Recent gigs

[PeterJ]

Stanley Clarke Band at the Fleece in Bristol... tremendous solo and ensemble playing, SC on Alembic bass guitar at first for some funky fusion, then on the woodworms' Hilton for a much jazzier section.

Only one gripe - I'm all for equality among band members, but FOUR drum solos? Great technique, but just too much! Even a drummer stood near me agreed...

One drum solo should be followed by one bass solo. That's how it should go, and Stanley should abide by that time-honoured ratio.

[Chris]

Christy Moore at the RFH in London last night.

Second night of two - 2 hours solid of him randomly playing his music with Declan Sinnott & two others (fiddle/banjo & percussion) in a quartet. Totally sublime. Looking a lot healthier than in past recent outings I thought, and really enjoying himself. That was caught by a boisterous audience who sang along to most choruses. Left the stage to a deserved standing ovation from an almost sold out RFH.

[blagden]

Christy Moore at the RFH in London last night.

Second night of two - 2 hours solid of him randomly playing his music with Declan Sinnott & two others (fiddle/banjo & percussion) in a quartet. Totally sublime. Looking a lot healthier than in past recent outings I thought, and really enjoying himself. That was caught by a boisterous audience who sang along to most choruses. Left the stage to a deserved standing ovation from an almost sold out RFH.

This is good to hear, I love Christy and seen him four or five times since the early 80's however the last time I saw him he was a humourless, miserable pain in the arse (chastising the audience more then once) and I vowed then never to put myself through the experience again.

[Brendan]

Second Shelagh Mcdonald gig attended this year, with an audience of 10 at Threlkeld Village hall, I am warming to Nigel H Seymour the supportive support and like some of his songs, and at least one of his songs he duets with Shelagh as a kind of none encore, encore (sounds like the name of a live reissiue). There is certainly progression since the last gig a larger more varied set (possibly as Nigel was suffering from a chest / throat infection curtailing his slot ) despite the odd lapse of memory Shelagh's finger picking was sublime and vocals crystal clear, great versions of Let no man steal your thyme and Rigs of Rye and the new material such as Lawrence (about lawrence of Arabia) and Parnassus are great songs and show hope for the future, plus talk of recording. There was also talk of moving on to larger venues which may mean better advertising, if you get a chance go and see Shelagh, she is brilliant, not the new Sandy Denny, the re-emerging Shelagh Mcdonald and with so much to offer in her own right, the confidence is growing and I can only see good things for her, I am already contemplating going to see her again.

[Polly Oxford (Andie)]

 John Tamms and Barry Coope in East Grinstead. Not well attended but a most enjoyable evening none the less. Such a wealth of music and stories to draw from I wish it could have been longer.

[Chris]

Home Gathering with the Unthanks.

Bloody cold! Set in an old industrial yard being converted to modern day work units, te two warehouses they are using are barns...no heating, cold northerly winds & hesvy showers meant winter clothing needed to stay warm. Travelling with early autumn clothing and a shower jacket, i got quite chilled by teatime.

Daori Farrell & Twelfth Day were excellent, as was Chris Wood on the main stage. Lisa Knapp with a band including Pete Flood on percssion was superb. The Unthanks had given themselves just 75mins. Expected longer being their own festival.

Could have had more punters, but day trippers probably put off by the chilly weather. Either need heating or to take place earlier in the year. The idea is excellent.

Going back soon for a Winterset recreation with Steph Connor on keys instead of Ms O'Hooley. Really looking forward to this!

[Glen S]

Martin Turner ex Wishbone Ash last night at a pretty much sold out Arlington Arts Centre...A last minute decision due to being familiar with just the one song Blowin Free...Really glad I went along though...

Martin leads a terrific band, with tight twin guitars, great drumming and vocal harmonies...First set consisted of a mix of new and old, followed by Argus played straight through for the second half...I actually discovered that I knew quite a lot of tracks but hadn't realised it... ...A very generous encore and a standing ovation...

Highly recommended...

[mickf]

Second Shelagh Mcdonald gig attended this year, with an audience of 10 at Threlkeld Village hall, I am warming to Nigel H Seymour the supportive support and like some of his songs, and at least one of his songs he duets with Shelagh as a kind of none encore, encore (sounds like the name of a live reissiue). There is certainly progression since the last gig a larger more varied set (possibly as Nigel was suffering from a chest / throat infection curtailing his slot ) despite the odd lapse of memory Shelagh's finger picking was sublime and vocals crystal clear, great versions of Let no man steal your thyme and Rigs of Rye and the new material such as Lawrence (about lawrence of Arabia) and Parnassus are great songs and show hope for the future, plus talk of recording. There was also talk of moving on to larger venues which may mean better advertising, if you get a chance go and see Shelagh, she is brilliant, not the new Sandy Denny, the re-emerging Shelagh Mcdonald and with so much to offer in her own right, the confidence is growing and I can only see good things for her, I am already contemplating going to see her again.

I love her voice (or loved, really, as it's been a year or two since I first heard her) I hope she makes it round my neck of the woods before another 30 years elapse!

[Chris]

The Winterset set mentioned above was simply stunning! Rachel back on cello z& uke too, old songs sung excellently. Seems as though I might have been the only one to respond to the query of 'who saw us as the Winterset?'....so everyone else was hearing new, and responded as such, raising the roof regularly.

Worth the weekend admission on its own!

[Alan2]

Second Shelagh Mcdonald gig attended this year, with an audience of 10 at Threlkeld Village hall, I am warming to Nigel H Seymour the supportive support and like some of his songs, and at least one of his songs he duets with Shelagh as a kind of none encore, encore (sounds like the name of a live reissiue). There is certainly progression since the last gig a larger more varied set (possibly as Nigel was suffering from a chest / throat infection curtailing his slot ) despite the odd lapse of memory Shelagh's finger picking was sublime and vocals crystal clear, great versions of Let no man steal your thyme and Rigs of Rye and the new material such as Lawrence (about lawrence of Arabia) and Parnassus are great songs and show hope for the future, plus talk of recording. There was also talk of moving on to larger venues which may mean better advertising, if you get a chance go and see Shelagh, she is brilliant, not the new Sandy Denny, the re-emerging Shelagh Mcdonald and with so much to offer in her own right, the confidence is growing and I can only see good things for her, I am already contemplating going to see her again.I love her voice (or loved, really, as it's been a year or two since I first heard her) I hope she makes it round my neck of the woods before another 30 years elapse!

[/b]

Me too. I enjoy the 2 albums she left us with very much.

[Chris]

No surprise re audience numbers...no way of easily finding out where/when she's playing. Or how to even book her.

[davidmjs]

Could have had more punters, but day trippers probably put off by the chilly weather. Either need heating or to take place earlier in the year. The idea is excellent.

The messages before sounded quite worrying...I hope they don't lose much.  They said quite plainly if enough people didn't turn up it wouldn't happen again...  

[Chris]

I would hope enough punters showed up - definitely sold out on the Sunday (where only one stage was in use), but I guess that naturally limits the number of weekend tickets. There were many Saturday only wristbands seen. The fact that the stages are standing venues (concrete floors too, so quite hard on the feet) - plenty of sitting space in one of the warehouses though, but away from the music.

They will have a fight with some people who think, even though *clearly* announced that it was standing only, expected them to cater for "accessible" and provide somewhere for those "with a bad back" for example. benches for about a dozen in the smaller & no more than 6 in there main stage weren't enough, especially as several new-age parents took them up for their children. Quite unbelievable really. I understand their idea about putting it on in somewhere like they sing about in their songs, but I suspect they'll get flack from those for who it wasn't really suitable.

[davidmjs]

The Good Life Experience at Hawarden, Flintshire.  Absolutely lovely weekend.  A bit of a mudbath despite being dry for the vast majority of the festival (unfortunately it rained solidly for the 3 days before) but they did a good job with the wood chippings et al.  Some great music: Rozi Plain, dementedly wondrous set from the Pictish Trail, sheer beauty from Mike Head, awesome festival fun from BSP, and something which blew my socks away yesterday... Dr Brian Briggs late of Stornoway in a new collaboration with the poet Paul Henry.  Outstanding.  Throw in lots of great spoken word stuff, poetry, talks about mindfulness and cider making and you have a festival that is about as far away as you can imagine from the Windsor Free Festival but still left me satisfied.  For once in my life I think I may have been in the majority with my double barrels  

And being just a 30 minute bus trip away from home, we had the luxury of bed and showers and lazy breakfasts too.  Perfect.

[David V B]

Wonderful day at Martyn Joseph's Pipefest. Workshops and sessions with Martyn, Maz O'Connor and the great Tom Robinson. His Q&A session was brilliant- very open, funny and moving. A lovely bloke when I chatted with him afterwards and his evening set was the highlight of the day. All the hits ending up with a thunderous Power in the Darkness supported by Martyn. The Alex Harvey story was very funny and far too rude to be repeated here.

MJ's set finished the day off perfectly with his usual passion and commitment. All in all, a great time and certainly the friendliest festival we have been to.

[Poor Will (Bill)]

Home Service at Southdowns Folk Festival

This was the first time I have seen them since John Tams left.
They are certainly in safe hands with John Kirkpatrick at the helm. Superb performance!

[Chris]

Daphne's Flight's penultimate gig of this year. Another superlative night of close harmonies. Can't recommend them enough. Touring again in Sept 2018, don't miss 'em!

[GubGub (Al)]

Justin Hayward at the Assembly Hall in Worthing last night.

It was a fairly last minute decision because it was a bit pricey but I am so glad that I went. Accompanied by a keyboard player and virtuoso second guitarist, Hayward seems barely changed from his 70s self and his voice is certainly still all there. The real delight however were the surprise choices in the set list. Starting the show with Out & In was a statement of intent. Shortly thereafter came This Morning from the Blue Jays album. Of course Tuesday Afternoon, Forever Autumn, Nights In White Satin & Question were all included, as they should be but the rest of the set was a deep dive for fans which earned a standing ovation from the sell out crowd. My only criticism would be that maybe Justin should consider adding a percussionist to his band.

[Poor Will (Bill)]

Skerryvore last night.
First time I have seen them and I was mightily impressed!

[davidmjs]

The National in Manchester.  Slightly rubbish seats meant it felt slightly like one was stuck on the outside looking in, but they are still a bloody magnificent live band.  

I grow increasingly tired of the experience of live music in large venues these days though...p1ssed punters, ubiquitous phones and constant chatter.  It just ain't worth it any more, however good the music.