Gig of the year 2011

Some while ago I blogged about seeing Stephen Stills with his band at Shepherds Bush Empire. Well, last year we went to see a good many bands, including Peggy Seeger, The Decemberists (Again), Gillian Welch (twice), and BB King not to mention Squeeze among many, but FINALLY got to see the Grandaddy of them all. Yup, you've guessed it David Crosby and Graham Nash at the Royal Albert Hall. Band members included Crosby's son on keys and a very hot guitar player who appears to be able to effectively imitate SS at will! I've longed to see Crosby for years, but he doesn't some to the UK very often. Spellbound, they played ALL the big hits: Eight miles high, Almost cut my hair, Cathedral, 4x20, Teach your Children, Ohio and most of If Only I Could Remember My Name, to recall but a few. The only thing I missed was The Lee Shore.

Crosby may be 71 and have got into more scrapes than the average marauding army including a stint in jail, the ingestion of more drugs than you could imagine, a liver transplant, serious motorbike and car crashes, revelations of sperm donor offspring and the re-uniting with a son he never knew he had after 30 odd years (see above), but he's still the boss and still has the most amazing voice ever. Obviuosly an added bonus was the harmony singing with and overall contribution to the evening of Graham Nash , but it was Crosby we all went to see.

He is apparently still not totally out of the woods financially as it appears that his schooner "Mayan" (pictured) is up for sale. This is the boat featured on the cover of the CSN album and on the headstock of his signature Martin D18C and which he's owned since the '70's, so if you want a boat with real mojo, this has to be it.

The next tour with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash kicks off in Australia next month so watch the space for a return visit by the man himself. Wild horses and all that. . . . .

Effing Mumfords

We went to see Mumford and sons at the Shepherds Bush Empire the other day. I have to confess it was not quite what I expected. And the aftermath just confirms this.....
As usual for shepherds Bush gigs we had an early dinner in a nearby Italian restaurant and proceeded to the venue once the doors had opened. For a change (and surprisingly) the goons decided to search my bag which was on its way to the cloaks in any case. HaHa for them! In my bag I had: 1 pair of handlebars, 1 handlebar stem, a pair of Campagnolo Ergo levers, 250g of Fortnums tea and a jar of Fortnums Blackberry jam. Well that threw them! I was ESCORTED to the cloakrooms by a heavy just to make sure I put the bag and contents in the cloakroom. What did they think I was going to do? Flick tea leaves at the stage?

So we finally got in well in time for the support, of which there were two, both of whom appeared to have other links with the headliners, but never mind, they were both good value and acts to watch out for in the future. Finally Mumford and Sons took to the stage and at this point it dawned on us that not only were we at the last (or nearly last) gig of a very succesful first national tour, but we were on their home turf and right in the middle of what passes for a mosh pit in such refined company. Mums and Dads were in the balcony while old school chums etc. were down with us. It certainly added to the atmosphere and the boys were in cracking form, Gromit.
I say "boys" and I mean boys... From the album and associated email newsletters I had expected a band of "not so youthful" experienced musos (maybe from the west country) who might have been on top of their game for years, but no.. I don't think any of them actually shave yet!
None of this should serve to distract from the evening. They played pretty much all of their first album Sigh No More in a very deft manner and added a few new tunes which admittedly did not sound as strong as the older material but will likely get more defined with repeated listening - I'll give the benfit of doubt here.
The aftermath part 1 - On the way out I paused to have a look at our fellow gig goers... I must have been the oldest person in the standing stalls by a good 20 or 30 years - even Ed or Rachel would have felt old in this company! Suddenly I didn't feel quite so comfortable. . . . .
Followed by the aftermath part 2 - Since the gig I've noticed that both BBC and ITV are using Munfords tunes during programme trails. Now I really can't get them out of my head.

Swallowed by a whale

Warning to everyone out there:

If you go to see the Decemberists prepare for a fantasticly inventive band on rousing top form but beware where you go to see them.

We went to see them this week at the Coronet Theatre in Elephant and Castle. The previous night they had been in Kentish Town and we made the fateful decision not to venture into North London, but to slip south of the river. BIG mistake. The Coronet theatre is a dump with repressive and totally unnecessary security, even on the balcony where it was unbelievably innefuctual. The sound is crap and the beer VERY over priced. With the exception of indigo2 to see Aimee Mann it's been nearly 30 years since I queued more than a couple of minutes to get into a venue and even at the O2 the goons are less interested in what you've got in your pockets than making the queues go in pretty lines.

In the pub before hand I paid £6-30 for a round of drinks for 4. In the venue, the same round was £16! How the hell do you justify that? Tickets for the band were about average price at £18:50 each, so the beer isn't subsidising the entry. I won't go on about the sound: It may have been better downstairs as the house p.a. was aimed in that direction, but listening to the soundman chasing the levels all night to the point where vocals were lost, the Zylophone (Jenny Conlee) was inaudible and Chris Funk's guitar levels were all over the place was irritating to say the least.

However, the band themselves were obviously on form, playing The Hazards of Love from start to finish in one set and then selections from 5 songs, Picaresque and The Crane Wife in a second. They finished with TheMariner's Revenge Song which is fast becoming a signature ending (Not exactly Meet on the Ledge, but you get the picture) and as for the whale itself......you'll have to go and see them to find out, just make sure its not at the Coronet Theatre.

Just because you can

We’re on the way home from a weekend in Leeds for our friend’s 25th wedding anniversary party and I’ve decided to try this blogging from a train lark. We nearly didn’t get there at all as it happened as someone (who? Me?) locked themselves out of the house in the morning. Oh yes, not only out of the house, but out of the garage (where the tools are) and the car. By the time we’d enlisted the help of a friend to break in without doing too much damage which is actually much harder than you’d think poochie was getting severely stressed. He was definitely not best pleased at being dumped in kennels. Maybe he’ll forgive us when we spring him tomorrow.
Anyway, to cut a long story short we eventually got up to Leeds for the party and met up with a couple of people from Southampton days who I’d not seen for years. Mike’s band played and as I’d been asked to sit in, I did just that. I’ve not played the old box much lately and this morning my fingers are throbbing but I must make an effort to get back into it.
I like train travel, especially inter-city, the 2½ hours from London to Leeds just flies by and with this new fangled inter webby thing on the train too it makes for a very nice way of passing the time. On the way up yesterday I bought a c.d. from the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC in America, just because I could. How cool is that?.

Gig of the year

I should have mentioned this earlier, but a high bar has been set for Gig of Year 2009, even before January is out. the other evening we went to "Folk America - Hollerers, Stompers & Old Time Ramblers" at the Barbican. Hosted by the inimitable Seasick Steve, it featured Alison Williams & Chance McCoy, The Wiyos, Cedric Watson and Bijou Creole, the fantastic Diana Jones and someone who's well on the way to being an all time fave - C.W.Stoneking.

Described by Seasick as totally stuck in the 1930's his mixture of old time jazz, deep south blues and street "Hokum" held us spellbound. With a truly authentic vocal sound, you'd be forgiven for thinking he was one of the original bluesmen, but no. In his 30's Stoneking hails from Australia - unbelievable.

A quick mention for some of the other artists - The Wiyos mix of Vaudeville, swing and old time hill billy had the whole audience stunned with their brilliance. Diana Jones is becoming well known in the UK, having (I think) recently supported Richard Thompson and had a feature spot on the Bob Harris show. Alison williams started out playing in punk bands in the 90's but soon crossed over to old timey country. She plays a mean clawhammer banjo and her band is pretty hot too. Guitarist chance McCoy put his taps on and gave a super demonstration of of Appalachian clog, which took me right back to my time with Loose Screws, which some of you may remember.

We came out of the Barbican at gone 11, very late for Barbican gigs, but with our ears ringing and a very long list of "must have" CDs. It's going to take a VERY special artist to top that one.

A near religious experience

"F*** it. The f***ing thing's f***ed. ". . . . .Not the best start to your second encore after a barnstorming set, especially after a 45 minute late start and an opening comment "Lets not get pissed now, there's a long way to go" but Stephen Stills had the Shepherds Bush Empire in the palm of his hand from the moment he walked on stage. The first half was acoustic, the second electric and I can't make my mind up which was the best set. With so many hits to choose from, he seemed to play just what he wanted with a couple of covers from Tom Petty and Dylan thrown in but still managed several that even Mrs. Kipper knew! - Helpessly Hoping, Change Partners, Johnny's Garden and Love the One You're With. The F*** was a blown monitor which immediately preceeded (after prompting from drummer Joe Vitale) a fantastic electric version of Dark Star. The only disappointment of the evening was that he didn't play Black Queen but that's a minor quibble.