Concert Chatter

[A french fan]

sorry i 've post my message to soon,
So I was in Union Chapel yesterday evening and I am just coming back in France this evening

The concert was divided in two parts

For me the first part was a little difficult because I cannot understand all the meanings of the songs .
but second part enjoy me : the ambiance of the chapel was really excellent to heard Ralph
he sang of course sol and ,"choux fleur",(I have noticed that he had added some other french words regarding the original version),wheather the storm,and Mr Connaughton,Pepper tomatoes and it seems songs of "Gate to Eden" (I have just bought it yesterday )
At the end of the concert He came in the bar to meet his public.
But there was a lot of people queuing so we have only 1 or 2 minutes by person to speak with him (and make some picture)

Domenico Mosca was there also and Ralph was enjoyed (I hope...) to make a picture with his international fan (Domenico and I)

 it was really for me Christmas before the day
Sorry my English is not very good but I try to do my best and to be the first to make a rapport about this concert
I hope that another fan can compete this  rapport (with the list of all the songs...)

Joyeux Noel et Bonne année a tous les membres du Forum
Merry Christmas and Happy new year to all the members of this forum

[Sir Robert Peel]

A joyeux Noel et bonne annee aussi, mon brave.  Et merci beaucoup.  Your English is far better than my French and your words - that Christmas came early for you in that little chapel - said all that I needed to know.

Salut!  Vive la France!  

Sir Robert Peel

[MAJ]

I was at the Union Chapel last night and will write a review later today. Needless to say it was Fab!  Nice to meet up with John, Andy L, Jenny M, Domenico again.  Being able to say hello to Ralph again was like waking up from a terrible nightmare finding that normality had been restored.  Oh well.....

Anyway, I was very good.  Didn't take anything for him to sign - talked a bit of business with him - and had a couple of photos.  Went home happy.

As I say, more later, but in the meantime the set list:

Pastures of Plenty
Georgia Bound
To Ramona
Ludlow Massacre
About a Spoonful
Gates of Eden
You Got To Change Your Mind

Interval

Walk Into The Morning
First Song
Maddy Dances
Heron Song
Wild Cape Horn
Weather The Storm
Streets of London
Sand In Your Shoes
Choux Fleur
Peppers and Tomatoes
The Setting

Encore
Michael in the Garden


P.S. So c'mon then French Fan / Domenico - don't forget to let us see the piccies. (Hope you both had a safe journey back to your respective homes).

[John Beresford]

Union Chapel is a large, non-conformist (Congregational), church building, which is still in regular use for Christian worship and service to the local community.  The title 'Chapel' , whilst in keeping with its Protestant ethos, belies its cathedralesque proportions and uncharacteristally ornate interior.  Unlike most cathedrals, it boasts a splendid acoustic, which the Chapel elders have put at the disposal of concert promoters, and which Donard put to good use on Friday and Saturday evenings to present Ralph's stunning virtuosity at its very best.

We were there last night, and, as Marianne has intimated, the occasion was enhanced by the opportunity to catch up with many friends, and to make new ones as we enjoyed compimentary mulled wine and mince pies in the queue to say 'Hi' to Ralph afterwards.

Thank you once more, Ralph, for sharing this wonderful music with us.  May God bless you and keep you this Christmastide and always.

[MelindaJ]

Hi I am new to this forum but thought you all might like to hear a little about Ralph's concert here in Australia. I am a new fan of his and saw him perform in his first concert here in Canberra. He told us he was trying to get over a bit of a cold (I couldn't tell). He had a problem with his guitar sound. This went on for about 5 minutes, he talked to his sound guy and they tried to work out what the prob was before Ralph realised he hadn't plugged it in. It was sort of an ice breaker. He did come out to talk to his fans after the show, which surprised me as I'd read here that he wasn't doing this anymore. It was great to buy some of his merchandise as we find it difficult to get anything of his here. I managed to get his autobiography and he signed it for me.

The night before his show Canberra had a rather large and vicious storm, we are in drought here and the rain was welcoming. We are thanking him for bringing good old English weather with him.

Melinda

[david stevenson]

It was another sultry steamy evening in Sydney, and Marion and I arrived at Leichhardt Town Hall, a fine old turn of the century building in this buzzy Italian inner suburb of Sydney.  I sometimes have to persuade M to join me in my acoustic gig attendance, but never with Ralph.  The magic is always there.

Blimey, it was hot inside too, with two ancient ceiling fans (no jokes about upside downers, Henrik!  ) fighting a losing battle against the humidity.

A slightly late start and then we were treated to a set by the excellent Pat Drummond, an Australian who meets people and writes about them.  Powerful songs and passionately delivered.  We talked at the interval about how to get him over to the UK next year.  If it happens, don't miss him.  He's at http://www.patdrummond.net

A brief interval to dispel some of the heat, then Ralph took the stage, in a dark shirt and trousers - not suit weather like the UK autumn tour last year!  An elderly J45 in hand and no other, Donard not with him on the tour but the sound tonight was excellent.  He mentioned how hot it was and that he was glad to get away from the terrible weather...... in Canberra, Melinda!  We had knee-deep hailstones in the Blue Mountains earlier in the week too.

He opened by saying that his theme for the evening would be his personal musical journey, and the set began with Nanna's Song, followed by Banjo Man, Hands of Joseph, Walk into the Morning which featured considerable pantomime and childhood anecdotes about the harmonica, Blues Run the Game, From Clare to Here, The Wild Cape Horn (when will we hear it on record???), In Dreams, Summer Girls, Slipshod Taproom Dance, SoL, which featured the innovation of a ladies only chorus, Anji/Lullabye of Birdland/Hit the Road Jack, Peppers and Tomatoes, Mr Connaughton, and an encore of When Did You Leave Heaven?

Highlights for me were Nanna's Song - just the perfect song about early love, Wild Cape Horn which just gets better every time, Peppers and Tomatoes which hasn't lost a shred of its power, plus the way Ralph inserts "in my bones" in the current versions, and Mr Connaughton.  I can't think of anyone who evokes all the complex emotions of childhood like Ralph does, and that song is a gem.

And we got a namecheck, AND he's gone off with a copy of Unfinished Lace, so I'm a happy boy.  And he met the fans at the end too, although in a relatively small venue there wasn't the usual crush, and he was as polite and gentle as ever.  What a lovely man.

Now, the "Farewell Tour" bit.  It was on all the bills, but he said from the stage that he didn't know if he'd be coming back again, which leaves the door open.  I suspect it may be economics as much as anything else which is making Ralph and Leola reappraise their overseas activities.

Now it's my own gig tomorrow night at a private party in Sydney with a borrowed (Maton) guitar.  Wish me luck, people.

David

[MAJ]

Well it truly was Friday 13th...  and I have just come home from seeing Ralph at the Elgiva and have a severe nose bleed.  Bummer.

Anyway, the concert started 25 mins late because of technical hitchings.  Turned out Donard pulled out the wrong plug on the desk and they had to reset it all.  Oops!  Ralph made sure he ribbed him several times during the set about it...!

The acoustics at The Elgiva were absolutely stunning.  The best I have heard for many years in fact.

The set comprised the following (not in the right order as I didn't write it all down)

Weeping Willow
Walk Into The Morning
Ramona
Anji (medley)
Sand In Your Shoes
Slip Shod Tap Room Dance
Leavin' Liggan Woods
Still In Dreams
Easter Lilies
Streets of London
I'm Not Really Blue
Let Me Fly
Grande Affaire
Lost Boys
The Ferryman
The Wild Cape Horn (which Ralph dedicated to me)
Terminus (encore)

I hope I haven't left any out.

The anecdotes/chat was informative and light hearted in turn.  A couple of highlights: several references to His Bobness, the fact that it was Friday 13th (as this comes in Cape Horn), the fact that a couple got married today and were at the concert and requested The Ferryman.

Had a nice long chat with Donard at the end, bought BoS CD - all in all a really good evening.

Night all.

[Gibson]

Ralph in Leeds last night and a bit of a strange evening all round.  Set was substantially altered from the previous report (MAJ).  Out went:

Sand In Your Shoes
Slip Shod Tap Room Dance
Leavin' Liggan Woods
Grande Affaire
Lost Boys
The Ferryman
Terminus (encore)

I wasn’t writing it down either, but in came:

Run Johnny Run
Bentley and Craig
Jesus Wept
In the Jailhouse Now
The Setting (encore)

There were probably a couple more to even it up, but for the life of me I can’t remember (sorry).  I think his voice was giving a bit of a problem as there were a few times when he seemed to waver up to the right note.  From an 8pm start we were leaving by 9.40, so maybe there weren’t anymore and he cut it short?  He also made a potentially odd comment, asking people to sign up to an email address list ‘so we can all keep in touch about what’s going on, or not as the case may be’  Make of that what you will . . . .

Still enjoyable, but a bit odd all the same.
 

[Naomi]

Thanks for the review Gibson.

I was just wondering if any problem with Ralph's voice was connected with the virus he's had recently - bad cough, etc - if so, presumably it's only a temporary hitch.  

1hr 40 seems about usual for a Ralph gig these days.

Does seem a bit of a cryptic comment on the end there though. Perhaps things may become clearer as the tour progresses (can't wait to see him tomorrow in Bury)  - or perhaps nothing much was meant by it anyway.    

Naomi

[Gibson]

Hi Naomi,

The voice/virus problems may well be connected - hope all is well in Bury tonight.  Enjoy your evening!

On the subject of odd comments, there were 2 more.  Firstly, Ralph said how much Leeds had meant to him over the years, but just left it with no other explanation.  The second was what he didn't say.  It may be my imagination and I'm quite prepared to be corrected, but I was of the opinion that he would always make some comment near the end of the show about seeing everyone again.  Not this time.

Now I was prepared to treat all these as having alternative explanations, until last night, 24 hours after the event, my wife asked me if I thought some of the comments were a bit odd and did I think it might have sounded as if he wasn't coming back?  Then I thought it wasn't just me.  Obviously there are future shows planned, but maybe this is the start of a winding down process.  Who knows?

Interested to hear any views on the last few dates of this tour.
   

[Naomi]

Just back from Bury...

No time for a full review tonight, just a bit of reassurance for Gibson, and anyone else concerned:

Nothing cryptic about his comments tonight.  

I can't remember his exact words, but when mentioning his website, he seemed to very strongly imply that he was recommending people to join the mailing list because there'd be a lot for them to keep up with.

The (brilliant) performance was 1hr 40 minutes, like the one Gibson was at, and had some of the same songs as at earlier performances, and some different.

He spoke about how much he liked The Met, and urged people to keep supporting it as 'we performers need places like this to keep coming to'. (Probably not his exact words, but close!)

Finally, after thanking the staff of the theatre, and Donard, he closed with the usual 'see you somewhere down the road'.

His voice did sound as if his throat was a little congested occasionally -having had a virus apparently the same as the one he had, I know that it took ages to get my throat and sinuses completely clear, so it will probably be the same for Ralph. Didn't spoil the evening though!  

More details later - off to bed now, tired but very happy!  

Goodnight all,

Naomi

[Naomi]

As promised, a little more detail about last night :

The set list in (very approximate) order was:

Weeping Willow
Ramona (A request – he joked that he liked requests, but preferred them to be for his own songs.)
Bentley and Craig – quite a long intro to this one – it was obvious that he’s still (understandably) very angry abut this.
Maginot Waltz
Lost Boys

Ralph said that he supposed that the next 3 could be loosely grouped together under the theme of dreams – the first as it is based on a vivid dream he once had, the second for obvious reasons, and the third as it’s about dreams going wrong.

Run Johnny Run
Still in Dreams
I'll Keep This With Mine

Anji
I’m Not Really Blue
SOL (Launched straight into this one, with no comment before or after.)
Let Me Down Easy (Another request)
Jesus Wept
Wild Cape Horn

The Setting (Encore, dedicated to Jenny Melmoth.)


After the gig at the Lowry last November, some of us commented that Ralph seemed to talk very little between songs – well he certainly made up for it last night, I’m delighted to say. At one point he said himself that he felt he had taken up too much time with talking, and would have to make the intro’s shorter if he was to fit in all the songs on his list. He managed to keep this up for all of two, maybe three songs!  

Sound was mostly good – seemed to me (no expert at all, I admit) to be a little unbalanced at first – coming mainly from the stage right speakers.  I noticed Donard creeping about at the back of the (stage left) block of speakers during Maginot Waltz, and it did seem to improve after that.

The only downside of the evening was the couple immediately in front of us who fidgeted constantly and whispered loudly and repeatedly – including throughout the beautiful introduction to ‘Still in Dreams’. Ever felt an intense longing to bang two people’s heads together?  We were only five rows from the front, next to the aisle, and knowing how keen Ralph’s sight and hearing are, I was just hoping that they weren’t bothering him.  Grrrr!    

It was lovely to meet up with John, Angie, Leighton and Sue again, plus a number of other Ralphites.

I was also particularly pleased to hear ‘I'll Keep This With Mine', as I don’t think I’ve ever heard it live before. I love the phrase ‘relentless rhododendron rain’ –  it’s so atmospheric - Ralph conjures up sight, sound, smell and touch in just three words – brilliant!  

Ralph seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself, and full of enthusiasm - certainly didn't seem to give the impression that he's ready to retire - quite the opposite in some ways - maybe Leeds was maybe just a blip!

That’s all I can think of for now, but I’m sure John and Leighton (and possibly Carl) will have more to add.

Naomi

[Naomi]

I've just spotted a review of Ralph at Truro here  on someone's blog.

The last line captures how I feel after one of Ralph's gigs exactly!

'Ralph walks quietly off the stage, sending the audience out into the night all smiling and looking profoundly calm. Sigh.'  

(Especially the sigh   )

Naomi

[Anji]

Wow! What a wonderful picture she paints of a Ralph concert that we know and love so well, and as she says......sigh....  

Blimeyheck, you lot  

[Cocker Freeman]

Nurse!

[Jess]

You have no idea what you are missing, Anji,
but some day soon we shall convert even you  

   I have a Ralph Mctell album, you know  

Ah, but have you heard him play 'Anji', Anji?

Play list from The Maltings, Berwick-upon-Tweed, 28th April 2007:

Weeping Willow
North Country Fair
Bentley and Craig
(If you think I'm crazy 'bout you, etc) - can't remember the title
Maginot Waltz
Run Johnny Run
Heron Song (Sigh...)
Walk into the morning
Anji  
Streets of London
Peppers and Tomatoes
After Rain
Red and Gold
I'm not really blue
Wild Cape Horn
(Encore) Nettle Wine (Sigh...)

Jess

[lucienne]

Berwick-on-Tweed

Ralph, free and happy at the penultimate concert of the tour
His shiny suit sliding his harmonica to his left ear!

His happiness is contagious and we relax into the music
Run Johnny Run takes us away into his dream.

My memories go back through time,
And the emotion of many concerts
All aggregate into one.

Now, lost in a mixture of dreams, the concert ends.
Too soon as usual.

[CarlWoodb]

Thanks Lucienne -

Excellent review - captures the atmosphere perfectly.

You forgot the sigh  

Carl

[lucienne]

The sigh? Its like the P in Psighcology  

[Chris]

There's a new interview with Ralph here on the R A and S site - gives some more detail about both the upcoming tour, and the new autobiographical CD's.

Right at the bottom, a little about the future....

It is a long road and I don't know how long and how much longer I am going to continue and get round all these places and do all this work. I am thinking maybe I have a future as a writer and recording artist and maybe travel less. I am already pulling my horns in as I announced my Australian Tour was my farewell tour. I have pulled away from touring in Europe- I doubt if I will ever play in America now. Having done these dates I am not sure what the future holds in terms of live performance. I want to keep my standards up. I don't want to hear people say Ralph looked a bit tired or he is probably getting ready to come off the road.