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.

Venue:

The Betsey Trotwood, EC1.

Date: 14/03/2019

And so to the heart of London’s swinging Clerkenwell, where former The Church, All About Eve, The Saints and current Anekdoten guitarist Marty Willson-Piper is paying for his Roy Harper ticket by initially doing an acoustic gig, which has blossomed into a short UK tour. Downstairs at The Betsey Trotwood is not a big room, and so lends itself ideally to the sort of intimate soiree we are about to experience. Accompanied by wife Olivia on vocals, fiddle and octave violin – who brings great depth, atmosphere and warmth to proceedings – Marty swaps between twelve string guitars (one of which appears to be principally gaffa tape) and brings us a wide ranging selection from his back catalogue of seventy-odd albums, collaborations, productions and guest spots including a handful from The Church’s Heyday and a very creditable Farewell Mr. Sorrow, in between rambles, reflections on mortality, a reading and the occasional impact rectification of a recalcitrant DI box. It is terrifically enjoyable, and it’s almost impossible not to be swept into MW-P’s intimate world of hand-crafted stage lighting, guitar geekdom and genuine affection for the form.

The audience:

Friendly, accomodating, the sort » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Train departing and returning Queenscliff Victoria, Australia

Date: 09/03/2019

The Blues Train has been operating since 1994 but this was our first experience. It is a great initiative for the musicians who get regular gigs and the local community as most people stay in the area. Locals don’t seem to mind as you get plenty of waves from the houses along the line.

There are four carriages and you get nominated a sequence when you book. Each “set” goes for about 40 minutes then you stop at a station, take a pee fuel up on more booze and decamp to another carriage for another artist. Our trip started with a band doing electric Chicago blues. Pretty good without being outstanding. Then a funky dance carriage where the seats went along the carriage ( Church pews, as it happens) for a bit of dancing. Probably better if that was the last carriage when everyone was fully charged but that is the luck of the draw. Some nice John Lee Hooker style solo blues followed and the night ended with a guy on amplified acoustic. The train was sold out(it was a long weekend) but most trains are booked out, » Continue Reading.

Venue:

JW3, Finchley, London

Date: 07/03/2019

For the past couple of years I have marked International Women’s Day by attending events organised by Green Note, last years curated by Kathryn Williams and this year by Michele Stodart – bass face extraordinaire from The Magic Numbers.

In reality nights like this can be mixed affairs with varying quality and degrees of success when interpreting songs in often vastly different arrangements but this evening flowed perfectly representing the many stages of womanhood.

What I enjoyed about this years event was the slightly wider breadth of age and experience gracing the stage which opened up themes and insight through their and other artist’s eyes. There was a strong mix of covers and original material throughout with accapella trio The Rosellas kicking us off with a sweet ‘Que Sera Sera’. Margo Buchanan gave ‘At 17’ a wistful and dreamlike quality that made a familiar tune sound fresh once more. She later joined Charlie Dore for an impromptu comic double act as they discussed their hero, Joni Mitchell, before a simply beautiful version of ‘Both Sides Now’ that even captivated this casual fan of the lady.

Charlie’s own song ‘All These Things’ which » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Hamer Hall, Melbourne Arts Centre

Date: 01/03/2019

Wynton Marsalis is widely recognised as a wonderful trumpet player but he still gets a bad rap. All those high falutin, high end, semi-corporate gigs. Very worthy in his quest to preserve and educate on the great traditions of jazz but just a bit too earnest and a bit too well scrubbed. Then there are all the collaborations with artists from various fields. I dialed him up on YouTube and what comes up – Wynton and Clapton doing Layla. For fuck’s sake!

But I bought a ticket so what’s the thinking? Well his playing, his tone is wonderful. He has brought over the Jazz Lincoln Orchestra and this collaboration with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra should be interesting.

My hopes were raised when a friend of a friend who was in the percussion section of the orchestra was in raptures over the rehearsals. How WM explained what he wanted, the fact that he just sat down chatting “such a lovely humble person”.

Well humble he was I tell ya. About 3 solos the entire night and all from 4 rows back in the JLO where you could only see the top » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Institute, Birmingham

Date: 27/02/2019

And so to the Institute in Birmingham to see Long Island’s finest, in the company of Daughter Moles and a friend of hers, BOC being friend’s second ever gig. Appearing at the Institute. Birmingham’s approximately fourth biggest venue marks a little bit of how the Cult’s appeal has become more selective. Let’s dispose of the support, Temperance Movement, who are the exact centre of a triangle featuring Free, AC/DC and Bad Company. The singer fulfils the rule that if the singer plays no instrument in a band they are always the most annoying member.

Dead on 9pm the Cult are on to the sounds of the Game of Thrones theme. Time has wrought its ravages on founder due Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma in subtly different ways. Eric appears freeze dried. There’s not a lot of movement or facial expression going on from Eric, a an vibe enhanced by the permanent shades. Buck however has comfortably spread, appearing now a bit like a seventies Elvis if he worked in IT. They’re flanked by rock-steady bassist Danny and newbies Jules on drums and Richie on guitar. Oh Richie. Eric and Buck don’t move around » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Betsey Trotwood, Farringdon, London

Date: 23/02/2019

I may already have seen my favourite gig of the year and it’s only February.

A night filled with song, musicianship and love saw 12 musicians crammed into the tiny upstairs room of the Betsey Trotwood in Farringdon, as well as the lucky 30 or so paying audience members they managed to squeeze in as well. I say paying, but at a tenner a ticket I reckon the entrance fee must just have covered the cost of the room, mics and camera. I can’t believe the singers were doing this for anything other than the love of the music, and the couple of bottles of Jack Daniels which circulated freely among them.

The musicians involved were [deep breath] Partick Ralla, Michele Stodart, Louis Brennan, Felix Holt, Zak Hobbs (Richard Thompson’s grandson, fact fans), Ren Harvieu, Romeo Stodart, Laura Tenschert, Angie Gannon (making three out of four Magic Numbers on the bill) Robert Chaney, Naomi Larsson and Joe Harvey-White (the evening’s organiser). Before the event I had wondered how they were going to get that many people on and off stage, even allowing for the 3 hours scheduled. In the event » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Resort World Arena (NEC), Birmingham

Date: 23/02/2019

A splendid double bill from a now-Beckerless Dan, and a percussion-heavy Steve Winwood. Both did excellent sets of their most well-known tracks, Winwood only doing one song from his solo work (a shame, in my book, as the eponymous album and “Arc of the Diver” are particularly brilliant). That said, this is a guy who could do a 3-hour set and leave some fans disappointed, such are his musical bones. Steely Dan were as tight as a gnat’s chuff, and sounded very classy, with a PA that did wonders even in a grim box like the ‘Resort World Arena’ (forever the NEC to me, mate). The lights were slick and pretty but a little over-busy I thought, but that’s a churlish complaint given that back catalogue, which was heavily (6/7 tracks) oriented to “Aja”, with a couple of slight surprises (I expected a duet with Steve Winwood, and they did so on “Pretzel Logic”), “Green Earrings”, and a couple of semi-solo pieces (“Cubano Chant”, “”Keep the Same Old Feeling”, and “A Man a’int Supposed to Cry” by the band to open, break, and end the set). Don was cheerful, and slyly » Continue Reading.

Venue:

O2 Academy 2, B’ham.

Date: 16/02/2019

I suppose my expectations were never set too high, given Evan Dando’s reputation, and, on that basis, I got my moneys worth. Overall I liked it, despite the chaotic and seeming unrehearsedness of the show, the atrocious sound balance and the often cluelessness as to what he was actually playing. (His? Mine? The band? The soundman? A little, perhaps, of each.) Yet, every so often, and tantalisingly randomly, the clouds parted and a song would emerge in an eye blinking fragile beauty. One such was the opener, Speed of the Sound of Loneliness, the sole contribution from Varshons 2, the release thereof being purportedly the rationale of the tour. Dando’s agreeable tenor has deepened a little, with the country-rock jangle of the band pitched just as you would imagine how Dando would tackle this standard, and I drew a sigh of relief. But this was clearly the lull, as there followed a storm of short and squally songs, some recognisable and some not, mainly emanating from the early Lemonheads songbook, guitars all ramped up to 11, feedback screeching, whether or not invited, both probably. Where discernible, memory kicked in to sweeten the » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Colchester Arts Centre

Date: 24/01/2019

The term “Nice blokes” doesn’t do this duo justice at all. Pre show, Damian walked around the hall personally shaking hands and chatting to the gathering audience. A giant of a man with a voice to match that normally competes with heavy metal exponents “Headspace”, is on the road with Adam Wakeman (son of Rick) an acoustic guitar and a grand piano.

The pair work together in a number of guises with other bands and line ups, but this time it is just the two of them. Hot on the heels of their album “The Sun Will Dance In It’s Twilight Hour”, this tour steps through their catalogue with the addition of some acoustic covers, most notably Iron Maiden’s “The Evil That Men Do”. Less expected were a couple of show tunes from Les Mis which represent a Damian’s stint in the show. For his part Adam Wakeman commands a few solo spots including a Jazz rendition of Black Sabbath material.

The show is very informal with plenty of banter and chat between themselves and to the audience. Lovely chaps certainly, but they really overdid this, particularly with a not terribly funny routine about » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Hawth, Crawley

Date: 16/01/2019

Bennett,Wilson Poole brought a touch of sunshine to a damp and chilly Crawley last night. I, and I’m sure many others (from the remarks I heard whilst leaving) let the venue feeling uplifted by a set of wonderful songs beautifully sung and backed with fine guitar playing (especially Tony Poole’s exquisite jangly 12 string Rickenbacker). The band performed the whole of their debut album plus tracks from their previous bands Grand Drive,Dreaming Spires and Starry Eyed and Laughing. They also previewed a couple of tracks which have been cut for their eagerly awaited follow up album due later this year. They finished with a rousing version of the Wilburys “Handle with care”. It’s only January but I may well have seen the best gig of the year

The audience:

Mainly men “of a certain age”

It made me think..

What absolute joy can be gained from listening to accomplished musicians doing something they love and at which they shine. I floated out of the venue

Venue:

Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham

Date: 10/01/2019

Well I wasn’t originally going to review this show, feeling it might prove even a bit too niche for the AW f***ies, few as we seem to be. But I couldn’t let it lie, not after listening to their superb and imaginatively titled 3rd album, III, purchased for a princely tenner at the gig. So peel back your senses or pass on the other side, oblivious in your ignorance. I first came across two of this trio, Tom Moore and Archie Churchill-Moss, fiddle and melodeon respectively, a year ago, they being (new) members of Jim Moray’s False Lights, reviewed here a year ago. (Look it up!) Some years before, in 2011, in conjunction with Jack Rutter, they had won the 2011 Folk on 2 Young Artists of the Year, producing a couple of well received albums, I and II, before diversifying into other work, both musical and breadwinning alike. Now they are back in this original format, still looking improbably young to my ancient eyes. So to the concert. The Kitchen Garden Cafe is tiny, seats crammed into the tiny space, ahead of a small ground level stage area. Tonight, » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Sunflower Bar, Belfast

Date: 30/12/2018

The audience:

I had a few friends in the crowd and doubtless Petesy had many, many more there. Certainly, the room seemed to be awash with ‘old punks’ – ‘Trouble Songs’ author Stuart Bailie, Rudi mainman Brian Young and various other characters from Kyle Leitch’s days as the guv’nor at Caroline Records, Anne Street. The bonhomie was terrific. I was wearing a Mahavishnu Orchestra T-shirt – I was the guy the punk wars were fought over – and nobody punched me on the nose. That can only be a good thing. We sorted out that old Harp Bar/Pound Club antipathy last night. Now we just need to sort out Stormont.

It made me think..

The musical connections, camaraderie, positive energy and good vibes (no pun intended) apparent in all these adventures thus far can only lead to more great things down the line.

Venue:

The Garage, Highbury

Date: 21/12/2018

I’m a relative latecomer to the mighty Cardiacs – in fact it was through this very site that I was lead to reconsider the band I only previously knew from the knockabout video for ‘Tarred and Feathered’ and gradually became obsessed with their unruly, unhinged and hugely entertaining take on Art Rock – basically a supercharged, absurdist hybrid of XTC, King Crimson and Madness. Alas this was too late to see them live because, as is well documented, front man Tim Smith suffered a stroke & heart attack in 2008 which left his mind entirely intact but physically severely debilitated and unable to speak or walk due to a rare and complex condition. However, interest in the band continues to grow, and indeed there’s been a successful crowd funding campaign this year to raise money for Tim’s rehabilitation. Meanwhile. it’s becoming a bit of annual thing for some of the bands that sprung up around Cardiacs orbit to have a festive shindig in celebration of the music. It’s a bit close to Xmas to be heading down to the big smoke but I can’t miss this one. It’s a an early start (first » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Black Box, Belfast

Date: 22/12/2018

There’s a saying where I live: ‘Dublin never got into punk, Belfast never got out of it.’ Certainly, Belfast was one of the epicentres of punk in the 1970s worldwide, and a very distinctive brand of punk flourished here. Punks in Britain liked to posture about being underdogs – but *everything* about Northern Ireland – socially, culturally, politically, geographically, employment-wise – was beneath the underdog at that point. To an extent, it still is. Sham 69 could nudge the kids into being united, Belfast punks could rage about the adults being disunited. And if you look at Stormont – a regional assembly that hasn’t functioned for two years – they’re still disunited.

I was at secondary school (well, okay, grammar school) from 1979–86, so while I saw the odd punk act on ‘Top of the Pops’, and while one or two people in my year had ‘punk’s not dead’ type slogans written on pencil cases, it wasn’t part of my lived experience; it already history. So, I never saw any punk bands in the 70s. I popped my head through the door of a venue hosting Stiff Little Fingers in the late » Continue Reading.

Venue:

St. Georges, Bristol

Date: 19/12/2018

What a very special evening! Entrancing from the first number to the rousing encores.

We witnessed a perfectly judged sequence of songs and instrumentals conjuring up all aspects, secular and religious, of this profoundly felt time of year, as the planet begins to turn us once more towards the warming days of the next year.

The night was magical, reflective, human, spiritual and deeply rooted in the natural world of music, people, and the world in which we all have to rub along somehow; a real morale booster in troubled times.

If you want to hear most of what we were treated to last night, you can buy their album ‘Upon A Winter’s Night’, which will warm your very cockles. Alternatively, if you are very lucky, there are a small number of gigs left on this tour – so get yourself there if you can; it’s a real cracker.

The audience:

The usual crowd at St. Georges, liberally sprinkled with Cara & Sam’s fans of course. Sold out, I’d say, with only a few empty seats – the foul weather or other circumstances had left only a couple of gaps in the » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Echo Arena, Liverpool

Date: 12/12/2018

How do you review a Paul McCartney gig? What metric do you use? The size of the crowd? The length of the set list? There’s no precedent for how the most successful songwriter in history should be presenting himself at 76.

The pre-show “support” is simply a one-hour build up to the great man appearing on stage. The first part is a DJ who mixes stems and loops from McCartney’s 60 year recording career, where nothing lasts longer than 60 seconds before segueing into another song you know like the back of your hand. The DJ then leaves the stage as the screens come on and a slow scrolling vertical digital montage of McCartney’s life rolls down the screen, soundtracked by more McCartney songs. It’s hard to know how long it’s going to be – turns out it’s over 20 minutes. The montage starts with a boy at a window on Forthlin Road, gradually moves through the stages of life, before ending with the image of a CGI Hofner Bass rotating on top of skyscraper with surrounding fireworks. At this point the imagery is matched by a soundtrack of the orchestral crescendo » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Birmingham Symphony Hall

Date: 25/11/2018

Concerns had been raised that given the horrible album and unhappiness in Captain Brock’s starship, these orchestra concerts would be a creative and commercial flop. Not at all; live, this was Hawkwind doing what they do best, with a few orchestral flourishes and sweeps to replace the synths, with a spectacular laser show and slyly witty back projections (the “Sonic Attack” sequence, done like a public information film, was perfect). It wasn’t loud enough for me, but I think it was a good call sonically, as you could hear everything, including the lyrics that brought me back to reading “Science Fiction Monthly” and having Bruce Pennington pictures on my walls in the years before self-abuse and cool. The new band members (Dibs having left due to irreconcilable musical differences) did a good job, with the new bassist wisely adopting the middle name, “Rickenbacker”, and living up to this. Mike Batt was channelling Jocky Wilson, if his shirt was to be anything to judge by. Given the jocularity amongst the band, I reckon he could have got away with a bar of a Wombles song. If only he’d been involved with “The Clangers” – » Continue Reading.

Venue:

02 Institute3, Brum

Date: 23/11/2018

Well this was a treat, a full 28 years from the last time around. And just down the road from where I saw ’em last time, the long gone Mr Bill’s Bier Keller. So how had the decades fared them? I’m no fan of the Institute, but this was in the 3rd room, even smaller than the Institute2, a bijou basement box with a capacity of maybe a couple of hundred. No queues, a walk straight in to a sauna of steaming mannus middleageicus. First on, and worth a shout, were the Stone Mountain Sinners, a rabble of rootsy rockers with more than a hint of cowpunk, minding me a little of the Tansads in their pre-Merry Hell prime, courtesy the male/female counterpoint vocals. A gap nearly sufficient for the solitary barman to serve the thirsty hordes and on marched the Men. 6 of them with the front line of Cush, Swill and Paul unsullied, on guitar/vocals, guitar/vocals and mandolin, augmented by lead electric, bass and drums. No fiddles or whistles this night, this was a pedal to the floor, full-on plugged in music. The bass and the brand new drummer made a » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Scala, King’s Cross, London

Date: 22/11/2018

One of the preconditions for a great gig is that the artist/band are actually enjoying themselves on stage. Israel Nash was having absolute blast.

This was the final night of their European tour, which may have given a supplementary boost to proceedings as Israel and his band didn’t have to save anything for tomorrow. Against that friends in Holland saw him Nijmegen a couple of weeks ago and they reported he was brilliant there too, so maybe he’s giving his all every night.

This was my gig of the year. I’ve seen some top-notch gigs in recent weeks, (Kacey Musgraves, Bruce Cockburn, Over The Rhine) but much as I enjoyed them, they lacked was the joy, exuberance, ecstasy and intensity of this gig.

Whatever, Israel was over to promote his last album, the excellent Lifted and most of the set was focussed on songs from that, but there was plenty from earlier albums too.

The band was smokin’ hot and for people who like guitar duels (that’s people like me) Israel and lead guitarist Joey McLellan had a couple of really storming battles over the evening. I should also acknowledge the » Continue Reading.

Venue:

The Halcyon Gallery, 144-146 New Bond Street, London

Date: 10/11/2018

This show will probably be old news to the more on-the-ball Bob-cats among us, but I confess I might never have heard about it if I hadn’t seen mentions on Penn’s (of Penn and Teller) Twitter feed. Consider this my alert for anyone else who would regret missing it if I hadn’t written about it on here. You’re welcome.

This exhibition at the Halcyon Gallery gathers several dozen hand-written Bob Dylan Lyrics, each of them accompanied by a pencil sketch by Bob, along with several of his acrylic on-the-road paintings and, this came as a surprise to me, some examples of his ironwork. The selection is broadly greatest hits, and I don’t think there are any lyrics here which will be unfamiliar to the casual admirer. The more trainspotterish fan will delight in reading every word and spotting subtle changes to lines, the rest of us can just enjoy the art and juxtapositions of word and image.

Regarding the art, there is no doubt Dylan can draw. Time and again I found myself enjoying the fold in a piece of clothing or the flow of a limb » Continue Reading.

Venue:

St. George’s, Bristol

Date: 08/11/2018

Last night I had a religious experience. It happened as I was sitting in the cosy surrounds of St. George’s in Bristol, my favourite venue, somewhere we’ve come to count on for transcendent evenings of great music. I sat six feet from Ryley Walker there when he played with Danny Thompson a year or two back, I saw the soles of Rick Wakeman’s sneakers, heard a squeak from a Steinway’s pedals as he regaled us with solo piano versions of Yes tracks and told us wondrous stories. I’ve danced in the aisles with what seemed like every Asian family in Bristol to the joyful sounds of Alaap, and wept quietly to countless orchestral moments of joy over the years. St. George’s continues to deliver the goods, and last night’s event was another absolute joy. Last night we went to see a singer and her band. She first came to my attention back in the dancing days of the nineties, when she added another layer of exotica to the international conglomerate of music that called itself Transglobal Underground. I bought her first couple of solo albums. She was still finding her way to an » Continue Reading.