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.