Recent gigs

[DawnG]

Norden Farm on 8th November is also sold out

[Will S]

Went to see The Pitmen Poets (Jez Lowe, Bob Fox, Billy Mitchell and Benny Graham) last night at Nettlebed, and was once again amazed by the wealth of good music we have on the folk scene in this country.  I've seen Jez and Bob before, but combined they sing songs of the coal pits in the NE, as well as recounting stories, poems, etc.  They are all children of mining families, so know what they're talking about.

Glad to have caught them this time around, as apparently this is the last time they'll be doing this.  Much recommended.

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Quite different from Will's evening but very enjoyable nonetheless!

The Wales Millennium Centre (known affectionally as the armadillo!!) for "Get On Your Feet", a musical about the life of Gloria Estafan - a riot of dancing, singing and latino rhythms - fabulous! Now I want to learn how to salsa!  

[davidmjs]

Can anyone who has ever been to a gig at the Motorpoint, Cardiff tell me if there is always seating (around the sides) or is it sometimes all standing?

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Can anyone who has ever been to a gig at the Motorpoint, Cardiff tell me if there is always seating (around the sides) or is it sometimes all standing?

There is always seating around the sides.

I work directly opposite it, let me know if you need me to pop over and find out anything!

[davidmjs]

Can anyone who has ever been to a gig at the Motorpoint, Cardiff tell me if there is always seating (around the sides) or is it sometimes all standing?

There is always seating around the sides.

I work directly opposite it, let me know if you need me to pop over and find out anything!

Hi Bridget...nope, all sorted now.  Tickets for Nick Cave bagged.  I knew there would be seating around the edge, but my other half reckoned the seating plan showed it was all standing.  Thanks though  

[Bridgwit (Bridget)]

Can anyone who has ever been to a gig at the Motorpoint, Cardiff tell me if there is always seating (around the sides) or is it sometimes all standing?

There is always seating around the sides.

I work directly opposite it, let me know if you need me to pop over and find out anything!

Hi Bridget...nope, all sorted now.  Tickets for Nick Cave bagged.  I knew there would be seating around the edge, but my other half reckoned the seating plan showed it was all standing.  Thanks though  

Jolly good!

[Will S]

Faustus, on the last night of their tour, at Nettlebed last night were their usual excellent selves.  Only disappointment was that it all seemed a little short - they finished at 10.30pm, and most bands there go on until around 11pm.  

[DawnG]

Excellent night I wish it had been longer too!

[RobertD]

What I just wrote on FB about Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band’s show (second to last on his farewell tour) at Madison Square Garden.

So...my final Bob Seger show and the second to last show of his 50 year plus career. So many songs, so many highlights. I made a decision to savor every moment, watching every move Bob and the band made, soaking it all in. No photos taken or videos filmed. Singing or clapping along to every single song. Maybe because of the occasion, every word had a greater and deeper resonance for me. So did every bit of musicianship. It made me feel like I was there in 1968 hearing that killer drum beat to Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man for the first time. Like I was back in 1976 searching for my own Night Moves. Like I was tearing across the desert on a road trip with Hollywood Nights blaring loud. Or feeling my own moments of introspection and ‘wishing I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.’ Or ‘standing alone on a mountaintop staring out at the Great Divide’. So many moments of my life defined by his music and I didn’t give a s**t if anyone was bothered by my pumping fists, my clapping, and singing along. I’ll never get to do this with his music again after all, and I wanted to go go out in my own way.

Highlights? A great deal. He paid tribute to many of his musical heroes who have passed on in recent years, performing Bob Dylan’s Forever Young with photos of Chuck Berry, BB King, Aretha Franklin, Glen Frey, Tom Petty and Prince among others. Huge applause for Petty and Prince especially. Musically it was all sound. The solid background singers he has always utilized. The driving piano parts played by both Craig Frost and Jim ‘Moose’ Brown, the steady bass pulse of Chris Campbell and the shimmering saxophone of Alto Reed. Turn The Page was a 20,000 person singalong. You’ll Accomp’ny Me a deeper feeling than I have ever heard it, and that transcendent moment in the medley when Travelin’Man turns into Beautiful Loser. I think it is the most delicious moment in my rock and roll life and it rocked better than ever. Thank you Bob Seger and all the Silver Bullet Band for giving a concert and a lifetime of music I will never forget

[davidmjs]

Interesting review...thanks - loving the passion for the music.  I'm feeling rather inadequate because I literally couldn't hum a Bob Seger tune.  In fact I think the only place I have him anywhere in my collection is with some of his guest spots with various post-Grateful Dead bands....Ratdog, The Dead, The Other Ones etc.  Is there a go to compilation around?

[GubGub (Al)]

Interesting review...thanks - loving the passion for the music.  I'm feeling rather inadequate because I literally couldn't hum a Bob Seger tune.  In fact I think the only place I have him anywhere in my collection is with some of his guest spots with various post-Grateful Dead bands....Ratdog, The Dead, The Other Ones etc.  Is there a go to compilation around?

That question opens a whole can of worms David. Bob's compilations have been frustrating his fanbase for decades, mostly because none of them contain one of his finest singles, Even Now. However there is the hugely successful (even in the UK) Greatest Hits set from quite a while back or the more recent and extensive Ultimate Hits. I have a suspicion that he might not be quite your thing but would be happy to be proved wrong.



Edit: Just got rid of the large white space!

[davidmjs]

That question opens a whole can of worms David. Bob's compilations have been frustrating his fanbase for decades, mostly because none of them contain one of his finest singles, Even Now. However there is the hugely successful (even in the UK) Greatest Hits set from quite a while back or the more recent and extensive Ultimate Hits. I have a suspicion that he might not be quite your thing but would be happy to be proved wrong.

Thanks, Al.  I'm game.  I'll give it a go and report back    ps there's a lot of blank space above!

[GubGub (Al)]

That question opens a whole can of worms David. Bob's compilations have been frustrating his fanbase for decades, mostly because none of them contain one of his finest singles, Even Now. However there is the hugely successful (even in the UK) Greatest Hits set from quite a while back or the more recent and extensive Ultimate Hits. I have a suspicion that he might not be quite your thing but would be happy to be proved wrong.

Thanks, Al.  I'm game.  I'll give it a go and report back    ps there's a lot of blank space above!

Yep. Don't know why that is but I am too late to edit.

[RobertD]

That question opens a whole can of worms David. Bob's compilations have been frustrating his fanbase for decades, mostly because none of them contain one of his finest singles, Even Now. However there is the hugely successful (even in the UK) Greatest Hits set from quite a while back or the more recent and extensive Ultimate Hits. I have a suspicion that he might not be quite your thing but would be happy to be proved wrong.

Thanks, Al.  I'm game.  I'll give it a go and report back    ps there's a lot of blank space above!

In 100% agreement with Al here David. As a starting place, Greatest Hits Volume 1 is the Seger primer in terms of hits (and there have been many) and represents some of his most popular songs. And I love those songs, but I really love so much more, especially Live Bullet and The Distance, where his song Even Now comes from. I believe most or all of the albums are on Spotify now, so you could try there as a starter perhaps. I don't do Spotify so can't confirm how much is there. The one thing I have to mention is I am unaware of any Seger/Grateful Dead connections other than maybe sharing a stage back in the day, or that they both recorded Turn On Your Love Light. Happy to be proved wrong but I'm just unaware of what you mention. Bob has always augmented the Silver Bullet Band with players from Springsteen, Petty and John Mellencamp among others however.

[Will S]

It was almost a last minute decision, but I made it to see Al Stewart with his backing band, The Empty Pockets, at the Anvil, Basingstoke last night.  He is one of my musical heroes, who I've followed since my teens when a good friend introduced me to him.  This is the first time I have seen him (apart from at a couple of the big special RAH gigs) with a band, rather than acoustic, and I have to say the The Empty Pockets - a bunch of young musicians who, as Al said, weren't even born when he had his big hit! - did an excellent job backing him, and the guitarist pulled off some of the Tim Renwick solos brilliantly.  

We even got a couple of new songs that Al has written, and apparently he's been playing some others on the tour, so maybe we will get a final studio album after all (he's been saying for a while he wouldn't record another).

This was the last gig of the tour, so I can't recommend you to see him, but if he brings them back again, do go.  As with so many of our heroes, one wonders how many more chances we'll get!

[davidmjs]

That question opens a whole can of worms David. Bob's compilations have been frustrating his fanbase for decades, mostly because none of them contain one of his finest singles, Even Now. However there is the hugely successful (even in the UK) Greatest Hits set from quite a while back or the more recent and extensive Ultimate Hits. I have a suspicion that he might not be quite your thing but would be happy to be proved wrong.

Thanks, Al.  I'm game.  I'll give it a go and report back    ps there's a lot of blank space above!

In 100% agreement with Al here David. As a starting place, Greatest Hits Volume 1 is the Seger primer in terms of hits (and there have been many) and represents some of his most popular songs. And I love those songs, but I really love so much more, especially Live Bullet and The Distance, where his song Even Now comes from. I believe most or all of the albums are on Spotify now, so you could try there as a starter perhaps. I don't do Spotify so can't confirm how much is there. The one thing I have to mention is I am unaware of any Seger/Grateful Dead connections other than maybe sharing a stage back in the day, or that they both recorded Turn On Your Love Light. Happy to be proved wrong but I'm just unaware of what you mention. Bob has always augmented the Silver Bullet Band with players from Springsteen, Petty and John Mellencamp among others however.

He's a mate of Weir's, I think, and has guested at least a handful of times with post-GD lineups (not sure if he ever played with the mothership itself)....I know I've seen some vids, but I can't put my hands on any just now, I'm afraid

[Jim]

Interesting review...thanks - loving the passion for the music.  I'm feeling rather inadequate because I literally couldn't hum a Bob Seger tune.  In fact I think the only place I have him anywhere in my collection is with some of his guest spots with various post-Grateful Dead bands....Ratdog, The Dead, The Other Ones etc.  Is there a go to compilation around?

Bugger the compilations, get Live Bullet and Nine tonight. You will then understand.
Cheap on amazon used as well

[Bingers (Chris)]

Did Front of House duties again last night at Witham Public Hall. This time for The Jive Aces who presented their Big Jive show. All I can say is Wow! What a show! Never really been into late 1940s-early 1950s jive and swing music but this 6-piece band plus special guests Kara Lane, Julie Jive and Lottie B on baritone sax were amazing. Not only that but the majority of people turned up wearing spot-on retro clothes which all looked stunning and some of the audience dancing was unbelievably good! This band have played Glastonbury and had 11 albums out. Well worth taking a look

[Kevin M]

Oysterband with June Tabor night, very good as expected. One interesting new song is a arrangement of a traditional song my False True Love, Talkawhile is mentioned in the first verse.