Serious Sam Barrett - 11th October at the Wenlock

I wasn't planning to go to a gig on Saturday night, and until around 5pm, the name of Serious Sam Barrett had never crossed into my plane of existence.

But you know how it is. 'Come and meet these really interesting people in Islington'. So I did. And it turned into a good old-fashioned pub crawl. Four pubs later we arrived in The Wenlock Arms, a pub five minutes off the City Road. And apparently an authentic older-style proper London pub. Loads of Real Ales - though as I didn't try any of them I can't comment (and this isn't a food and drink blog) but not a hint of gastropub or theme. The place could haver been as it was for forty years. A local pub for local people, though don't get me wrong - entirely welcoming.

And 'tonight' according to the blackboard we were promised Serious Sam Barrett. OK, I'd lost the desire to move by then. I wondered if Serious might by a Jack Dee-style comedian or similar, but guessed that was probably wrong when a guy started making with amps etc. And it's not like I was having to pay to find out more, so I sat and waited.

And the pub began to change. The locals shuffled off and it took on an almost hipster quality. Too many hats and too much facial hair.

And on came Serious Sam.

I struggle a little bit to fit him into a musical genre. Some of the reviews I've seen of him since say he's a skiffle musician, but I don't think that's quite right. I would have said bluegrass with a Woodie Guthrie style to it. The first couple of songs seemed vaguely familiar (but I was only vaguely listening) but then I started to take notice.

This guy was playing some cool finger-picking and slide 12 string guitar. Joined for a few numbers by a local mouth-organ player by the name of Tony Rowlett. Sam has a good voice - bit of a Northern Twang I thought. Didn't know any of the songs, though I later found out that this is for the very good reason that they are his own. But really positive life-affirming stories, proper rock/country stuff - folk but in the American sense. Two sets - maybe 45 minutes each and note a duff note anywhere. And the hipsters loved it.

I spoke a little to Serious Sam at the end. And he was quite serious actually. A Leeds guy who gigs a lot, but clearly loved that pub, and playing with Tony was a special thing for him. Just a genuinely nice bloke making his kind of music. I bought his latest CD, which is called 'Any Road' and have played it a few times since - it's a type of music I didn't own that much of, and am pleased to be rectifying that.

When you go out to see a particular artist it comes with all sorts of expectation. And, as I love the live music experience, I am not disappointed very often. But when you stumble across something good and entirely unexpected that is somehow even better - zero expectation so such a positive feeling when it turns out to be good.

If you see him advertised when out and about - I'd say pop in and be thoroughly entertained. You can find some of his stuff on Youtube and he has a Bandcamp page here. He posts his gig schedules on Twitter @serioussam1980

Well worth a listen and (dare I say it) Serious-ly good.

Dance, dance, dance

I went to a dance show. No, don’t laugh. And don’t email me to tell me the blog has been hacked. I Ross of Balham, attended Ballet Revolucion at the Peacock Theatre.

Why you ask? In part exactly because it was something I’d not seen anything like before, and it is nice to do something different. Secondly what was promised looked like a show with lots of shorter pieces in it (so that, I reasoned, even if one bit wasn't to my taste, there would be another one along in a minute). And thirdly because it had a live Cuban band on stage, and I thought that would be worth listening to, even if I kept my eyes shut.

This review has its challenges. When I'm writing about a music gig I can talk about the band with an element of knowledge of what they are doing – and I generally know many of the songs too. Here I know what I saw and how it looked, but I lack the vocabulary to describe it to those dance connoisseurs amongst you. Also, as a dance show virgin I am bound to make some comments that are really trite or banal. To which I would say – if you are a dancer or a lover of dance - I know you could do better, but why don’t you go and write a review of a sheep dog trial and see how easy that is?*

Ballet Revolucion as a premise takes modern (pop and Latin) music and puts a range of dance routines to it. A small amount of the stuff was (in my eyes) pretty much exclusively ballet, and some pretty much street, but the vast majority was some kind of ‘fusion’ drawing elements from all sorts of styles. 

It is a young company and quite big. Unfortunately dancers don’t stay still long enough for me to count them (you can pull this reference into your review of sheep dog trials if you want) but there were I think 18 performers, plus an excellent band. There were big ensemble numbers and much smaller three or four person things, so that there was always something different happening.

I won’t comment on the technical stuff for the reasons given above, but anyone can see the astonishing grace, power and, above all, control that these dancers can achieve. You see dance on the TV and it just doesn't prepare you for quite how athletic it all is. That the human body is not only capable of leaping that high, and landing it, and of catching someone just right (when three couples do it at once and they are all the same even I can tell it’s perfectly executed), but can do that as part of a long show – not just as a one-off, it is truly great to watch.

I am sceptical about the whole 10,000 hours** thing but nobody gets that good at something without a huge amount of practice. And how you manage to keep your body together night after night punishing itself in that way also defies belief. (We did speculate about how many understudies this sort of company might have – you would think that on a long tour everyone must be a walking wreck at some point.)

Much of the music used was American pop from the last couple of years – Rihanna, Beyonce, Bruno Marrs etc. Pretty much the soundtrack of the Florida radio station the kids insisted on playing at full volume when we went there last year – which made me smile. (Digression: ‘Clarity’ was another of the endlessly played tracks then – and Foxes was the singer on Doctor Who last week. If you were interested…) And then some what I think of as traditional tango music and a lot of Cuban / Latin stuff. I did think they could have found better encore music than Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” but that’s a minor criticism all in all.

The band – usual rhythm and bass, drums, percussion, and two keys (one of whom also played those fabulous Latin trumpet lines), male and female vocalists. They worked hard and came across as highly musically accomplished. But they also seemed to be really enjoying it. I just mention this because if you are touring a show and doing nine performances a week more six months, enthusiasm should wear thin at some stage (thinking ‘Homeward Bound’ here). Not for these guys.

The show is on for about another week. It wasn't much more than half full when I went- which was a Friday night. And I only paid half the sticker price for the tickets thanks to Lastminute.com. I doubt any show is going to succeed on numbers like that. Quite disappointing that such an interesting work just isn't pulling in the punters.

Did I enjoy it? Definitely. You don’t have to know anything about dance to love a show like this. It might be that if you are a real dance purist it might annoy you because it is too ‘crossover’ – feels more of a ‘general public’ thing.

Will I go and see another dance show? Well, I don’t think I’m going to be a regular attendee. But I’ve decided I would like to go once to see a ballet, to see things in a very different context. I shall start saving now.

* assumption here that the set of ballet dancers and the set of shepherds have no intersection – but I feel pretty comfortable with this.

** see Malcolm Gladwell’s 'Outliers' book

Sweet Baby James

James Taylor – Royal Albert Hall 7^th October 2014

There are not many acts on my list of ‘must sees’ any more. I have never seen Steely Dan, The Blue Nile or Tom Waits and will move heaven and earth to rectify this. Until last week James Taylor was also on the list.

Taylor isn't generally the sort of act I go for – a very relaxed country feel, tending sometimes on record to be a highly produced sound. But he does it so well. With such a smooth voice – it is laid-back Sunday-morning music without parallel. Coffee, the paper and ‘Sweet Baby James’ is a lovely way to spend a lazy morning.

So the chance to see him live didn't take a great deal of consideration – and I trotted off to the Albert Hall looking forward to ticking another one off the list.

The RAH isn't the best venue for popular music. High ceilinged and vast, it is not intimate (though it’s a lot better than the O2). We were front row stalls (this is the circular bit as opposed to the Arena section – which is where the stalls would be in a normal hall) and the place was full to the gods.

Taylor is 66 now and wanders on stage like a slightly bewildered caretaker. He gives the appearance of great height and general gangly-ness, and gives the impression of living in jeans. Hair apart he seems to have weathered the years and drug issues rather well though. Backed by a fairly conventional backing band (lead, bass, keys, drums, BV cum violin and two other BVs), who were all wonderfully tight and accomplished musicians in their own right, he sits on a stool for half the songs and stands for the rest, playing acoustic guitar for all but one number.

And straight away he is into that laid-back country vibe. In a two hour show, he played every song that you would associate with him, before a third encore of ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’* A few new songs thrown in – and all I would say about them was that they would have fitted in well on the early albums too. Age didn't seem to have affected the voice at all – pretty sure he played Fire and Rain in the same key as it was written all those years ago.

He readily uses the phrase ‘hippy tree-hugger bullshit’ to describe the world view he tends to come back to again and again, but I don’t think the audience had an issue with that.

Between songs he was a surprisingly engaging conversationalist – good humoured and self-deprecating in a way that highlights the decades of stage-craft, and suggests a man very comfortable with himself.

Despite a generally enthusiastic response, there were a few calls out from the audience complaining about the sound quality. Indeed we met a couple leaving at half time who felt that it was ‘appalling’ and ‘a bad way to spend a birthday evening’. I hope they spent the unexpectedly-free rest of their evening visiting one of Tottenham Court Road’s 24-hour Ear Syringing parlours, as I didn't see the problem at all. 

On a couple of occasions the lead vocal was lower in the mix than you would want, but that is the function of a big and boomy hall – and it just meant you had to listen rather than let it all wash over you. I suspect people are spoiled by recorded music and expect the same exact experience live. I crave the opposite. Unless you are at a Kraftwerk gig you should be there to see musicianship and a more stripped and engaging performance, and JT did not disappoint.

The highlight for me – surprisingly – was his version of ‘Up on the Roof’. And I find it hard to say why – he just really seemed to do the song justice in a way that stood out.

So a laid-back evening, delivering exactly what I had hoped for – not ever one to be dancing in the aisles but good music is about so much more than that.

* sometimes known as ‘Will ye go, lassie?’ or ‘Blooming Heather’ in the Kate Rusby version.

And then there were three

Greetings. Following some feedback from my loyal reader I've decided to split the blog in three. Why, you ask? Nothing sinister. I just find that I have a desire to write on three very different fronts. Some of you will want to read on each of these, but some won’t, and it might be easier if I compartmentalise them a little bit.

One is to carry on with what has been going on in my life. That will be here – though I will link to the others from there too.

I have also tended to do a bit of writing around gigs and other outings which I have tended to review. These will now be on this blog. The first new one of these will be up shortly, particularly as I went to three gigs last week and owe you a report on each. I've copied the key previous posts below just for the sake of continuity.

The third and most separate is the more political musings that I feel compelled to write. In the aftermath of Clacton, and with only seven months to the general election this is an area where I suspect more involvement coming up. 

Little Light, Shining

Originally published here on 18th September 2014, and moved to this page as part of my creation of a music-only blog in October 2014

I've sort of kept it quiet, but I was lucky enough to go and see Kate Bush at the Hammersmith Apollo last night.

This is not a full blow-by-blow review. If you want one of those, perhaps have a look at Tracey Thorn’s for the New Statesman – she says it better than I ever could.

Row J it said on the ticket – ten rows back – that had to be good. But the stage was built out a little, so Row J was the fifth, with an amazing view so long as everyone in front of me wasn't standing to applaud. Which they were. Frequently. Not a problem; one of the benefits of being tall I guess.

The Band consisted of seven – with a drummer and separate full percussion set (needed if you think about the Hounds of Love album in particular). Plus five backing singers. And the first half dozen songs were a pretty standard rock gig – standing there delivering songs and doing little else.

This let us see what Kate Bush has become in her non-touring years. The voice. My god the voice. I dare say the songs have been re-pitched a little (maybe down a third for Hounds of Love – ish). But the power, and the ability to go from little-girl-lost vulnerable to rock diva. Opening with Lily (The Red Shoes) and running quite a lot from that mid-period around Hounds of Love to Aerial this really showed that she hasn't lost the knack. 

I wonder how you train for that? A three hour set where you are singing for most of it would tax most singers. Not, it seemed, our Kate. Plenty of water being drunk between songs, but pretty much spot on. As a song, "Running Up that Hill" is the stand-out, but as a performance, it had to be “King of the Mountain” from Aerial. Kate does Elvis very well indeed.

And then, nicely warmed up, we moved into what I still think of as the second “side” of Hounds of Love – the Ninth Wave concept piece. Heavy use of video, SFX, dance and actors to build the narrative which runs from the glorious “And Dream of Sheep” right through to “Hello Earth”. And before we knew it, it was the interval – an hour and forty minutes gone in a heartbeat.

Twenty minutes on and back in, and soon into the second concept / song-cycle. The “Sky of Honey” from Aerial. Without the Rolf Harris bit, although with her son playing the role of the painter. And he was good. His solo song, when KB went off for a breather, was well received, but was a bit like the drummer’s solo at a prog rock gig. If I had a watch on, that would have been the only time in the show I would have been tempted to glance at it.

Lots of use of bird imagery – drawing on the singing/come birdsong that litters the studio album, with puppetry and digital effects also. I felt it was a much heavier sound than in the studio. (And having listened again this morning to the CD, I was right about this). In particular, "Sunset", which is a pretty and gentle song started off as what I would call “dirty funk” before morphing into full-on flamenco. God, it was good.

The band gave its bows, and then Kate returned to the theme of cherubim to deliver "Among Angels" from “50 Words for Snow”. Solo at the piano, as fragile as tissue paper. And then closing with Cloudbusting. “What made it special made it dangerous” indeed.

KB seemed genuinely overcome by the audience reception. I can’t believe that our night gave her more than every other one, but for a woman who clearly was least at her ease when talking and not lost in the song, it seems that the validation from her fans still takes her breath away.

I was I think eleven last time KB toured. At 35 year intervals, I doubt I’ll make the next one. Part of me thinks it will be lovely if this is a complete one-off – and I was one of the 70,000-ish people to see it. I’d maybe feel a little cheated if next year she does 60 dates at a theatre near you for £50 a head. But most of me thinks this is something that should be shared widely, and that I’d be there sitting alongside you if that happens.

To close, I’d make two points. Famously “the KB Foundation” had requested that no-one filmed or took photos – and as far as I could see, no-one did – such is the respect that fans have for the lady.

Secondly, everyone seemed to leave the gig smiling, and perhaps shaking their head a little in wonderment. And, you know what? I'm still smiling now.

Hatfield Poly-instrumentalists

Originally published here on 23rd July 2014 and moved to this blog as part of my creation of a separate music blog in October 2014.

I would generally say that I am too old for music festivals. They combine crowds, camping and mud in a way that does not make them attractive to me. If they are your bag, then great, but not any more.

However, on Sunday I overcame my prejudices and went to Folk by the Oak, at Hatfield House, in Hertfordshire. I thought you might like to see my review.

I usually associate Hatfield with three things - the annoying boys-only pint-swilling college at Durham Uni,  the Poly, and ("and the North" - the band, not the road sign). I realise none of these things exist any more in that form, but I am a child of my time.

But Hatfield is also the location of the Tudor house where Elizabeth I grew up - which sits in rolling landscape about five minutes from the station. (The fact I could get back in an hour to Balham on public transport also gave this festival a big plus for me when I considered it!)

This is a 'one field' festival - very little traipsing required. A main stage and a small covered "Acorn" stage (see what they did there?), with beer, food etc all to hand. Very much a family feel - entirely safe etc.

I think they said over the PA that attendance was about 6,000, and it didn't feel overly packed out at that - plenty of room to sit watching the main stage and picnic, which is how we spend the afternoon session.

I'm not going to give you chapter and verse on all the acts, there is a list on their website above. I was going to focus on the stuff that had brought me to the venue. I would say thought that Kathryn Tickell and her new band (the Side) were excellent. Infectiously catchy and danceable as ever.

And I would also highlight from my visit to the Acorn stage (it was raining and there was cover there) that the Keston Cobblers Club is a fabulous act. Talented multi-instrumentalists, good songs, clear (well I though so) Mumfords and Bellowhead influences, and a tuba. You should see them if you can.

But the main reason for going was to see Richard Thompson performing a solo acoustic set. If you don't know Thompson's work, where have you been? Guitarist and writer in Fairport Convention, at the end of the 60's, and since then a successful act, firstly in a duo with his wife and latterly solo. He was voted one of the top 20 guitarists of all time by Rolling Stone, though he is as far away from the smooth "Clapton-style" of rock guitar as it is possible to be whilst still actually being a guitarist.

And? Just wow! A string of songs well known to the crowd (I jotted down a set list on the go and have stuck it at the bottom if you care - sorry for any inaccuracies). Mostly pretty faithful to his originals. Interspersed with a pretty deadpan, self-deprecating chat which shows the benefit of years of gigging.

It is hard when you listen to Thompson on disc to believe that there is only one guitarist there. You would swear there were three of them, given his ability to play a bass/rhythm line and lead at one time. Oh, and sing as well. This is a man who you just know could pat his head and rub his stomach at the same time with ease, and before breakfast at that. Stand-out track for me is (and will always be) 1952 Vincent Black Lightning. This song combines spellbinding guitar work with a tragic love story about a bad boy and his girl, and his motor bike. "And he gave her one last kiss and died. And he gave her his Vincent to ride". But the slower numbers like Beeswing (Beeswax, as someone next to us in the crowd called it) showed a subtle beauty to match it.

Thompson isn't doing many shows in the UK this year - but does have a new acoustic album out. If you can't see him, listen to him - he will brighten any day.

And the closing act of the festival was singer/songwriter/violinist Seth Lakeman. About half our group was very keen to be up at the front for this one - they find Seth's arms very attractively muscular. (That's what you get with all that fiddling I suppose.) I know Lakeman's work quite well - and have always thought it OK, but a bit samey - a fast song and a slow song and not much other variation. Catchy, but not really for me.

But live, he is a different proposition. This is a serious band of musicians. Pretty stripped back - just Seth plus four, but real talent from everyone. His female co-vocalist (Lisbee Stainton) added real musical colour, and blended beautifully with Lakeman's voice. And the energy in the performance was astonishing, throughout the band. I will need to listen again to the records, either I have taken them too lightly and dismissed him as talentless because of his folk 'poster-boy' status, or perhaps recordings just don't capture the performance well enough - they don't get the energy.

Oh, and for myself, I didn't see what the fuss is all about concerning his arms. I suspect that's a 'girl' thing.

So - Folk by the Oak - under £40, and a very worthwhile day. Come along next year.

___________
RT setlist (E&OE) with a link to Vincent Black Lightning if you are interested.

When the Spell is Broken, Walking on a Wire, Valerie, Saving the Good Stuff, Johnny’s Far Away, Pharaoh, Vincent Black Lightning, Who Knows Where The Time Goes?, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, Between You and Me (a work in progress – letters during WWI), Good Things Happen to Bad People, Beeswing, Wall of Death, Down Where the Drunkards, One Door Opens, Tear-stained Letter.

Rabbit

Originally posted 16th July 2014 here. Moved to this blog with slight continuity edits as part of the creation of a music-only blog in October 2014.

Chas ‘n’ Dave – St George's Beckenham

Well – what is there to say? I don’t think CnD’s music particularly suits a traditional church setting – for me they will always be better hear in the low-ceilinged social club. Perhaps on a holiday camp in Camber Sands. And incongruous only begins to describe the dancing and drinking (strictly BYO – the communion wine was safely locked away).

If I was looking for words to describe Chas n Dave’s music, I would certainly go for ‘fun’ but also ‘efficiency’. You probably can’t be in the game and touring every five minutes for five decades without getting it down to a fine art. But they are a tight band, doing things well, but with real economy of effort – songs are incredibly well drilled, and I felt that if I had seen them any other night, the performance would have been the same. I don’t mean this as a criticism – but it’s as near to one end of the spontaneity continuum as it is possible to be without a backing track. (The other end – Dylan – about a mile further along than anyone else!).

My other key observation – Chas Hodges sits really high up to play the piano – if I invoke the spirit of Peter Hook here some of you will know what I mean. I don’t know why – but it interests me.

But it was tremendous fun anyway – how can you pass on Chas ’n’ Dave?

Crouch End Festival Chorus at Southwark Cathedral

Originally posted 16th July 2014 here. Moved to this blog with slight continuity edits as part of the creation of a music-only blog in October 2014.

Crouch End Festival Chorus Tallis and Others at Southwark Cathedral

Bit of a last minute one for me this – having had a Voxcetera rehearsal cancelled at the last minute, I Facebooked something like “A free evening – what am I going to do?”, and this was suggested. The lead piece was Tallis’s Spem in Alium*.Which is in 40 parts – 8 five part choirs. 

Also performed, in an entirely unaccompanied programme was the Vaughan Williams G Minor mass, some Bruckner, a rendering of the Buddy Holly song “It doesn't matter anymore” by Orlando Gough and the premier of a “Salve Regina” by Hughes.

Crouch End is a very high quality choir, and I was impressed by what they did. I didn't quite 'get' the Buddy Holly thing, but liked the Salve. Vaughan –W is what it is. Which leaves the Tallis. I was near enough the front to have the choirs wrapped around me, so I got a placing effect in the music that you would miss from the back. And it was clever. But it left me feeling that it was done in 40 parts to impress, and that perhaps that got in the way of the music a little. Not my favourite.

*I know it’s silly, but Spem in Alium still sounds like a dish from a menu in a Monty Python sketch to me 

Barts Chamber Choir

Originally posted 16th July 2014 here. Moved to this blog with slight continuity edits as part of the creation of a music-only blog in October 2014.

Barts Chamber Choir - Dixit Dominus (Handel) and the Vivaldi Gloria at St James Piccadilly

This is a fabulous venue with a great acoustic. The concert was on the night of the England Italy world cup match so with an English (nominally) first half and an Italian second half, there was something for the conductor to link in to. In art, as in real life, Italy won. I didn't know the Handel at all prior to the gig. It was a lot more intense than I associate with him generally – I know he does powerful stuff, but this had an urgency beyond what I had expected. 

On the other hand, I know the Vivaldi very well, and love it. Sitting in a beautiful church as the Cum Sancto Spirito fugues its way to the end was the highlight of the evening.

Barts Chamber Choir is probably about forty strong, and drawn from the wider Barts choir - clearly comprising some extremely talented singers. They got that balance/mix that smaller choirs can find (which is harder for the choral leviathans I guess). And one of the soloists - Grace Davidson I think, is just angelic. The most amazing voice, with seemingly no effort (or need to breathe). To balance the review, there was also some counter-tenor stuff in the Handel.