Recent gigs

[Will S]

We went to see Jackie Oates and John Spiers at Exeter Phoenix last night.  Having been witness to some of their early off-the-cuff duo performances at Nettlebed Folk Club, where Jackie is one of the residents, and so they'd play a song or two together after the interval before the guests returned, leading up to the release of their album together there at the end of 2019, it was lovely to see them now, on the much delayed official release tour.  This was the first date, and I'd urge anyone who is within reach of one of their other dates (https://www.jackieoates.co.uk/live/) to go along.  Jackie has a beautiful voice, and I'm sure you've all come across John Spiers in one of the many groups he's played with.

One of the challenges I hadn't thought of for musicians who haven't played for so long (and I think this was Jackie's first in-person gig, though John has played with Jon Boden and Gigspanner already), is that Jackie was complaining by the end that her arms were hurting from holding her viola up to play for so long!

[ColinB]

The Levellers last night at the re-arranged gig both date and place as the original venue - Lancaster Town Hall - is being used for Covid vaccinations. So we were at the Winter Gardens in Morecambe with their stand-in guitarist posting on Twitter that they were the first band to play there since The Who back in the 70s. I don't think that was quite true as they do put occasional gigs on but they tend to be tribute bands.

Anyway, first up were the Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican who did a great job of warming the crowd up. Unfortunately there was a bit of trouble at the start of The Levellers set. We were standing at the back so couldn't see what was happening but Mark was telling some punter to chill out. When he didn't, Mark asked security to remove him which they duly did. Apart from that, all was well and with it being the 30th anniversary of Levelling the Land we got that album in its entirety. The sound was a bit muddy for the first few numbers but fine for most of the gig. After LtL they played a mix of old favourites along with a few songs from the new album. The encore included Beautiful Day and The Devil Went Down to Georgia which I remember them playing when I first saw them back in 1991.

Unlike the Platform, where Fairport are playing in March, the Winter Gardens had no Covid checks and very few people were wearing masks. A couple of friends decided not to go and I can understand their concerns but hopefully it was a risk worth taking. We were right by the entrance and there was plenty of cold air coming in so fingers crossed we'll be ok.

[ColinB]

The other thing worth mentioning about the Levellers' tour is that they have about half a dozen different support bands during the tour so are giving work to as many other musicians as they can.

[ColinB]

I posted an extended version of my review on my blog and the Chair of the Winter Gardens Trust messaged me saying...

"A few things - the venue is Covid compliant & as masks are not legally required & the air ventilation is very good in the WG the promoter did not ask for lateral flow checks as this is not a legal requirement. The Platform is smaller, has less natural ventilation & council owned."