Venue:
MAC Centre,Birmingham
Date: 18/11/2022
Until last year I had one rarely played Thea Gilmore cd in my collection. Then I think it was @Jaygee who reviewed Afterlight the alter ego of Thea. The subject matter of the album was a vitriolic account of a post breakup with former husband and musical accompanist Nigel Stonier. I had wrongly thought that it was a ‘woe is me I have been wronged’ album until I heard it and I was blown away.
So to this gig on a friday night in a blustery Second City. Thea came onto the stage with her acoustic guitar looking to all intents and purposes vulnerable in this small lovely venue.
The opening was a fairly vicious ‘To all the violence I have known’ which was a perfect starter for an absolutely brilliant concert. There was much use of looping which kept the set interesting throughout. We got Stain, Vespering and Last from the same Afterlight album. The highlights for me however were Johnny get a gun and the first of two encores War which was written about and dedicated to Jo Cox – it was just Thea at the piano and rather lovely.
If she has been scarred by her abusive relationship she appeared anything but. She was lovely, charming, erudite and completely relaxed. I was quite frankly smitten. During the set she spoke of her love of covers. We got three – Wrecking Ball (the Miley Cyrus one not Neil Young), Bad Moon Rising and a really poignant and fitting Cabaret to finish the show.
The audience:
Hushed and respectful – how an audience should be. Sang the chorus to Bad Moon Rising and a standing ovation at the end.
It made me think..
The best gigs are often those that I have the least expectation of.
This was one of those – as soon as I got home I ordered some more of her back catalogue – the lone cd before I saw the review of Afterlight is now 6 and likely to grow.I have found an artist who has really touched me and that doesnt happen as much as it used to.
Thanks for the write up. I’m going to see her tomorrow at the lovely Colchester Arts Centre (the last gig of the tour is at Kings Place in London on Wednesday). That must be about my 20th Thea gig. The first time was at an in-store promo for Harpo’s Ghost, when she was heavily pregnant with elder son Egan. Last week she posted a photo on her FB page of Egan’s 16th birthday,
An excellent review has you immediately exploring their catalogue. This is one of those.
Completely agree. See below!
I think you may have tipped my balance, @steveT. I am the usual AW “not that much of a fan”, with 5 or 6 CDs, but I found the back story of Afterlight a bit too daunting to approach. But it sounds as if she is business as usual, with added. I am a sucker for loops in a live setting, still finding it all too clever to comprehend, calling out Kathryn Williams and David Ford in particular. I nearly went to the gig, but had Cowboy Junkies the day after. Next time……
I hope Rules For Jokers is now on your shelf. Knowing you are a fan of Mr Costello, I think you would find her rapid fire acerbicity perfect. Her arrangements for some found Sandy Denny lyrics, Don’t Stop Singing, is also good, as is her covers piece, Loft Music.
Have you reviewed Loft Music anywhere, Retro? Any chance of a link? Grazie tanto!
I haven’t but it would be a shoo in for ‘Cover Classics” in Cover Me. Watch this space, as I have some post gallbag removal downtime from the w/e onward.
Also a lightweight fan: I checked the database (I know…) and 5CDs (all early).
Rules For Jokers is my fave.
@Steve-T
Not me, guv.
Know the name but nothing about her. On the basis of your review will deffo keep an ear out for her though.
You’re right about the gigs you go to with the least expectations often being hugely rewarding.
Grant Lee Phillips who I’m off to see at the back end of next week and currently (or very soon to be) on tour in the UK is a classic case in point
Big fan of Grant Lee Phillips from way back when a sang Fuzzy. I think that was one of my earliest cds when I migrated from Vinyl.
`I was quite frankly smitten’, @SteveT you old dog, you`d better add Thea to your smitten list. Is she above above or below Nicola Sturgeon?
You should have asked me about Thea, long time fan here and retro is right about the Sandy Denny covers album `Don’t Stop Singing’, it is rather good.
Grant Lee Buffalo one of the great short lived bands.
Thea Gilmore – a beginners’ guide:
The main studio albums
Burning Dorothy (1998)
The Lipstick Conspiracies (2000)
The first two albums are her angsty-teenage with a guitar years, and a notably different sound to the rest of the catalogue.
Rules For Jokers (2001)
Her masterpiece, with more acoustic settings and a sparer production sound. The songs have echoes of Costello, Waits and Cohen. In later years Thea would say she didn’t want to produce ‘another singer-songwriter acoustic album’, but for me this is the last time she really did, and I wish she would do it again.
Avalanche (2003)
Harpo’s Ghost (2006)
The other great song-writing albums in her canon. From here on in it gets a bit smooth, and it’s probably no coincidence that she later identified this as the point where Nigel’s influence started to become overbearing.
Liejacker (2008)
Murphy’s Heart (2010)
Regardless (2013)
The Counterweight (2017)
Small World Turning (2019)
Afterlight (2021)
The break-up album, which I’ve included in this group even though it was released under the name ‘Afterlight’. Thea discusses all you need to know about the back ground in this podcast, which is a tough listen
https://podcasts.apple.com/cz/podcast/in-conversation-with-thea-gilmore/id1584973378?i=1000534689419
Other albums
Songs from the Gutter (2002) – A collection of early B-sides and EP tracks. It’s well worth seeking out the 2 disc edition
Loft Music (2004) – The covers album
Recorded Delivery [live] (2009) – The live album
Strange Communion (2009) – The Christmas album
John Wesley Harding (2011) – The Dylan album recorded track-by-track. Its roots are in a cover of I Dreamed I saw St Augustine she did for an Uncut cover-mount of Dylan songs. Thea is a huge Springsteen fan so when I saw that track appear in an online article about what is on Bruce’s iPod I shared the link with an internet fan-board. For the next several years every article about her started ‘She’s on Bruce Springsteen’s iPod …’, so you can sure that information made its way into her press-release, and I like to think I brought her attention to something which would have given her such a kick.
Don’t Stop Singing (2011) – Sandy Denny’s estate found some lyrics which Sandy had never set to music and, after initially considering sending them to individual songwriters, asked Thea to produce music for the lot.
Ghosts and Graffiti (2015) – A greatest hits but with a twist. The songs a re-recorded and feature a variety of guest musicians.
Extended Playground (2017) – Essentially Songs from the Gutter part 2, based around songs from more recent tour EPs and so on
The Emancipation of Eva Grey (2021) – Songs for the film Blithe Spirit, set to Jazz era arrangements
Thanks for this, @Gatz
@gatz
The five I have just bought:
Rules For Jokers
Afterlight
Regardless
Liejacker
Strange Communion
Do you think I chose well, or have I missed out any total crackers?
It sounds like I also need Avalanche and Harpo’s Ghost perhaps?
Of those I would have said that Liejacker was the least essential, though Icarus Wind and Breathe are gorgeous. Rules for Jokers and Afterlight are key albums.
Cheers @gatz. I included Liejacker specifically cos @stevet put it up on the OP!
No doubt I will find that it has its own merits.
If I’m smitten, I’ll add those others I mentioned to my wishlist and send my brother a hint before Crimble.
Incidentally, I noticed a BBC review that included a mention of the “frankly dismal Icarus Wind”, so I guess I’ll make up my own mind on that one!
Avalanche is excellent. You should have it.
Oh, all right then, twist my arm!
Thinking about it now, I suspect that back in the mists of Afterword time, you may have sent me a little bit of Thea music – I can’t put my hand on it right now due to an ongoing state of CD sortlessness, but you once made me a brilliant compo called ‘Americana’ – I have a feeling you might have slipped her in with that lot?
Rings a vague bell…
Maybe it wasn’t you? Jeepers. Checks Afterword membership list, hoping whoever it was isn’t deeply offended…. ’twas a long time back, way before the Drupaltastrophy.
Only on the Afterword will you find
1. I’m a casual fan, I only have five of her albums
2. Never heard her before today. I’ll dip my toe in the waters(where “dip my toe” means immediately order 5 albums)
Guilty as charged. Mind you, Discogs lets me order 5 albums for less than the price of a single cardioburger and chips.
What’s more, the first of the five, a copy of ‘Rules for Jokers’ turned up in the post this morning, and it’s an absolute cracker.
She’s an entirely unknown artist to me, though like @jaygee I knew of her without having knowingly heard her. I love to find a new seam to mine, so on the strength of the above from fellow listeners I trust, I’ve dived in and bought 5 of her albums as an early Christmas present to myself. Looking forward to hearing what the praise was for!
Recorded Delivery is worth having – half acoustic, half electric, and a pretty good summation of what she does best live.
Thanks for that – added to the CD wish list.
Saw the opening concert of the tour in Liverpool. She was a little nervous I thought, and still mastering the loop system, with a couple of false starts. But concur with @SteveT ‘S review – it was an enjoyable gig by a fine artist.
@Blue-Boy interesting comment re the looping at Liverpool.She mentioned it at the Brum gig and said the machine fucked up and was out of time. She told us to be mindful that it could happen. The song was Johnny get a gun – thankfully it was perfect.
Imagine thinking so little of an artist that you only have five of her CDs. Monstrous.
I’d offer you a beer mate, but I’ve only got 5 cans left.
Seeing her on Wednesday. I think every album in her catalogue has at least one or two terrific songs though Gatz is right about the first two albums. Her Patreon site gives you a new song every month, usually acoustic or piano. The current Was EP has a fantastic version of Hey Jealousy.
As the others have said, excellent review and particularly galling for me as I thought about going to see her at the Stables and decided not to, partly because I found the latest stuff and the different name quite weird and so personal as to be uncomfortable. I’ve seen her a number of times and she’s always great, whether small setup or full band. Bugger!
The Afterlight review was my handiwork @SteveT. I’ve not seen Thea on her current tour, but I have seen her play live many times in the past, and for my money she always sounds better on stage than on record. I’m a fan, but not an uncritical one. The slew of albums before her split from Nigel Stonier were too Radio 2 friendly for my liking. Their over-production seems to have been something that Thea was acutely aware of. I liked the Afterlight album very much, but I’m not sold on the WAS EP she released recently. (A full size album will ultimately be released from a number of forthcoming EPs apparently).
Thea’s back catalogue is extensive – @gatz has it nailed above. None of it entirely disappoints; quite a lot of it is essential.
@Boneshaker I owe you my sincere thanks for that review of Afterlight. I was sceptical but wrong – it is a deeply moving album that encouraged me to delve into her back catalogue as I only owned Liejacker at the time of that review.
The concert was brilliant and further purchases made and after reading the listing that @Gatz made at least another two.
Just in from the Colchester gig, which was an epic trek. We knew the A12 back to Chelmsford was going to be closed causing us a big detour via Braintree, but the two and a half hours it took us to get there due to an accident ahead of us was an unpleasant surprise. But at least we weren’t in one of the several ambulances which passed us. Looking at other set lists all we missed was the opening Of All the Violence I Have Known (and the support act).
Thea was more confident than at Cecil Sharpe House the other year, on of her first completely solo shows post-split. I’d like to see her switch up a gear occasionally though, and found these last couple of shows a bit one-note. Hopefully economics will allow her to put a band together at some point.