The Musical Week That Was...
- Posted on August 13, 2007 1:00 PM
- 0 comments
LAST WEEK IN LONDON-WHERE WERE YOU?
By Peter Coulston
Well, London was certainly buzzing last week, what with the good weather and Prince hitting town. For more news about THAT gentleman later in the month, watch this space. In the meantime, I have visited three of the many excellent outlets of fine music in this city; two old favourites and a new one.
On Wednesday, I could not resist a visit to the refurbished (looks exactly the same to me) 12 Bar Club to see John Otway and friends. It turned out to be a very enjoyable evening as always. The show opened with Something In The Water”, a trio made up of Polly MacClean of Kinkajou, Joe Murphy of Sgt. Buzfuz and Tom Alder of David Cronenberg’s Wife. A brilliant performance of dark, folky offerings which included Polly doing a great unaccompanied “A Little Stone” as well as songs about Urn Bru and murder. Joe gave us “Here Come The Popes”, which listed the indiscretions of holders of papal office over the centuries; and it was apparently all true, for God sake. David Cronenberg’s Wife (DCW) were launching their new single “I Couldn’t Get Off My Date With Jenna Bush”, but don’t expect to hear it as Radio One Single of the Week; it will more than likely show up on John Kennedy’s Exposure show on XFM.
DCW are a brilliant band from the Manchester area who do very electric/electronic rock with a nod towards Talking Heads among others. Tom Mayne on guitar and vocals neither sounds or looks like David Byrne, so the band is not lacking in originality. Other members are Tom Alder on guitar and violin, Rhi Tucker on keys and Stuart Sanderson on drums. A brilliant set, encored with the amazing “Sweden” which was mesmerising despite appearing to have only one chord. John Otway has been around since 1977 and is linked to the punk scene from his work with Wild Willy Barrett. He was on his own with an acoustic guitar on this occasion, and mixed his punk favourites with some lyrically beautiful ballads. He spends much of his act making a fool of himself and his place in the pop hierarchy, but he is, despite that, a fine singer songwriter who just does not take it all too seriously; and is all the better for it. A very entertaining show, that I recommend to you all. All the above artists are on myspace. You can find the 12 Bar on Denmark Street off Charing Cross Road, and the nearest tube is Tottenham Court Road (Northern and Central Lines)
Dingwalls in Camden was the host on Thursday to The Dead 60’s, a ska and rock outfit from the same Liverpool stable as The Coral and The Zutons. I am really impressed with Northern bands at the moment, so I was not disappointed with the Wakefield based opening act, The Last Gang. But, before the show, I decided to mix with the rich and famous at the Hawley Arms. Somebody at the 12 Bar the night before mistook me for Reckless Eric, so I figured I was on a roll. Amy Winehouse regularly drinks at the Hawley among other places, but she is currently unwell (tired and exhausted even) and off the scene. Nobody recognised me, but, then again, the Hawley is so cool that people just ignore celebrities. As you do.
Anyway, the gig started on time and the audience was great apart from a bit of crowd surfing towards the end. I couldn’t help noticing that lots of the girls were sporting dodgy Mary Quant circa’63 haircuts. Is this to do with the band or is it a new fashion? I must ask my daughters. The Last Gang are Kristian Walker and Richie Townsend on vocals and guitars, Maff Smith on vocals and bass and Matt Knee on drums. Performing numbers from their new Columbia album “It All Depend On Us”, this is a fine Indie, pop, urban band that really has it together. Brilliant songs, professionally and passionately presented, by a band that will surely be headlining soon. The Dead 60’s are a very impressive and obviously popular group consisting of Mark McManamon on vocals and guitar, Ben Jordan on guitar, keys and vocals, Charley Turner on bass and vocals and Bryan Johnson on drums. Their blend of ska and rock is extremely powerful and held the audience with great songs like “Time To Take Sides”, “Stand Up” and “Seven Empty Days”. Their two encores were an awesome mix of rock and ska and the punters didn’t dare ask for a third. I have to repeat it; these Northern bands are the business and deserve all the recognition that they are getting at the moment. These lads are also with Columbia through the Deltasonic label. By the way; Camden in on the Northern Line, where the City and Charing X branches meet.
On Saturday night, it was time to witness a bit of history at the Zoom@The Moon in Herne Hill near Brixton. Located in the Half Moon Pub in Half Moon Lane, this is one of many outlets managed by Pete Feenstra, a promoter who specialises in rock and blues acts and tribute bands. The pub itself is not dissimilar to it’s namesake in Putney; it’s old and big and perfect as a rock venue. It is very close to Herne Hill railway station, there are buses from Norwood and Brixton, and the parking is easy. The occasion was the reunion of Eric Bell and John O’Leary after 23 years. Now, the history lesson. Eric Bell was a founder member of Thin Lizzy in 1969 with Phil Lynott and Brian Downey and was the featured guitarist on “Whiskey In The Jar” and “The Rocker”. He has worked with Van Morrison, Rory Gallagher and Bo Diddley, and was part of Mainsqueeze with John O’Leary, the brilliant harmonica player who was a founding member of the Savoy Brown Blues Band. So, now that you are totally confused, what about the gig. Well, awesome; what did you expect? Eric Bell is one of the best blues guitarists that I have ever heard and he pulled all the stops out. “Hoochie Coochie Man” was the opener followed by Rory Gallagher’s “Same Old Song” and “Things I Used To Do”, an old Buddy Guy number. John O’Leary took to the stage to display his considerable harp skills, Eric Bell did some slide which included “Little Red Rooster” and Eric on his own doing a blinding version of Johnny Winter’s “Dallas”. We also heard “Whiskey In The Jar” (the long version), “Voodoo Child”, “Baby, Please Don’t Go” and “The Rocker” as an encore. What can I say? If you like blues guitar and harmonica played by the masters, this is the show for you. I am now taking Sunday off, see you next week.
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