Live review: Fairport Convention at Union Chapel 9/3/14

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

“Don’t worry, if you are not enjoying it and can’t wait for me to finish – I’m only on for twenty minutes.” So explained support act Edwina Hayes. The singer-songwriter turned out to be very much more than bearable and was later welcomed back on to the stage by Fairport Convention towards the end of the night to join them in a performance of the Sandy Denny-era classic “Who Knows Where the Time Goes.” I’ve seen Fairport fifteen times now. Although they have always been adamant that they could not and should not attempt to replace the late Sandy Denny; for me, what turns a good Fairport performance into something very special  indeed is when they are able to enlist the assistance of a talented female guest vocalist to sing one or two of Sandy’s songs.

This wasn’t the only noteworthy thing about the performance, tonight either. The setlist, which has possibly been getting a bit samey these past few years,  has been spruced up for this tour with some new songs as well as some old favourites that had not been heard for a while being brought back. Also notable, on this tour has been the addition of a stand-in bass player. Dave Pegg, who has played with the band since 1970, managed to damage the tendons in his hand and has been unable to play. Although he came on stage to introduce the band and hung around for some occasional backing vocals and on-stage banter, it was his son Matt Pegg on the bass. An excellent replacement who was warmly applauded.

The audience were far more reserved than at Fairport’s Cropredy Convention, their Summer festival which takes place each August and which got constant plugs throughout the night. Nevertheless, it was a fitting performance for the final night of their winter tour in what is one of London’s most beautiful venues. To absolutely no-one’s surprise and everyone’s delight the band finished with their usual sing-along encore “Meet on the Ledge.”

Setlist:
Jewel in the Crown
Doctor of Physick
Already There/Sailing into Walpole’s Marsh
Home
Theodore’s Song
Dirty Linen
Cell Song
Mercy Bay
– Interval –
Festival Bell
Wassail Song
Farewell Farewell
Happy Man
Myths and Heroes
Close to the Wind
Grace and Favour
Who Knows Where The Time Goes
Danny Jack’s Reward
Matty Groves
Meet on the Ledge

http://www.fairportconvention.com/

Live review: The Young ‘uns at Cecil Sharp House 5/3/14

Folk music, Live reviews, , , ,

Fascism. Fighting it, defeating it, singing about it. Fascism looms large in the life of the Young ‘uns, three twenty-somethings who’ve been singing together ten years now (hence the cringe-worthy name). But if anyone was expecting  unsubtle diatribes, as ranty as a street-corner seller of the Socialist Worker, you couldn’t be further from the truth. What you get is beautifully sung, evocative and thoughtful songs. Their last album “When our Grandfathers’ Said No” marks the time poverty-stricken Hartlepool sent Oswald Mosely and his crew packing in the 1930s. Their latest album similarly reflects on how members of a Bradford mosque disarmed an EDL rally outside through the simple act of offering them tea and biscuits. Songs from each of these albums were performed beautifully at Cecil Sharp House, HQ of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.

But as the Cecil Sharp House Director made clear in her introduction it’s not just the beautiful songs and amazing harmonies that you get at a Young ‘uns  gig, a major part of it is their brilliant on-stage humour;  three friends who are constantly taking the piss out of each other, the audience and fellow musicians in a warm but hilarious and totally unscripted way.

They sing a mixture of traditional and original songs and, don’t worry, it’s not all about Oswald Mosley or the EDL. One of my favourite songs of theirs is “Love in a Northern Town” describing how the group’s songwriter Sean Cooney’s nana met her husband and reflecting on the changing fortunes of Hartlepool. Highly recommended.

http://www.theyounguns.co.uk/

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

Welcome to Darren’s music blog

Album reviews, Folk music, Live reviews, Music culture & history, Rock music

Live reviews, album reviews and more. From classic rock to contemporary folk.

Welcome to my music blog. I have fairly varied tastes in music: folk, rock, glam, heavy metal and more. My first ever gig was the Donington Monsters of Rock festival (Slade, Whitesnake, AC/DC…) back in 1981, aged 15. Live music has been an important part of my life ever since but, finding I have more free evenings than I used to, one of the things I was determined to do was see more live bands.  I am using this blog to post my reviews of many of the gigs I’ve been to, as well as occasional album reviews. Feedback is welcome so do please feel free to leave any comments.

For those bemused by the eclectic nature of the artists covered here, let me try and explain. Since being a teenager I have always enjoyed discovering and exploring different genres, but when I did chance upon a new discovery I was always adding to what I liked already rather than discarding anything. As a teenager, I started off getting intorock/metal around in the early 80s (Status Quo, AC/DC, Rainbow) but, prompted by the revival of Slade’s fortunes in 80/81, I  was soon also exploring 70s glam rock bands (Slade, Sweet, T-Rex). The pop-rock of the previous decade sounded so much more exciting than that of the 80s, which I had little interest in. Delving back into the 70s prompted me to start exploring the 60s, too, (The Stones, The Small Faces and notably The Byrds). As well as my love of glam rock and heavy metal, I acquired a love of the folk-rock sounds of The Byrds. But having, bit by bit,  bought up the entire back catalogue of The Byrds, I decided that if I enjoyed American folk-rock so much it might be time to start exploring British folk-rock, too (Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span). And through enjoying those bands so much it actually led to me to begin an appreciation of more traditional folk, too. Which pretty much explains my journey of musical discovery over the years and the eclectic range of reviews you will find on this blog.

Scroll down the home page to see all the gigs and albums I’ve reviewed. If you just want to see the rock stuff click here and if you just want to see the folk stuff click here.

Given my passion for live music I am also passionate about protecting our live music venues. More info here.

Feel free to quote from, link to or re-blog any of the reviews on this site. Thanks for visiting.

Darren

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