It’s January, and what happens in January? You can count on Robyn Hitchcock hoving into view and performing at the Fleece. Trust me, you can set your watch by him. After two – or is it three now? – years performing with the Venus Three (you know, the REM set) this was almost a solo appearance, aided by Terry Williams (I think – but not the Terry Williams I thought) on keyboard and trumpet. Although he also had his sisters on occasional backing vocals, Tim Keegan (who had had the support slot) and some old cohorts – Kimberley Rew on frenzied guitar (no wonder he only helped out on a few tracks) and Morris (or “Morris from Gloucester” as he is always welcomed onstage) on percussion – but those last two only came on at the end. This was, essentially, Robyn-night.
And what we were due to get was his concentration on I Often Dream of Trains. This was a bit of a surprise to me, never having heard of the album, but that’s why you go and see these people – to see what else they can do. And what he can do is still be entertaining and great and musical and so it goes from being completely unknown to something you’d like to hear again. (And this and others are pretty much all now re-released as far as I can tell.) But what – I suspect but will have to prove to myself – you don’t get on the album are the entertaining explanations and asides that splatter around in between the songs so making a grand evening of all round entertainment. I can’t help thinking that his continuing presence at the Fleece suggests that he is not as popular as he should be – although the Financial Times no less were featuring his upcoming show at the Royal Festival Hall so maybe it’s just a Bristol low profile. But if you want your winter blues shaken loose and dumped by the wayside (in a bio-degradable style) then this is your man – and in any format that he chooses to turn up. But for this year you’ve missed your chance. My guess is that he’ll be back – ooh, in January probably. If you want to see him in Bristol anyway.
Oh and by the way, Tim Keegan was good and worth checking out too.
Saturday, 9 February 2008
And a very merry wassail to you too
Is it the start of the St George’s backlash? Having praised the venue on various occasions in the past might it have come unstuck with its latest guests? The evening was to celebrate songs of winter and Christmas as presented by Waterson Carthy. These are the individually and collectively celebrated Martin Carthy, his wife Norma Waterson and their daughter Eliza Carthy. In addition to their excellent voices they also have their guitar and violin skills. However, with Waterson Carthy you get a fourth member, so we had Saul Rose on melodeon. But then in addition to that we had a further three singers – going under the collective name of the Devil’s Interval. So seven in all, singing individually and in various combinations, accompanied and unaccompanied. And in such an entrancing manner that you want to be up there with them (admittedly probably not a very good idea). And this was the minor issue with St Georges, it was such a fantastic evening it should have been in your local pub keeping out the cold on a winter’s evening with beer or cider glass in hand and singing along. But instead you got the very slightly clinical atmosphere of everyone sitting quietly – albeit appreciatively – and all the work being done onstage. Which may be for the best but it slightly lacked something. Of course what you got in exchange was the excellent acoustics so that you could hear everything with absolute clarity. (Perhaps I should concede at this point that this is not that much of a backlash.)
They were mostly playing material from their new album – Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man – although they featured at least one that they had unfortunately had to leave off a previous album which was made around 30 plus years previously – so there’s nothing wrong with their memories or depth of repertoire. And so good was this new (ish – it came out in 2006) album that it just had to be bought and became the sound of Christmas. And now no Christmas can be complete without rousing versions of various Wassails (Jacobstowe and Sugar) and many of the other songs. I tried it and, after some scepticism, the enjoyment was infectious. So, if you’ve missed them, get the album anyway, turn it up and sing along – you’ll feel infinitely better for the whole experience. And I have every confidence it’s just as good when the sun’s shining.
They were mostly playing material from their new album – Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man – although they featured at least one that they had unfortunately had to leave off a previous album which was made around 30 plus years previously – so there’s nothing wrong with their memories or depth of repertoire. And so good was this new (ish – it came out in 2006) album that it just had to be bought and became the sound of Christmas. And now no Christmas can be complete without rousing versions of various Wassails (Jacobstowe and Sugar) and many of the other songs. I tried it and, after some scepticism, the enjoyment was infectious. So, if you’ve missed them, get the album anyway, turn it up and sing along – you’ll feel infinitely better for the whole experience. And I have every confidence it’s just as good when the sun’s shining.
Tuesday, 18 December 2007
It's what girl power was supposed to be
Off to Bishopston once again. This time to check out the recent media hullabaloo that has enveloped Uncle Earl. A bunch of girls (gEarls they would have you believe) who have been taking the bluegrass scene and shaking it by the scruff of its neck. Except according to them it’s not bluegrass, it’s old time or string band. They also throw in gospel, folk, blues, yodelling and clogging to make a deeply lovable brew.
We arrived slightly late – apologies to the support act – to find the joint was sold out – which means full. St Bonaventure’s has a sufficiently low stage and cramped space that when you get a crowd in they are pretty much eyeball to eyeball with the band and it looks more like the stand-off just before a massive brawl kicks off. This was happily resolved by the first few rows sitting on the floor and so bringing a bit of harmony to the proceedings. But maybe the band still felt threatened as whenever they went into an instrumental break – I don’t know that you’d call it jamming – they huddled even closer together. And the stage isn’t big in the first place.
There’s five of them covering fiddle, banjo, double bass, guitar, mandolin and possibly some other odds and ends in there as well. So you can see where the string band idea comes from. Probably in terms of technique they may be on the ragged side (this I hold to be a good thing) but their enthusiasm and love of the music is what matters and they have that by the bucket-load. If you thought Be Good Tanyas were loose then this lot move it closer to unhinged. They also all seem to have their own solo careers and so can switch from background to lead instrument/ singer with ease and a well-honed dexterity. Their inter song repartee involves conversations with each other and the audience as they work out what they’re doing next and what they’ve been doing whilst in the UK. They also kept apologising for the heat (on a typical freezing Bristol night) and the windows had to be opened wide to try to get some air in – hopefully the locals appreciated their free show.
This was the last night of their brief tour and they seemed to have had a great time. They were particularly excited by the prospect of their interval band which comprised their sound man and someone’s son on banjo and guitar and spent much time setting it up. A strained whisper ran round the crowd when they were joined by a rather older third man with his trusty mandolin. Yes it was John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin getting used to a smaller stage prior to his O2 reunion with his more famous chums but he fitted in a treat here. It’s the first time I have seen a band acting as roadie for their roadies and taking photos for their souvenir album but on this evidence maybe more of them should try it. So the second half was, essentially, riotous, with much hollering and joining in from the audience – yodelling too, fine singing and playing from the girls – including the song that Kristin Andreassen entered into a children’s competition (legitimately – she was a child at the time) featuring her acapella other than with Rayna Gellert on schoolkid’s clapping game. And it was really good!All in all a fabulous evening that could have gone on longer – I blame the neighbours – so no time for the hoedown in Mandarin. When they come back – as indeed they must – then go and see them. But if you’re thinking about joining in on the clog dancing then make sure you can take an extended shot at it – the lady from the audience here seemed to have anticipated a shorter encore and was the only one who wanted it to end.
We arrived slightly late – apologies to the support act – to find the joint was sold out – which means full. St Bonaventure’s has a sufficiently low stage and cramped space that when you get a crowd in they are pretty much eyeball to eyeball with the band and it looks more like the stand-off just before a massive brawl kicks off. This was happily resolved by the first few rows sitting on the floor and so bringing a bit of harmony to the proceedings. But maybe the band still felt threatened as whenever they went into an instrumental break – I don’t know that you’d call it jamming – they huddled even closer together. And the stage isn’t big in the first place.
There’s five of them covering fiddle, banjo, double bass, guitar, mandolin and possibly some other odds and ends in there as well. So you can see where the string band idea comes from. Probably in terms of technique they may be on the ragged side (this I hold to be a good thing) but their enthusiasm and love of the music is what matters and they have that by the bucket-load. If you thought Be Good Tanyas were loose then this lot move it closer to unhinged. They also all seem to have their own solo careers and so can switch from background to lead instrument/ singer with ease and a well-honed dexterity. Their inter song repartee involves conversations with each other and the audience as they work out what they’re doing next and what they’ve been doing whilst in the UK. They also kept apologising for the heat (on a typical freezing Bristol night) and the windows had to be opened wide to try to get some air in – hopefully the locals appreciated their free show.
This was the last night of their brief tour and they seemed to have had a great time. They were particularly excited by the prospect of their interval band which comprised their sound man and someone’s son on banjo and guitar and spent much time setting it up. A strained whisper ran round the crowd when they were joined by a rather older third man with his trusty mandolin. Yes it was John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin getting used to a smaller stage prior to his O2 reunion with his more famous chums but he fitted in a treat here. It’s the first time I have seen a band acting as roadie for their roadies and taking photos for their souvenir album but on this evidence maybe more of them should try it. So the second half was, essentially, riotous, with much hollering and joining in from the audience – yodelling too, fine singing and playing from the girls – including the song that Kristin Andreassen entered into a children’s competition (legitimately – she was a child at the time) featuring her acapella other than with Rayna Gellert on schoolkid’s clapping game. And it was really good!All in all a fabulous evening that could have gone on longer – I blame the neighbours – so no time for the hoedown in Mandarin. When they come back – as indeed they must – then go and see them. But if you’re thinking about joining in on the clog dancing then make sure you can take an extended shot at it – the lady from the audience here seemed to have anticipated a shorter encore and was the only one who wanted it to end.
Monday, 12 November 2007
Waiting for Columbus - again
Let’s start with a quiz. Have you ever been disappointed by a show at St George’s? The correct answer is surely not. A small venue created from an early 19th century church, it has perfect acoustics (Radio 3 record some of their classical broadcasts for later transmission here) and an intimate atmosphere which compensates for the regimented seating and slightly clinical air. You will not see people ripping up seats and dancing in the aisles here. But you will be sucked into an involving experience that will leave you in a better place than when you arrived. And it has a great little bar downstairs in the crypt.
So tonight we have Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett, described as the acoustic guitars from Little Feat. And that’s what you get (with a mandolin thrown in). However, this does not do them justice. If you are familiar with Little Feat then you will know that they were a fantastic band started in the very late 60s when Lowell George played Willin’ to his then employer Frank Zappa who told him it was nice and maybe he should form his own band. Now, also famous about Little Feat was that Lowell George was the leader who wiped himself out from cocaine use and abuse (it killed him and the band in ’79) and, when the band decided to reconvene nine years later the lead was increasingly taken by keyboard player Bill Payne. Good but not the real deal.
Now along come these two playing a selection of tunes that you know and love but giving them an acoustic twist and sending them off in a whole new direction. These guys also know the tunes and, what I personally love, an ability to present a song, take it somewhere completely different and either bring it back or end up in another song entirely. This they performed early on with a short foray going from Two Trains to Rocket in my Pocket and then, shortly afterwards, usiing Willin’ as a launch point and then through Don’t Bogart that Joint, Long Black Veil and the Weight (not previously in the Feat canon) and then back into Willin’. If there had been any doubt that this was going to be an impressive evening then those doubts were well gone by now. Paul Barrere is a consummate slide guitarist – and being able to hear his playing outside of a big electric band boosted him up my ratings. Ghost of Lowell George suitably exorcised (appropriately for the venue). And Fred Tackett is no slouch either with some fantastic mandolin playing on Dixie Chicken and elsewhere that more than surpassed the piano work of memory. They played two sets covering much of the original phase of Little Feat’s life with stuff from the Band, Alison Krauss and some other odds and ends and they were just stunningly excellent. If you know Little Feat then you should certainly see this. If you like acoustic guitars playing folk, blues, gospel, rock n roll then you should go and see them. The onstage banter is pretty good too.
You see, another fine show at St George’s. Case closed.
So tonight we have Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett, described as the acoustic guitars from Little Feat. And that’s what you get (with a mandolin thrown in). However, this does not do them justice. If you are familiar with Little Feat then you will know that they were a fantastic band started in the very late 60s when Lowell George played Willin’ to his then employer Frank Zappa who told him it was nice and maybe he should form his own band. Now, also famous about Little Feat was that Lowell George was the leader who wiped himself out from cocaine use and abuse (it killed him and the band in ’79) and, when the band decided to reconvene nine years later the lead was increasingly taken by keyboard player Bill Payne. Good but not the real deal.
Now along come these two playing a selection of tunes that you know and love but giving them an acoustic twist and sending them off in a whole new direction. These guys also know the tunes and, what I personally love, an ability to present a song, take it somewhere completely different and either bring it back or end up in another song entirely. This they performed early on with a short foray going from Two Trains to Rocket in my Pocket and then, shortly afterwards, usiing Willin’ as a launch point and then through Don’t Bogart that Joint, Long Black Veil and the Weight (not previously in the Feat canon) and then back into Willin’. If there had been any doubt that this was going to be an impressive evening then those doubts were well gone by now. Paul Barrere is a consummate slide guitarist – and being able to hear his playing outside of a big electric band boosted him up my ratings. Ghost of Lowell George suitably exorcised (appropriately for the venue). And Fred Tackett is no slouch either with some fantastic mandolin playing on Dixie Chicken and elsewhere that more than surpassed the piano work of memory. They played two sets covering much of the original phase of Little Feat’s life with stuff from the Band, Alison Krauss and some other odds and ends and they were just stunningly excellent. If you know Little Feat then you should certainly see this. If you like acoustic guitars playing folk, blues, gospel, rock n roll then you should go and see them. The onstage banter is pretty good too.
You see, another fine show at St George’s. Case closed.
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