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.