Old school British soul tonight with The Real Thing in my old hometown Of Clitheroe.

Soul singer Jimmy James (of Vagabonds fame).

Jah Wobble and The Invaders of the Heart playing "Metal Box Rebuilt In Dub" at The Exchange in Bristol on Thursday night, augmented by Jon Klein (ex-Banshees) filling the Keith Leven guitar role.  All five players are fine musicians and they didn't disappoint. As well as the Metal Box album, we also heard two songs from PiL's first album: "Public Image" and "Fodderstompf".  

A compact and bijou venue, ideal for Wobble's bass to be felt as well as heard - the only other bands I've experienced live with such a full bass sound were Aswad (open-air gig on St George's Plateau in Liverpool) and Can (at the old boxing stadium in Liverpool).  

So glad I now wear "Hearos" earplugs to most gigs - they cut out the high-frequency distortion that used to leave my ears "ringing" until the following day.

I really enjoy Jim's singing, a really wonderful voice and an engaging performer live. I didn't know this tour was happening and pleased to see so many dates, especially SW which is understandable. Thanks for sharing, looking forward to catching a live gig.

Just got back. Terrific evening. Jim Causley & Miranda Sykes were as excellent as ever, and John Palmer, who shared anecdotes and read some of SBG's stories, did so with a real passion for his subject. I went for the music but left feeling the need to properly explore SBG's work. Job done by the performers!

If you get the chance to catch a performance, I hope you enjoy it!

The Baring-Gould evening sounds good - thanks for the hint to go and look at Jim's website. We live very close now to the area where SBG was squarson (his old home was a very fancy hotel/restaurant, which has just gone bust!).

Wreckless Eric at Wrecking Ball Arts Centre in Hull tonight
I think his autobiography gets an update/ reprint , published tomorrow
Expecting lots of stories along with a few songs

On the bright side small festivals and day events seem to be proliferating all over the place.

The trouble with keeping chasing the money (£300 a ticket?) is that the customer is ever more likely to demand more (better services, options etc.) and complain loudly and bitterly when there's something they don't like (i.e. the lineup).  This same scenario is being played out in a large number of capitalistic markets.  What tends to happen is you end up with just the big boys (Glasto, Reading/Leeds etc.) and a few tiny niche players.  The vast majority of the middle-sized players will disappear...  I've said this before but my own personal opinion is that if Cropredy is to survive it needs to go small, go folk-rock, go niche. Day and a half.  3-5000 people.  Economies of scale.  Bring it all back round again... [I'm fully aware this will never happen].

Breaking down the messages from Towersey, Cropredy, assorted other festivals and artists, it seems there are several main problematic areas:

Costs of Staging & Promoting the festival
 - Infrastructure
 - Artists fees
 - fuel
 - lighting
 - PA

Artists have been mentioning their costs:
 - fuel
 - accommodation
 - equipment

But costs to customers have been going up steadily, too.
 - fuel
 - tickets
 - festival food & drink
 - merch such as t-shirts

So, of the above, what can be ameliorated?
 - Fuel costs will continue to rise, there's little doubt.
 - Artists' costs and thus fees are going through a sea change upwards.
   - Accommodation when touring has gone crazy. £400 a night in a Travelodge is actually cheaper than most other hotels.
     - B&B's don't usually provide safe storage for equipment. Even if they're cheaper, sometimes.
     - Staying with fans works for small bands and individual artists sometimes, but again, safe storage isn't available.

Tickets? Cropredy cost us £386 for two people plus camping this year, in the first tranche. Yes, prices go up, yes, we should expect it. Maybe they don't go up enough to cover costs? Perhaps that time has come.

Food & Drink at Festivals has increased in price every year too. In part that reflects their additional costs in getting a pitch, but for me, they're on the cusp of being a once-a-festival expenditure, if that. Bring our own? Yup. Maybe much more so now than before.

Merch. CD sales will be well down for all artists, fewer are sold every year. T-shirts for £50 aren't far away at all. Then the festivals *sometimes* take a cut as well as charging for the vendor's pitch. That adds cost too.

Also, artists. Fewer artists seem to be touring now, which can result in festivals having very similar lineups. Difficult choices for the customer.

The last time I heard Simon talking like this was 2004, Wendy and I answered that call. I hope all the festivals get a similar response this time.

By the way, with fewer festivals, the opportunity exists to spread them out a bit. Towersey and Shrewsbury the same weekend is just one example of a choice I'd prefer not to be given.

Anyway, just some random thoughts. Sorry if they're a bit depressive, I don't know any answers.