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 : 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.