to play it for. Bryars composed music to play along with the voice. Over the years he has released a number of versions of performances of the piece, constrained only by the medium – a vinyl version (24 minutes), a tape (30 minutes), the on to a CD version at 74 minutes. There was also a version performed with Tom Waits. Last night through to this morning Never Failed Me Yet had its ultimate performance. A non stop 12 hour rendition, starting at 20:00 Friday evening and ending at 8:00 this morning, performed at The Tate, with free admission. I went along for the first hour and arrived back in time to catch the final 45 minutes. The performance opens with the old man’s voice. He » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Rock City, Nottingham

Date: 09/04/2019

I remain, I feel, in a minority here, a sole figure occasionally banging on about this band. and now, on the cusp of their 4th full length recording, here was the opportunity to catch them live, so very glad it was taken. Strange, I would think their brand and style catnip to our increasing and increasingly grizzled ranks, they taking the cream of 1980s “big music” and drawing it into a credible new century focus. Originally a trio, now a duo, the band is from London, yet is undoubtedly a celtic band, the sound and the phrasing of the lyrics unmistakably of their forbears. (Bear’s Den. Bearsden. In Glasgow. Geddit?) Chock full of the chiming anthemic stylisations of Big Country, U2, early Waterboys and, yes, even Simple Minds, heavy on the chorus pedal and lots of harmonics, the songs all have a wry yearning feel of a life just escaping ones grasp or hold upon. But, with the addition of a folk application of banjo, as an occasional lead instrument, definitely not bluegrass/country banjo: think the banjo in Del Amitri, and the genius of occasional mariachi trumpet, and the sound is whole. I » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Leicester Square Theatre, London

Date: 07/04/2019

The Tony Hancock that embodied the voice of Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock had been dead over a decade before I started asking my parents to play that record about the man talking to the man in a boat and at a hospital donating blood. That album being ‘The Radio Ham / The Blood Donor’ on Hallmark Records (aka March Arch label HMA228). walk into any charity shop today and you can pick a copy up for a quid. I often have just to give it to people as it is genuinely in my top ten albums ever made – for its comedic skill in the performance and writing.

Unlike the TV versions Hancock is not relying on cue cards or in the case of The Blood Donor, concussed after a car crash so gives much better performances. The foundations of my love of comedy can be traced back to that record that I know every click, pause, breath and line by heart as I do a Beatles album. As a kid I laughed along despite not understanding references to Neville Chamberlain, Kuala Lumpur and Rob Roy. This was the post » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore

Date: 01/04/2019

When this concert was announced just after the new year, my first reaction was “the blues guy that has recently toured with The Dead”. Conversely, my younger son (16) immediately asked to go and see as he knew him from his pop hits and social media – I actually had no idea that he listened to him, but he actually knew more of his songs than I did (I recall asking on here for recommendations a few years ago when he started with the Dead). My elder son (18), who actually plays guitar, was not interested as he was “too pop” – I think he’s become a rock snob already.

The concert sold out immediately which surprised me as its a 10,000 capacity venue. There was a huge buzz about the concert – again, it was the younger crowd that drove this.

Anyway, to the concert itself…. an almost three hour long concert with a 20-25 minute break in the middle. First part was the full 7 piece band (including the ever dependable Pino Palladino on bass) for about an hour. After the break came a 4 song acoustic set with just him » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Soup Kitchen, Manchester

Date: 29/03/2019

Last time I saw Miki Berenyi fronting a band on stage it was in a draughty, half empty Manchester Academy, mopping up a rescheduled final gig for the short lived Lush reunion which appeared to have ended rather abruptly. Lush, hats off to them, honoured the booking and Mick Conroy of Modern English was drafted in as a last minute replacement for Phil King but…it had the vibe of a party where someone has started mopping up spilled drinks waiting for people to go home. The Merch stand were having a Fire Sale…you can guess the rest.

Happily – it seems working with Mick lit a new spark and 3 of this final line-up of Lush (Berenyi, Conroy and former Elastica Drummer Justin Welch) have re-emerged with a whole new band and they’re joined by former Moose guitarist KJ “Moose” McKillop. I’ll refrain from calling them a 90s Indie Supergroup because that would be terribly crass, not least because they’ve made some effort not to sound like their former bands and this is a fresh start.

The venue is yer typical indie grotspot the members of Piroshka will feel very » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Rock City, Nottingham

Date: 26/03/2019

Despite being a fully paid up member of the denim and leather brigade in the 80s, I’ve never seen UFO live before, never even owned an album. The closest I got was when “Lights Out” was a track on the “Live and Heavy” compilation I had as a boy, and the first gig I ever went to was MSG, who played “Doctor, Doctor” and “Rock Bottom” as encores. You know a fair few UFO songs though, despite them never quite cracking it as a “big” act, remaining generally a Championship team, if you’ll forgive the football analogy. But of course, their “Lights Out” double live is a thing of rare respect, universally held up to be one of the greats. I didn’t own that either. (See above) So, my first UFO gig is their farewell tour. This is a band who released their 4th album when Barry Sheene was world 500cc champion the first time. Me and the band are 51 as I write… Tara Lynch (“Gui-Tara” apparently…) gets the place warmed up with some full on shredding rock instrumentals and a decent tune or three, getting a decent response for her troubles. » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Stevenage Multiplex

Date: 21/03/2019

The much awaited film in tribute to Joni Mitchell. I was slightly surprised to find it is a film of a live concert rather than a full career retrospective which is what I’d expected. With this in mind, it all comes down to the quality of the performers as the material, we can assume, is impeccable. First the band – as great as you’d expect, led by drummer Brian Blade who is good in everything he lends his sticks too. Also nice to see Scarlet Rivera on violin and occasionally piano and Greg Leisz as ever quite superb on steel, lap and guitar. First up to the mic is Norah Jones, not at the piano, singing “Court and Spark”. Opening the show and with that song is a big ask and Norah looks faintly terrified. Her voice doesn’t soar, rather adopts the husky tones Joni acquired later in her career after decades of tabs. An OK start but…. Then we have Diana Krall doing a jazzy version of “Amelia”, but where I expected it to really float it kind of hangs in a reverential state of limbo, lovely, but unsatisfying somehow. Rufus Wainwright does » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Union Chapel London

Date: 16/03/2019

I grew up connecting songs with prison. One of my touchstone records that I wore out was Johnny Cash live at San Quentin with his hastily penned title track that tears the walls down and takes the roof off with its bitterness and fury. Todays sets provided by members of the Distant Voices collective, written in conjunction with serving prisoners looked beyond their current surroundings, often backward with regret but forward with hope

What made this event truly special was that we were able to gain insight into the people and the stories behind the songs. Not what these people had done to end up where 0they were but how their lives shaped where their imagination took them. Presenting the songs featured on the album ‘Not Known At This Address’ and beyond, Emma Pollock, Jo Mango, Louis Abbott & Donna Maciocia. gave voice to those often forgotten by society.

Some of the songs delved into the life story of the inma8tes with ‘I Will Not Follow Him To The Grave’ showing the influence that Liam Forsyth’s brother had on his life and how that will shape his future. Emma Pollock, ex-Delgados, gave us » Continue Reading.

Venue:

London Palladium

Date: 16/03/2019

That was it; coming up for 44 years since I first him and more than 20 gigs later I’ve seen my last Roy Harper performance. As he told us, he’s 78 next June and so this is his farewell tour (though he dropped a couple of hints that it may run for a while longer – I don’t believe him).

I really wish that I could report that he went out with a mighty bang. He didn’t, though it was a lot more than a whimper. It just didn’t hit the heights I have been hoping for since I bought my ticket many months ago, though it contained many fine moments.

The good news for us Harperphiles is that there will be at least one more record, but the three new songs here were a microcosm of the evening; the second new song, utilising the tune of Times They Are A Changin’ was about cyberspace and clickbait and was to my years a crock of shit. The first new song was a rage filled recounting of the injustice he underwent inspired by the court case where he was prosecuted in a post-Savile accounting for » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Robin 2,Bilston

Date: 13/03/2019

Had been looking forward to this night for a few weeks as big fan of both Glenn and Wilko. The Robin is a venue that supports a lot of tribute bands and some medium size acts. I have been many times before but this was the first night I had been where it was completely sold out.Glenn come on stage promptly at 8pm looking dapper and the picture of health. He engaged with the audience from the off with a few of Squeeze’s top songs Cool for cats, Pulling mussels and Up there Junction. He added a couple of his solo songs and some splendid covers in the form of Oh Well, I hear you knocking and Always something there to remind me. Highlight of the evening however was a brilliant Tempted which was prefaced by a superb electric guitar intro. He is such an inventive player and this was a perfect finale to a fabulous set. Hope to see him with Chris later in year. Then onto Wilko – saw him 2 years ago in Leamington and he was excellent. Tonight he was decidedly average. Going through the motions, not engaging with the » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Lexington, London

Date: 13/03/2019

Wednesday night finds us in North London at the Lexington, a 300 person capacity venue we’d not been to before, to see Plastic Mermaids. They’re a five piece from the Isle of Wight that have been releasing music since 2014 who I have been somewhat obsessed about for the past eight months or so. So far my experience of the band has been limited to their three released E.Ps and their presence on youtube, with their homemade videos something truly to behold. Musically (to my ears) the band seem to pull on late nineties influences- Soft Bulletin era Flaming Lips, 3 EPS Beta Band with the occasional bowed guitar (a la Sigur Ros).

Support came from Cousin Kula who had a polished, seventies/eighties AOR sound to them. A more contemporary reference point might be Tame Impala. Mrs. Paws enjoyed them.

This was my first opportunity to see Plastic Mermaids since first hearing them back in August and I’ve been counting down to this all month, as such an hour set felt like not quite enough. Their set covered they career so far with material from all three of their E.Ps as well » Continue Reading.