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.