- Live Reviews
The live music experience can be very subjective. A punter's enjoyment of a gig can depend on time and place, circumstances, company, energy levels and alcohol intake. When preparing for his recent tour revisiting 'The River', Bruce Springsteen said that he was not only competing with the original River tour, but also with people's memories of the original River tour.
When a concert stands out in your memory as one of the best ever, it is asking for trouble hoping to repeat that experience. One of my own "best ever" memories was Paul Simon at Roskilde 1991. I had the opportunity to see Paul Simon again at Glastonbury 2011 and I was never so disappointed.
Another "best ever" gig was Séamus Begley & Tim Edey in 2007 at the Worldfleadh in Portlaoise. It was a midnight gig and they played for nearly three hours in a nightclub. I remember it as absolutely electrifying. I have seen both Séamus and Tim play since, but not together, and I wondered if they would be as good the second time around.
Séamus Begley is described by Mike Scott (in Adventures of a Waterboy) as “a box-playing cattle farmer with a back like a wardrobe and the most beautiful singing voice”. Tim Edey is a multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire (BBC Radio Two's Musician of the Year 2012) and he accompanies Séamus on guitar.
They were due to play one of the nicest venues in the country, the Seamus Ennis Centre in the Naul, on 24 September and so I made the trek up to North county Dublin. It was getting dark as I was going to the pub across the road to buy a pint for the gig. In the distance I saw a tall man talking into a mobile and I remember thinking he looked like Donogh Hennessy.
I did not get to test whether Séamus & Tim were still as outstanding nine years on from Portlaoise, as Tim had been struck by appendicitis and could not make the gig. Donogh Hennessy was replacing him. I have to admit I was disappointed. Over the years I have seen Séamus Begley perform with Steve Cooney, Jim Murray and Matt Griffin - all great guitarists playing in the style pioneered (so I am told; I am no expert) by the Australian Steve Cooney. Donogh Hennessy is a fabulous guitar player in his own right. I remember seeing him way back when he was part of Sharon Shannon's touring quartet; he was a founder member of Lúnasa and I have seen him play with Lumiere. He is a producer and owns a studio in Dingle. Mike Scott, again, once described Donogh, in a blog about session shenanigans post-Other Voices, as "the man who knows all the tunes".
The Naul got an excellent gig. The show was a mix of trad instrumentals (polkas, slides, reels, a waltz) and songs. Séamus' singing is unlike anything I have ever heard. There were many jokes too and they took requests. My own was a song they were most likely going to play anyway ('The early morning rain'), but there were some off the cuff requests as well, requiring the men to confer and hum for a bit.
The Seamus Ennis Centre is a music lover's dream: An intimate venue with great sound and always an attentive listening audience.
The show had an interval, allowing us to go across the road for a fresh pint. The guys played for over two hours. It was trad at its best and I had a fantastic evening. I still do not know whether Séamus Begley & Tim Edey can match that "one-of-best-ever" gigs. I hope to have the opportunity to check that out some time in the future.
Helen.
- Live Reviews
Sunday 11 September I went to see Roy Bailey at the Green Note in Camden. This was a suggestion of friends in London. I was not familiar with Roy's music, but have since learned that he is a legendary folk singer; a kind of English equivalent to Pete Seeger no less. A protest singer, a socialist, half of an award-winning duo with the late Tony Benn and an academic. And all I knew was that he was Martin Simpson's father-in-law, although I am now sure Martin would say that the other way around.
The Green Note is a lovely venue. It is so small that you can see well from anywhere inside. The place filled up early with a dedicated listening audience. I drank organic draught beer; surprisingly good. I was in London on my way back from the Netherlands, where I am from but which long ago stopped feeling like home. I had a very happy night in the Green Note, sitting in this dark, atmospheric café among like-minded music fans. Audience participation was very much encouraged, as Roy said he wanted the show to be a communal experience, rather than just him doing his thing and us listening.
Roy is 80 years of age and walks with a stick. His voice is strong though and this was not a short gig either. Roy was accompanied by Marc Block, whom he credited with enabling him to continue to do gigs, as Marc drives him around. Marc contributed guitar, harmonica, bodhrán and vocals. They were also joined by Ian Brown, who added guitar and vocals to the songs he knew, and stayed out of the ones he didn't. I liked this, as guests outstaying their welcome can sometimes mar a gig.
Highlight for me was a song called 'Everything possible', written by Fred Small, an American songwriter. The song had a lovely message, as had Sunday's show in general. Roy very much came across as a man with his heart in the right place. He is not a songwriter but a collector of songs, and a well-travelled one. Storytelling and anecdotes were an important part of the gig.
Roy has only recently released his first ever live CD 'Live at Towersey 2015', featuring the aforementioned Marc and Ian, as well as Martin Simpson and Andy Cutting.
Helen.
- Live Reviews
Last Monday the Amsterdam Bos Theatre hosted an evening of acoustic music. What a great location: An open air theatre in the Amsterdam Forest, a park three times the size of Central Park on the outskirts of the city. It was a dry and warm evening with mosquitos who calmed down once it got dark.
I had been apprehensive about this gig. A mailing that had gone out from promotor warned of a token system for drinks and that payment would be by "pin" only. They even tried to flog a very un-rock'n roll €35 picnic hamper. Thankfully cash was eventually accepted and there were no hipster picnickers in evidence at all.
Call It Off opened the show. They describe themselves as a pop punk quartet and hail from Eindhoven. For this concert band members Maurice and Adrian performed as a duo. The hallmark of a good song is that it should work with just guitar and vocals and that was indeed the case here. The guys have strong voices, they harmonize nicely and they got some crowd participation going, even if it did take them until their last song to realize that there were a lot of travelling fans at the show who had not understood any of their introductions in Dutch.
Tim Vantol is a Dutch singer/songwriter who is actually better known in Germany than at home. I was not familiar with his music, but I knew that he came highly recommended. I was won over quickly: A huge voice, warm personality and anthemic songs about life and its ups and downs. Tim is a hardworking touring machine and a seasoned live act. He had the audience on his side from the start. He asked where people were from and effortlessly switched to Spanish in mid-song for a girl in the audience.
It was unfortunate that Tim's merch guy did not have sufficient change and was not prepared to accept 1 and 2 cent coins. I resigned myself to the fact that I was not meant to have Tim's CD. For the record, Tim has released two full-length albums and they are out on vinyl as well.
Frank Turner's gig was a rare duo performance with his friend and Sleeping Soul member Matt Nasir on mandolin, mandola and backing vocals. With a bottle of wine on a table between them they put on a laid-back, humorous show. The set differed significantly from Frank's previous concert in the Netherlands (Utrecht, January), which pleases multiple gig goers. The songs from Frank's most recent album 'Positive Songs For Negative People' translated particularly well to the guitar and mandolin treatment. 'Glorious You' and 'The Opening Act Of Spring' were the standouts for me.
'A Love Worth Keeping' was played especially for a fan for whom this was her 50th show. Frank inpires this kind of loyalty among his listeners, most of whom will be able to tell you their gig count. A check on Setlist.fm revealed ten previous live renditions of the song 'A Love Worth Keeping'. In comparison, the site lists Frank's most successful song 'Photosynthesis' 787 times, though given that this was Frank's 1958th show as a solo artist (he does keep count) the actual figure is probably double that.
Other rarities performed at the Bos Theatre were the Million Dead song 'Smiling At Strangers On Trains' and a new song entitled 'Eye Of The Day'. This song is about Mata Hari and is part of a kind of concept album that Frank may be working on. It is a beautiful quiet song and the audience gave it the reverence it deserved.
The encore included a guitar and mandolin classic rock extravaganza with covers of Wings' 'Live And Let Die' and Queen's 'Somebody To Love'. 'Get Better' closed the concert. The 'Get Better' Tour of the UK featuring Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls plus two support acts kicks off on 18 November.
Helen.
- Live Reviews
Mutefish are an instrumental six piece, best know for their street gigs. Dublin has a great tradition of buskers who have gone on to bigger things. This was particularly the case in the 80s, with the scene that spawned the Hothouse Flowers, Kíla and that included the late Mic Christopher and, most successful of all, Glen Hansard.
Mutefish have released a full length album and an EP to date. They are a festival band and they tour internationally as well (they were in Belgium and Switzerland earlier this year), but they opt to continue busking alongside this. They used to play in Grafton Street. When Mike Scott of the Waterboys posted regular - and amusing - busker reports from Grafton Street on Twitter and he mentioned Mutefish favourably more than once. Nowadays the band can be found on the main square in Temple Bar. My guess is that busking in this touristy area enables them to reach new listeners all the time, in a way that playing in venues simply cannot.
I caught them at a headline gig in Whelans, two days after they supported the Damned at the Academy and prior to their three appearances, they inform us, at the Electric Picnic next weekend.
They drew a seizable crowd, some of which were wearing Mutefish T-shirts. Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese were the dominant languages in the audience, although I overheard an American as well, who was saying to his friend: “This is Whelans, this is where it all happens”.
The current Mutefish line up consists of musicians from Ireland, Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and Portugal. I was not aware that there had been a line up change and I have to admit that I was disappointed to discover that flute player extraordinaire Daithi O'Cearuill is no longer with the band. He featured prominently on the band's first CD, 'On Draught', and since I am quite a flute aficionado I missed his input.
According to the info on the band's website fiddler Pedro Martinho plays flute, whistle and pipes as well, but he did not do so at Sunday's show (except for one very brief part). The line up changes have resulted in a much heavier sound. Mutefish describe their music as progressive techno folk, and on Sunday at least the emphasis was more on prog than on folk.
Once I put my disappointment about the absence of flute aside, I realised that their newer music is actually good. The fiddle is the main provider of the melody and the Portuguese fiddler is also the spokesman for the band. Bo Stelmach (Polish) switched between guitar and mandolin and the mandolin lightened the mood nicely whenever it made an appearance. The rhythm section is made up of Tomas Pupalaigis (from Lithuania) and drummer Philip Staunton (Irish). Ukrainian Peter Karabasoff is another multi-instrumentalist, though he stuck mostly to percussion for this gig and, the sound is rounded out by Marka Lovkil on electric guitar.
At times their music is reminiscent of the Levellers, minus vocals, or of instrumental acts such as And So I Watch You From Afar and Redneck Manifesto. Due to the international make up of the band there is a Manu Chao vibe about them as well.
Their encore was played especially for all the Brazilians in the audience. Apparently it was a cover of a song by a Brazilian band, with a death metal vocal 'sung' by the drummer Philip. It went down a storm and it was a fun end the show.
Mutefish's current EP '360 Hangovers' is available at their busking sessions and via the band's website.
Helen
- Live Reviews
I travelled to Kilkenny on Saturday for a gig at the lovely Set Theatre. I had been there once before, to see Frank Turner, and I liked the venue so much that I had been keeping an eye on their listings ever since. A concert by the Unthanks was a good excuse for a visit to the Marble City.
The last few times I had seen the Unthanks it had been their big band extravaganza with brass and string sections. This time it was only the core five members, and I liked it all the more for that. There would not have been room for more on the Set's tiny stage in any case.
The Unthanks are celebrating ten years as a band and were doing some looking back tonight. They played songs from the Rachel Unthank & the Winterset era, which suited the smaller set up. They also did a good few songs from 'Songs from the shipyards', a show I had missed when they toured it. In addition they did a song from Sting's shipyard project on which they had guested.
They talked about the fact that Becky had got to sing a duet with Sting (cue much joking from all band members and audience; poor old Sting..), but it was Rachel's song they performed: 'Peggy's song' was one of the highlights of the evening for me. Other standouts were 'Anarchie Gordon', 'The testimony of Patience Kershaw' and 'Here's the tender coming'.
For one song Rachel and Becky divided up the audience and taught us some three part harmonies, as they do in their workshops and singing weekends. The resulting singalong sounded great. There was then an interval during which people went to the bar and bought CDs. Rachel came over to say hello as she remembered me from a singing weekend a good few years ago. Her husband Adrian recognised me as well. Such nice people. We talked about the differences between the big band and this smaller set up. Adrian said they like to think that neither is better; just different (true).
Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill were in the audience for the concert, which was a good two hours long. In the queue beforehand I had talked with some musos who were grumbling about Ricky Scaggs' very short show as part of the Kilkenny Arts Festival a few days earlier. One man spotted my Bruce shirt and commented that Ricky could learn a thing or two from the Boss. No such complaints with the Unthanks.
On my way back to the hostel I witnessed what I presume is a typical Saturday night in Kilkenny. Girls on stilts in swimwear and many folks in Kilkenny shirts. I came home with the Unthanks' 'Archive Treasures', which has rarities, demos and alternative live versions – a great collection.
Helen
- Live Reviews
Hot on the heels of the New York maestro’s latest album release Blues of Desperation, followed by a short UK tour, Joe Bonamassa hits these shores again for a run of 5 Summer shows as an homage to his British blues guitar heroes : Clapton, Beck and Page.
Billed as A Salute to the British Blues Explosion, Bonamassa is famously quoted as saying that without the British influence during the early 60’s, rock as we now now it may never have happened...
Set up like a mini festival, and with the impressive Newark Castle ruins behind the stage, first up is Brummie Joanne Shaw Taylor. Despite being the support act, the majority of the assembled are in their seats and attentive during her impressive 40 minute set. She sure can play guitar and has an impressive set of lungs to match. Job done ; crowd warmed up.
And so at 8pm sharp, the now familiar opening backing track of Cash’s Ring of Fire blares out before the band, and finally the immaculately suited and shaded Bonamassa joins them. And without ceremony, they set off into Beck’s Bolero.
Despite the poor vocal volume during the first couple of songs, momentum grows especially when the first Zep song of the night Boogie With Stu lands, and the population of middle aged blokes in the audience show their appreciation.
Bonamassa’s first address to the audience basically suggests that without listening to his heroes back in his childhood, he wouldn’t have picked up a guitar and would have gone down the house painting route...Their loss....
Double Crossing Time, actually a John Mayall cover, features one of several insane solos during the night, and leaves us aspiring guitarists wondering why we bother.
The Clapton songs covered during the night are obvious even if you are were not familiar with the tracks, as Bonamassa almost has a touch of old Slow Hand’s vocal style, and Motherless Children is the perfect example.
Bonamassa’s backing band are Anton Fig on drums, Russ Irwin on rhythm guitar, Reece Wynans on Keys and the inimitable Michael Rhodes on bass. And what a band. They are certainly not just there for Bonamassa to show off his peerless talent, but to enhance it. Let’s face it, you’ve got to be on your game when playing with a maestro.
SWLABR is one of the many highlights of the night, culminating is a furious bass/guitar play off which clearly shows 2 friends having fun and loving what they do.
Zeppelin’s I’ Can’t Quit You Babe is also a masterpiece....is it sacrilege to suggest it actually might have been an improvement on the original...? Magnificent.
Finally, the crowd are urged to join the band on their feet for the finale of How Many More Times, and sadly it felt like this should have happened an hour ago to really get the party started, but better late than never and the euphoric ending was entirely appropriate.
And so to the encore. Bonamassa himself announced that he would not have been able to sleep properly tonight if he hadn’t played something the crowd really knew and loved, and so onto the epic Sloe Gin. The roof would have been brought down if we’d had one, instead we showed our appreciation into the usual manner and sloped off into the now chilly night grinning from ear to ear.
So a unique occasion, in a unique setting and a truly special night. If the aim of the tour was to show his admiration and respect for his heroes, then mission accomplished. If it was to entertain his legions of fans along the way, then mission accomplished with bells on it. Page, Beck and Clapton may have been pivotal at the beginning of blues rock as we know it, but Bonamassa is at the forefront of its future. The Blues couldn’t be in better hands.
Keith @kjsmith4082
photo: Christie Goodwin
- Live Reviews
If you want a spectacular setting for a concert and you're not too keen on the annual quagmirefest hosted in the Isle of Avalon then how about a stage between a Rainforest and a Mediterranean climate in a quarried out bowl in Cornwall. The Eden Project near St Austell has been hosting the Eden Sessions since 2002 in this very location and tonight's show is billed as PJ Harvey plus Special Guest. Those of us who got here early enough to make use of the Eden Project pass which is included in the cost of the gig ticket and represents great value for money, saw Jehnny Beth from Savages sound-checking and worked out who the Special Guest was. It's best we let Jehnny explain why she's here “My friend Polly asked me to play some songs tonight and you don't say no to Polly Jean Harvey”, and possibly PJ Harvey had a spare seat on the bus back from Glastonbury.
Whilst Jehnny's stage attire is the usual black and white combination, in a marked contrast to the often intense and brutal Savages live show she sits at the piano and plays 30 minutes of touching and beautiful ballads, finishing with a version of 'Adore', from the most recent Savages album which she says was originally written on the piano.
All dressed in black and wearing a crown of raven feathers PJ Harvey accompanied by her nine-piece band slow march onto stage. The slow march is to the beat of funeral drums which half the band are playing, the other half playing brass for the intro to 'Chain of Keys' from 'The Hope Six Demolition Project'. The first five tracks tonight are all from the new album , the highlight being 'The Community of Hope' which criticises the Hope VI regeneration project in Ward 7, Washington D.C, the chorus of “They're gonna put a Walmart here”; being the unlikely solution.
The instantly recognisable intro to 'Let England Shake' starts a triple whammy from that Mercury award winning album. The band co-ordinate hand clamps through the “ What if I take my problem to the United Nations” lines from 'The Words that Maketh Murder'. Polly says virtually nothing during the show but she embellishes the songs through mime and movement ; during 'This Glorious land' she turns to the band and demands of them “ And what is this glorious fruit of our land ?” to get the response from the band “Its fruit is deformed children”.
The set list is dominated by tracks from the two most recent albums, but towards the end of the show there are three older tracks : John Parish hammering out the guitar riff to '50ft Queenie' with Polly throwing shapes around him; 'Down by the River' and its creepy “Little Fish, Big Fish swimming in the water ...” outro and 'To Bring you My Love'. The main set finishes with a melancholic and haunting 'River Anacostia', the band removed of all of their instruments for the acapella outro “Wade in the water, God's gonna trouble the water” as they slow march depart from the stage as they arrived to the sound of the funeral drums.
They return for single song encore of 'Near the Memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln' before taking their bows, thank you and good-nights. These brilliant, flawless musicians and Polly's hypnotic, commanding stage presence in this beautiful setting puts this show amongst the most memorable of the year.
Alisdair Whyte
- Live Reviews
So here we are again, Neil Young at the O2 Arena in London. This time the band are, ‘The Promise of the Real’ a young band that, Neil really sparks off.
Laura Marling and band pull off a sparkling support slot which bodes well for her headline spot at The Green Man festival in August as as 8.30 pm approaches, the lights dim and there is Neil sitting at his battered piano singing, ‘After The Gold Rush’ then, he picks up a battered acoustic guitar and we get ‘Heart Of Gold’, ‘From Hank To Hendrix’ and ‘The Needle And The Damage Done’. The solo slot concludes with Neil at the organ for ‘Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)’. Its one of the most magical openings to a concert for a long time.
The Promise of the Real are Lukas Nelson (vocals/guitar), Anthony Logerfo (drums), Corey McCormick (bass), and Tato Melgar (percussion). Lukas is the son of Willie Nelson, a long time buddy of Neil Young. These guys are a band in their own right, three albums old and they step on the stage for ‘Out On The Weekend’ from Harvest’, the set continues with ‘Western Hero’, from 'Sleeps with Angels",‘Hold Back The Tears’, ‘Someday’ from ‘Freedom’ and back to Harvest for ‘Alabama’.
The set is really bringing out some some long lost live songs, it seems London is in for a treat tonight. ‘If I Could Have Her Tonight’ from the 1968 album ‘Neil Young’ follows, Words up next then our first visit to ‘On the Beach’ with ‘Walk On’.
Then we have the elongated wig-out to ‘Love To Burn’ and a trip to Ragged Glory’ for ‘Mansion On The Hill’. ‘Seed Justice’ is from upcoming album ‘Earth’ before a mighty ‘Revolution Blues’ is played from ‘On The Beach’ and we are in awe.
Keeping things recent ‘Monsanto Years’ follows, then ‘After The Garden’ from ‘Living with War’, ‘Love And Only Love’ finishes the set and a storming F*!#in' Up complete’s the show.
This was a thinking man’s /women’s set list, not songs that have appeared regularly, a set from a man with a conscience and someone who still has something to say at 70, his songs still resonate that much. If he doesn’t make the point who will?
The Promise of the Real were able to reproduce the songs and style of the many bands that Neil has been part of over the years. It was really quite amazing that you could listen to one band but, shut your eyes and that could have been many different bands. So maybe, we didn’t get all the favourites (don’t forget that start) but what we got, were the rare gems.
Long may this man run!
Pete
Photo: Eilís Boland
SSE Belfast
- Live Reviews
The Joy Formidable visit Nottingham tonight as part of the 'Hitch' tour in support of their new album of the same name. The backdrop has their logo drawn in the characteristic stylings of Gonzo artist Ralph Steadman who drew some of the album's artwork and with whom this reviewer more than once shared a local pub.
The distorted ice-cream van chimes intro to 'The Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade' welcomes the band on stage to play that track from the 'A Balloon Called Moaning' EP released way back in 2009. The stage is set up with the drum kit stage left which gives plenty of room for bass player Rhydian Davies and guitarist Ritzy Bryan (with her blonde bob bouncing) to leap and dart around during the meaty instrumental sections of each track. 'The Blimp' starts with a chunky bass riff and during the guitar solo Ritzy displays some of the finest backwards /side sliding around the stage whilst playing since James Dean Bradfield of the Manics; there must be a Welsh School of Rock where they teach this stuff. Ritzy picks out the opening oriental sounding chords of 'Maw Maw Song' from 'Wolf's Law' before the track's monster riff explodes around the room ; fortunately all the references to carnivores doesn't appear to phase the small model of a Welsh Mountain Goat which is positioned on Ritzy's guitar effects board.
Driving the whole show along is Matt Thomas whose drumming style reminds you of an octopus in a tumble dryer in the best possible way. Matt confirms his membership of the 'drummers being slightly mad' club by selecting a striking yellow Hawaiian shirt as opposed to standard black for his stage wear and his star turn during a previous visit to Nottingham which we are told involved dancing and feeding the audience instant mash potato ; an act which was apparently a “Smash hit”- yes he really did say this.
Early single 'Cradle' and the big, bouncy funky drum and bass lines of 'Hitch's', 'The Last Thing on My Mind' get the crowd moving and show TJF have consistently written catchy tunes throughout their career.
The encore starts with the recent single 'Radio of Lips' with its killer chorus “The further I run, The faster you apologise ...”, and after 'Liana' also from 'Hitch' there's a call from the audience to play 'Cradle' again to which Ritzy replys she's learnt two things whilst touring, “Don't play any Chris de Burgh and never play the same song twice” (quite correct on both counts) . The chiming guitars and solid, pounding rhythm accompaniment of 'Whirring' has a little pause halfway through as Ritzy has to retune which gives the boys chance for a funky, jazzy improv workout, though with the general thrashing, squealing feedback which finishes the track I'm not sure the retune made a lot of difference. Guitars are thrown into the amps and it's kisses goodnight as they leave the stage for the final time, confirming once again that The Joy Formidable are definitely a band you need to see live.
Alisdair Whyte
- Live Reviews
It was so good to be at The Joy Formidable’s gig at Colchester Arts Centre.
They really set the place alive - sonic waves of rock filling the Medieval roof and arches.
The venue is small and intimate with a superb sound so was perfect. (As is the fine selection of beers!)
They kicked off with ‘The Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade’ from their excellent first album The Big Roar. They also finished the set with a number off that album ‘The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie’. Finally they finished at the end of the encore with ‘Whirring’ from that same album producing a whirlpool of sound which left us ecstatic.
Many bands use their tour to showcase a new album, but not The Joy Formidable. They played only 3 numbers from their new album Hitch which came out earlier this year (The Last Thing on my Mind, Liana and Radio of Lips) and so the gig was a superb smorgasbord of their rock numbers to date.
They were on top form and looked so pleased to be performing for us. Ritzy was leaping about the stage all smiles and it really came across that the whole band were enjoying the gig and playing for us.
They are only a 3 piece band but sound so much bigger. A blitz of fuzzy guitars sounds from Ritzy accompanying her impressive rock diva vocals. Base arpeggios from Rhydian and strong drumming from Matt. The sounds are multi layered, in harmony with powerful jamming rhythms.
I first saw them at Reading Festival in 2009. I didn’t know them then, but was well impressed. Since then I’ve seen them at a number of Festivals but not at a gig. After this performance I’ll certainly be looking out for their future tours!
Ken
Setlist
The Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade
Little Blimp
Passerby
Wolf’s Law
Ostrich
Cradle
The Last Thing on my Mind
Liana
The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie
Encore
Radio of Lips
The Leopard and the Lung
Whirring
- Live Reviews
A pleasant late spring Sunday evening in Nottingham and first on stage is Laura Lee (bass), Mark Speer (guitar) and Donald Johnson (drums), collectively known as Khruangbin from Houston, Texas.
First impression was West Coast psychedelia from this three piece, then came the soul and deep grooves. The usual 30 minutes for a support band just left me wanting more, certainly a band to investigate further!
Just after 9pm and a tall gangly bearded man with the energy of a 5 year old takes the stage with his band, Josh Tillman, A.K.A. Father John Misty then delivers a dynamic musical and visual show, stuffed with the humour that lives and breathes in his songs, this was a captivating 90 minutes.
It’s the ‘Fear Fun’ album that get’s the show started, with ‘Everyman Needs A Companion’, with the stage drenched in green lights, followed by the brilliant ‘Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings’ which just highlighted Josh in dry ice and red light, barely visible. With the driving drum beat, this was an electric start to the set.
Latest album ‘I love you Honeybear obviously gets well represented with much gusto. The quieter moments often get drowned out by crowd noise, but that is just part of gig going in 2016 I suppose if, you stand in earshot of the bar .
Nothing came from the albums in Josh’s own name which was surprising as the songs from these records, are really great. There are however no complaints about this very solid and entertaining gig. Josh has his heart in the right place!
Still dates on the tour, just don't get tempted by the FJM leisurewear trousers on the Merch stall!
Pete
Tue, 17 May Colston Hall, Bristol, Bristol
Wed, 18 May Roundhouse, London
Thu, 19 May Roundhouse, London
Fri, 20 May Roundhouse, London
Sat 21, May O2 Guildhall Southampton
- Live Reviews
It was great to be at the 100 Club in London on the 6th April for The Poses only UK gig of their current European tour.
We like the quirky 100 Club in London for its intimacy. The stage is low (with a large pillar just in front of it) but the room is wide and shallow so can get close to the band.
The band are from Seattle and are Ken Stringfellow on keyboards and guitar, Jon Auer on guitar and Frankie Siragusa on drums. On some of the numbers they were joined by Gizelle Smith who provided some great soulful vocals. We were impressed with their new drummer Frankie. His drumming was enthusiastically brilliant. (Last year the Posies long time drummer Darius sadly died).
As always their songs were full of poetic lyrics and beautiful harmonies. Sometimes you need raw piercing sounds of heavy rock and sometimes you feel like standing on a warm beach and letting the gentle waves of rock wash over you. The Posies sound was the latter. It makes you feel good, but there were some serious lyrics wrapped up in there.
They played all of the tracks on the new album Solid States which is to be released next Friday on 29th April. Other numbers were from previous albums dating back to Frosting On The Beaters of 1993.
On the new album we really like the tracks We R Power which has a faster rhythm, the foot tapping March Climes and meditative like The Sound Of Clouds.
7/11
Ken
Set List
We R Power
Unlikely Places
Squirrel vs Snake
Dream
Scattered
March Climes
Licenses
The Glitter Prize
Sound of Clouds
Rollercoaster Zen
Titanic
The Plague
Throwaway
Please
The Definition
M Doll
Burn
Solar
Radiance
Fucking Liar
Flavor
You’re the Beautiful One