Recent gigs

[davidmjs]

Did he play "Say you don't mind"?

[John From Austin]

Did he play "Say you don't mind"?

Indeed he did: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/denny-laine/2018/poor-davids-pub-dallas-tx-73ec0ad9.html

The biggest surprise was "Richard Cory," which he said he learned from Paul Simon, personally.

[Shane (Skirky)]

Marty O’Reilly and The Old Soul Orchestra at The Lexington in the heart of London’s swinging Islington N1. Absolutely extraordinary fusion of progressive folk, blues and jazz. Marvellous venue, great sound and a rare treat to hear Michele Stodart out of The Magic Numbers do a fantastic set of torch country, grinning like a mad fool at having a listening audience as a ‘support’ slot - “...are we actually in London?”.
Good ale, handy transport, coat check, seats. All that an ageing gig-goer could ask for.

[Will S]

Jackie Oates' new album launch at Nettlebed on Monday night was pretty good.  Featuring her band, which now includes Jack Rutter, and also some special guests including John Spiers, and Matt Allwright on pedal steel.  The only downside was that the albums hadn't actually arrived yet!

Got to chat to Chris Bates of this parish too.

[Chris from Fieldtown]

Gilmore and Roberts at the Unicorn Abingdon. These guys are reaching a new level now, I've seen them a few times and they have always been great but tonight was up a gear. Together they were relaxed, funny and just delivered the most captivating set of songs with breath-taking musicianship. This is the start of a tour so I would urge to check if they are coming near you, I want to go again!

[mickf]

Peter Knight's Gigspanner at Acapella Studio, Pentyrch, near Cardiff. Excellent gig, with great musicianship, as always. The venue can be described as 'quirky' in that it's a converted church that still looks like a church, with pews etc. Small, but very nice - Fairport are playing there in a couple of weeks, so that should be interesting! Nice to meet up with Ancient Muse (Andy) and her husband, Phil, again - we really can't keep meeting like this!

[Penny]

Judy Carmichael at Ronnie Scott's today (Sat 6th May).  Plays 'stride piano' and engages really well with the audience, amusing anecdotes and a great singing voice. Accompanied by a guitarist and double bass.  I was taken along by a friend, and absolutely loved it.  Can easily recommend to anyone.

[Bingers (Chris)]

Great day yesterday (6 May) at the Blues at the Barns festival in Creeksea, Essex. Wide range of bands offering blues, folk and Americana. Names probably not known to many on here but included Dale Storr, a superb pianist playing New Orleans style much like Dr John; The Vagaband in a similar vein to The Travelling Band; Marcus Bonfanti; LaVendore Rogue; Maharajah Blues, a curious mix of blues and traditional Indian music (from Wales); Ben Tyzack & Guy Tortorro; Dan Wilde; The Forest Gators; and The Ben & Steve Somers Country Band to name some of the acts. Music, sun, beer - great fun  

[Ancient Muse (Andy)]

Peter Knight's Gigspanner at Acapella Studio, Pentyrch, near Cardiff. Excellent gig, with great musicianship, as always. The venue can be described as 'quirky' in that it's a converted church that still looks like a church, with pews etc. Small, but very nice - Fairport are playing there in a couple of weeks, so that should be interesting! Nice to meet up with Ancient Muse (Andy) and her husband, Phil, again - we really can't keep meeting like this!

Good lord, MickF - whyever not?  

I'm glad to say our friends really enjoyed Peter Knight and Gigspanner's music, even buying a CD and getting it signed!
I hope we'll be able to ask them along to other folky gigs in the future because they're nice company.  
I too bought a CD - Well Met by Knight and Spiers,  which is very nice, if a little short on songs...

[dog-nap (Ian)]

Show of Hands were on fine form at the Cutty Sark last weekend.  They are back as a duo for their current tour, promoting their latest album (‘Where We’re Bound’).  It is certainly an unusual venue, sited underneath the hull of a large ship, but the acoustics were superb, giving a rich, resonant sound to their instruments.  The set-list included several numbers from the guys’ early days as floor-spot singers and, not surprisingly, several with a nautical flavour.  The only negative was that the seats were pinioned together – Why?  There was plenty of room – so you had to choose your neighbours carefully!

[Col D]

The Waterboys at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Tuesday. We didn't exactly have high hopes for this after the letdown of the Manchester gig on the first leg of the tour back in October - if we'd been able to find any takers for the tickets we'd have gladly given this a miss rather than sit through a repeat of that. However, in the intervening six months something has clearly caused Mike to stir things up for the second leg and it's obvious from the start that things have changed for the better. Guitarist Bart Walker and second drummer Jon Green, who both felt largely superfluous to me, have departed and the trimmed down line-up seems to have gelled as more of a band than on the first leg. New songs from the rather lacklustre last album don't dominate the set anymore, cut down from twelve on the first leg to just five and Steve and Brother Paul are firing on all cylinders again, whereas they seemed curiously reined in last time around. They've even dropped the plodding new version of Fisherman's Blues, which sucked all the swing out of the song, and gone back to the original arrangement. A great night against all expectations, they're back on track.

[Jules Gray]

The Waterboys at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Tuesday. We didn't exactly have high hopes for this after the letdown of the Manchester gig on the first leg of the tour back in October - if we'd been able to find any takers for the tickets we'd have gladly given this a miss rather than sit through a repeat of that. However, in the intervening six months something has clearly caused Mike to stir things up for the second leg and it's obvious from the start that things have changed for the better. Guitarist Bart Walker and second drummer Jon Green, who both felt largely superfluous to me, have departed and the trimmed down line-up seems to have gelled as more of a band than on the first leg. New songs from the rather lacklustre last album don't dominate the set anymore, cut down from twelve on the first leg to just five and Steve and Brother Paul are firing on all cylinders again, whereas they seemed curiously reined in last time around. They've even dropped the plodding new version of Fisherman's Blues, which sucked all the swing out of the song, and gone back to the original arrangement. A great night against all expectations, they're back on track.

Maybe they were reading our reviews.  

Jules

[Shane (Skirky)]

Danny Baker - Good Time Charlie’s Back. Like an extended evening in the pub with your hyperactive mate who has just got to tell you one more funny thing that happened on the way to the theatre...
Three hours’ worth of the sort of shaggy dog stories that you’d struggle to make up (“I was in Led Zeppelin for thirty-five minutes...”, “So I said to Sting ‘Didn’t you used to work for me..?’”, “There are still quotes attributed to Paul Weller that I made up, hungover, in my Mum’s kitchen”, “Well, there it is...”) but are, nontheless, all true. Remarkable.

[Andy]

Danny Baker - Good Time Charlie’s Back. Like an extended evening in the pub with your hyperactive mate who has just got to tell you one more funny thing that happened on the way to the theatre...
Three hours’ worth of the sort of shaggy dog stories that you’d struggle to make up (“I was in Led Zeppelin for thirty-five minutes...”, “So I said to Sting ‘Didn’t you used to work for me..?’”, “There are still quotes attributed to Paul Weller that I made up, hungover, in my Mum’s kitchen”, “Well, there it is...”) but are, nontheless, all true. Remarkable.

'ee's a Nashnul Trevor, 'ee is.

[blagden]

Danny Baker - Good Time Charlie’s Back. Like an extended evening in the pub with your hyperactive mate who has just got to tell you one more funny thing that happened on the way to the theatre...
Three hours’ worth of the sort of shaggy dog stories that you’d struggle to make up (“I was in Led Zeppelin for thirty-five minutes...”, “So I said to Sting ‘Didn’t you used to work for me..?’”, “There are still quotes attributed to Paul Weller that I made up, hungover, in my Mum’s kitchen”, “Well, there it is...”) but are, nontheless, all true. Remarkable.

Recommend both the autobiographies as well.

[Will S]

Excellent gig with Jez Lowe at Readifolk last night.  He's another of those songwriters (Clive Gregson is another) who just seem to have the gift of churning out singable melodies, along with a clever way with words.

[Bingers (Chris)]

Mary Chapin Carpenter last night at The Barbican London was absolutely superb despite an idiot yelling out demanding to know if she was ‘pro-Trump’ which she elegantly sidestepped. The concert was nicely balanced with 17 songs over 90 minutes sung in her wonderful smoky voice. A must see!

[GubGub (Al)]

Mary Chapin Carpenter last night at The Barbican London was absolutely superb despite an idiot yelling out demanding to know if she was ‘pro-Trump’ which she elegantly sidestepped. The concert was nicely balanced with 17 songs over 90 minutes sung in her wonderful smoky voice. A must see!

Stepping back in to these murky waters briefly to address this. She was wonderful in Worthing on Saturday too and I have been listening to little else since her show. Ethan Johns (son of Glyn) was also very good in support.

Re the Trump taunt. To quote an interview with MCC in the Independent last year,

"He’s mentally unbalanced, a sexual predator, racist, misogynist, a narcissist, a demagogue, he’s a frightening person,” asserts Mary Chapin Carpenter about America’s new “freak show” President, Donald Trump. And the musician is firmly of the belief that the fight back, particularly among the artistic community, starts here: “What I believe in my heart of hearts is that Trump has underestimated people’s ability to overcome this ugliness and behaviour. People will overcome that."

So no need to side step. A simple "No" would probably have sufficed and the interrogator is indeed an idiot.  

[Jules Gray]

So good to see you, Gub.  

Jules

[Will S]

Indeed. Good to see you back, Gub.