LIVE REVIEW : THE JAYHAWKS AT SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE 18/07/2014

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This short European tour of The Jayhawks could be subtitled "the second coming of the band's second incarnation". After reforming the band with founding member Mark Olson in 2008 for a rather glorious one off show at the Azkena Rock Festival festival in Spain (or more accurately in the Basque county) which led them to rekindle their writing partnership with an excellent Olson-Louris collaboration called Ready For The Food released in 2009 and a not so good Jayhawks album  : Mockingbird Time in 2011. After a the lengthy tour the band parted again in 2012 with Olson going back to his solo work. The bands two landmark albums : Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow The Green Grass were re-released in 2011 and this month sees expanded of their 3 post Olson LP's : Sound Of Lies, Smile and Rainy Day Music coming out on Universal Music. Although not as essential, they contain good songs and see the band trying to free themselves from the sound they were known for, although they ended up returning to it in the end.

The Shepherd's Bush Empire is the perfect sized venue for a band like The Jayhawks and after an excellent opening set by The Rockingbirds (a good match as they play a similar brand of Americana), the 1997 line-up (which means Kraig Johnson instead of Mark Olson) came on stage to a warm welcome from the audience. The Jayhawks post Olson despite several contributions from bass player Marc Perlman and drummer Tim O'Reagan was pretty much the Gary Louris show and the fact the best of the post Olson albums is the one where he wrote most of tunes (Rainy Day Music) confirms that. The band opened the show with Smile's lead single I'm Gonna Make You Love Me. They were remarkably tight for a band that had played less than 10 shows together after a two year break with Louris throwing some really inspired guitar solos. All the albums were given their share with a few tracks from the Olson days included for good measure (Blue, Waiting For The Sun, I'd Run Away). Highlights were the tunes from Rainy Day Music with an excellent version of Tampa To Tulsa (Tim O'Reagan on vocals on that one) but that album is an embarrassment of riches anyway (Angelyne, Stumbling Through The Dark, All The Right Reasons...). Kraig Johnson's presence give Louris the occasion to play a couple of numbers from their side project Golden Smog. Not a band known for their exuberance on stage, the last number of the night saw Louris stepping down from the stage and finishing his solo in the alley between the stage and the stalls. 

LIVE REVIEW : BILL WYMAN'S RHYTHM KINGS AT THE ROSE THEATRE KINGSTON 30/07/2014

Bill Wyman has spent the last 18 years touring Europe's theaters with his band. A loose collective, it has featured some outstanding musicians (Gary Brooker, Georgie Fame) and served as launchpad for others (Mike Sanchez, Martin Taylor). The Line-up for the show at The Rose Theatre featured returning member Andy Fairweather Low who had a few days available in his busy schedule with his own band The Low Riders and newcomer Hamish Stuart from The Average White Band and a member of Paul Mccartney's band from 1989 to 1994. Stuart was deputizing for an absent Albert Lee who was touring America with his own band. Others members include horn players Frank Mead and Nick Payn, singer Beverley Skeete, drummer Graham Broad, keyboard player Geraint Watkins and the band leaders Terry Taylor (guitar) and Bill Wyman (on bass of course).

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The Rose Theatre is a 900 hundred seat auditorium and can be reached walking from Kingston train station in less than 10 minutes walking (or 4 minutes running as I hat to catch the 22.48 train to Waterloo after the gig...). My seat wasn't the best in the house as i was in fart left of the upper circle which means I didn't see much of Andy Fairweather Low apart when he took centre stage to sing. Bill Wyman came on  first and thanked everybody for coming and introduced the band members one by one. They have got a singer for every style of music, Beverley Skeete can tackle every soul number that you could think of (excellent version of It's a Man's World and I Put a Spell on You). Hamish Stuart with his sweet voice can do anything from soul (He Was Friend Of Mine) to Rock'n'roll (I'm Ready). The musicians are all top notch which resulted in some particularly fine performances. Andy Fairweather Low's sung a superb version of Route 66 on which he replicated Keith Richards's solo note for note. Geraint Watkins as usual was outstanding whether tackling the boogie woogie classic Chicken Sack, a Howlin Wolf Cover (300 pounds of Joy) or a Chuck Berry Number (Johnny B Goode, the arrangement of which was a carbon copy of the one he does with his band The Mosquitos).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFIc5lqqY4o

The evening was divided into two halves and you can see that great care had been put into the set list has the two hour show just flew by. The between song activity was also great with Frank Mead and Watkins competing on who would make the most long winded song introductions. Watkins Howlin Wolf story was a cracker. The evening finished with another Chuck Berry Cover (You Never Can Tell), featuring Bill Wyman on lead vocals.

http://billwyman.com/

LIVE REVIEW : ALAN PRICE AT THE BULLS HEAD BARNES 11/09/2014

Alan Price and his band have been playing a monthly residency at The Bulls Head for a long time. At first it was to keep the band in practice in between tours but for the past two years it has been the only place where you can catch Mr Price and his associates. 

The Bulls Head has been recently refurbished following a change of ownership and what used to be the music room has been swallowed up by the rather posh Gastro pub (7 pounds for a sandwich... gulp) while what used to be a Thai restaurant at the back has been converted into a music venue with separate bar. The room is pretty small (150 people at the maximum) and you feel privileged to be able to catch such a great musician in such an intimate venue. 

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Price arrived at 8.30 and announced that following an accident with his golf cart a couple of days before the gig, his left was very swollen and with a straight face said that he we weren't pleased with the performance, we were more than welcome to ask for our money back at the end of the evening. He started the first song solo and was gradually joined by the whole band. Each band member was given space to express himself with guitarist Bobby Tench covering Carlos Santana's Black Magic Woman (introduced by an absolutely hilarious speech from Mr Price) and Zoot Money covering Louis Jordan's Let The Good Times Roll and his own Ain't Nothin' Shakin' But The Bacon. Price is renowned for his in between song banter with some of his speeches exceeding the actual length of the songs. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVZrpGjopmI

We were treated to a medley of songs from the soundtrack of the O lucky Man movie for which Price received a Bafta ("It's somewhere in the garage" said our host). An extremely good cover of Jackson Browne's "Say It Isn't true" featuring a blistering guitar solo from Bobby tench was the highlight of the evening closely followed by a fantastic medley that grouped together Money, Little Richard's Lucille and The Box Tops's The Letter. No "House Of The Rising" that night but we still got a fare slice of Mr Price's most famous ditties : We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear, Just For You and The House That Jack Built. The rhythm section of Peter Grant and Darby Todd were given their spot in the sun too, each having their own solo's to showcase their dexterity. 

To check Alan Price live dates at The Bulls Head please go to :

http://www.geronimo-inns.co.uk/london-the-bulls-head/events

LIVE REVIEW : IAN MCLAGAN AT THE HALF MOON PUTNEY 04/07/2014

Currently promoting his new album United States, Ian Mclagan the legendary keyboard player of The Small Faces and The Faces stopped at The Half Moon in Putney to play a three night residency. Mac has been living in Austin Texas for the past twenty years where he has put together a new version of his Bump band and recorded 5 albums in his own house. He rarely comes to Europe (his last UK tour was in 2011) so this was a rare chance to catch him live in one of London's most iconic music venues.  The show featured just Mac and his bass player John Notarthomas  After a short introduction from John, Mac came on stage and launched straight into Hello Old Friend, a song he wrote for his former band mate and friend Ronnie Lane. 

Songs from United States formed the bulk of the set but Mac didn't forget his past with excellent versions of Get Yourself Together and Cindy Incidentally. The songs were interspersed with anecdotes and stories about his his Irish family and how he came to join the Small Faces which enabled him to say a few "nice" words about their former manager Don Arden. Another funny remembrance was when he recalled landing in an O'Neill's pub after a rehearsal for a tour with Billy Bragg in search of some company (which propelled several members of the audience to buy him pints of Guinness despite him saying that he would only have drink after the gig)  I thought that the bass and keyboard combination would be a bit strange but John and Mac have been playing together for so long that they managed to pull it off with ease. Towards the end of the gig he apologized for promising to bring the band for his next UK tour during his last visit to The Half Moon and failing to do so. He then urged us to come and visit Austin and see the band at The Lucky Lounge where they play each Thursday from 6pm to 8pm. After two hours of dyed in the wool rock'n'roll on the rather worm stage of The Half Moon the show closed with a lovely version of one Ronnie Lane's greatest songs "Debris" closing off a splendid gig admirably. Ian then spent the next hour chatting with fans and signing copies of his fantastic autobiography "All the Rage".  If you can't afford the plane ticket to see the Bump Band, I highly recommend The Live At The Lucky Lounge CD that features highlights from two gigs recorded in April last year. Review first Published On Louder Than War on the 9th of July 2014.

http://louderthanwar.com/ian-mclagan-the-half-moon-putney-live-review/

LIVE REVIEW : SUNNY AFTERNOON AT THE HAMPSTEAD THEATRE 10/05/2014

With the announcement of the shows transfer to the west end next October it's more than time that I published my review of the performance I saw last month... I must admit that I didn't have high expectations on this musical but as I'm huge Kinks fan I simply couldn't miss it. It had some official band input in it as it's based on a story by Ray Davies and I was curious how it would compare to "Let It Be", the lousy "musical" about The Beatles I went to see last year. The show's first run from the 24th of April till the 25th of May at The Hampstead Theatre and following its success will be reprised at the Harold Pinter Theatre in October.

The Hampstead Theatre is a small venue with only 325 seats and we were right in the middle with a perfect view of the stage. The story starts with the beginning of the band when they were playing dances and parties backing future manager Robert Wace. It then charts their rapid ascension to fame following the release of You Really Got Me and the numerous problems they had with the music industry culminating with the band being banned from touring america for 5 years. Despite a couple a couple of inaccuracies and a few historical short cuts, the play is rather splendid with really good historical detail. All the main players in the Kinks 60's story are there (impresario Larry Parnes, Music publisher Eddie Kassner, producer Shel Talmy, managers Robert Wace and Greenville Collins, Rasa Davies and all the members of the Davies clan). Ray (really good performance by John Dalgeish) is pictured as the thoughtful, shy one while Dave (played a bit heavy handedly by George Maguire) is pictured as a raving lunatic, only interested in partying and raising hell. The songs are perfectly slotted into the story and some more obscure Kinks tracks get an airing (who would have thought they'd manage to fit Maximum Consumption, from 1972's Everybody's in Showbiz album). It's a musical so everything is slightly tweaked to come up with a happy ending thus bypassing several important elements (Pete Quaife the bass player leaving two times and being replaced by John Dalton for example) and as the show culminates with the band playing Lola at the Madison Square Garden, it conveniently skips the hit and miss Rock Opera albums of mid seventies and Ray Davies public breakdown during an open air gig in London in 1973.

Nevertheless it's a remarkably entertaining show which made excellent use of its cast (who double on instruments and acting parts for most of them) and set with good historical detail and a good story. It's more than a jukebox musical. Don't miss it when it plays in the west end !!!

LIVE REVIEW : MICKEY JUPP AT THE RIGA MUSIC BAR SOUTHEND ON SEA 14/06/2014

The problem with going to a lot of gigs is that they all tend to start blending into each other after a while but my first Mickey Jupp gig was a momentous occasion for me. I've only recently discovered his music but I've spent numerous hours listening to his songs over the past year. After a coupled of unconfirmed shows in Southend last March got called off, two gigs at Southend's iconic music venue The Riga Music Bar got announced for mid-June. Rubbing my hands in delight, I convinced my girlfriend that he would be the perfect occasion to visit Southend for the first time.

After having a nice meal in a small cafe just down the road from the venue, we made our way to the venue. The Riga is quite small but it has the perfect size and shape for a rock club. There's a few tables at the back and a row of seats against the wall on the left, the right side of the room is taken up by the bar area. The Riga is a venue that Mickey Jupp has played in many times over the years. He started playing gigs in the Cricketers that's just round the corner from the club.

Opening act was the The Blues Spiders featuring Mickey Jupp fan Russ Cottee on guitars (he likes the guy so much, he even parted with a beautiful Gibson 335 to offer it to the great man for his birthday). I understand they've only been together for a few months, but despite a few rough edges, the performance was pretty impressive with some really nice slide parts from Russ. After a short break Mickey Jupp and his band came on stage (with Mickey wincing slightly at the MC's intro describing as a Southend legend). Featuring his long-time musical foil Mo Witham on guitar, Dennis Masterton on bass and former drummer of The Paramounts (later to become Procol Harum), Mick Brownlee, the band opened the show with "Cheque Book", a song that Jupp often chooses to open his gigs and which was first published on the Legend album in 1971 (commonly known as The Red Boot album). The setlist featured quite a few new songs from the four albums Mickey has put out over the last few years (you can purchase directly from the man himself via Paypal). Particular highlights were nice versions of "Trying to Unlike You" and "Song For Holly" and a rousing "I Should Be Lovin' This" written 20 years ago while Mickey was on his way to tour Sweden with The Refreshments. The set divided in 3 parts didn't bypass his more famous tunes with all the classics getting an airing (Standing At The Crossroads Again, Switchboard Susan, Big Black Cadillac and many more). Some rarely aired numbers were played, Don't Talk To Me from 1980's Oxford album introduced by Mickey as "the nearest to a hit record I ever got".

Even though the band played remarkably well for an outfit that gets together only a couple of times per year, I could feel Mickey getting frustrated with Mick Brownlee's drumming. I can only say one thing : "everything sounded fine from our side". The crowd participation grew as the night went on which Mr Jupp seem to appreciate a lot (especially during the singalong on One night with You). The band closed with a rather rocking 3rd set that ended with a cover of Bye Bye Johnny and Rockin Robin as an encore.

LIVE REVIEW : LUKE HAINES AT BUSH HALL 03/06/2014

I had left Mr Haines last London gig slightly disappointed. After the glorious evening that was The North Sea Scrolls at St Pancras Old Church, that solo gig  in the wonderful setting of the Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall didn't tick all the boxes for me. I think it probably had something to do with the song selection that relied strongly on Haines's then latest release "Rock'n'Roll Animals", a great album but not one that I think withstands the solo acoustic treatment too well. I wasn't particularly excited by the couple of new songs from the forthcoming New York in the 70's album either ("Alan Vega Says" and "Lou Reed Lou Reed") . However when a full band gig at Bush Hall was announced and with the promise of a full performance of the Baader Meinhof album thrown in the mix, I know I had to attend or I would regret it till the day I died.

It was only my second visit at Bush Hall and I was wondering if the sound was going to be better than the one for Electric Soft Parade gig last November which was pretty cavernous (much better it turned out to be). Haines was backed for the gig by a young rhythm section (different guys from the ones that were backing him when I first saw him in Manchester in 2009). The venue was almost full, clearly proving the Baader Meinhof album's followers is growing, almost 20 years after its rather muted release. Haines had left his usual black Les Paul at home and had pulled out his Telecaster from the After Murder Park - Baader Meinhof period out of its cupboard for the night. The first part of the show was the new album "New York in the 70's" in its entirety and the whole thing was great from start to finish. I haven't heard the album yet but I've read it's supposed to be quite synth heavy but the power trio versions were fantastic. Haines seemed to be enjoying playing with a band again after spending a few years playing solo gigs. After finishing the last song from the album "NY Stars", Haines announced there was a change of plan and that he was going to play all his B-Sides backed by an Orchestra before launching into Baader Meinhof. Although he plays the track regularly at his solo gigs, this full band version really gave the song its full power. Highlight was an absolutely fantastic version of "Mogadishu", probably the best song ever written on Somalia's capital.

After a short break, Haines came back on stage to play a few songs on his acoustic guitar. Starting with "Inside The Restless Mind of Rollerball Rocco", he followed it with "Rock'n'roll Animals" and "21st Century Man" (that included "Junk Shop Clothes" in the middle). The full band came back on stage to reprise "Lou Reed Lou Reed" to close a rather glorious evening.

LIVE REVIEW : NICK LOWE AT UNION CHAPEL 09/05/2014

What a change from my previous Nick Lowe gigs, just being able to board the tube and 40 mins later I'm in front of the venue. The gig was was the first of a series of 3 shows that Mr Lowe was playing at The Union Chapel (described by our host of the night as "The Ryman auditorium of North London". It was a rare occasion to catch Mr Lowe in solo mode as when he tours the UK he usually performs with his wonderful backing band.

We managed to find nice seats at the balcony top of the venue after I had purchased the limited edition poster made especially for that run of 3 shows (100, all signed by Mr Lowe himself). Opening act was american country singer John Doe who's signed to same record label as Nick Lowe in the US Yep Roc Records. I had watched a couple of videos on YouTube and was expecting to like him a lot but I was left a bit disappointed in the end. Maybe it was a combination of an early start (7.30pm), a set list relying quite heavily on ballads and a guitar sound that was a bit too quiet (in comparison to Nick Lowe's one later on). I must investigate his records to make a definite opinion.

Lowe came on stage at 8.45 and launched straight away into "Where's my Everything" followed by "Heart", a song first released on Rockpile's Seconds of Pleasure album. The song selection didn't stray too much from the one Lowe has been playing for the last few years but he kept it fresh with a few new additions. We were treated to "I'm a Mess" from The Convincer and a really good cover of "Travelin' Light" originally played by Cliff Richard and The Shadows. There was quite a few instruments set up on stage and even if the red Nord keyboard on left gave a clue that Geraint Watkins would be joining the proceedings at some point, I was wondering who would be playing the guitars on the left. The question was answered mid-gig when Lowe invited John Paul Jones to join him on bass for "Stop Light Roses". Jones stayed till the end playing bass, mandolin and guitar on all the songs (adding a really good mandolin solo to "Checkout Time"). Geraint Watkins joined on "House for Sale". The main set finished with a rousing version of a "I Knew The Bride When She Used to Rock'n'Roll". Watkins and Lowe came back on stage to play "Only A Rose" from Watkins's excellent "Dial W for Watkins" album which was followed by a surprisingly good cover of "Everybody's Talkin" (which Lowe introduced by saying "no safety net on this one") were Lowe and John Doe shared the lead singing. Last song of the night was Lowe's most famous tune "What's So Funny About Peace , Love and Understanding"

  

LIVE REVIEW : GRUFF RHYS AT SOHO THEATRE 05/05/2014

A three day weekend, beautiful weather and two gigs, what more could you ask. I thought I would enjoy The High Llamas more than Gruff Rhys but the exact opposite happened. I came out of the gig really impressed by the guy and his musicianship. It was my first time at Soho Theatre, and a wonderful place it is. They do simultaneous shows at the same time. The Gruff Rhys performance (you'll see while I use that term later on) was due to start at 9.15 pm in the Theatre that's located upstairs while a comedy night was running downstairs from 8pm. The venue has a n ice bar area and you can get a good pint of Czech beer for a reasonable price so all good for me.

The show was the first of a 5 night residency that Rhys was playing to promote his latest project American Interior. A multimedia offering (movie, record, book and app), it tells the story of John Evan's, a distant relative of Rhys who lived during the 18th century. Welsh born, he immigrated to America to find an Indian tribe who were said to have been descendants of a mythical Welsh figure of the 12th century called Madoc. Madoc is said to have discovered the American continent before Christopher Colombus. The night opened with a corny beginning of the eighties documentary on Madoc featuring a silver haired and over-enthusiastic Welsh Historian recounting the tale of Madoc. After the movie finished, Rhys came on stage wearing a hat made out of toy wolf. The screen used for projecting the documentary was also used for a slide show (displaying low battery warnings towards the end of the show) that Rhys used in between songs to narrate the story of John Evans quest through The United States. A mixture of tongue in cheek humour and genuine affection for his ancestor provided a very entertaining evening. Playing Solo, Rhys used a myriad of low tech gizmos to accompany him and looped in own voice to create beautiful sounding harmonies on several numbers. The chord structures of his songs are really simple but the vocals he puts on top are simply astounding. He really is a fantastic singer and storyteller. He was accompanied for the whole show by a puppet representing John Evans (quite heavily featured in the slideshow too).

LIVE REVIEW : THE HIGH LLAMAS AT THE ISLINGTON 03/05/2014

I must admit that one was a bit of a blind buy. The Llamas are a band that I kept putting on the "I must check them out list" but other bands kept coming and they were being put back at the end of the queue. I had missed the tickets for the first show at The Islington but managed to grab one for the second night before it sold out. I went to the gig with no knowledge of the bands back catalogue (something I tried to avoid usually) but still managed to recognize a couple of tracks from their latest LP Talahomi Way that I had listened to on YouTube (shame on me). It wasn't my first time at The Islington as it was there that I saw Jason Falkner a couple of months ago. It's a nice little venue with a set-up similar to The Half Moon in Putney where the venue is separated from the bar area. The stage was a bit small for a band like The Llamas but they managed to squeeze everybody on it.

These two shows were the first in two years for the band and even though they did a spot on job, you could feel that a couple of extra days of rehearsals would have made them a little more comfortable on stage, especially with the number of chord changes and tricky time signatures that Sean O'Hagan seems to fit in every song. You could could see bass player Jon Fell cringing after  making mistakes on a couple of songs. Sean O'Hagan seemed to be enjoying the performance stopping at one point to shake an Italian's fan hand who came all the way from his home country to see the band's return to live performance. The show seemed to cover pretty much all their record with former guitarist John Bennett helping them out on a few numbers. I'm glad to have seen the gig but would gladly go and see them again with a few more gigs behind them (not that they tour much but hey...). Just bough Hawaii so at least attending the show finally triggered my discovery of their discography.

LIVE REVIEW : DAVE DAVIES AT THE BARBICAN 11/04/2014

After returning to the stage in the US last year, Dave Davies made his  UK comeback at The Barbican last Friday, 13 years after his last concert in this country. Following a stroke that almost cost him his life in 2004, he had to relearn to speak and play guitar.

I'd thought that the choice of venue was maybe a bit optimistic capacity wise. When Dave last played in London in 2001 it was at Dingwall's in Camden (a much smaller venue) but the stalls in The Barbican were pretty full up by the time opening act Laura Howe and Pixi Morgan came on stage at 7.30. They first met Dave Davies at the beginning of this year while they were busking on the streets of Devizes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-UUt57LJ0k&feature=share), after which he offered them the opening slot of his gig at The Barbican. Blending covers and originals over their 40 minutes slot, they displayed remarkable vocal interplay (Pixi's singing was similar to The Dubliners) and won the crowd over with their enthusiasm and freshness.  

Dave's backing band came on stage to the sound of a rather pompous intro music and then launched into a hard rock version of The Kinks 1966 B-Side "I'm Not Like Everybody Else". Dave joined them in the middle of the song and then plunged straight away into "I Need You" which was followed by "She's Got Everything". While the first song has been a live staple in Ray Davies's set list over the past few years, it was nice to hear some lesser known Kinks songs. We got to hear "Young and Innocent Days","Strangers" , "Susannah's Still Alive", "Creeping Jean". The hits weren't ignored with Dave's signature Kinks song "Death Of a Clown" getting an airing (slightly spoilt by an unnecessary dig from Dave to bass/keyboard player Tom Currier). Songs from the latest album weren't particularly great (I'd have to check the recorded versions to formulate a definitive opinion) but "Flowers in The Rain" from Dave's 2002 Bug album was as good as any Kinks song. After finishing the main set with fine versions of "Where Have All The Good Times Gone" and "All Day and All Of The Night", Dave came back to close his vibrant UK return with The Kinks mosty well known song "You Really Got Me".

LIVE REVIEW : RICHARD THOMPSON AND DANNY THOMPSON AT THE HALF MOON PUTNEY 04/04/2014

That's a show that I was well advised to have booked in advance, I bought the ticket on the 30th of October last year and the gig sold out 5 days later which was 6 months day to day before the actual date of the gig !!! The evening was part of series of show put together by double bass ace Danny Thompson to celebrate his 75th birthday. All taking place in one of London's best music venues : The Half Moon in Putney, the series of show finished last Saturday with Donovan as Danny's guest. Going to Putney from my flat in Harrow is one hell of trek and even though I had planned a little extra time in case TFL let me down (which happened) I made it to the venue 5 minutes before Danny Thompson climbed on stage to introduce the opening act Rory Butler. After joking he wasn't playing with Rory because there was no money in i for him, he left us to spend a rather wonderful 30 mins listening to Butler' great songs and neat finger picking. It's really a shame that because of  today's overcrowded music market, such a talent isn't able to gather more attention from the public. 

After a short break Danny Thompson came back on stage to introduce his friend. I'm not hugely familiar with Thompson's repertoire but being able to see him play in such an intimate setting and with such a remarkable player as Danny Thompson's for just over 20 pounds was simply too good an opportunity to miss. Thompson before starting the first song said he hadn't played at the Half Moon  for more than 30 years and than it felt good to be back. I don't know how long they had to rehearse for the gig but the interplay between the two musicians was simply stunning. Richard Thompson played two songs solo to give Danny Thompson his "statutory union break" in the middle of the show, his most well known tune "1952 Vincent Black Lightning"(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0kJdrfzjAg I don't recommend budding guitar players to watch this, might put you off slightly...) and "Salford Sunday"  from his latest album Electric. The show was warm and friendly with both Thompson's bantering on stage and throwing jokes at each other. I was standing just beside the stage door where Richard Thompson's daughter Kamila was standing while her husband guitarist James Walbourne was sitting on the side concentrating on his father's in law playing. Despite reoccurring problems with the cable on Danny Thompson's Double bass, the two of them soldiered on and the two hours flew by ending with a sing along version "I Want To See These Bright Lights Tonights" 1974 song that he recorded with his first wife Linda.

LIVE REVIEW : GERAINT WATKINS AND THE MOSQUITOS AT THE WHEATSHEAF TOOTING 16/03/2014

I'd been on the lookout for a Geraint Watkins gig announcement for the past couple of months as the man was releasing "Moustique" his first solo LP in 5 years on the 17th of March. Suddenly out of the blue last week came an announcement that he would be playing a Sunday afternoon free gig on the 16th of March in a pub called The Wheatsheaf located just beside Tooting Bec tube station. The event was organized by London based Irish musician Niall Kelly who regularly plays at The Wheatsheaf. The pub is also close to Gravity Shack Studios where Neil Brockbank operates Gold Top where "Moustique" was recorded (and Nick Lowe's Christmas record too...).

The back room of the pub was almost empty when I arrived so I managed to secure a table just near the door that leads to the beer garden while Geraint and his band were finishing setting up. Niall played a short with his wife Caitlin accompanying him on fiddle. Really nice songs and some good singing from both. I'll make sure I listen to some of Niall's records in the near future. Geraint was accompanied by most of the musicians that play on the records that are made at Gold Top : Robert Treherne on drums, Matt Radford on stand up bass, Martin Winning on Tenor Sax and Clarinette and newcomer Oliver Darling on guitar. The line-up was less extensive than the last Geraint Watkins I reviewed on this blog (http://craigchaligne.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/geraint-watkins-underbelly-hoxton.html) but it was still a treat to catch such a bunch of talented musicians for the price of a couple of pints !!! Geraint opened as usual with Easy To Say Bon Temps Roulez from his 2008 album In A Bad Mood. The song started with just him and his piano and the band joined him in the middle. Several tracks from the soon to be released Moustique were aired (House On The Prairie, No Longer Required, All Around The World, Shine A light) and showed that this record might be his strongest to date but all his LP's were covered with particularly good versions of My Happy Day (from the Bold As Love album) and Champion (from In A Bad Mood). Oliver Darling took lead vocals on a couple of number and a impressed Watkins jokingly asked him if he could join his band. The rhythm section of Matt Radford and Robert Treherne was perfect as usual and Martin Winning's sax playing was absolutely fantastic. Niall made an announcement that Geraint and the band would play every two weeks at The Wheatsheaf from now on, make sure you catch them !

LIVE REVIEW : SLIM CHANCE AT THE ELGIVA THEATRE CHESHAM 08/03/2013

To celebrate the purchase of our new car the missus and I decided to make a trip to Chesham to see Slim Chance perform a gig at The Elgiva Theatre. For the people who aren't aware of Slim Chance, they were the band that used to back Ronnie Lane when he went solo after quitting the Faces in 1973. The line-up was quite prone to changes and though most the musicians playing in the band were in the band at one point or another, they hardly were at the same time !!! The band started playing again in 2010 and has been playing small venues all over the UK ever since. The core of the band is composed of  Steve Simpson on lead guitar, mandolin and fiddle, Alun Davies on acoustic guitar, Charlie Hart on fiddle and keyboards and Steve Bingham on bass. They're augmented by keyboard master Geraint Watkins and drummer John Lingwood. I invite you to check the list of musicians they've worked with over the years on the Slim Chance website (http://www.slim-chance.co.uk/pages/slimchance.html), it's pretty impressive.

The Elgiva theatre is located right in the centre of Chesham and  also doubles as a cinema. Sonia and I made it to the venue just before 8pm and had time to buy a drink before heading into the auditorium where a DJ was playing a selection of nice records to an almost empty room. Thankfully most of the punters came in five minutes before the opening act The Good Men In The Jungle started playing. Made up of Alun Davies and his daughter Becky Clowes with the help of Steve Simpson on a few songs, they played mostly sixties and seventies era covers (really good version of The Weight by The Band). They seem to be playing in this duo format or with a full band every now then in London. I will make sure I catch them before the end of the year. After a short break Slim Chance came onstage and spent the next two hours playing songs from all of Ronnie Lane's post Small Faces career. All his most famous solo tracks were played (How Come, The Poacher, Kuschtye Rye...) without forgetting his time in The Faces (Debris, You're So Rude) and his collaboration with Pete Townshend "Rough Mix" (Silly Little Man). Every band member took his turn singing lead vocals and introduced each song with a short anecdote about their time playing with Ronnie Lane. The quality of the playing coupled to these heartfelt reminiscences made this evening the perfect celebration of Ronnie Lane the musician but also Ronnie Lane the man.

LIVE REVIEW : MATTHEW CAWS HOXTON SQUARE BAR AND KITCHEN 05/03/2014

Matthew Caws is a busy man. He managed to squeeze a couple of solo shows (one in London and one in Valencia) in-between writing sessions in New York with Ira Elliot and Daniel Lorca, his two Nada Surf band mates and flying back to the US to appear at The South By South West festival in Austin. When that is finished he will come back to Europe and will be touring with his side project Minor Alps for one month.

Hoxton Square used to be pretty close to where I used to stay but from my new flat in Harrow it's one hell of a trek. I'd been there once before to see Geraint Watkins at The Underbelly but I'd never been to The Square Bar and Kitchen. The venue is actually separated from the main area of the pub/restaurant and has it's own bar which greatly limits the coming and going of punters that you usually have in pub gigs. The gig room was nice and I manage to secure a spot right under a cooling fan which means I didn't sweat a drop for the whole gig :). I missed the first opening act Kafka Tamura (my apologies to them) but I managed to catch most of Monument Valley who were pretty good. Very good singer that sounds like a less mannered Morrissey, good songs and interesting arrangements (https://www.facebook.com/monumentvalleygo).

Their set finished at almost 9.30 pm so Matthew Caws came on stage almost straight equipped with his Gibson Jumbo and an Iphone. The song selection covered every album of Caws career with the exception of  Nada Surf's first album High/Low. The night started with "Weightless" from Nada Surf's Lucky album and was followed by a surprisingly good cover of a Simple Mind's song called  "Speed Your Love To Me" that Caws introduced by saying that songs you liked at seventeen years old stayed with you for the rest of your life. The rest of the set-list mixed a few Minor Alps tracks with Nada Surf Classics and rarities. Even if the few Minor Alps tracks played didn't have the immediateness and catchiness of Caws output with Nada Surf, they definitely showcased a side of his songwriting that was kept away from the public ear. Most of the Nada Surf songs were pulled from what I consider their best albums (Let Go, The Wight is A Gift and Lucky) with some rarely aired tracks that must have pleased the fanatics (End Credits, Are You Lightning ?). Only one song from The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy (Waiting For Something) and Proximity Effect (80 windows). Caws will be with Minor Alps at The Shacklewell Arms on the 25th of April.

LIVE REVIEW : LUKE HAINES AT THE ELGAR ROOM 17/02/2014

This was the first time I managed to catch Mr Haines since I moved to London. I saw him live in Manchester when he had just released his 21st Century Man album and lasr. At the time he was playing with two young guys on drums and bass but since the release of his concept album on wrestling he seems to be sticking to playing solo. The show took place in the rather nice and comfy Elgar Room that's located on the 3rd floor of the Royal Albert Hall. The room is half standing and half seated with nice purple subdued lightening. An ideal place for a show with one man his guitar. I arrived just in time to catch a few songs of opening act Jack Cheshire and I was pleasantly surprised by what I heard, really good singer that plays guitar in a really idiosyncratic  way (almost like he was plucking a bass with his four fingers). The drummer and double bass player backing him played in a suttle jazzy way that suited to the laid back nature of his music.

The setlist relied heavily on Haine's last two LP's ("Nine and Half Psychedelic Meditations on British Wrestling of the 1970's and the early 80's" (woof...) and "Rock And Roll Animals) and The Auteurs first album "New Wave" which has just been reissued. Haines started the gig saying he was doing a "Bob Dylan in reverse" (meaning going acoustic after being electric) and following it up with a dig at Mojo Magazine (not his favourite music mag apparently...).The gig was short (1h10 minutes) but good. I enjoyed the Manchester gig best but this one was a more relaxed affair with Haines stopping in the middle of songs to explain the lyrics (for example the "Rollers Show" reference in A Badger Called Nick Lowe). As said previously, the setlist featured a lot of new material. We got two new songs, one unreleased one called "Lou Reed, Lou Reed" that for 3/4 of it features the repeated chant of "Lou Reed, Lou Reed", slightly repetetive but as an hommage to the man and his music it fitted the bill pretty perfectly (good audience participation number too), the second one was "Alan Vega Says" that only 50 people got to hear as it was released on the limited edition LP Outsider Music.As sais previously, quite an extensive selection of tracks from New Wave (Showgirl, Home Again, Valet Parking, Housebreaker, How Could I Be Wrong...). It was nice hearing so many tracks from that album but with such an extensive back catalogue as Haine's you cannot help but feel slightly disappointed with so many albums omitted.

LIVE REVIEW : LLOYD COLE AND THE LEOPARDS AT SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE 31/01/2013

Following the good reception of the recently released Standards and a sold out solo gig at Union Chapel last October, Lloyd Cole was back in the UK for a short tour with a 5 piece band (first band shows since the short tour he did with The Commotions to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of Rattlesnakes in 2004). The core of the band was Glasgow garage rock outfit The Leopards. I must admit I've had troubles finding anything about them on the web. Most of them seem to be veterans of the Glasgow music scene of the nineteen eighties. Lead guitar player Mick Slaven was a member of Del Amitri for a short while, bass player Campbell Owens played in Aztec Camera, drummer Jim Gash is Australian born but has played in Glasgow bands since the mid eighties, Douglas MacIntyre the second guitar player was the head honcho of the label Creeping Bent and Blair Cowan was the keyboard player in The Commotions and has been working on and off with Cole ever since.

The Band first appearance was on Later with Jools Holland last October performing Myrtle And Rose and Women Studies from Standards and Perfect Skin from Rattlesnakes. Considering the band had just had a couple of days to rehearse before appearing on the show the performance was pretty impressive. Friday night's show was however at a different level, instead of sounding like a bunch of hired hands assembled in a short period of time, the band displayed a cohesiveness betraying its recent formation and revealed itself to be the perfect match for Lloyd Cole's music.

Coming on stage at 9pm to the sound of Lloyd I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken by Camera Obscura, the band launched straight away into a note perfect rendition of Rattlesnakes with the three guitars adding a "rockier" to the song compared to the version on the Rattlesnakes LP. Great care was put in the elaboration of the set list with almost every album of Cole's career covered (I think only Bad Vibes and Antidepressant weren't covered). Almost one third of the Set list was devoted to Commotions songs with most of the well known ones getting an airing (Rattlesnakes, Perfect Skin, Lost Weekend, Jennifer She Said...). The songs from Standards blended seamlessly in the Set list, proving that the excellent reviews the new album received were well deserved. If I had to choose my favourites in the tunes played I would go for the excellent versions of What's Wrong With This Picture from The Negatives album and Like Lovers Do from Love Story, the later one featuring particularly nice guitar lines from Mick Slaven that differed quite a bit from the ones on the recorded version. Though clearly enjoying himself, Lloyd Cole seemed a bit self conscious fronting a rock band after ten years of touring in solo folk mode. He made quite a few references to ageing in between songs even joking at some point that we would be better off closing our eyes so we could all be in 1984 again. Lloyd said that this might be the last time we saw him with a band, let's hope it's an "au revoir" rather than an "adieu" as the French would say.

THE PLIMSOULS : LIVE ALBUMS

The Plimsouls are one of my favourite bands. I discovered them following thanks to a short review that followed the re-release of their live album One Night In America on CD in 2005. I finally purchased the record a couple of months later and was totally blown away by it. It just seemed to contain everything I liked about Rock'n'roll, the songs are catchy, the band is tight but the playing is not flashy and Peter Case is a fantastic singer. After listening to that album I was eager to check their studio albums. They have released 3 LP's, two during the original lifespan of the band : The Plimsouls and Everywhere At Once and one when the band reformed briefly in the mid nineties : Kool Trash. I must admit that after the "blast" of One Night In America, I was slightly disappointed by what was on offer on these 3 releases. The Plimsouls sounded a bit thin on the ears and a bit flat, Everywhere At Once has the 80's sheen common to the year it was released (1983) and Kool Trash showcases a band that has mellowed a lot compared to its heyday. Don't get me wrong though, all have really goods songs on them, it's just that none of them have the drive and the swing of what's on display on One Night In America.

In the liner notes to One Night In America, Peter Case hinted that there was other live releases to come from the vaults so I sent an email to Oglio to see if anything was scheduled but I got a reply saying that despite that announcement nothing was on cards yet. Fast forward 3 or 4 years and we finally get an announcement from Peter Case saying that a new live album will be released, titled Live, Beg, Borrow And Steal and featuring a whole show recorded on Halloween Night 1981 at The Whiskey-A-Gogo in Los Angeles. Even if there's no information on where and when One Night In America was recorded, Peter Case has said that it might have been recorded in Cleveland in 1982. Even if the band seems a little stiffer than on ONIA, LBBAS is still an excellent album and showcases how good a live a and they were. It also enables to hear the songs from the first album with some extra oomph. It also contains of my favourite Plimsouls  : Lost Time. If you want to see a really good version of that song please check this youtube video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz6nFTzbDm4. It's an extract of a show recorded for the French television show Chorus in 1982 and it features a fantastic Eddie Munoz solo. There's quite a few songs that overlap between the two recordings (7 in total) but the difference between the two gigs justifies the purchase.

After the release of  LBBAS, I wasn't expecting a new release to come out of the vaults but we got a final one with Beach Town Confidential, recorded at The Golden Bear Club in 1983. The raw edges of ONIA and LBBAS have been trimmed and the raw enthusiasm has been replaced by professionalism. As with all previous Plimsouls LIlive recordings there are quite a few covers, highlights of which are fantastic versions of Fall on You and Making Time (originally recorded by Moby Grape and The Creation). There's also a really good original Plimsouls song called Who's Gonna Break The Ice that was never recorded in the studio (I'm a big fan of the intro with all the interweaving guitar lines). This record features The Plimsouls at the top of their game. Unfortunately their studio album Everywhere At Once failed to reach the mainstream and the band disbanded in 1985.

NICK LOWE : THE ROAD TO THE BRENTFORD TRILOGY AND BEYOND PART THREE

After coming back from Madrid I was thinking that now would start the long wait for the next Nick Lowe album and accompanying tour. Boy was I wrong. First there was the announcement of a joint European tour with Ry Cooder following two successful shows for a charity in San Francisco during the fall of 2008.  I managed to catch the tour at the Carre Theatre in Amsterdam. Tickets for this tour horrendously expensive, I remember paying something like 90 euros for a seat that was right at the top of the theatre. The gig mainly featured material from Ry Cooder's back catalogue with a couple of songs from Little Village (a short lived super group that Cooder and Hiatt were in at the beginning of the 1990's), a few Nick Lowe tunes and some covers. The gig was nice but if you were a Nick Lowe fan you ended up feeling a little short changed. The two highlights of the gig for me were a cover of the Eddy Giles song "Losing Boy" and a nice version of Lowe's 1984 hit "Half a Boy and Half a Man" with a tasty slide solo by Ry Cooder. The backing for the gig should have included long term Cooder collaborator Flaco Jimenez on accordion but he fell ill before the tour leaving just Lowe, Cooder and his son Joachim on drums and two female back up singers for some songs. I think that the gig would have been fantastic if they just added Ry to Nick's backing band with the same song selection. Nick band are such skilful players that I'm sure they would have adapted themselves to Ry's style without any problem.

Simultaneously to his outings with Ry Cooder, Lowe toured the UK to celebrate the re-release of his two first solo albums (Jesus Of Cool and Labour of Lust) and of a new best of called "Quiet Please" covering the whole of his career from his days in Brinsley Schwarz all the way to his "At My Age" album playing a date at The Royal Albert Hall (sparsely attended unfortunately). Apart from his usual bouts of American touring, year 2010 was spent recording his next album The Old Magic that was finally released in September 2011. I must admit that I was surprised by the mellowness of the album the first time I listened to it but it definitely grows on you with the numbers of listenings. The album is short and to the point coming at just under 36 minutes with the usual ratio of covers and originals. As I said earlier on the album is quieter than its predecessors, only the lead single Checkout Time could qualify as a rock song. The rest of the album is made up of ballads (Stoplight Roses, House For Sale) and mid tempo of what I would call for lack of a better word "lounge rockers" (Sensitive Man, Restless Feeling). The covers blend in seamlessly with the originals (showing Mr Lowe's usual flair for choosing songs that suit his style), the high point being a really good version of Tom T Hall's Shame On The Rain that removes the country twang from the original while adding Nick Lowe's touch. The best track on the record for me is the last one Till The Real Thing Comes Along which somehow never gets mentioned anywhere in reviews and that was never played live during the tour that followed the release of The Old Magic. A fantastic song that ticks every box, perfect pace, spot on lyrics and arrangement. In one word : a masterpiece.

At the Time The Old Magic came out, I was living in the south of France and despite a date being scheduled in Paris, it made more sense crossing the border to Spain to see Mr Lowe and hi band in the beautiful city of Bilbao. In a remake of the Madrid incident a few years before, my girlfriend and I spent a couple of hours going round an industrial estate trying to figure which metal corrugated warehouse contained the venue. Thanks to a few Heineken neon lights that were switched on when the night was falling down we finally located the damn place. The venue called Santana 27 was a rock club from 8pm to 11pm and then a disco after the gig finished till the early hours, the room was far from being full but there was enough punters to make it look nicely attended. The opener was Geraint Watkins (Lowe's piano player for the last 20 years) playing a solo set. Despite a big faux-pas during the gig (message to people playing in Spain : never shout "Viva Espana" when you're playing the Basque region), he got a good reception playing songs from his three solo albums plus a few covers. Lowe came on stage just by himself opening with Stoplight Roses and Heart with the band joining him during What Lack Of Love Has Done. The set list had some nice additions compared to the Madrid gig with some older tunes that hadn't been aired for a while (Raining Raining, Ragin' Eyes) mixing in with newer tunes from The Old Magic and classics (Cruel To Be Kind, What's So Funny About Peace Love And Understanding, I Knew The Bride). If my memory serves me right Lowe put the whole audience in his pocket by saying a couple of words in Basque in between songs. The last number of the gig was a cover version of Alison by his old friend Elvis Costello.

Lowe spent the whole of 2012 touring The Old Magic and I would have to wait till July 2013 to see another live gig by Mr Lowe. He was announced on the line-up of a songwriter day  that was part of a series of concert organized in Hyde Park. Other acts scheduled the same day were in order : Elvis Costello, Ray Davies and Elton John. One week before the gig Elton John's appearance was cancelled which resulted in Nick Lowe being upgraded to the main stage (he was scheduled to headline one of the smaller stages) and as it was too late to find a headliner, the organizers declared that the admission would be free !!! Nick's set was short and concentrated on the "hits" but it was nice to see him play in this acoustic format with just him and his Gibson. I was hoping that we might get a Lowe-Costello duet during the latter's show but nothing happened. Shortly after the Hyde Park gig it was announced that Lowe would be putting out a Christmas Album called "Quality Street : A Seasonal Selection For All the Family". Apparently the idea of making a Christmas album was suggested by Lowe's American record label YepRoc. A bit reluctant to the idea for a start Lowe changed his mind in the end and recorded the album at the end of 2012 with his usual musicians. The result, a mix of Lowe originals, co-writes and rearranged seasonal standards though far from being as good as his recent albums is a pleasant addition to his catalogue. I had the chance of meeting the great man himself and having my copy signed at the Rough Trade shop in Brick Lane on the week before Christmas 2013.