Venue:

Melbourne Recital Hall

Date: 12/02/2015

The Necks play Melbourne each February. Usually it is stinking hot and they usually do 5 shows in a row in the sticky carpet rock dog Corner Hotel with chairs brought in. This concert was at the acoustically sumptuous and far more comfortable Recital Hall. Much more appropriate. Early arrival and gen adm tix ( more on this later) had us 3 rows from the stage right in front of Tony Buck, the drummer. They have been doing these improvised shows for 28 years with one band member starting off with a particular rhythm, playing it repeatedly till the others join in and see where it leads. The pianist Chris Abrahams starts with an almost percussive motif before upright bassist Lloyd Swanton joined in with single plucks for what seemed like an eternity then in comes Buck and we are off. On and on it goes , particular patterns repeatedly for extended periods before someone takes it some where else. Sitting in front of Buck i was particularly impressed with his creativity. No arms flailing just an endless flow of interesting rhythms supplemented by various percussive instruments. My arms started to twitch, going » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Southampton Guildhall

Date: 21/02/2015

Wasn’t sure about this going in. I couldn’t quite join the crowd of lovers of the album – enjoyed it in patches but found the strange weedy beatbox rhythms and occasional parping sax a bit alienating.

However – much much better live. Far more guitar focused and well-mixed to put his fluid soloing really front & centre. Old tracks sounded good, such that I am spinning Wagonwheel Blues as I write. Good, if anonymous blokes, band and nice lighting (bit like a paint colour chart).

The audience:

White middle-class gig goers.

One question, a guy in front of me was say 6ft 2 and had a hat on – it was a quireky porkpie hat type, and he didn’t remove it. It was almost The War On Hats. Is it OK to wear a hat at a gig? Surely not?

It made me think..

They sound better live. And we left the house at 8:30 and were comfortably in position, 5 minutes before they came on – nice, that’s middle aged gig going.

Venue:

The Institute, Digbeth, Birmingham

Date: 18/02/2015

Well, how often do you see US chart toppers at a 800 person stand-up venue? I like the last couple of their LPs, after finding the earlier ones a bit precious, so I thought this worth a go, not least as, for the 1st time in ages, I’m seeing a band younger than me. Not that they look it, fer chrissake, most of their publicity shots drawing a Band like vibe, except the Band on their ’69 debut look like One Direction by comparison. And it was good. They hit the ground running with the wonderfully self-reverential and hopefully ironic opener from their new album, banging straight into a stack of songs that amply filled a jangle shaped REM hole in my conscious. But it was if they had played all their good cards first, as, enjoyable OK, it all got a bit safe, dull even. Sure, the musicianship was sound, a special mention for, on keys, accordion and tympani(!), Jenny Conlee, playing like a demented elf, but it all sounds better on record, confirmed by my buying the CD and playing repeatedly today. Colin Meloy’s voice has matured from marmite to » Continue Reading.

Venue:

Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London

Date: 22/01/2015

My love of last minute gigs is continuing and managing to pick up a front row ‘return’ on the day only added to my warm glow. I’d discovered Punch Brothers’ tight bluegrass/prog sound on a couple of compilations and in turn their last album, “Who’s feeling young now” and at just over £20 was worth a punt.

The evening started well with support, Sarah Jarosz who I hadn’t heard previously, holding the virtually full auditorium rapt with half an hour of beautiful, well-constructed songs from her cultured, lustrous voice, banjo and guitar.

I wasn’t sure how well American Folk would work in a large seated London venue, but the five piece Punch Brothers (Guitar, Bass, Mandolin, Banjo, Violin) assisted by a noisy (in a good way), courteous and knowledgeable audience managed to manufacture a good lively atmosphere. The set mixed raucous with reflective and consisted of mainly songs from their last album and the imminent “The Phosphorescent Blues”, interspersed with covers by Josh and Tex Ritter, Gillian Welch and a reworking of Debussy’s Passepied amongst others. In all it was thoroughly enjoyable and I’ll certainly be on the lookout for » Continue Reading.