LAST WEEK IN LONDON: Brixton, the Bush and Balham
- Posted on April 17, 2008 10:03 AM
- 0 comments
By Peter Coulston
Hello and welcome to an overview of the delights of live music in this great city this week. Never mind the Olympics, the live music scene in London never sleeps and we don’t do politics (well, I do sometimes, but they deserve it).
Tuesday found me in Brixton, an area with which I am familiar as I went to school there many years ago. I knew I was back when a homie tried to sell me something at the bus stop, and it didn’t look like a Travelcard, unless Transport For London have redesigned them so that you can roll them up and smoke them after they expire. Potential candidates for Mayor of London take note. In any event, I declined the offer and that was cool, know what I’m saying? I was in the buzzing borough of Lambeth to visit The Dex, a club on Brixton Road at the Acre Lane end which has an acoustic night on a Tuesday called The Great Indoors. Located on the first floor, it is a modern, cocktail bar type establishment with leather and wood replacing the usual chrome and glass. The seating is comfortable, the bar staff are very professional and, for a change at this sort of gig, the acoustics were good. The show was compared by Craig Mitchell, who also headlined, and he kept the audience in check from the start.
Antonio Lulic opened with some acoustic guitar driven folk rock that was not unlike early Springsteen. Nice songs, well performed, and the set was closed with a cover medley of “Hit the Road, Jack” and “Tainted Love”. For something completely different, Christopher Brown played acoustic guitar in a classical/folk style with the help of an equally talented lady on violin. Excellent stuff, the like of which we do not hear enough of in acoustic clubs, probably because there are not enough people who can play it this well.
Ringing the changes again, we heard some amusing and entertaining material from John Hudson. His songs about the M25, control freaks and old men making fools of themselves with young girls (chance would be a fine thing) were well written and performed; the problem with material like this is that you need a lot of it as it is not as funny the third time around. He’s on www.myspace/johnhudsonsongs if you fancy a laugh. I was actually at this venue on Tuesday to see and hear Emily Zuzik before she returned to New York. She is a great exponent of Americana rock/folk and confirmed it with the rocky “Breaking It Down”. Armed with an acoustic guitar, she moved on to the more ballad like “I Must Be Falling” and broke a string along the way. It didn’t seem to matter, as the material was strong and the finish was her own “Potential” blended with Iggy Pop’s “Passenger”. Unlike Iggy, she kept her clothes on for that one; if only he would. In any event, Emily is great and can be found on www.myspace.com/emilyzuzik. Craig Mitchell finished the night with some dark, jazzy acoustic folk assisted by some able percussionists. Good songs, well performed; and he’s a pretty mean guitar player as well, as he proved in the jam at the end with Chris Brown.
After another great jam with Emily it was time to go, but not until we heard a parody of the Kaiser Chiefs called “I Predict a Fry Up”; it was funnier than it sounds, especially at 11pm in Brixton.
I decided to indulge myself on Wednesday by visiting that sublime live music venue, Ginglik in Shepherds Bush which hosts The Big Secret every week on this day. It was mostly a girlie night, with two of my favourite performers on the bill and some new faces to remember. Amity, the wonderful host and compere ensured that everything ran like clockwork and kept any potential gig tourists quiet. Gareth was at the sketch pad and a fine night was had by all. Lee Mitchell, an acoustic singer/songwriter from Bangor opened the show with some good urban folk that was well sung and played. He’s on www.myspace.com/whoisleemitchell. A brilliant set by Haley Glennie Smith followed with gems like “Love You” and “Adaggio” proving once again what a superior singer songwriter she is. Her voice brings the subtle lyrics of these ballads to life and the jazzy “Meet Me On the Lawn” shows another equally attractive side of the lady. All this is apparent on www.myspace.com/hayleyglenniesmith. Ella Edmundson followed with some well structured acoustic songs, mostly upbeat and a little rocky. “Go Without” was catchy and she made good use of her 12 String on the folky “Sing” and the rockier “Hold Your Horses”. Nice performance and she has a myspace, which I have not managed to locate, but she is worth listening to and looking for. Sam Heard works in a similar style with the addition of some bass and bongos. “Nothing Ever Was” rocked, as did “Number 42” while the folky “How So” slowed things down a bit. Another good performer who can be found on www.myspace.com/samanthaheard. It was a pleasure to hear and see Miranda Barber again after a long absence, during which she has been recording an album, which is itself a result of her winning the Slice The Pie award last year. She has also been playing in Berlin, where I gather the beach towels were on the seats very early before each sell out performance. Assisted by her charming and talented musical colleague, Sian Latimer, she opened with “Sweetheart’s Embrace”, a touching piece from her album, followed by the incredibly infectious gospel sounding “Numb Numb Song”. Armed with a ukulele, she titillated us punters with the jazzy, bluesy, cheeky “Show Me” and closed with the beautiful “My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It”. I will review the new album as soon as it is available; in the meantime, visit www.myspace.com/mirandabarber,
I ended my week of musical indulgence close to home at The Bedford in Balham, where a fine line up was awaiting me. As you may have gathered, I love blues, country rock and all things Americana. I lived in Toronto, Canada for ten years and my three daughters are Canadian, although they all live here. Consequently, Marcus Bonfani was very much to my taste right from the country rock song that he opened with. “Hard Times” was a blues that his guitar styles and soulful voice did justice to and is the title track of his current album. “Knock Me Down” was rocky and “Not Meant For This World” was a bit like Dylan’s I Shall be Released but less boring and repetitive ( sorry, it’s just not one of my favourite Dylan songs). A great performance and you should check him out on www.myspave.com/marcusbonfantimusic. Next up was some classy bosa nova /jazz from Maxyne Ryan and her excellent band of guitar and percussion. There were some nice songs in the jazz/Latin genre but my problem was with her limited vocal range. She had difficulty staying in tune on occasions, despite the songs being not too demanding and I was not impressed overall.
Moving back into the folk rock world, I was very impressed with Kamila Thompson, and not just because her parents are Richard and Linda Thompson. Richard and I sort of hung out together for a while (that means that both of us were too drunk to remember if either one of us was there), and I do recall both of us being among a group of inebriated musicians at the first UK gig by The Band at the Royal Albert Hall. As far as I remember, it was a great gig and an equally great booze up. Moving right along, Kamila has certainly inherited her parent’s talent. Her style is very Americana (she grew up in New York) and her songs are gritty, well written and pretty damn good. All of her songs were solidly structured, with “Tick Tock” being positively revolutionary in structure; OK, maybe a little over the top but Richard and I often were. Who could blame us, we didn’t have the internet (good excuse); but she has and can be found on www.myspace.com/kamilathompson. I heard Paul Liddell a few months ago at Ginglik in Shepherds Bush and was very impressed with his songs and his use of Loop Station. This Sunderland based lad performs some very complex material such as ”Dialing Tone” and “ Hurricanes”, which get pretty heavy, alongside good folk/rock material like “Runaway”. A very talented guy who doesn’t visit London that often; so, next time he does, make sure you catch his set. In the meantime, there’s always www.myspace.com/paulliddellmusic. So that’s it for another week. There will be more good stuff next week, including the Camden Crawl, so stay safe and well and be sure to get out and gig.
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