Richard Thompson - Nutmeg & Ginger

[quodlibet (Ian)]

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

[Chris]

Shame it wasn't sold out then.

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.

[Mister Keith]

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

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....

[Dr Clive]

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

[Chris]

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?......!

[steve-n]

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.

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

[steve-n]

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?......!

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

[StephenGiles]

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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[StephenGiles]

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

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[Chris]

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!

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.

[StephenGiles]

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

[Chris]

yes, I spoke briefly to Joe.

[quodlibet (Ian)]

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

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   A couple of Young's "Winter Warmer" wouldn't have gone amiss.

[Chris]

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.

[steve-n]

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  

[quodlibet (Ian)]

.

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

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

[Jan_]

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.

[PeteD]

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

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

[Dr Clive]

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.

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

[martin driver]

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.