Tag Archives: journalism

Light and… Tragic

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Occasionally, there’s going to be a disappointing concert that comes along and I’m afraid that tonight might be one of those.
Ladytron at Oxford Academy was probably the worst show I’ve seen this year.

The downside:

1. Poor sound with the vocals way too low in the mix. Ladytron’s strengths would seem, on their studio recordings, to be their analogue synths and their clear and crisp vocals. All of this was lost tonight. Even the introductions between songs were inaudible down the front.

2. Dreadful lighting. I could see the people in the audience more clearly than I could see anyone on the stage.

3. Lack of stage presence – leaving the band without a focus especially in the muggy light. Geeky dancing and little natural charisma.

The upside:

1. Some of the songs from "Velocifero", particularly the three they opened the set with (Black Cat, Runaway and Ghost), showed more potential than on disc where they sound a little flat.

Not a great night.

Soon, the horse will take us to Durango

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Today, I woke up in a hotel in Leeds. Back in the day, I used to come to comic fairs here. Buying up back issues of Batman and the Flash. Then it was called the Griffin Hotel. Now it is called the Discovery. Last night, I lay in my bed reading a back number of the Justice League of America fron the 1960s. Nothing much has changed. I’m in town for the John Foxx performance of the Quiet Man which happened last night at the Leeds Town Hall. Ate at Wagamamas and then went on to the show.
So what is the Quiet Man? In 1978, when he was lead singer in a band called Ultravox!, John wrote a song called "The Quiet Men" around the concept of shadowy individuals in grey suits who drift through cities unseen and unnoticed – the ordinary man on the street , if you like. He then began work on a book of short pieces of prose about the Quiet Man which he has been working on to this day and which remains unpublished. Last night was the debut performance of a film designed and developed around the concept of some of these short "stories" which John accompanied on acoustic piano (albeit accompanied by synthesised strings) whilst a pre-recording of a reading of one of the prose pieces was played. It was a privilege to be there.
In total, three pieces were performed and portrayed. The first was simply acoustic piano, film and pre-recorded reading and I found it the best of the three. The Quiet Man is seemly alone in a broken down culture, exploring and re-ordering its pieces as nature takes back the land. Fascinating.
The second had Foxx on Synth, whilst John ‘Karborn’ Leigh remixed and overlaid video clips live from the stage as the reading progressed.
The third was read ‘live’ by Foxx from the stage as the video played in a linear fashion.
The performance lasted under an hour but seemed much longer. Rich, fruitful, thoughtful.
Questions and answers followed and I took a full part.
I’ll try to post some pictures later.

Tired of being alone……

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There is a time when a man’s heart yearns for a little Soul and R’n’B (old meaning of the term). So last night, it was off to the Royal Albert Hall of all places – the least likely Soul venue in the whole world – for an Al Green concert. Accompanied by UK singer, Gabrielle, as support, Reverend Green was stopping off for two nights in London on his world tour which has been running since April and has yet a few more nights to run.

Gabrielle opened the show with a set that included most of her hits – Dreams, Give Me a Little More Time, Rise, Sunshine and so forth. Her band were allowed half of the stage and the volume was lower than it needed to be and the Albert Hall has a habit of swallowing sound anyway. Her set was perfunctory, pleasant and not very exciting.

Before the show, I tried to count how many times I’ve seen Al Green perform in concert. I’ve seen him in London, New York, and Birmingham and I stopped counting when I got into double figures. So I’m used to all those parts of the show which a master showman like Green manages still to make seem spontaneous but are actually very well-rehearsed and have been going on in this way for many years. Given that factor, this was still full of energy and a good show. Reverend Al included songs from his new album "Lay it Down" (the title track and "Stay With Me") and 1 track from his 2004 set, "I Can’t Stop" (title track). Aside from that it was the hits ("Let’s Stay Together", "Tired of Being Alone", "Love and Happiness", "Let’s Get Married", "Take Me To The River" etc, etc.), some gospel ("Everything is going to be alright", "Amazing Grace", Nearer My God to Thee") and a medley of covers.

Green has a warmth with his audience, he has a vocal range which is still astonishing and a band which is tight but fluid.

Shame about the venue. I would like to see him cut loose with the set list rather than just give the appearance of that. But all-in-all given the longevity and varied nature of his career, I think this guy is amazing.

Labouring…………….

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Love’s Labour’s Lost
RSC
Courtyard Theatre
Stratford-Upon-Avon

30th October 2008

I keep wanting to say that is an ordinary production….. but that isn’t true. In fact, in many ways, the production is extraordinary. The stage design, the colours, the movement are all of a very high standard indeed. I don’t even get to say that David Tennant was either extremely good or extremely bad. His performance as Berowne is run-of-the-mill, no better, no worse, albeit very good in parts.

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Natural Progressions

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Natural Progressions is a magazine that I edit and also write for. You won’t see it in your newsagents as it is mail order only. It will appeal to people who like a certain kind of music. Issue 38 is now available.


It features:

Full coverage and reviews of the Eagles on tour.
Coverage of recent interviews with Don Henley and Joe Walsh
An interview with Poco founder and solo artist, Richie Furay
Bernie Leadon of the Eagles and Flying Burrito Brothers writing about the rivalry between his band and Poco
An interview with Michael Georgiades of the Bernie Leadon – Michael Georgiades band and Zoe

44 pages, colour when appropriate.

Drop me a line if you want more details or a subscription.

Dylan Days

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Spent a lot of time over the last couple of weeks listening to this "new" Bob Dylan cd "Tell Tale Signs" which is proving a very worthwhile experience. More than anything this compilation of outtakes from 1989-2005 has made me realise how much I appreciate Dylan’s back catalogue. I have a fairly unusual take on Dylan’s albums in that against the prevailing trend I see a lot of worth in his albums of the early to mid Eighties – seeing only the period around "Down in the Groove" as the time that he really lost his vision of his music. Couldn’t choose which of his albums I’d take to a desert island so here’s a complete list of what I think of as his crucial records, in chronological order:

The Times They Are A-Changin’
Another Side of Bob Dylan
Highway 61 Revisited
Blonde on Blonde
Blood on the Tracks
Street Legal
Slow Train Coming
Saved
Shot of Love
Empire Burlesque
Oh Mercy
Time Out of Mind
Live 1961-2000 (Japan only)
Modern Times

If I was going to round it out to 15, then the contenders would be "Bringing it All Back Home", "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid", "Infidels", "Knocked Out Loaded", "World Gone Wrong", and "Love and Theft". Oops, that makes it 20. Really poor Dylan albums: the aforementioned "Down in the Groove", "Desire" (sorry, awful production), and a number of the official live albums.

More on Tell Tale Signs when I’ve lived with it a little longer – and yes, I do have the three cd set and don’t feel I was robbed……..

Anything Goes Where No-one Knows Your Name

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It’s been a quiet year on the live front for John Foxx. That’s why it was doubly good to catch him and Louis Gordon and Steve D’Agostino at the Cargo in Shoreditch, London last night.
John dipped deep into his current songwriting and back catalogue last night. A handful of songs from his days with Ultravox! all those years ago including  Young Savage. It’s brave to attempt this on synthesizers and I’m not sure it quite works but it sure was fun. As John spat out the lyrics with gusto you could forget that punk was thirty years ago and that Johnny Rotten now advertises butter.
Loudest cheers of the night were reserved for Underpass and No-one Driving from Foxx’s debut solo "Metamatic" but musically the high points may have been the rarely-performed "The Garden" and another Ultravox! classic "The Man Who Dies Everyday". Particular credit also goes to encore "Broken Furniture" which debuted on John and Louis’ "Crash and Burn" in 2003.
The evening coincided with the release of two new limited edition Foxx / Gordon albums – the studio set "Impossible" and a live document from last years gig at the Luminaire entitled "Neuro Video".

Set List:

WALK THIS WAY
A MILLION CARS
DISLOCATION
THE MAN WHO DIES EVERY DAY
CAMERA
UPTOWN/DOWNTOWN
UNDERPASS
NO-ONE DRIVING
BURNING CAR
SHADOW MAN

THE GARDEN
TRAVEL
BROKEN FURNITURE
YOUNG SAVAGE
MY SEX 1/
MY SEX 2
ENDLESSLY
SHIFTING CITY

Footnote: Foxx is usually pretty considerate of his audience but last night a show that was billed on the website to begin at 7 pm saw John take the stage at 9.15 – a tactic which is perhaps best avoided in future as the natives were getting restless by that time. Interestingly, following Shifting City the house lights were left down for what seemed like an interminably long time given the impression that an encore was coming which never arrived. Wonder what was going on backstage?

Louis Gordon had been kidnapped and replaced by that guy who used to play Nigel in Eastenders………..

Post-Season blues

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No, I’m not griping about the Yankees not being involved in this stage of the season. We had a good and interesting season but we weren’t quite good enough but there is much reason to be optimistic for 2009.
No. At this time of the year, my problem is always the same. This wild card system doesn’t seem to work. Too often the wild card team gets through the short 5 game series which begins the post-season and then goes on to more success than they deserve. I was very glad last night that the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (boy, that’s a mouthful) managed to bounce back and at least take Boston to 4 games and hopefully the full 5.
Solutions? Don’t really have any – take the leagues to two divisions each and eliminate the need for a wild card? Make the Division series seven games and at least introduce some equity in making that first round as difficult to win as the others?
No, this isn’t me trying to desperately prevent Boston making the World Series again. As I said, I have this problem every year. Too often the Wild Card team from one or both of the leagues, who really are an also-ran in my mind, find their way to the Series in a way that their performance during the 162 games, which is the real meat of the season, doesn’t merit.
Anyway, I hope Anaheim pull it off. Both Los Angeles teams have impressed me this year and deserve to make their Championship series.

One more last night

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Had a good night at Dingwalls yesterday. Arrived in time to see Deviant UK who I really enjoyed even if Jay Smith does wear his Numan influences just a tad too heavily. Good performer, good set.

Next up was the reason for being here – Swarf. Another great performance. Ms. Green really grows when presented with an enthusiastic, reasonably-sized audience and the two guys are a moody and talented presence who are a very large part of everything the band does. So good I bought the t-shirt. But how could they drop "Supine" from the set? This was the song that really turned me on to Swarf. The fall e.p. was good but all the pieces didn’t really fall into place, for me, until I heard "Supine". Swarf, you may be near the top of my personal listening class but restore that song to your live performance. Now, write 500 lines, "We must perform Supine every time we play, regardless of how long a set we are allotted".

Third act up were Adoration who have that guy from This Burning Effigy and precious little else. I really would have stayed for Diary of Dreams but I couldn’t be bothered to wade through this monotonous wall of sound for as long as it would have taken. It’s a shame because on their myspace their sound manages to have interesting layers and all kinds of things going on but all this was lost in the boggy mire they delivered last night.

Diary of Dreams? I guess we’ll never know

.

Deviant UK

1,2,3 Swarfs

Questions…. always questions

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It’s been a good month for getting to talking to some of my favourite musicians. As I have mentioned before I’ve been working hard on an interview project with Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield, Poco, Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, solo career etc. etc.) We had just about finished this when I mentioned to Richie, it would be nice to get an alternative view on some of the key periods in his life. We came up with the idea of getting Bernie Leadon (Hearts and Flowers, Flying Burrito Brothers, Eagles, Bernie Leadon-Michael Georgiades Band, solo career etc. etc.) to comment on rivalry and admiration between Poco and the early Eagles. I was expecting a few words, enough to mould into a paragraph of the article. Bernie went to town and has written an article of his own about his admiration of Poco. Great stuff!
I’m also hoping for a contribution from Al Perkins who played a particularly important role in developing Richie’s musical and spiritual life.

Next up to the plate is Michael Georgiades who was Bernie’s partner-in-crime in the aforementioned Bernie Leadon-Michael Georgiades band and in the short-lived spin-off, Zoe. I’m going to be speaking to him next Saturday. His album, Natural Progressions, is a particular favourite of mine and interviewing him is the realisation of a long-held ambition.

Looks likely then that the next stage in the on-going project that I have rolling with Mr Leadon will be in August as we talk about his period with Hearts & Flowers.

These articles will appear in Cross Rhythms magazine and Natural Progressions Magazine. The first of these can be located on the web, subscription information on the second can be obtained from me.