TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

Audience recording from Antwerp. I do hope there will be an official document of this tour. :)

http://www.richardthompson-music.com/catch_of_the_day.asp?id=1330

Absolute genius from all concerned.  Wonderful...thanks.

No reports from the Netherlands gigs yet, I hope the snow has cleared enough for driving to East Croydon station on 6 December for the Cadogan Hall gig ::)

Did I miss a prior thread? Must be tired eyes/limbs from clearing snow! Many thanks for linking that video which is excellent, so the chances are that all is not lost if we can't get there.

Having seen the video am now even more looking forward to this - here's hoping the weather (and transport issues) don't cause any problems getting to Chelsea (I can cope with not getting back!).

DC

I'm really looking forward to the Cadogan Hall gig, see you at the bar

Here's another video courtesy of Beesweb.

http://www.richardthompson-music.com/catch_of_the_day.asp?id=1332

Only a short window available for leaving home & getting to Cadogan Hall (c150 miles & public transport not an option) on Monday. Offering up sacrifices for a big thaw.  :)

That  is terrific stuff and for some reason the instrumentation and overall sound seems to fit very well with the current cold spell.

Given that there are cameras at the venues is it possible that a tour DVD is in the works?

Nutmeg & Ginger...is it too early for the first hot port of the day? Purely for medicinal reasons!

Great news, thanks & sláinte  :)

Richard's 'Dream Attic' has been nominated for a grammy in the Best contemporary Folk Album section ;D

Good !!!  :)

Man....nice. And I ain't just talkin about the music, though the breath of RT's musical vision is a constant wonder to me, and one I am very grateful for. But nevertheless my compliments to the individual behind the video camera. Btw I should hope RT would be nominated, the man is nothing short of mighty, and one funny mf.

My intention was to connect to this video for reasons obvious to me, not sure about the class, lemme just say I'm glad the camera man changed his angle from the prior video, much as I like seeing RT's mug.

Well that will be the ex-Bury contingent then....see you there (subject to snow on the line from Banbury  ;) )

(Bumped into Chris Bates at Leamington last week - he should be at Cadogan Hall, as well)

S&J

Absolutely!  :)

DC

Steve-n & Dr Clive, my intention is to arrive at Cadogan Hall around 6.30pm. I look forward to seeing you there, it will be a pleasure to share a festive drink with fellow Old Burians.  :)

Not sure quite what time we'll be there, as we're taking advantage of the pre-show early dinner in the Botanist in Sloane Square, booked for 5.30, so I guess we should be at the venue by about 7.00.

DC

It's looking good, hopefully trains out of Victoria will still be runnning after the concert.

What can I say other than excellent. My only complaint is that the music could have been louder - a lot louder!!!

Richard Thompson and chums at Cadogan Hall last night, performing "Ginger and Nutmeg" aka "spicy ballads from the Elizabethan era".

Spicy ballads?  "Cumin Feel The Noize"?  "Hey Mister Tamarind Man"?

No, it was exactly what it laid claim to be, with instruments including Renaissance guitar, bandora, lute etc.  A mix of instrumentals and old songs - unfortunately, I didn't think the sound on the vocals was great as it left the lyrics rather indistinct at times, though they suddenly became clear on the song about Faust.  When it started, I was thinking "What have I done? Why am I here?", but, by the end, I was thinking "This is great, play some more".  Shame it wasn't sold out then.

Marvellous evening. Fantastic playing all round & some great vocals from RT, although he came across as something of a guest vocalist, rather than in integral member of the ensemble, as his guitar contributions were somewhat underplayed. But then, he did have a lot of words to sing (thoughtfully provided in a handsome programme, the only merch on offer). Some fab lute & violin playing & of course, PP's ever stirring battery of recorders provided some splendid soloing.

Minimal amplification & from where I was in the gallery, it was about perfect, volume was fine, every instrument was crystal clear & lyrics intelligible. There were at least three cameras set up, but whether that's normal in house monitoring, or something more interesting, I couldn't say. Some wag asked whether any recordings will come out of this collaboration, to which Richard, in his customary hesitant style, equivocated before saying "it's not a definite "no"". Make of that what you will.

Well worth braving the ice & freezing fog for. Possibly my gig of the year :)

Was it not? It certainly looked close from where I was sat - 4 rows back in the stalls - Hi Martin, S&J!

I enjoyed it immensely and look forward to the 'maybe' CD release. THe olde-englishe way of speaking . singing rolled words into each other at times, and you really needed to have bought the programme to follow the songs.

He forgot verses 2 -7 of an 8-verse song too.....it was either the second or third song in.

I was in the front row of the gallery and there were quite a few empty seats upstairs and several dotted around downstairs.

Maybe we can convince Wadworths to brew some Watkins Ale for Cropredy?  At least some of us would get the joke....

I don't have much to add to Ian's review - just a sublime evening of great musicianship on everyone's part. My only quibble - too short! I've always loved early music, and also RT, so combining the two is about as good as it gets.

It would be great if a recording of some sort could be made available.

Anyone else who enjoyed last night might like to listen to John Renbourne's Sir John a Lot Of..., which is an instrumental album of early-type music (as I recall some original and some written by JR himself) and features Ray Warleigh on recorder duty. I must dig that out and have another listen.

DC

Many walked out at half-time never to return too.

For goddness sake, surely you *read* the write up on the venues / RTs website vefore booking, so you know what to expect?......!

Not really much to be added to the comments from Ian and Clive. Great evening and well worth the interesting trip down to London to be part of it.

S&J

Noticed a couple of empty seats in front of us for the second half. Assumed former occupants had remained in the bar after what must have been the shortest interval on record... ;)

S&J

I would add that the lute player Lynda Sayce had some of the nimblest flying fingers I have ever seen! There were some pretty big bags taken into that hall, I should imagine it was a veritable Jodrell Bank in there ;)

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Just a couple of the photos I took - without flash on 1/10 sec would you believe!

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Didn't help when RT failed to sing verses 2-7 of the second song.....he went from first to last! TRying to follow the words in the programme at that point was hell. It took me most of the last verse to work out where he had gone! They were long verses too, probably 5-10 minutes worth.

The lights in Sloan Square were quite wonderful too! I noticed Joe Boyd in the bar during the interval.

yes, I spoke briefly to Joe.

I'm not normally susceptible to such fripperies, but, yes, Sloane Square did look rather Jolly, as did Peter Jones' shop & window.

The programme did state that verses may be omitted & I certainly didn't notice & shall not be writing to complain. Sound was clear enough, in the main, not to require the libretto. I thought the luting, in a couple of numbers, resembled some of the nimbler bits on "Strict Tempo".

Anyone who was complaining about beer supplies at Butlins, would have had apoplexy at the Cadogan  ;D A couple of Young's "Winter Warmer" wouldn't have gone amiss.

No complaints here - the point about missing verses was made purely in response (& by way of possible explanation of) to the comment that the show was a bit short, that's all.

Hey, there was London Pride in bottles - Martin D will no doubt provide a report on that when he gets home & online here.

               ...................but sadly no dry-roasted peanuts to go with the Coke , Chris   ;)

Hrmpf. Missed that. Still, managed a pint of LP in a nice little pub around the corner. :)

We were really excited at the prospect of seeing Richard Thompson perform with Phil Pickett and the Musicians of the Globe but were sadly disappointed.  From where we were sitting, the third row in the stalls, the instruments were too quiet (although expertly played, especially the lute) and RT’s words virtually indistinguishable.  I thought there was little attempt to engage with the audience and that Richard seemed slightly unprepared with regard to the content of the songs. Perhaps Phil should have stepped up and provided some information, as Richard suggested, instead of just telling us to go read about it in the programme.  I have heard the Oxford Waits perform similar material and think they do it much better.

A few nice pictures of the man himself on Ross Halfin's diary.

http://www.rosshalfin.com/diary/december-2010/diary-december-2010.php

Hmmm, interesting. We were a couple of rows further back, and aside from a slight issue with the vocal balance in the first song (not high enough in the mix), had no issues with the sound. It seems that those further forward might just have been too far under the PA speakers (slung from the roof) to benefit from the PA, and were thus only getting the "direct" (unamped) sound. I guess with this type of instrumantation there is always a balance to be struck between the totally unamplified "authentic" sound and that necessary boosting which is required in order to fill a space the size of the Cadogan. Bex did comment that a completely unamped performance in a more intimate venue might have been the absolute best way to appreciate such a program.

DC

Bottled London Pride was indeed in plentiful supply from the downstairs bar of the Cadogan Hall, it possibly wasn't available from the bar in the foyer, which is more of a wine/champagne bar.

From where I was seated five rows from the front, I was able to hear the individual instruments perfectly clearly. It was more difficult to hear Richard's vocals, but then he was required to squeeze a lot of words in to each and every verse, the programme contained the song lyrics making things easier to follow.

Apart from introducing the musicians and the instruments, I didn't feel any real need for Richard to interact at length with the audience, the players and their instruments communicated everything beautifully for me. I was a little surprised to see empty seats in the hall and it's true a few decided the music wasn't for them, choosing not to return after the interval but like DC I have a passion for early music and therefore loved every minute of the concert.

Sums it all up perfectly for me....

I shall read the very informative programme on the train when we go to the Kate Rusby concert this evening. Personally I went to hear the music and was glad that maximum time was spent playing (75 minutes approx ;) rather than talking.

With the clearest PA system in the world, you would never hear all of those words - so many of them sung so quickly!

The programme was indeed interesting and I read it from cover to cover when I got home ...  but I certainly did not want to bury my head in it during the performance ... I didn't even have my reading glasses with me!  

Having read the ballads, I realise that there is a lot more to them than 'another euphemism for sex' which is about all we were offered by way of explanation.  With clearer annunciation of the words (we need to hear consonants as well as vowels) and greater expression, I think I would have been able to deduce that for myself anyway.  

My daughter, who has studied the language of the songs, followed the words in the programme during the second half and noted that in the Faustus song, Richard chose to pronounce the word 'heare' as hear rather than hair, when it was clear from the context it meant hair.  Authentic Old English pronunciation maybe or just a slip? :-\

Clive, I think you are probably right about the sound system not reaching the first few rows and I agree with Bex that a smaller venue might be a better setting.

I know the feeling, when at tax training seminars I see rows of people with their heads buried in the course notes as the lecturer burbles on. If I did that I would just get a headache!

But to the other extreme, we saw Kate Rusby last night at the RFH and she talked far too much................as ever ::)

#42 enunciate not annunciate (sorry)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/dec/08/richard-thompson-philip-pickett-review?INTCMP=SRCH