Shane (Skirky)
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« Reply #200 on: October 19, 2017, 02:22:55 PM » |
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The Waterboys at Bristol Colston Hall last night.
I could write an essay. It was interesting. There were some lovely moments, yet overall it was the least convincing Waterboys performance I've ever seen. Ralph seemed mostly hampered by playing with a second drummer. This was especially evident on a new arrangement of Fisherman's Blues that really didn't work - the beat weighed the song down with cement shoes. None of the lead instrumentalists' instruments broke free of a somewhat dull sound mix, so many of the new songs sounded a bit flat. And they were far too quiet. Steve was charming and lit up the stage whenever he came on, but spent about half of the show offstage. Mike sang well and you could tell how committed he was to the new material. The new guitar player was very good. Brother Paul seemed reigned in for much of the set. It never really caught fire despite some very nice performances here and there.
Maybe a lot of this was down to it being the first night of the tour. Maybe the venue was wrong. This band really needed a standing venue. I really wish I was writing a more positive review.
Jules
A lot of people on Twitter liked it.
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Everyone's from somewhere, baby - might as well be here.
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Jules Gray
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« Reply #201 on: October 19, 2017, 02:39:43 PM » |
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A lot of people on Twitter liked it.
Shrugging aside your comedic prowess momentarily, I say good. I'm glad. I want Mike to be happy and I want him to succeed with his music always. I genuinely hated having to write both negative and 'damning with faint praise' copy. I still wonder if I shouldn't have kept quiet. Jules
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Now be thankful for good things below
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Shane (Skirky)
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« Reply #202 on: October 19, 2017, 07:59:16 PM » |
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A lot of people on Twitter liked it.
Shrugging aside your comedic prowess momentarily, I say good. I'm glad. I want Mike to be happy and I want him to succeed with his music always. I genuinely hated having to write both negative and 'damning with faint praise' copy. I still wonder if I shouldn't have kept quiet. Jules They were absolutely on fire (not literally) at Beautiful Days - not quite a '87/88 vintage performance, but not far off. Then I hear they've added a guitarist, an extra drummer and a couple of backing vocalists. I hate to come over all Mike Love about it, but there's a case to be made there about the formula. I wrote a 'damning with faint praise' review of the album and I seem to recall you weren't too shy about wading in about it at the time. Unfortunately, subjective opinions of music don't always fall into binary right/wrong categories, however much we might like them to. Roll on Saturday...
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Everyone's from somewhere, baby - might as well be here.
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Jules Gray
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« Reply #203 on: October 19, 2017, 08:14:34 PM » |
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I wrote a 'damning with faint praise' review of the album and I seem to recall you weren't too shy about wading in about it at the time. Wading in? Well I replied, if that's what you mean. This is a music forum, last time I checked. People are supposed to do that. Why would shyness be encouraged? Jules
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Shane (Skirky)
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« Reply #204 on: October 19, 2017, 08:32:12 PM » |
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And, just a thought, maybe a lot of it is down to them promoting by far the stodgiest album of their career to date.
I don't know, David...have you heard Book of Lightning?
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Everyone's from somewhere, baby - might as well be here.
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Jules Gray
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« Reply #205 on: October 19, 2017, 09:00:45 PM » |
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And, just a thought, maybe a lot of it is down to them promoting by far the stodgiest album of their career to date.
I don't know, David...have you heard Book of Lightning? That would get my vote too. Possibly. Jules
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davidmjs
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« Reply #206 on: October 20, 2017, 07:44:53 AM » |
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And, just a thought, maybe a lot of it is down to them promoting by far the stodgiest album of their career to date.
I don't know, David...have you heard Book of Lightning? It's not a good album by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd take it over the current one any day of the week. I've tried a good half a dozen times and I just end up shaking my head a lot. It's awful.
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Link to Bluesky (Twitter for normal people) profile by web button on left
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dog-nap (Ian)
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« Reply #207 on: October 20, 2017, 05:40:21 PM » |
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A fascinating evening with Happy Traum at Cecil Sharp House. The first half was a fine concert of acoustic blues. Then in the second half, Happy delivered a talk and slide-show about his days in Greenwich Village during the folk revival. This ranged from his guitar lessons with Brownie McGhee ($5 for 2 hours – he played a snippet from a tape of one of the lessons), his links with Pete Seeger and Gil Turner, his time with the New World Singers (released the first single of Blowin’ in the Wind), and his friendship with Dylan and the Band in Woodstock.
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John From Austin
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« Reply #208 on: October 20, 2017, 07:11:54 PM » |
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Robert Fripp and Co. Double Quartet, Bass Concert Hall, Austin, Texas, yesterday. I am so pleased that I went, and I heartily recommend this to anyone with an opportunity to partake. The concert hall was packed to the rafters, I am pleased to report. I have nothing to add to this wonderful review: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/music/2017-10-20/king-crimson-kills/Edit: sorted out the link for you
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« Last Edit: October 20, 2017, 07:57:23 PM by jude »
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blagden
Money for
Folkcorp Guru
Offline
Posts: 775
Loc: South God's Own Country
I am a rebel - whilst ever my wife will let me be!
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« Reply #209 on: October 20, 2017, 07:20:38 PM » |
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Wow, almost a greatest hits setlist.
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Shane (Skirky)
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« Reply #210 on: October 21, 2017, 10:31:53 AM » |
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Justin Currie and his band at The Waterfront, Norwich. Just a perfectly-paced ride through his current and back catalogue. I seriously don't believe there's a better British songwriter working the boards at the moment. Ten o'clock curfew as "There's a disco afterwards. It's not a club - you don't have to be a member, it's a ******g disco...". The misanthrope's misanthrope.
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Everyone's from somewhere, baby - might as well be here.
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davidmjs
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« Reply #211 on: October 21, 2017, 01:48:12 PM » |
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Justin Currie and his band at The Waterfront, Norwich. Just a perfectly-paced ride through his current and back catalogue. I seriously don't believe there's a better British songwriter working the boards at the moment. Ten o'clock curfew as "There's a disco afterwards. It's not a club - you don't have to be a member, it's a ******g disco...". The misanthrope's misanthrope.
He's playing about 800m away from my front door tomorrow night. I'm tempted.
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Shane (Skirky)
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« Reply #212 on: October 21, 2017, 01:56:14 PM » |
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Justin Currie and his band at The Waterfront, Norwich. Just a perfectly-paced ride through his current and back catalogue. I seriously don't believe there's a better British songwriter working the boards at the moment. Ten o'clock curfew as "There's a disco afterwards. It's not a club - you don't have to be a member, it's a ******g disco...". The misanthrope's misanthrope.
He's playing about 800m away from my front door tomorrow night. I'm tempted. You must. You absolutely must. Further disclosure here : http://theafterword.co.uk/justin-currie/
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Everyone's from somewhere, baby - might as well be here.
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PaulT
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« Reply #213 on: October 21, 2017, 11:44:37 PM » |
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Just back from seeing the Roving Crows at a village hall gig. Absolutely storming. Would go down a storm at Cropredy, imo. I shall mention this to Peggy when I see him at Gloucester cathedral next Wednesday.
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Flobbadob!
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Shane (Skirky)
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« Reply #214 on: October 22, 2017, 01:38:50 AM » |
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The Waterboys at The London Palladium. Magnificent. Any doubts I had about the new material (which must have comprised about three quarters of the set) or the new line up were conclusively and absolutely blown out of the water on every count. It just goes to show how wrong you can be in trying to second-guess a genius. https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-waterboys/2017/london-palladium-london-england-6be32a12.html
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« Last Edit: October 22, 2017, 12:57:17 PM by Shane (Skirky) »
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Everyone's from somewhere, baby - might as well be here.
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Brendan
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« Reply #215 on: October 22, 2017, 06:51:07 PM » |
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Last night at Theatre 2 Home The kings of the South Seas followed by False Lights. The Kings of the south seas were playing there North West passage theme album the sound was Muddy, the instruments were battling each other, really bad sound They may have been singing interesting stories but to be honest I could barely hear a word, disappointing does not cover it. Thank god for False Lights as someone I overheard the best folk rock band in the last 50 years. I am already a fan so I was expecting something special but the track of the old album were up a notch and the new track equally splendid particularly fine version of the Nic Jones favourite William Glenn. They are a seriously tight band who don't waste a note and when they let rip, which they did right way through the concert, have so much energy, absolutely brilliant, I want to go again now. A must see a faultless set and a faultless performance. Can't wait for the new album!
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"I'm only a bag of Rags in an Overall"
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David V B
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« Reply #216 on: October 23, 2017, 08:59:36 PM » |
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Richard T at Warwick Arts Centre. Just the usual superb show. Mixture of usual suspects, couple of new ones and a scattering of the "nice to hear that again". God Loves a Drunk was the main one of those for me. Highlight of the evening for me was RT singing WTWTTG, which I don't ever remember hearing him do before.
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dog-nap (Ian)
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« Reply #217 on: October 24, 2017, 03:52:15 PM » |
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RT on cracking form at Cadogan Hall last night. A big thumbs up to the guy in the audience who persuaded him to do ‘Sloth’ as an encore. Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker in support. Not usually my cuppa, but they did a nice version of ‘Reynardine’.
Good to see you, Chris. Thanks for the info!
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PaulT
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« Reply #218 on: October 26, 2017, 09:32:11 AM » |
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Fairport in Gloucester Cathedral last night:
Pretty much all seats taken for this performance, which was opened by a clergywoman who welcomed the audience and after a short prayer, introduced the organiser from the Malaika foundation. He in turn introduced the Malaika choir, which is comprised of members from 2 local choirs and led & conducted by Vicky Field, of whom more later.
After a couple of songs, the choir was joined by Ric and Gerry to add instrumental flourishes to a few songs (Hallelujah, How Can I Keep From Singing), then Simon, Chris & Peggy slipped on for Ralph's Streets Of London. The choir then departed, and it was pretty much the usual FC acoustic set for the rest of the first half. The acoustics of a mediaeval cathedral not being designed for amplified music meant that Peggy's bass was rather "boomy" and indistinct at first, but the sound man got to grips with it and - particularly after the break - the balance was much better. The sound man was also a Simon - I didn't catch his other name at the end when SN gave him much acclaim for his work.
I was particularly impressed with last night's renditions of John Condon (Simon looking very moved while singing it) at the end of the first half, and just a little earlier Now Be Thankful was just perfect IMO, especially in the context of the cathedral.
After the intermission, the founder & CEO of Malaika gave a short, emotional speech, then it was back to Fairport who performed immaculately - not quite as ebullient as on a "normal secular" gig, but Ric did slip in a joke about Trump. I'd noted there was no banjo in evidence near Chris's chair, and hoped for a return to "mando Matty", but the set finished with John Gaudie.
Rather than the usual walk off & return for MOTL, Simon introduced Vicky Field to sing WKWTTG - which she did, absolutely beautifully, drawing huge applause from both audience and band - Simon appeared quite emotional, but all five had huge smiles. Finally, the choir returned to lead the choruses of MOTL, backed - literally, as they stood in front of them - by Fairport. A moving experience, with the majority of the audience honouring this cathedral's tradition of fine singing by joining in with gusto.
Very much a one-off, I'm so glad I didn't miss it.
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Flobbadob!
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GubGub (Al)
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« Reply #219 on: October 26, 2017, 10:06:47 AM » |
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Tom Robinson at the legendary 100 Club in London's Oxford Street.
40 years almost to the day since the Tom Robinson Band played the same venue to promote the release of their debut single 2-4-6-8 Motorway.
Last night it was a tight 75 minute set comprising the Power In The Darkness album played in order followed by Martin, Glad To Be Gay, 2-4-6-8 Motorway and a barnstorming Don't Take No For An Answer. No song newer than 1978 was the stated intent.
It was a sold out gig and was filmed so hopefully a DVD release will follow. As so often with gigs by elder statesmen these days, I find it a bittersweet experience. I was a TRB fan from the word go and Power is probably in my top 10 all time favourite albums so to witness this set was to feel the years falling away but also to realise how long ago it all was.
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