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.