LIVE REVIEW : LLOYD COLE AT UNION CHAPEL 17/10/2013

Back at Union Chapel  almost one year (save for a week) after the Michael Nesmith gig. The venue is definitely one of the nicest in London and is particularly well suited for solo singer songwriter gigs (Nick Lowe is playing a solo show there next march). Apart from a short reunion tour with The Commotions in 2004 to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of Rattlesnakes, Cole has been playing solo shows whether promoting new albums, archive releases or touring for the sake of it. I first saw him in 2009 in a small venue in Vienna called Cafe Szene. He had just released the 2 Folksingers LP's showcasing the solo performances he'd been doing for the past decade and a boxset of Out of print and unreleased songs called "Cleaning Out The Ashtrays". I remember a fine gig with a fine performance from Lloyd that was maybe missing a little bit in spontaneity in the interaction with the audience (some of the jokes are repeated from the live CD's) but that could be linked to the fact that the audience wasn't made up of English speakers. The songs were performed flawlessly though without as missed note in the whole set. Fast forward 3 years and Lloyd was touring Europe again but this time promoting a new album "Broken Record" and was touring with 2 guitar players (Matt Cullen and Mark Schwaber) billed as "The Small Ensemble". I had the chance to see that line-up playing in Rennes and again the gig was a flawless, perfect singing from LLoyd, immaculate guitar playing from all three. The set-list could have used a few more up-tempo numbers but a very good gig by all accounts. 

Which leads back at Union Chapel where Lloyd is playing solo again on the back of the release of his "Standards" LP. The gig sold out in July (maybe thanks to all the "return to form, best album since Rattlesnakes" reviews in the press) and another London date was announced for January 2014 but this time with a backing band. The show was pretty similar in format to the ones I had seen before. It was divided in 2 sets with a 30 mins break in the middle. There was quite a few tracks of Rattlesnakes (Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken, Perfect Skin, Forest Fire, 2CV). I was expecting more songs from "Standards" but Lloyd said that we would need to come to the full band show in January to hear most of the songs. We got a cover of "Chelsea Hotel" originally written and sung by Leonard Cohen. Lloyd seemed pleased with the audience reacted to the show (incredibly quiet by London standards) and even though he kept complaining about grooves on the tip of his fingers, his playing didn't suffer from it.

LIVE REVIEW : TONY JOE WHITE AT THE JAZZ CAFE 23/09/2013

Since buying Tony Joe White's "Live in Austin TX" album (which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND) a few years ago, I've always wanted to check out how he sounded in person. This gig at the Jazz Cafe in Camden was part of a small European he's currently doing to promote his latest LP "Hoodoo". The venue is quite small and seems to be White's regular venue when he stops in London as it was there he played when he last toured the UK in 2011. 

Even though his level of popularity is lower in the UK than in some other countries (France, The Netherlands), it was nice to see that the gig was sold out in advance. I managed to catch 2 songs from the opening act Boss Caine but that wasn't enough to make an opinion on his music (a bit of a "Johnny Cash" balladeer mood). Tony Joe White's touring set-up is a rather basic affair. Usually it's only him and his long term drummer Bryan "Cadillac" Owens (with sometime a keyboardist added to the line-up). The crowd at the Jazz Cafe was mainly long tern fans (spotted the actor Bill Nighy at the balcony), there's was still a decent amount of people under thirty which proves that White's music appeals also to a younger generation. He came on stage and played a couple of numbers just by himself before being joined by Owens. At 71 years old, White plays sitting down which added to his ever present Black Tuxedo and shades gives an definite "bluesman" appearance. 

Songs from the back catalogue were played at much slower tempos (the version of "Polk Salad Annie" from the "Live in Austin" LP sounds like The Buzzcocks compared to the one played at the Jazz Cafe). The newer tracks of "Hoodoo" are very slow and bluesy, so the whole set was pretty coherent with tracks from different LP's blending nicely with each other. White was quite generous on the number of old songs played. "Roosevelt And Ira Lee" from his second LP "... Continued" was aired but "Rainy Night In Georgia" (his most covered song) wasn't aired. Two of the songs he wrote for Tina Turner's "Foreign Affair" : "Undercover Agent For The Blues" and "Steamy Windows" bookended the set. There was quite a few technical glitches during the gig with Owens asking for more vocals in his monitors for a good half of the gig and a White's mike kept buzzing in between songs prompting him to tell the soundman in his laid-back drawl : "We need some help down here sir". In spite of this issues, White soldiered along playing lengthened out versions of his most famous songs showcasing his trademark Wah-Wah rave ups.

LIVE REVIEW : BRENDAN BENSON AT DINGWALLS 21/08/2013

 Back at Dingwalls for the second time this year (after the Geraint Watkins gig in March, just in case you start looking for the review it doesn't exist...). It was my third seeing him live. First time was a gig in a small town called Alencon in France during the "Alternative to Love" tour, the turnout was absolutely abysmal (80 people in the audience roughly) but the band was absolutely great and compensated the "inevitable" lack of enthusiasm due to playing in front of such a small audience with excellent musicianship and tightness. Second time was a different story. Playing to a packed "Nouveau Casino" in Paris 2009 (one hell of a shit sounding venue) thanks to his new-found rock celebrity as a member of "The Raconteurs", Mr Benson churned out a competent gig but something was missing and I found at the time that Mark Watrous wasn't on the same level as Dean Fertita that he was replacing on 2nd guitar/keyboard duties. I hadn't attented the tour promoting his latest LP "What Kind Of World" when it came out (partly due to the fact that no tour stop was in a 200 kms range from where I was living and also because on first listen that record was one hell of a disappointment for me). Nevertheless I welcomed the offer of another dose of Mr B live which might help me to revaluate the songs from his latest release.

Sonia and I were meeting up with our friend Chris and we made it inside the venue half way through the second opening act's set. After a really short break, Brendan and his band came on to a rather good welcome fron the crowd (he's definitely more popular in London than in Alençon...). Opening with two tunes from "What Kind Of World" : "Light Of The Day" and "Happy Most Of The Time", I was pleasantly surprised to see that in a live setting these songs gained the extra-oomph that's missing on the record. The Set-list relied quite heavily on "What Kind Of World" and "Lapalco". Only one measly tune from "Alternative To Love" and "My Old Familiar Friend". Nevertheless a welcome addition to the set was the addition of two songs from The Raconteurs ("Hands" and "Steady As She Goes"). Mark Watrous made a better impression on me than 4 years ago and so did Brad Pemberton the drummer. Brendan was his usual quiet self, not saying much between songs and even asking Watrous to imitate a Croatian promoter they had encountered during their travels (providing some much needed inbetween song banter). A good gig that could have benefited from a few extra songs from his back catlogues (gig lasted just over 1h15 mins)

LIVE REVIEW : THE NEW MENDICANTS AT THE LEXINGTON 10/07/2013

I think that you can qualify The New Mendicants as a "Supergroup". Their launch has been slightly more subdued than the fanfare that accompanied the debut of  "Blind Faith" some 44 years ago but Joe Pernice and Norman Blake's song-writing prowesses in their main outfits (Pernice Brothers and Teenage Fanclub) are the guarantee for a night of excellent music. 

Pernice and Blake started the band last year. Both moved to Toronto to live with their partners ("They married us, we didn't marry them" said Pernice during the gig). They had crossed paths before while touring in the UK but this new proximity meant that they developed a friendship that became "The New Mendicants". They started played gigs in Toronto last year followed by recording and a tour of Australia and New Zealand at the beginning of this year. So Far they have only released an EP to coincide with that tour (imaginatively titled "Australia 2013 E.P) but an LP is supposed to be released in the first half of 2014. 

I had caught Joe Pernice live last October in a small pub and had found him a fantastic performer with terrific in-between song banter but Blake's presence at his side gave him an extra boost on both fronts (performance and banter). The set-up for the gig was pretty sparse, just the two of them with their guitars and a glockenspiel. They introduced a couple of tunes from the forthcoming album explaining that many of the album were written to be used on the soundtrack of the movie "A Long Way Down" based on Nick Hornby's novel of the same name. Unfortunately they all the songs got rejected which means in Pernice's words that half of the album will be about "standing on top a building". These new snippets were interspersed with songs from their back catalogue. We got Teenage Fanclub b-sides, Scud Mountain Boys tracks, Zombies covers ("Butcher's tale", already played by Pernice at his gig last October)... Pernice was in fine form, recounting stories from attending an Hall and Oates gig in the mid-eighties in Boston (and telling that he had made up the whole story after finishing it). There was some really funny moments like when Blake messed up a glockenspiel part on one of Pernice's songs. Pernice retaliated by playing a wrong chord on purpose during the intro of "Baby Lee" while mouthing "fuck you" to Blake.

The audience was tremendously respectful, interacting with Pernice and Blake in-between songs but keeping religiously silent during the quieter numbers. The show was sold out and to adD to and already wonderful evening, Blake announced that straight after the tour he was going to Glasgow to continue work on the next Teenage Fanclub album. 

LIVE REVIEW : BLONDIE AT THE ROUNDHOUSE 07/07/2013

Blondie was a band I'd always want to see live. They sound quite fantastic on record but the live reviews I had read through the years were sometime a bit lukewarm. I remember one in French magazine Rock'n'Folk where the journalist said he had never seen a gig by such an experienced band with so many bum notes !! Added value to attending that gig is that the missus is a Blondie fan, which means that for once I wasn't just by myself :). The Roundhouse is a venue I really like because you're never far from the stage wherever you're positioned in the venue.

I don't remember anything about the opening act apart from the fact that is was rather...err...unmemorable. Blondie opened the gig with "One Way Or Another" to a good crowd reception. Only three members from the original line-up remain :  lead singer Debbie Harry, rhythm guitar player Chris Stein and drummer Clem Burke. Other members are : Leigh Foxx (bass) who joined the band when they reformed in the late nineties , Matt Katz Bohen (keyboards), Tommy Kessler (lead guitar) who joined respectively in 2008 and 2010. They're all good musicians but they sometimes lack the "punk" vibe that was at the core of the original line-up (Kessler used to play guitar in the musical "Rock of Ages" before joining Blondie).

The set list relied quite heavily on songs from their forthcoming LP with a few classics mixed in (Heart of Glass, Dreaming, Hanging on the Telephone, Call me, Maria, Atomic). The new songs are ok but I can't see any of them sticking in the set list the way "Maria" from their comeback album "No Exit" has done. Of all the original members, Clem Burke is the one I found the most enthusiastic in his performance (which Debbie Harry doesn't seem to appreciate much... deduction made from the angry stares she gave him when there was one too many roll during the intros and the fact he was the only band member she didn't introduce. Mrs Harry put on a tremendous performance considering that the temperature mid gig was almost oven-like but she doesn't react too well to other members taking center stage, at one point putting her hands on Tommy Kessler's fretboard while he was doing an extended solo (during "Atomic" if I'm not mistaken). Chris Stein was in the back strumming, not seeming too concerned by the proceedings (for some reason he seems to favour using alternate tunings and using a thumb pick which means that most of the time he was drowned out by Kessler). They threw in a couple of covers for good measure, one of "Relax" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood (Why ???) and a rather cool one of "You Can't  Put Your Arms Round A Memory" by Johnny Thunders. That last one was dedicated to Arturo Vega, the recently deceased, designer of The Ramones' logo.

LIVE REVIEW : BURT BACHARACH AT THE ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL 26/06/2013

This gig is one that I had been eagerly awaiting for months. I bought the ticket in February and I wouldn't go as far as saying I was ticking the days on the calendar but there was a sense of something special about seing one of the greatest songwriters in the history of pop music. The show was an early start with the doors opening at 7pm and the gig starting at 8pm. It was my first time at The Royal Festival Hall and the venue proved to be as nice inside as it is ugly on the outside... Spent a couple of minutes in the lobby before climbing upstairs to access my seat, during which I managed to spot Jarvis Cocker, killing time before the gig by reading a paperback. My seat was quite far back (tickets weren't exactly cheap) but I still had a good view.

The gig started right on time with the band coming on stage and setting up and Bacharach joining them after everybody had finished tuning up. Still sporting his trademark blazer, he strolled on a stage in a relaxed manner greeting the crowd and thanking everybody for coming over. He said that he was pleased to come back to London and that he was grateful to Britain as it was here that records with his songs on them had first started selling. The show was very slick but Bacharach's demeanour is so laid back that something that must be a very "tightly scripted" performance comes off as relaxed. There wasn't any orchestra backing him contrary to his last London show at The Roundhouse but his backing band was quite impressive nevertheless : three singers, bass, an extra keyboardist, trumpet, saxophone, vibes, and a violinist. I think an acoustic guitar player would have been a good addition as sometimes the sound was a bit too "casio-ish" (if that makes any sense).

Rather than play a limited selection of songs from his back catalogue, Bacharach prefers to play lots of songs and compress them in medleys. I must admit that although I'd prefer to hear less songs but have them in their entirety, I didn't find the medley presentation as frustrating as I was expecting it to be. The medleys were done kind of thematically. One comprised the songs he had written for movies (with Bacharach singing lead on "Alfie"). One featured his early hits in the 1950's with songs such as "Magic Moments","The Story Of My Life" or the theme song for the movie "The Blob" that Bacharach said that even though it was a flop, both him and Steve McQueen's careers managed to recover from it. The three singers had quite a hard task on their hands having to cover for such great singers as : Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Gene Pitney, BJ Thomas, Jack Jones, Chuck Jackson, Cilla Black and the list goes on... The two females were really good but I'm a bit more reserved about the male (a bit too X-Factor-ish for my taste). The rest of the band was fine and I enjoyed the vocal performance of the keyboardist on "My Little Red Book". The appearance of Bacharach's son Oliver to play keyboard during "Make it easy on yourself" was a nice touch, even though request for him to come back on stage came to a dead end as "he only knows one song" dixit Bacharach. That evening was a rare chance to witness a fine performance by one of the best songwriters of the twentieth century.

LIVE REVIEW : TIM BURGESS / LAMBCHOP AT THE BARBICAN 23/06/2013

I must admit I had a very limited lnowledge of tonight's two acts repertoire when I attended this gig. I have one measly Lambchop LP and I had never listened to anything put out by Tim Burgess or his band The Charlatans. Nick Wheeldon, mastermind of Paris Garage combo "Os Noctambulos"(shameless plugging : https://www.facebook.com/os.noctambulos?fref=ts) convinced me that he was a night not to be missed so I purchased a ticket.
The Barbican is quite an impressive place, spotlessly clean, it gives the impression of being teletransportated back to the seventies when the venue opened. The concert hall is all seated so it's a bit sedate for a rock gig but ideal for a band like Lambchop that requires a lot of attention from it's audience as they play very quietly. The Evening was billed as a collaboration between Lambchop and Tim Burgess with equal stage time provided for both bands.

Lambchop was on first at 7.30pm and played what was billed as a "set of classics" (Best of luck to the guy who might get saddled with compiling a Lambchop best of...).  As I said earlier they play very quietly, Kurt Wagner's guitar is so low that it's almost inaudible. Kurt Wagner has some funny exchanges with piano player Tony Crow. Tim Burgess comes to join on one song, sitting on top of one the monitors while duetting with Wagner. This gives Wagner the occasion to give the audience some insight on his friendship with Burgess and how they had met. Their set finished at 9pm and after a short fifteen minute break, Tim Burgess came on stage with his 4 piece band let by Charlatans guitar player Mark Collins (I wouldn't mind him lending me his Gibson Jumbo...). I must admit I came to the gig expecting to enjoy Lambchop's set the most but came out of it having like Tim Burgess's one even more. The gig was indeed as special one as Burgess was joined by a string quartet on a few numbers (with only Mark Collins remaining from the band) and Kurt Wagner reciprocated by duetting with Tim on one song (pianist Tony Crow joined for a few numbers too). Two female singers joined on backing vocals for a punchy version of the album's single "White". After Tim Burgess finished his set. Both bands came back on stage to perform Lamchop's "Up with People" and an anthemic version of "A Gain" from Burgess's latest album "Oh No I Love You". Truly great night of music which lasted for almost 3 hours.