Category Archives: Rock music

Rock bands and music

Treetop Flyers at Cropredy 9/8/14

Folk music, Live reviews, Rock music, , , , ,

Treetop Flyers have been a popular fixture on the festival circuit for several years now and I was looking forward to seeing them again.  Singer, Reid Morrison, a regular attender at Cropredy in recent years as a punter, told the crowd he’d promised himself he’d get to sing on that big stage one day. And so he did…

Formed in London in 2009, the band’s influences are not The Kinks or The Small Faces or the Clash but rather the laid-back West Coast rock of bands like Crosby Stills Nash & Young. They are a young original band for the 21st century but one who carry that influence and musical heritage so well. And for sixty minutes or so those of us at the front were no longer in rural Oxfordshire in 2014 but transported back to Woodstock in ‘69.

Treetop Flyers (named after a Stephen Stills song) have perfected their sound and they do it beautifully. From Morrison’s expressive vocals, to the laid back harmonies, the countrified electric guitar licks, the melodic strumming of the acoustic guitar and the infectious boogie, they do sound good. And they’ve got a great collection of self-written songs, too. Rose is in the Yard, Things Will Change and Is it All Worth It are especially worth hearing and lapped up by the crowd, as was there cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Proud Mary which fitted the mood of the set perfectly.

Still only one album in, 2013’s The Mountain Moves, I’m expecting to hear some truly classic material from this band over the coming years. In the meantime they are a great live band – catch them at a festival or venue near you.

http://treetopflyers.co.uk/

Photo Credit: Shoot the Living

Fairport Convention at Cropredy 9/8/14

Folk music, Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , , , , ,

In the late ‘60s Fairport pretty much invented English folk-rock and since the late ‘70s the band’s Cropredy festival has been an annual fixture for anyone with a love of this type of music. While the festival as a whole tends to offer an eclectic mixture of folk and heritage rock acts, Fairport Convention themselves always headline on the Saturday night. While previous years have offered a marathon three-hour session from Fairport, tonight we have a slightly truncated two-hour set. But we are still given a great selection of songs and tunes in that time. The band are about to release a new studio album so brand new material is introduced alongside old favourites. The first of the new songs is Myths and Heroes. F or anyone concerned that the “rock” element of Fairport’s genetic composition has been downplayed in recent years, they will not be at all disappointed with this, a ferocious and brilliantly played slice of folk-rock.

For me the two strongest tracks on their last studio album of new material, Festival Bell, are undoubtedly Around the Wild Cape Horn and Mercy Bay. I was delighted to see that these two have remained in the set. Both magnificently sung by Simon Nicol, they are now bona fide Fairport classics that comfortably sit alongside older Fairport classics. We do hear plenty of the older classics, too, however. Walk awhile, Crazy Man Michael, Now Be Thankful and Farewell Farewell are all in there, alongside a great version of The Lark in the Morning medley, which set the template for fast and furious electric folk instrumentals on the genre-defining Liege and Lief album back in 1969.

The only thing that really didn’t work for me tonight was the guest spot from vocalist Sally Barker, who sang Sandy Denny’s Who Knows Where the Time Goes. Barker is a star of TV’s The Voice, and while her heavily-pronounced, overly-dramatic vocal delivery may be just what is needed for TV talent shows, it was the exact opposite of the calm, understated, crystal-clear beauty of Sandy Denny’s original.

Traditional show closer Meet on the Ledge, written by the band’s original lead guitarist, Richard Thompson at the crazily young age of 17, always provides the collected Cropredy masses with a rousing and emotional final sing-along. But another defining moment of every Cropredy festival is the penultimate number, Matty Groves. The exact origins of the song (an adulterous tale of a Lady and a servant who both meet a tragic end at the hands of her jealous husband) are lost in the mists of time. But whoever originally wrote it must surely never have imagined that several hundred years after it was written, 20,000 people would stand together in a field in Oxfordshire every year and sing along to all nineteen verses at the top of their voices. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Setlist:
Walk Awhile
Crazy Man Michael
Portmeirion
Myths & Heroes
Home
The Happy Man
Theodore’s Song
Around the Wild Cape Horn
The Hiring Fair
The Lark in the Morning Medley
Who Knows Where the Time Goes?
Now Be Thankful
Bring me Back my Feathers
Mercy Bay
Love at First Sight
Farewell, Farewell
John Gaudie
Matty Groves
Meet on the Ledge

http://www.fairportconvention.com/

Previous review:

Fairport Convention at Union Chapel

Howlin’ Rain at The Boston Music Room 23/7/14

Live reviews, Rock music, , , ,

Howlin’ Rain – if there’s one modern band that captures the sound and spirit of those big bombastic soul-infused rock bands like Humble Pie, who relentlessly toured the arenas of America in the early to mid-1970s, it’s them.  Tonight, however, we’re not in Madison Square Gardens or the Hollywood Bowl we’re at a pub venue in north London. Formed by vocalist, Ethan Miller, in Oakland, California ten years ago they’ve now released several superb albums.  Though hardly a household name they’ve built up a loyal following in the UK and the venue is packed out by the time the band come on stage.

Howlin’ Rain have a great collection of songs – even if you’ve never heard them before they sound like you’ve been singing along to them for years, while still remaining fresh and original. The band themselves, with Miller on vocals and guitar, a superb lead guitarist in Isiah Mitchell, wonderfully soulful backing vocals and a magnificently energetic rhythm section, work really, really together. From the slower soulful numbers to the wilder rock-outs, they sound absolutely superb.

I just love the fact that there’s a band in 2014 making music like this, not cover versions, not pastiches but capturing the spirit and essence of a genre dominated by the likes of Humble Pie, The Allman Brothers and Creedence Clearwater Revival in the early seventies and doing something fresh and original with it. The audience, predominantly male but evenly ranged from early twenties to mid-sixties clearly agreed.

http://www.howlinrain.com

Richard Thompson at Folk by the Oak 20/7/14

Folk music, Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , ,

Folk by the Oak is the most civilised of festivals. Set in the historic grounds of Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, those used to turning up and getting frisked by legions for of security guards for taking even as much as a bottle of water in, will find this a very different experience. For this one-day festival punters turn up not only with chairs and food hampers but picnic tables, too.

Such a sedate setting did nothing to dampen the atmosphere down at the front of the stage for Richard Thompson’s set, however. With no backing band for this current series of acoustic dates, it was just Thompson and his acoustic guitar. Introducing Thompson, the festival compere said that this year had seen the biggest ticket sales for Folk on the Oak so far, telling the crowd the inclusion of Richard Thompson on the bill clearly had a lot to do with that. I couldn’t disagree. Thompson has rightly been rated as one of the world’s greatest guitarists but it is a wonder to be there and listen to the truly amazing sounds that one man can produce simply standing on stage playing an acoustic guitar.

A Thompson gig is never simply about watching displays of technical prowess, however. Being such a talented songwriter he has built up a stunning back-catalogue of great songs and he delivered a blinding set, including many of the songs that feature on his excellent just-released CD, Acoustic Classics.  We were therefore treated to stripped down acoustic versions of classic songs like I Want To See the Bright Lights Tonight, Walking on a Wire, Down Where the Drunkards Roll and, of course, 1952 Vincent Black Lightning. We also got some newer songs that have become classics like Savings the Good Stuff For You, from his 2012 “Electric” album and, from 2007’s “Sweet Warrior” album, Johnny’s Far Away, a modern-day sing-along sea shanty, explains Thompson, set on a cruise ship.  He also did a lovely tribute to his erstwhile Fairport Convention colleague, the late Sandy Denny, by performing a beautiful rendition of Denny’s Who Knows Where the Time Goes.

Thompson has genre-crossing and generation-crossing appeal and tonight the stunning guitar work and amazing songs demonstrate exactly why that is.

Setlist:
When the Spell is Broken
Walking on a Wire
Valerie
Saving the Good Stuff For You
Johnny’s Far Away
Pharaoh
1952 Vincent Black Lightning
Who Knows Where The Time Goes
I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
Between You and Me
Good Things Happen to Bad People
Beeswing
Wall of Death
Down Where The Drunkards Roll
One Door Opens
Tear Stained Letter

http://richardthompson-music.com/

2014-07-20 19.35.01

Motörhead at Hyde Park 4/7/14

Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , ,

An added bonus of buying tickets for Black Sabbath in Hyde Park was having the chance to see Motörhead on the bill earlier in the day. Lemmy’s recent health problems had left some question marks over the future of the band and so, five years after I’d last seen them, it was good to catch up with them again on stage.

However, while Motörhead’s “best of” CD and their iconic No Sleep ’til Hammersmith live album are frequently blasting from my stereo, I must confess to having heard not a single album Motörhead have recorded since about 1982. And although we were treated versions of Stay Clean, Ace of Spades and Overkill that owners of the No Sleep… album will be very familiar with, there were several songs in the 45-minute set with which I was unfamiliar. The thing about Motörhead, however, is consistency: in sound, in quality and in attitude. So while a particular song they are performing may not be a classic from the Overkill/ Bomber/Ace of Spades era, it manages to sound exactly like it should be.

As well as iconic front-man/bassist extraordinaire, Lemmy Kilmister, Motörhead are Phil Campbell on guitar and Mikkey Dee on drums and while neither were in the band in the early “classic” years, Campbell has been with them for thirty years and Dee for over twenty.  As for Lemmy, you wouldn’t think it from his vocal delivery and certainly not from his bass-playing, but it’s during his brief between-song banter with the audience that you realise that Lemmy is now quite an old man.

Will Lemmy and Motörhead be around forever? Obviously not. Will they be performing for that much longer? If truth be told, probably not. Is it still worth seeing them? On today’s performance – most certainly yes. Catch them now while they are still a living, working unit, still delivering the classic Motörhead sound.

Setlist:
Damage Case
Stay Clean
Over the Top
Lost Woman Blues
Doctor Rock
Going to Brazil
Killed by Death
Ace of Spades
Overkill

Home

2014-07-04 15.46.07

Black Sabbath at Hyde Park 4/7/14

Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , ,

If there’s a competition for the longest gap between the first and second time you’ve seen a band then my entry will be Black Sabbath. I first saw them at Reading festival in 1983 and didn’t manage to see the band for a second time until tonight. My original encounter, back in 1983, was a rather strange version of Black Sabbath, though, with Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan on vocals and Smoke on the Water as an encore; and it was mercilessly panned by the critics. Thirty one years later, however, and we are very much seeing a classic version of the band in Hyde Park giving an undoubtedly classic performance. Save from drummer Bill Ward, who is replaced by Tommy Clufetos from Ozzy Osbourne’s solo band, it is the iconic Sabbath line-up with Osbourne on vocals, Tony Iommi on guitar and Geezer Butler on bass.

Osbourne’s ups and downs have certainly been well-documented and Iommi has been undergoing debilitating bouts of chemotherapy over the past two years.  All of that is a world away from tonight’s performance, however, and the band members are all blisteringly on form. They commence with a stunning version of War Pigs and one by one the classics are reeled off: Snowblind, Fairies Wear Boots, Iron Man. The sound is great. The guitars, drums and vocals are everything you would want at a Sabbath gig. The visuals on the big screens behind add to the atmosphere of the music and the huge and good natured crowd loves it.

The set-list is vintage Sabbath, with two tracks from the recent comeback album, Age of Reason and God is Dead?, thrown in. The 13 album was more than just a comeback album, though, and God is Dead?, performed towards the end of tonight’s set, is a real classic that easily sits alongside other Sabbath classics of the early 70s. That was followed by a well-received Children of the Grave. A hugely appreciative Osbourne thanks the enormous crowd and the band leaves the stage.

Everyone knows how strict Westminster City Council is when it comes to their 10.30pm curfews at Hyde Park. But there were still some time precious minutes left and what everyone in the crowd wanted was for Black Sabbath to come back on and give us Paranoid. And that is exactly what we got, not only Sabbath’s best known song but one of the greatest rock tunes of all time. It was the climax to an utterly stunning evening. Iommi has hinted in interviews that after Hyde Park there may not be an opportunity for the band to tour again  so this could be Black Sabbath’s last ever performance. If it is then what an absolutely stunning performance to end on. 10/10.

Setlist:
War Pigs
Into the Void
Snowblind
Age of Reason
Black Sabbath
Behind the Wall of Sleep
N.I.B.
Fairies Wear Boots
Rat Salad
Iron Man
God Is Dead?
Children of the Grave
Paranoid

http://www.blacksabbath.com/

2014-07-04 20.58.35

Live review: Status Quo at Hammersmith Apollo 28/3/14

Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , ,

Normally, I’m all for big named bands giving up-and -coming ones a helping hand with a support slot on tour. But when it comes to big rock reunions, and I’ve seen a few, nothing beats a well-chosen,  established act from a similar era to kick things off. Status Quo have chosen brilliantly here by getting in Wilko Johnson as the support for their “frantic four” classic-era reunion tour. Diagnosed with terminal cancer in early 2013, former Dr Feelgood guitarist, Johnson, made the brave, inspirational and utterly life-affirming decision to use his remaining time, not pursuing a debilitating and ultimately futile course of treatment, but by saying farewell to his fans with a series of live dates. There has been no sign of his being incapacitated just yet and so further dates have been added, the Quo tour being the latest. And what a magnificent performance, not only from Wilko but from bass player Norman Watt-Roy and drummer, Dylan Howe. The crowd roared its approval as the trio delivered blistering performances of Feelgood classics like Roxette, Back in the Night and She Does it right. The admiration and affection for the man tonight was moving but this was no mere sympathy vote. It was a genuinely magnificent set and the crowd responded accordingly. Quo could not have chosen a better way to open up the evening.

After a shortish break the lights dimmed, the famous spoken intro from the 1977 live album was relayed over the PA, the silhouette backdrop made famous by the “Hello” album cover came down and Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan walked on stage. The four are reunited for a second time after their reunion tour last year following a 32-year break. Since the demise of the classic line-up in the 80s Status Quo, under Rossi and Parfitt, has very much continued, of course. But what we saw tonight was something very different from the lighter keyboard-heavy pop-rock act that continues to fill arenas every year. Like last year’s  Quo re-union tour, again there was a focus on material from the early 70s albums, rather than the big hits of later years. It was a very similar, setlist too, but although lacking the emotional resonance of seeing four guys walking out on stage together for the first time in over 30 years, it more than made up for that by being a somewhat tighter performance from the band than in 2013.

As in last year’s reunion, returning bass player, Alan Lancaster, got a hefty slice of the lead vocal duties, Lancaster’s gritty vocals being something that later versions of the band have definitely missed out on. I’ve seen the post-Lancaster/Coghlan Status Quo at a couple of festivals, and while they are undeniably fun and entertaining, the quality of songs and the earthiness of the performance when the original four get on stage together provides something different altogether. Highlights for me were Lancaster opening with Junior’s Wailing, Rossi singing In My Chair, and a magnificent performance of perennial crowd-pleaser Forty Five Hundred Times. Although the focus was very much on album classics, I must confess when I saw them last year I was ever so slightly disappointed that they had chosen not to play one of their greatest ever hit singles, Caroline. Tonight, though that was rectified and the band encored with a magnificent version of Caroline, followed by traditional show closer, Chuck Berry’s Bye Bye Johnny. Definitely, a memorable night for British rock.

Setlist:
Junior’s Wailing
Backwater
Just Take Me
Is There a Better Way
In My Chair
Blue Eyed Lady
Little Lady
Most of the Time
Rain
(April) Spring, Summer and Wednesdays
Railroad
Oh Baby
Forty-Five Hundred Times / Gotta Go Home
Big Fat Mama
Down Down
Roadhouse Blues
Caroline
Bye Bye Johnny

http://www.statusquo.co.uk/

Graham Bonnet at The Garage, Highbury 19/3/14

Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , ,

In the late 70s/early 80s every collection of hard rock/heavy metal would include at least a few records by Rainbow.  By 1979 the initial mystical/medieval-tinged lyrics had given way to more traditional rock content and original singer, Ronnie James Dio, had been replaced by Lincolnshire-born Graham Bonnet with whom they  recorded the album Down to Earth. This turned out to be Bonnet’s one and only album with Rainbow. As a teenager this is one of the first rock albums I ever bought and was played very, very frequently. Sadly, Rainbow was one of the few big-name rock bands I didn’t get to see at the time. So the chance to catch up with Graham Bonnet performing Rainbow classics at the Garage in Islington for a very reasonable £16.50 seemed like a tempting offer. Of course, of the rest of the band who created the Down to Earth album, bass player Roger Glover has long been back with Deep Purple, now joined by keyboard player, Don Airy. Rainbow guitarist, Richie Blackmore, is now performing with his wife Candice in a medieval style minstrel band and drummer, Coz Powell was tragically killed on the M4. The only connection to the original band on stage tonight, therefore, was Bonnet himself, although Cozy Powell’s drum kit was did make a welcome appearance on stage and was used throughout the gig. As they were on the Down to Earth album, Bonnet’s vocals were powerful and melodic and a strong backing band delivered superb renditions of classics from that album. Certainly, the crowd sang along to them, particularly when Since You’ve Been Gone made an early appearance as the third song in the set. It was great to hear other Bonnet-era Rainbow classics, too, like Eyes of the World, Love’s no Friend and, of course, All Night Long.

Good as Down to Earth as an album was, however, I did wonder whether there was enough material on it to sustain a whole gig, knowing this album was only a small albeit significant part of Rainbow’s total output. My fears were unfounded, though, firstly because the tracks on Down to Earth are so bloody good. And secondly, because Bonnet supplemented them with a couple of well-chosen Dio-era Rainbow classics: Catch the Rainbow and Long Live Rock n Roll. That nod towards Rainbow’s earlier history, presumably songs that Bonnet would regularly have performed with the band when he was in Rainbow, were very well received by the crowd, many of whom it’s fair to say looked like they had been followers of Rainbow through its many different incantations.

North London is blessed with some excellent mid-sized live music venues, the Garage being just one of them, and if they continue to have rock acts on of this calibre it won’t be long before I’m back there, I’m sure.

Setlist:
Eyes of the World
Love’s No Friend
Since You Been Gone
Bad Girl
Makin’ Love
Kill The King
Catch the Rainbow
All Night Long
Lost in Hollywood
Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll

2014-03-20 19.33.31

 

Live review: Judy Dyble at WM Jazz at The O2 16/3/14

Folk music, Live reviews, Rock music, , , , , , ,

Before iconic singer-songwriter, Sandy Denny, joined Fairport Convention the band had a previous and lesser-known female vocalist, Judy Dyble, who sang on their first album. After her time with Fairport, Judy was involved in a handful of projects before quitting the music business altogether in the early 70s, spending time bringing up a family and working as a librarian. The story doesn’t end there, though, as the early 2000s saw Judy begin writing, recording and performing once more.

Which brings us to today’s gig in the O2. The main arena at the O2 is one of the busiest and largest music venues in the world, with a seating capacity of 20,000. The WM Jazz bar at the O2 is a somewhat smaller affair, with a seating capacity of 84. But the intimate setting was perfectly suited to Judy’s performance. Judy and her talented six-piece backing band performed numerous songs from her two most recent albums, 2009’s Talking with Strangers and 2013’s Flow & Change, delivered with the same pure, fresh, English vocals that we heard on that first ever Fairport album. They are beautifully written songs, too, such as Jazzbirds, Grey October Day, Wintersong and The Sisterhood of Ruralists

We also got a few glimpses back into the past, too. She gave us Jenny May, a track from her album with her post-Fairport band, Trader Horn, and a perfect recreation of If I Have a Ribbon Bow, the wonderfully eccentric first ever single from Fairport Convention.

Judy is quite possibly the least showbizzy singer you could ever hope to meet: the complete lack of ego meant they didn’t even have an encore prepared and thus gave a repeat performance of If I Had a Ribbon Bow. However, what you do get is beautiful songs, beautifully performed. And, as Judy’s first and very wonderful album with Fairport Convention edges closer towards its 50th anniversary, it would be nice if her more recent music also became known to a wider audience.

http://judydyble.com/

Live review: Uriah Heep at Koko 4/3/14

Live reviews, Rock music, , , , ,

When I first saw the Heep in 1985 it was virtually a completely different band compared to what we saw tonight – with only guitarist, Mick Box, remaining from that appearance. What has remained though is consistency in delivering melodic hard rock. Tonight we got many of the classic songs from the early and mid 70s but also material from the coming new album, too.

Highlights for me were Traveller in Time, Gypsy, July Morning and what Mick Box introduced as a “happy hippy song” for strumming around campfires: Lady in Black. The new material was very much in the style of 70s era classic Heep (you are not going to buy a new Uriah Heep album if you are looking for something up to the minute and contemporary are you?) and new songs like One Minute fitted in well. They encored with a repeat performance of this new song, followed by Free and Easy and the wonderful Easy Living.

The quality of the musicianship was superb, the vocals were amazing and all in all it was a pretty spectacular gig. It was being filmed so those present may catch a glimpse of themselves on DVD at some point in the future.

Koko itself is a great venue. It’s been through many different incarnations over the years and although it’s been sympathetically restored in a way that shows of its Edwardian-era music hall grandeur, it’s done in a way that works really well as a rock venue.

Setlist:
Against the Odds
Overload
Traveller in Time
Sunrise
Stealin’
I’m Ready
Between Two Worlds
Can’t Take That Away
One Minute
Nail on the Head
Into the Wild
Gypsy
Look at Yourself
July Morning
Lady in Black
One Minute
Free ‘n’ Easy
Easy Livin’

http://www.uriah-heep.com/newa/

Image

Photo credit: Elise Benjamin