LAST WEEK IN LONDON; Different Strings for Different Things
- Posted on December 17, 2007 11:14 AM
- 0 comments
By Peter Coulston
Hello and welcome to the world of live music in London. I trust you had a good weekend and that you have bought all your Christmas presents, ordered the turkey and put up the tree. No, I haven’t either; but I did pick up my free DVD of a Christmas Carol in the Daily Mail on Saturday (you know, the one with Patrick Stewart and Richard E Grant), so that’s a start. In the meantime, there are gigs to attend and music to be heard, and not least at the Monday night Unplugged at The Half Moon in Putney. This great old venue continues to offer a platform for emerging artists after over forty years as a showcase for new talent. The walls are decked with photographs of artists that appeared there before they were famous, and it is sad to see them in their prime while we mourn for those no longer with us. But life must go on, and it certainly did last night with a varied mix of talented performers.
Redvers Bailey and Steve Wyatt opened with some material that they will be performing with a new band called One. Redvers is the compere and sound man on Mondays, and has quite a way with the high notes in his vocals. The two sounded good together, with Steve’s fine guitar work adding some body to the songs. “Lovesick In The Morning” was a good opener and, based on the rest of the set, this band will be worth a listen. The Brent Flood is a four piece band, but only one of them was there tonight. He did a good job, though, with songs like “Drunken Country” and “Beverly”, which were well constructed and performed. The whole band is playing the Barfly in Camden on Friday, so check them out. Some TCD are a duo with nice folky harmonies but rather dark material. It is clever stuff that requires some concentration and may even come across as a tad pretentious. Lighten up a little, guys; there’s some good music in there. Phillip Stapley is a singer/songwriter in the folk genre with very pleasant songs that he sung and played well. “Dearest Whiskey” and “Light Winds Again” did not blow my mind at first hearing, but I have a feeling that these songs could grow on you after several listens. “Number 6” was more bluesy and closed the set off nicely. For versatility, Victoria Klewin took the prize with her great voice that crossed many paths. She plays piano (sometimes) and opened with “Life Expectancy”, which was a great song that would not have been out of place in a West End musical. “Freedom Song” was very Laura Nyro, while “Minefield” was soulful jazz. An excellent set from a performer that we will be hearing about a lot in 2008. The headline artist was Amrit Sond, who I heard on my last visit to this great establishment. By his own admission, he is difficult to pin down musically, with his unusual guitar style which allows his instrument to double as percussion, in a similar style to Jon Gomm. Amrit is purely instrumental, and pretty manic at times, as he was on “Read Your Geometry”. He also used an ebow?, a sort of vibrator (steady guys, this is a family website), which is placed on the strings while he plays. His CD title track, “Circular Motion” was more down to earth, and “Opening” visited his Indian roots. Very clever stuff, that can be heard on his myspace to see if you like it. A must for guitar buffs.
As a result of an email received from Simon James, I set my compass north on Wednesday night in search of the Bullet Bar on Kentish Town Road in Camden. It wasn’t difficult to find, as I have been there loads of times before; but, for those of you who haven’t, here’s the directions. Take the Northern Line to Camden Town, come out of the Kentish Town Road exit, turn left and keep walking for about five minutes. You will find it on your left at the crossroads with Royal College Street. This is a good venue run by Aaron Short, who wasn’t there last night. The problem is that it is free admission, which means that the audience talk instead of listening to the music. The opening act was a girl from Austin, Texas called Vanessa Lively, who performed some very good songs with a South American feel to them, influenced by the time she lived in Ecuador. Some of the songs were in Spanish, and she was ably backed by her own guitar and a man playing a charango, which looks like a small ukulele but is strung like a mandolin. Very nice way to start the show, despite the noisy audience, and you can hear her on myspace. If you like what you hear, she has an album on sale and is working on a new one at present in Manchester. Simon James was on next, and he took the rowdy punters in his stride and gave a brilliant set. He has moved more into rock and blues since I last saw him, and has enlisted the services of Adam Drake, a guitarist who really knows his way around that kind of material. “She’s A Lady” and “Moneytrap” were more in that vein, but old favourites like “Monsters” were not neglected. He has an excellent voice, is a good writer, and I believe that this guy has a great future; so check him out on itsallaboutsimon.com and go to one of his gigs. Type Press should have been on next, but instead, we got a solo acoustic performer who is part of the band, but did not introduce himself. Nice set, but he shouldn’t have let the audience get to him and take it out on the reviewer! Darwyn are a four piece band from Suffolk who were put in at the last minute to replace one of the two solo performers that did not show. I didn’t notice anyone complaining. They did a very good set of songs that reflected a selection of US bands from Pearl Jam to Counting Crows, but were let down by the sound. The singer and keyboards were muffled and the drummer, good as he was, was too loud. I have listened to a CD that they gave me and am very impressed. I intend watching them in the future and I suggest that you do also. Rate Of The Day suffered the same fate soundwise but nevertheless gave a good performance. I have listened to their CD also, and this performance did not show them at their best. They encored and played some impressive numbers like “Things To Come” and “Waging War”, which the audience loved.
With Christmas drawing near, many venues are giving up their live music space to private parties, so the choices are limited. The Bedford in Balham, however, had live music as usual this week, and Thursday was my night to check it out. The opening act was Ben Blance, which actually turned out to be an acoustic trio from Liverpool with fantastic harmonies. Blance, Hastie and Tabor combined CSN vocals with great guitars and recorder on fine songs such as “3000 Eyes”, “Water” and “Redwood Song”. In the event of them not returning to London in the near future, check them out if you are in Liverpool, or check myspace. Rokhsan Heydari, one of the finalists in the 2007 MBF Songwriting Awards the other week, was on next and captured the audience with her charm and personality. She plays guitar and piano and is a bit urban, but without the exaggerated Kate Nash accent (most people in Croydon don’t sound like that). “Maria” and “Like The Sun That Shines Each Day” highlighted her versatility and the audience fell for her totally, which they would have done even if she wasn’t very good. She says that songwriting is her first priority, but don’t neglect the punters, Rokhsan; they love you. Stewart Mac is another good singer/songwriter in the acoustic/indie rock mode with a strong voice and a very effective flatpicking guitar style. He produces well constructed songs like “Moments” and “California” and, while being an enjoyable solo artist, would sound even better fronting a band. His myspace is poundformytambourine. The closest we came to a band was Yamit Mamo, an exceptional singer with a soulful voice that she controls impeccably. Equally at home with upbeat numbers and ballads, Yamit and her terrific band gave us some wonderful songs, including “Spark Of The City”, which was sort of hip hop soul that included a sample from the classic “Streetlife” (not the Roxy Music one). This lady has star quality, so check out her myspace. Well, that’s it for another week. Next week is the last before Christmas, but will most certainly be in party mode. Join me again, please, as there will be some good music there too. In the meantime, be safe and well.
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