Who: Judie Tzuke
What: Songs and Stories Tour
Where: Ravenscourt Arts, Hammersmith, London
When: 11th April 2015
On the opening night of Judie Tzuke’s first UK wide all-acoustic tour, questions were invited from the audience as they will be on every night of this long jaunt around the country.
One sample question: What do you do to keep your voice so strong for so long?
Answer: Nothing. I was once given some vocal exercises but I’m afraid I’ve forgotten them.
Who: Gary Numan
What: Convergence 2015
Where: Royal Festival Hall, South Bank, London
When: 20th March 2015
In 1981, after an exhausting two years, two number one singles and three number one albums, Gary Numan retired from touring with a lavish set of final shows at Wembley Arena in London. On Friday night, at Convergence in the Royal Festival Hall, London, for Numan it is now thirty-four years since he returned from retiring from live shows and he has a one-off special concert to mark his influence as a pioneer of electronica. The poster outside the venue doors described him as having “a ever-growing fanbase”. Apparently despite this, his records no longer trouble the top of the charts. Numan’s career has been a regular conundrum and a game of snakes-and-ladders and tonight was just the latest twist.
Who: Judie Tzuke
What: Songs and Stories
Where: Ravenscourt Arts, Hammersmith
When: 20th February 2015
Ravenscourt Arts is a delightful little venue. Seating 160 with immaculate sound reproduction, great lights, an engaging atmosphere and well-thought-out design, it is a great place to host a concert. Consequently, it is the ideal place for the kind of tasty dish that was served up on Friday night.
Tonight is the “secret” launch night for Judie Tzuke’s first ever full acoustic tour in a long and successful career. There’s some joke about the “pineapple gig” that the all-invited audience seem to be in on but we don’t need to dwell on that. What we have is an acoustic set which spans the bases from the debut album “Welcome to the Cruise” right up to the as-yet-unreleased “Woman Overboard”.
Who: The Daughters of Davis
Where: Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith
When: 18th February 2015
Being piggy-in-the-middle on a three act bill is never an enviable task but when even the opening act is allowed access to the higher ranges on the volume sliders of the mixing desk that you’re not and the top act’s target audience is very different from your own then it’s somewhat more problematic.
But having said that Daughters of Davis blew everyone else off stage when it came to artistic integrity and provided a great set for an audience who entered not really caring who they were and exited won over in some numbers.
Who: Sparks & the Heritage Orchestra (conducted by Jules Buckley)
What: Kimono My House (40th Anniversary Performance)
Where: Barbican Hall. The Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London
When: 19th December 2014
There have been various rock bands down the years who have performed albums and other projects with an orchestra (Deep Purple and Emerson, Lake and Palmer have done whole shows, Eagles used an orchestra on certain sections of their “Hotel California” tour, for example) but for a band like Sparks who are regarded as more of a pop outfit a show like tonight was quite unusual.
Sparks, of course, are an underestimated outfit amongst large sections of the general public and could be said to only really understood by their dedicated band of followers.
What: Luna Rossa
Where: The Borderline, off Manette Street, London
When: 2nd November 2014
Luna Rossa are one of the new kids on the block in terms of live shows. This was their second live show on a three-date stretch which precedes the release of their second album “Secrets and Lies”. That such a little known band is able to pull a decent sized crowd is primarily due to their connection with one of rock music’s best kept quality secrets: Panic Room.
Mostly Hackett but things turned a little Autumnal too.
What: Steve Hackett
Supported by Mostly Autumn (acoustic)
Where: Hammersmith Apollo
When: 1 November 2014
It was February 1984 and a close friend and I went to see Genesis at the NEC in Birmingham. Collins, Rutherford, Banks. I’d been a Genesis fan for about six years. Loved “Seconds Out”, “Wind And Wuthering” and “Duke”. Didn’t like the production on “Trick of the Tail”. Found “….And Then There Were Three” a bit of a mixed bag. Then I discovered the Gabriel years and my perception of the band began to change. “Trespass”, “Nursery Cryme” and “Foxtrot” joined “Duke” as my favourite Genesis albums.
Who: Ian Hunter and the Rant Band
Where: Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
When: October 4th 2014
So we gathered at the front of the stage with all the old dudes, waiting for the band to take the stage and wondering what Mr Hunter would serve up for us tonight. In truth, it was to prove fairly predictable. But predictable isn’t always a bad thing if it comes with passions — and this did. Ian told us he has nothing new to sell. So consequently, we were treated to a collection of his best solo moments, and all the great Mott the Hoople hits from long ago and a smattering of more obscure songs from both eras to please the most dedicated fans.
Who: Roger McGuinn (An Evening with Roger McGuinn – solo , mostly acoustic)
Where: Cadogan Hall, London (Just off Sloane Square)
When: 26th September 2014
I last saw Roger McGuinn in concert in 1987. He was third on the bill behind Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and headliner Bob Dylan on “The Temples in Flames” tour as it stopped off in Birmingham at the NEC. Dylan was having an off night and McGuinn’s set was, for me, the highlight of a concert I wouldn’t choose to revisit.
twilightdawning 