Recent gigs

[David V B]

My turn for Albert Lee tonight in Lytham. Agree his voice is not that strong but he is in his early 80s after all, and his guitar playing more than makes up for it. I first saw him with Clapton in 1980 and he is still wonderful.

Last night something completely different- the Sound of Springsteen in Blackpool. If there is a better tribute band around, I have yet to hear them. Bruce is unlikely to be over this year so this will do just nicely in the meantime.

[Will S]

I've had an unusual (for me, at least) 3 gigs in 5 days. All good, and quite different.

Steeleye Span in Exeter on Wednesday night were excellent - it's the first time I have seen them with Athena on violin.

On Friday evening we went to see Gilmore & Roberts in the tiny Church House in South Tawton - an ancient stone building with probably no more than 50 of us packed in for a totally acoustic concert. No amps or mics. They did a great job.

And then last night we went to see The Unthanks (4 piece version) in Bude.  Despite a piano that was going out of tune as the concert went on, they were excellent as well.  The first time I've seen them but won't be the last if they make the long trip down here again.

[davidmjs]

I've had an unusual (for me, at least) 3 gigs in 5 days. All good, and quite different.

Steeleye Span in Exeter on Wednesday night were excellent - it's the first time I have seen them with Athena on violin.

On Friday evening we went to see Gilmore & Roberts in the tiny Church House in South Tawton - an ancient stone building with probably no more than 50 of us packed in for a totally acoustic concert. No amps or mics. They did a great job.

And then last night we went to see The Unthanks (4 piece version) in Bude.  Despite a piano that was going out of tune as the concert went on, they were excellent as well.  The first time I've seen them but won't be the last if they make the long trip down here again.

Can't imagine Adrian was very happy about that!

[Will S]

He held it in, but you could tell he wasn't really. They ended up switching out one song because he didn't think the piano could cope with whatever they were planning to play and we got Here's The Tender Coming instead (I wasn't unhappy about that).

[SteveT]

I must agree with you David, I have also seen them many times and have never failed to be enthralled.

I will be seeing them this Thursday headlining the Woodland Stage at Bearded Theory Festival and am genuinely excited.
I believe King of Rome is back in the set which could be embarrassing for me as whenever I have seen them play it I have started bawling my eyes out!!  

[Will S]

Yes, they played King of Rome at the end of their set.  Wonderful!

[davidmjs]

That's the pigeon one, isn't it?  Beautiful song.

[Andy]

Yes, they played King of Rome at the end of their set.  Wonderful!

Best heard with the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band. as at the BBC2 2012 Folk Awards

[davidmjs]

Yes, they played King of Rome at the end of their set.  Wonderful!

Best heard with the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band. as at the BBC2 2012 Folk Awards

That is rather wonderful.  Nice to see again.  Thank you.

[Shane (Skirky)]

Antigen Records’ anniversary party at The Baths in the heart of swinging downtown Ipswich featuring Earth Mother f****r and Poundland. One of the best and worst bands I’ve ever seen on a single bill.

[davidmjs]

Antigen Records’ anniversary party at The Baths in the heart of swinging downtown Ipswich featuring Earth Mother f****r and Poundland. One of the best and worst bands I’ve ever seen on a single bill.

Which was which?  Tell us (much) more

[Shane (Skirky)]

Which was which?  Tell us (much) more

Poundland could, I suppose, best be described as Hawkwind at their most witless being fronted by (say) one of the less likeable characters from The League of Gentlemen TV series. If you ever hated The Fall or Captain Beefheart, they embodied everything that drove you to that conclusion. Even if you did like The Fall or Trout Mask Replica, there would be something to take away from their performance to lead you to reappraise your opinion.
EMF on the other hand embodied all the best of The Stooges meets Joy Division in an exhilarating and self deprecating (“We’re the face of Ipswich’s City of Culture bid - it’s us, Jah Warriors, Extreme Noise Terror and Ed Sheeran. We love CoC!”) cavalcade of noisecore, riffage and sonic road movies. “We were expecting a bigger audience” they opened with, “And better looking. But we’ll work with what we’ve got”
The Baths is part of the impressive regeneration of the Ipswich music scene by Brighten the Corners in that they now run four or five venues of various sizes in the town and - trivia buffs - was host to the fourth ever live performance of Stairway to Heaven.

[Nick Reg]

Reg Meuross at the tiny family chapel in Crewe Hall , capacity about 25. No amplification and no lighting apart from the fading light through the stained glass windows. Absolutely magical. Reg has been one of my favourite songwriters for a while and is certainly up there with the best of British (IMO) including Sean Cooney and Difford and Tilbrook. (Bob Kettle would be in there too if he was a little more prolific). Looking forwars to seeing Reg again at Bodelwyddan in a few weeks and especially at NFFF with The Fire and Dust Band featuring Marion , Phil Beer , Geraint Watkins etc, could Pete Townshend turn up?, probably not.

[Will S]

Saw Kate Rusby at the Corn Exchange in Exeter on Saturday.  It was rather hot in the room (no air conditioning and a near sell-out!), but it was good to see the Barnsley Nightingale for the first time in a few years (probably when she was at Cropredy).