Amazon exiles discussion

This thread is for banging on about who you've seen or are going to see.

Last Friday was the always thoroughly entertaining and thought-provoking Jeffrey Lewis & Los Bolts at Hull's Adelphi, a club in an end terrace with a bomb-site unpaved car park in the middle of an inner 'ull residential street. Last time I was there would have been a good few years ago for Detroit country rockers Deadstring Brothers when we were told it would be £10 pay on the door but no-one took any money off us until a bloke came round with a bucket asking us to chuck in a fiver. The place was a hovel, every inch of the bench seating was ripped with chunks of the foam padding missing so that it was impossible for even one with such a slender pert derriere as mine to have both cheeks on an intact bit of seating. I think there may have been a maximum of 25 people including a large party of Spanish-speaking students who didn't particularly seem to be there for the band. The toilets were so disgusting I nearly nipped outside; I certainly wiped my feet on the way out. Great gig though.

They've given the place a makeover so now it's a bit seedy rather than a rampant health-hazard. The place was fairly full and a great atmosphere and Jeffrey did his observational punk-folk-poet stuff, a bit like the New York equivalent of John Cooper Clarke/Billy Bragg with a bit of Jonathon Richman thrown in. His brother squatted on the floor where he played an occasional tiny keyboard which was also on the deck until the female bassist handed over the instrument (no banks of spares for this crew) for occasional punkier numbers and then he returned to the floor which was a weird dynamic. Jeffrey did his usual 'music videos' where he stands on a chair, intones some lyrics while turning the wonderfully cartooned pages of a large artist's drawing pad. Did a great song called WWPRD - What Would Pussy Riot Do? Can't see how anyone would not be entertained by his shows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGBhB...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLA3H...

On Sunday forewent the slog to Nottingham to see All Them Witches, a wrench somewhat offset by an afternoon blues gig (4-6) in the wilds of Lincolnshire at the Hope Tavern with Deep Blue Blue Sea. The pub gets some fairly well-known artists, usually who're returning from Friday & Sat night gigs up north and are travelling back south making this a convenient stop-off. This band were driving back to London afterwards but their van was a clapped out scraped and beaten up wreck on wheels. The gigs are usually cheap too, this was £8. Had a lift so a few pints of Tom Woods golden ale (brewed on a farm nearby) went down a treat. The band were great - it's REALLY intimate there, I avoided the front row but was only 6' from the singer's mic. Maya is drop dead gorgeous making it hard to concentrate on the singing! The bass player's Firebird had a beautiful filigree plaque on his guitar too which can be seen in the video (along with the lovely Mayaaaaaaaaaaaa). They won't go anywhere (especially in that van) but it was a great gig.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cl2J...

http://www.hope-tavern.co.uk/home/ori...

Next up;
Picturebooks at Grimsby Yardbirds on Friday
Walter Trout with support from the excellent Sari Schorr at Wakefield on Saturday

Best stop now, only got 8,600 characters left to play with.

Shame you missed ATW, Brass. Maybe next tour.

This Friday night I'm off to Rivermead in Reading to see Placebo.

Not like they're strangers over here, eh? Saw them at Leeds a few months ago.

Brass Neck wrote: "Not like they're strangers over here, eh? Saw them at Leeds a few months ago."

They certainly get out and about regularly!

I am assuming that this is where we talk about gigs we have been to. If so, look out, it's gonna get nuts in here!
Last weekend we had what I think was the first ever gig by my new favourite Cork band:

https://youtu.be/0ip7nv-eY0Y

Headliner on the night was Wild Rocket:

https://youtu.be/4iOkWcKNYDI

If I could work out how to post a picture in here would show you the merch stall.

Code for pictures, just remove the first space between < and img

< img src="the url link to your picture"/>

There isn't < img src=/> in the image I am trying to post. Let's try this:
https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/...

Edit: Nope, that didn't work

[image error]



The error comes from the ampersand in the link. Pasting the link with the & directly into the " " and it gives an error. Change it to & amp ; (no spaces) and it works.

eg: from your link...
afcb511 &oe =5A79B953 - doesn't work (gives image error above)
afcb511 & amp ;oe =5A79B953 - (without the spaces) works

FB is a bugger for linking!

(interestingly, when editing this, Goodreads has changed the link back to a simple &, and it looks identical to the original link, but the original link still doesn't work! It must be a character or formatting problem on Goodreads causing the problem initially. (sorry for the technical bit!))

Sera69 wrote: "Code for pictures, just remove the first space between and img

"

Seems to work for me spacey.

....doesn't look much like the merch stall i expect on Saturday when we go to see Richard Thompson:-)

I am not even going to pretend to understand that Sera, I can't see any difference between the two links.

But what do you reckon of the merch stall? :-)

...i like that t-shirt hanging up at the back!

I'm wondering if Wild Rocket were any good. Passed over their CD recently...

One of the guys from Gnod was the opener (that's the shirt from their latest album). He played a 30 minute drone set which was good, but not exactly exciting, and it was in the pitch dark so I couldn't record any of it.
I did however grab the two CDs at the front, I already have the other two. He gave me them both for €10. I looked them up when I got home, one of them is available for £26, the other is not available anywhere else on CD. That is the kind of thing that makes me happy.
Oh, and I forgot to add, I also won a vinyl copy of the Wild Rocket record for liking and sharing their facebook post.

Sera69 wrote: "I'm wondering if Wild Rocket were any good. Passed over their CD recently..."

Bad move there Sera, they were fantastic, just watch the clip I posted. I think that is three times I have seen them now, and their sound is really evolving. I got the CD when it was first released, but you can listen to and buy it from their bandcamp page (I linked that in the youtube clip).

Sometimes the price of merch works the other way. I went to see Americana chanteuse Courtney Marie Andrews in the Summer and she had her album in vinyl for £20 which is about par for the course and the same on cd for ............. £20! Don't think she did a roaring trade!

Yep you're right enough there Brassy. The recent Boris gig being a prime example, selling the CDs for more than twice the price online, so it makes it all the sweeter when you get a good deal :-)

Coming up tonight - gut wrenching underground death/punk metal, Destriers are the main band, and my mate Ollie gets his live debut with Coroza - can't wait!

Spacepig wrote: "Yep you're right enough there Brassy. The recent Boris gig being a prime example, selling the CDs for more than twice the price online, so it makes it all the sweeter when you get a good deal :-)

..."

Well we'll be having a much more peaceful evening in the company of Richard Thompson at Colston Hall. Just hoping he doesn't play that Al Bowlly song again:-)

Just hoping he doesn't play that Al Bowlly song again.

But you know he will :-)

Last night should've been The Picturebooks at Grimsby Yardbirds. Things started well as mate arrived bang on ETA, got a bus round to Cleethorpes Wetherspoons for a feed and a slake after which I realised I hadn't picked the tickets up so it was a £13 quick taxi ride for them (they were only £16 the pair to start off with!). Then off to the club where no-one was on the door. 'Oh,' says the soundman in the booth by the door, 'They've cancelled as the drummer (there's only 2 of them) is ill and coughing up blood but the support band are going to play'. Felt a bit crestfallen after the ticket shenanigans but then things picked up when the guy behind the bar doled out full refunds. The support were Bad Flowers, a very good classic rock power trio from Cannock who did a great job in trying circumstances to the 25 or so punters left.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34buN...

Tonight is Walter Trout supported by Sari Schorr in Wakefield, good old dependable blues-rockers all.

I thought Colston Hall had changed it's name to something less colonial, more pc?

JB and I are seeing RT in Edinburgh on Tuesday, and I will be hoping for Al, it's one of my favourites.

nocheese wrote: "I thought Colston Hall had changed it's name to something less colonial, more pc?

JB and I are seeing RT in Edinburgh on Tuesday, and I will be hoping for Al, it's one of my favourites."

Nope, still Colston Hal at the moment. The odds on Al must be good (or bad for me) since he's done it every concert bar one that I've been to.

Derek wrote: "nocheese wrote: "JB and I are seeing RT in Edinburgh on Tuesday, and I will be hoping for Al, it's one of my favourites..."

"The odds on Al must be good (or bad for me) since he's done it every concert bar one that I've been to. "

Al?

I've only seen RT once (in Manchester about 10 years ago) and can't think of a song he did that would be abbreviated to Al.

Gordon wrote: "I've only seen RT once (in Manchester about 10 years ago) and can't think of a song he did that would be abbreviated to Al."

Ah. Al Bowlly's in Heaven & I'm in Limbo Now. Sorry, slow on the uptake.

I like that one, too. And he did perform it when I saw him.

Gordon wrote: "Gordon wrote: "I've only seen RT once (in Manchester about 10 years ago) and can't think of a song he did that would be abbreviated to Al."

Ah. Al Bowlly's in Heaven & I'm in Limbo Now. Sorry, slo..."

I'd like him to do that sports car song, but I bet he doesn't.

Derek wrote: "Gordon wrote: "Gordon wrote: "I've only seen RT once (in Manchester about 10 years ago) and can't think of a song he did that would be abbreviated to Al."

Ah. Al Bowlly's in Heaven & I'm in Limbo ..."

Just back from Bristol. Great evening with Richard Thompson on fine form. Good mix of classics and rarities (some of which I didn't even recognise, and not all off the Rarities CD). High points of the evening for me Uninhabited Man (a favourite of mine), Valerie for the cracking guitar solo finish and for pure comedy value and audience participation, Hots For The Smarts (even Richard got the giggles part way through.

An hour and forty minutes all told with two encores. No Al Bowlly (RESULT) and yes he did 'that motorbike song', but no MGB GT.

Oh, good, I hope we get 'Hots for the Smarts' too.

nocheese wrote: "Oh, good, I hope we get 'Hots for the Smarts' too."

I hope you do nocheese. He was having so much fun with it I doubt that he'd not play it but you never know.

I never had RT down as fun-loving ;-)

Lez wrote: "I never had RT down as fun-loving ;-)"

I think it would be described as dry wit. Anyway, someone who writes a story about Jimmy Shand must have a sense of humour.

My last concert (gig?) was Slim Chance at the Eel Pie Club (not, sadly, island). Good performance, poor sound, and was just endlessly reminded of the lack of Plonk.

Derek wrote: "Gordon wrote: "Gordon wrote: "I've only seen RT once (in Manchester about 10 years ago) and can't think of a song he did that would be abbreviated to Al."

Ah. Al Bowlly's in Heaven & I'm in Limbo ..."

MGB GT?

Last night in Wakefield at Warehouse 23 which looks like a new and excellent conversion of an old ..... warehouse; the PA was brilliant and clear as a bell although there were no hand-pulled real ales but they did have Black Sheep on tap so not altogether disastrous on the drinks front. The stage is nice and high, the only downside being a series of central pillars which really spoil the sight lines from the back (which I was nowhere near).

We arrived at 10 to eight just in time to see Sari Schorr take the stage. With only a 35 min support slot, she reined in her hippyish Earth Mother between songs emoting and belted out the songs with power and gusto with Innes Sibun ripping out riffs and solos by her side.

Not much you can say about Walter Trout as he always delivers and leaves nothing back in the dressing room. He laughed, he cried, he comprehensively spanked his plank and he bellowed his blues-rock songs for all he was worth. As he latest album is a bunch of collaborations he invited up variously a young teen lad who traded licks with WT like an old veteran, the roadie to play acoustic guitar and wail a couple of numbers, another guy to play bass, Innes Sibun to play Joe Bonamassa's part on a song from the album and Sari Schorr to do a song on which WT guested from her album. A great 2 hours plus of entertaining giggery.

Don't think 've ever had occasion to visit Wakefield before. I was certainly impressed with the venue but we had to drive out via the town centre which was heaving with lairy lads and underdressed lasses all blithely staggering out into the road in front of cars, smashed out of their gourds. Reminded me quite emphatically why I don't go out drinking much and especially why I stick to the 'burbs for a more sedate hostelry experience.

Mate a gave a lift to said he was off to Leeds tonight for the Supersuckers so I thought why not so that's tonight's entertainment sorted.

Steven wrote: "Lez wrote: "I never had RT down as fun-loving ;-)"

I think it would be described as dry wit. Anyway, someone who writes a story about Jimmy Shand must have a sense of humour."
Hi Steven, welcome! Two Left Feet is also a funny song,and 'Don't Sit on my Jimmy Shands' is a classic. I once saw him in Sebastopol in N California, and someone requested it.

No offence to BN, but I do like no longer seeing the start of this thread about him going ‘en famille’ to see Frank Turner 😀

Should've used the links that take you to the latest post then!

My links went missing a couple of years ago. I could link from the recent discussions panel but not from the list of threads.

Steven wrote: "Derek wrote: "Gordon wrote: "Gordon wrote: "I've only seen RT once (in Manchester about 10 years ago) and can't think of a song he did that would be abbreviated to Al."

Ah. Al Bowlly's in Heaven &..."

Correct Steven

Back to Colston Hall on Wednesday for The Waterboys. Having seen some of the comments on here or Amazon recently let's hope we don't regret it:-)

So, while Brassy was off visiting new climes and bobbing along to some well established Blues licks, and Derek ventured off to see perennial favourite RT, I headed for the sanctuary of the metal underground.

First up, first gig from new Cork doom band Coroza:

https://www.facebook.com/spacepig.pig...

Then it got a wee bit noisier, another Cork band, Onkalo:

https://youtu.be/FWvJ1Du5iVk

And any remaining brain cells were vapourised by Dublin band Destriers:

https://youtu.be/GnXmHYVakrw

Someone once told me that as we age, our tastes in music mellow a bit - load of bollox, wait till you see next week's clips :-)

Just back from seeing 3 singer/songwriters - James Yorkston, Dan Wilson and Kris Drever- playing and singing together at a venue I haven't been in before, BAaD in the heart of The Barras in Glasgow. Great night, especially Kris Drever, the tall ,dark, handsome and incredibly talented member of Lau. James Yorkston and Dan Wilson are both connected to the Fence Collective; Google it if you don't know about it. I hadn't heard Dan Wilson before, mainly because he records as 'Withered Hand', a name I find very offputting. He's actually very funny and writes good songs - who knew? Kris Drever, both as a singer/songwriter and a guitarist, leaves them both standing though. (And OK, maybe I have a tiny crush).

nc - did we see Withered Hand at CCs one year? I remember the name.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dS8gtym...

I have no memory of ever having seen him before, but I could be wrong. He now looks and sounds very different from that clip.

Great show from RT at the Usher Hall last night, he was relaxed and funny, bantering with the audience. No "Hots for the Smarts', but we did get the bloody motorbike song, Galway to Graceland, Wall of Death, Dimming of the Day, and his great acoustic version of Ghost of You Walks. He did Bright Lights as well, describing it as having 'lightly brushed the bottom of the Top Forty'. JB and I both noticed that he described it as the nearest thing he had come to a hit, no mention of Linda's not inconsiderable contribution.

Hi nc, shame about no 'Smarts'. We didn't get Dimming or Ghost, but we did get Meet On The Ledge and Who Knows Where The Time Goes with due respect to Sandy Denny.

Oh, yes, should have mentioned Who Knows Where the Time Goes.

nocheese wrote: "He did Bright Lights as well, describing it as having 'lightly brushed the bottom of the Top Forty'. JB and I both noticed that he described it as the nearest thing he had come to a hit, no mention of Linda's not inconsiderable contribution."

I had no idea R&L Thompson had brushed the bottom of the top forty with I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight. The only version of that song I was aware of in the seventies was by Julie Covington.

Here you go Gordon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57PEN...

You can see why it was cheeky of him not to mention Linda

nocheese wrote: "Here you go Gordon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57PEN...
You can see why it was cheeky of him not to mention Linda"

I have the R&LT album, nc, although I only bought it about 10 years ago. I was just commenting that I had no idea that they had come near the singles chart with the original recording of the song.

Ah, OK. :)