Recent gigs

[ColinB]

Jez Lowe played an excellent couple of sets in Morecambe last night. Lovely little basement venue at 13 the Warehouse and small enough that there's no need for a PA though Jez did have to pause a couple of times due to the noise from the coffee machine! He played songs from across the years from favourites like Old Bones and Back in Durham Gaol to newer songs like The Wrong Bus and Bother at the Hoppins. He also did a Pitmen Poets song and told us that they will be doing their first farewell tour later in the year.  

He's off to play some gigs in Holland next month and his next UK gig is back home in Co Durham on the 17th Feb at Stanley.

[Dan O.]

Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy in Southampton on Tuesday evening. Carl and his musicians - a guitarist and a bassist/Chapman Stick player recreated most of the prime prog-tastic ELP tunes you'd expect to hear - Tarkus, Karn Evil 9, Knife Edge, Trilogy, Lucky Man, Fanfare For The Common Man, etc.

Carl himself was a revelation - to see someone looking that good and playing the drums with as much energy (and hardly breaking into a sweat) at the age of 69 was a wonderful thing !

[Jim]

Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy in Southampton on Tuesday evening. Carl and his musicians - a guitarist and a bassist/Chapman Stick player recreated most of the prime prog-tastic ELP tunes you'd expect to hear - Tarkus, Karn Evil 9, Knife Edge, Trilogy, Lucky Man, Fanfare For The Common Man, etc.

Carl himself was a revelation - to see someone looking that good and playing the drums with as much energy (and hardly breaking into a sweat) at the age of 69 was a wonderful thing !

Blimey, he sweated plenty in 1970 first time i saw him in Atomic Rooster, and subsequently in ELP

[Paul]

Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy in Southampton on Tuesday evening. Carl and his musicians - a guitarist and a bassist/Chapman Stick player recreated most of the prime prog-tastic ELP tunes you'd expect to hear - Tarkus, Karn Evil 9, Knife Edge, Trilogy, Lucky Man, Fanfare For The Common Man, etc.

Carl himself was a revelation - to see someone looking that good and playing the drums with as much energy (and hardly breaking into a sweat) at the age of 69 was a wonderful thing !

I saw him a few years ago at Weyfest, amazing bloke. Had the biggest kit I have ever seen live. Moon's was probably bigger, but I only saw that on TV.

Paul

[William]

Just got back from Brooks Williams gig in Norwich. After he had just driven down from Edinburgh you might expect him to be a bit off, but he put on an amazing show. About 60 people packed into a small room were treated to a guitar fest. He seems to get better and better.

[Bingers (Chris)]

Saw Megson at the Blue Boar, Maldon last night. First time I’ve seen them and they were great. Very engaging couple and very friendly to talk to. They were showcasing their new album which is released next week. This was only the second time they’d played the songs in public so made a couple of mistakes but that was endearing and added to the good atmosphere. They are also keen to play Cropredy and I think would go down well although may get a little swamped by large stage and crowd.

[Jim G]

Trudged through the snow to watch the wonderful Churchfitters (trio) at Bridport Town Hall last night. Hadn't seen them for around 8 years , but they still had the energy and quirky edge I remembered , a lovely evening.   Sadly the audience was a little depleted because of bad weather, they had driven up from Brittany that morning and had been on the road since 5am.

[StephenB]

Not sure if this will interest anyone but the very few Irish-linked members, but I've just been to see Aslan here in Letterkenny. Aslan are one of those bands that are for some reason uniquely Irish and never made it further afield. I saw a quote that said "U2 belong to the world, but Aslan belong to Ireland." They were massive in Ireland through the 90s. The lead singer Christy Dignam fought a lot of demons over the years, and then recently had to go through a couple of years of chemotherapy for a horrible cancer-like thing. But now they're bouncing back, and have become a kind of national treasure.

Being a child of the 70s, I knew of and loved a few of their singles over the years but didn't really follow them. When I heard they were here, I went along for the princely sum of €25, thinking at the worst it'd be a good gig with at least a couple of good songs I knew.

Well they blew me (and many others here) away. The crowd reaction was like nothing I've seen in years (including Cropredy), and they just played like a band that had been through everything and just loved playing. Christy Dignam's voice is maybe not always note-perfect, but has a soul and a raw edge that have few equals (and certainly every bit as good as Bono). Good, honest, raw, life-enhancing stuff.

[David V B]

Late posting but Martyn Joseph at the Stables. Usual high standard. Saw him earlier in the tour and he had shuffled his set round so it all seemed fresh. The songs off his new album have really bedded in and the re were a few covers from Waits and Springsteen. Very strong finish with Nye, Cardiff Bay and Lonely Like America. There really is no better songwriter/performer around. His passion and commitment is so valuable in these depressing times.

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Tears for Fears last night to a sell-out audience in Cardiff. Absolutely brilliant, their voices and harmonies are as good as they were 30 years ago. Clever tunes, well written and perfectly delivered by a top band. Thoroughly enjoyed them. Alison Moyet was a good support, I've never been much of a fan but I was definitely in the minority as the crowd loved her!

I think they'd be a great Thursday night headliner. Plenty of tunes everyone knows and can sing/dance/clap along to    

[Andy]

Tears for Fears last night to a sell-out audience in Cardiff. Absolutely brilliant, their voices and harmonies are as good as they were 30 years ago. Clever tunes, well written and perfectly delivered by a top band. Thoroughly enjoyed them. Alison Moyet was a good support, I've never been much of a fan but I was definitely in the minority as the crowd loved her!

I think they'd be a great Thursday night headliner. Plenty of tunes everyone knows and can sing/dance/clap along to    

Was Oleta Adams with them?

[GubGub (Al)]

Tears for Fears last night to a sell-out audience in Cardiff. Absolutely brilliant, their voices and harmonies are as good as they were 30 years ago. Clever tunes, well written and perfectly delivered by a top band. Thoroughly enjoyed them. Alison Moyet was a good support, I've never been much of a fan but I was definitely in the minority as the crowd loved her!

I think they'd be a great Thursday night headliner. Plenty of tunes everyone knows and can sing/dance/clap along to    

Off to see them in Brighton tonight, hopefully, though am feeling a bit ropey today so I hope I make it.

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Tears for Fears last night to a sell-out audience in Cardiff. Absolutely brilliant, their voices and harmonies are as good as they were 30 years ago. Clever tunes, well written and perfectly delivered by a top band. Thoroughly enjoyed them. Alison Moyet was a good support, I've never been much of a fan but I was definitely in the minority as the crowd loved her!

I think they'd be a great Thursday night headliner. Plenty of tunes everyone knows and can sing/dance/clap along to    

Was Oleta Adams with them?

Sadly no, but Carina Round did a cracking job on Woman in Chains and was evident in most of their songs. She has a fabulous voice, really gutsy

Off to see them in Brighton tonight, hopefully, though am feeling a bit ropey today so I hope I make it.

I hope you get there Al, you will not be disappointed. They also did an amazing version of a Radiohead song....

[davidmjs]

Tears for Fears last night to a sell-out audience in Cardiff. Absolutely brilliant, their voices and harmonies are as good as they were 30 years ago. Clever tunes, well written and perfectly delivered by a top band. Thoroughly enjoyed them. Alison Moyet was a good support, I've never been much of a fan but I was definitely in the minority as the crowd loved her!

I think they'd be a great Thursday night headliner. Plenty of tunes everyone knows and can sing/dance/clap along to    

Was Oleta Adams with them?

Sadly no, but Carina Round did a cracking job on Woman in Chains and was evident in most of their songs. She has a fabulous voice, really gutsy

Off to see them in Brighton tonight, hopefully, though am feeling a bit ropey today so I hope I make it.

I hope you get there Al, you will not be disappointed. They also did an amazing version of a Radiohead song....

I read a review of the Liverpool gig this morning.  Surprised me, that did.  4 stars.  The boys done good.

[GubGub (Al)]

Tears for Fears last night to a sell-out audience in Cardiff. Absolutely brilliant, their voices and harmonies are as good as they were 30 years ago. Clever tunes, well written and perfectly delivered by a top band. Thoroughly enjoyed them. Alison Moyet was a good support, I've never been much of a fan but I was definitely in the minority as the crowd loved her!

I think they'd be a great Thursday night headliner. Plenty of tunes everyone knows and can sing/dance/clap along to    

Was Oleta Adams with them?

Sadly no, but Carina Round did a cracking job on Woman in Chains and was evident in most of their songs. She has a fabulous voice, really gutsy

Off to see them in Brighton tonight, hopefully, though am feeling a bit ropey today so I hope I make it.

I hope you get there Al, you will not be disappointed. They also did an amazing version of a Radiohead song....

I read a review of the Liverpool gig this morning.  Surprised me, that did.  4 stars.  The boys done good.

Just back from Brighton. My own general fatigue and ropiness meant that I felt a bit detached from the gig so I enjoyed it but not as much as I had hoped considering the tickets were bought about 18 months ago for the tour that was postponed from last spring.

I have to admit that I had some apprehensiveness after the BBC concert in October 2017 which was underpowered and with horrible out of tune vocals. No such problems tonight. The vocals were bang on and the playing was tight throughout. Woman In Chains has been shifted from the encore into the main set and Creep was dropped in favour of Suffer The Children, a good decision I think. No Mothers Talk sadly and Roland Orzabal has aged considerably in the last 18 months.

Alison Moyet's current musical style is a little too industrial for my liking and did not really suit her early solo material (which I like). It was kind of like Alison Moyet does mid period Depeche Mode (who I really don't like). The Yazoo songs came over well though.

[garrypbrooks]

Trudged through the snow to watch the wonderful Churchfitters (trio) at Bridport Town Hall last night. Hadn't seen them for around 8 years , but they still had the energy and quirky edge I remembered , a lovely evening.   Sadly the audience was a little depleted because of bad weather, they had driven up from Brittany that morning and had been on the road since 5am.

We saw them at the lovely st Edith hall in Kemsing, near Sevenoaks, On Friday. VG gig, love their instrumentation, and a good sized audience despite the foul weather.
Last time I saw them was in a pub in Colchester c1983, can't remember much about them is that they were good and were very popular with the many University students in the audience.

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Tears for Fears last night to a sell-out audience in Cardiff. Absolutely brilliant, their voices and harmonies are as good as they were 30 years ago. Clever tunes, well written and perfectly delivered by a top band. Thoroughly enjoyed them. Alison Moyet was a good support, I've never been much of a fan but I was definitely in the minority as the crowd loved her!

I think they'd be a great Thursday night headliner. Plenty of tunes everyone knows and can sing/dance/clap along to    

Was Oleta Adams with them?

Sadly no, but Carina Round did a cracking job on Woman in Chains and was evident in most of their songs. She has a fabulous voice, really gutsy

Off to see them in Brighton tonight, hopefully, though am feeling a bit ropey today so I hope I make it.

I hope you get there Al, you will not be disappointed. They also did an amazing version of a Radiohead song....

I read a review of the Liverpool gig this morning.  Surprised me, that did.  4 stars.  The boys done good.

Just back from Brighton. My own general fatigue and ropiness meant that I felt a bit detached from the gig so I enjoyed it but not as much as I had hoped considering the tickets were bought about 18 months ago for the tour that was postponed from last spring.

I have to admit that I had some apprehensiveness after the BBC concert in October 2017 which was underpowered and with horrible out of tune vocals. No such problems tonight. The vocals were bang on and the playing was tight throughout. Woman In Chains has been shifted from the encore into the main set and Creep was dropped in favour of Suffer The Children, a good decision I think. No Mothers Talk sadly and Roland Orzabal has aged considerably in the last 18 months.

Alison Moyet's current musical style is a little too industrial for my liking and did not really suit her early solo material (which I like). It was kind of like Alison Moyet does mid period Depeche Mode (who I really don't like). The Yazoo songs came over well though.

Glad you enjoyed it Al. I wasn't over enamoured with AM's stuff either but everyone else seemed to love her so what do I know!!!

[garrypbrooks]

Late posting but Martyn Joseph at the Stables. Usual high standard. Saw him earlier in the tour and he had shuffled his set round so it all seemed fresh. The songs off his new album have really bedded in and the re were a few covers from Waits and Springsteen. Very strong finish with Nye, Cardiff Bay and Lonely Like America. There really is no better songwriter/performer around. His passion and commitment is so valuable in these depressing times.

Which Waits & Springsteen songs did he cover?

[Will S]

Phil Beer's patron's evening at Nettlebed last night.  He played a solo set in the first half, and in the second introduced his guests - Kelly Oliver, Hannah Martin, Geoff Lakeman and Miranda Sykes.  Each of them played two or three songs, one with Phil, the other(s) solo, and then we had two ensemble pieces to finish off.  It was a great evening, obviouslymuch enjoyed by the performers, as well as the audience.

[Polly Oxford (Andie)]

Had to miss Churchfitters, gutted, but roads were lethal around here. Just hoping weather better for the rest of the St Ediths gigs, there's some great stuff lined up.