Steeleye Span at The Barbican

For the last few years I've wanted to catch a Steeleye Span or Maddy Prior gig at Christmas but I always seem to have something in the diary for that particular night. So, when I found out about the latest Steeleye Span tour - their 40th Anniversary Tour - landing at the Barbican on Monday I had to get a ticket. Finally.

I liked 'Gaudete' when it came out but it was 'All Around My Hat' in 1975 that opened my ears to electric folk and I started getting their albums, joyous and dour by turns. I loved Maddy's voice, so clear and pure and strong, singing songs of olde England, but the usual Irish jigs and reels tended to pass me by. And then punk exploded and Steeleye Span were a casualty of the punk wars. It wasn't until the mid-'90s when I started exploring the band again. They'd been going all along, of course, with a revolving membership, even Maddy leaving at one point for a few years.

I had no idea what to expect as I entered the auditorium and took my seat. Looking round I could see a definite age thing going on - I was probably in the youngest third in the audience. I had a moment of silly surprise when I looked at the stage and saw it set out for a gig, with guitars, drums and amps ... why on earth would it be any different? Steeleye Span got together to play traditional music with modern electric instruments, a fusion of old and new, so of course it would look like a gig.

Shortly after 7.30pm, on they strode, led out by Maddy Prior in a red and pink floor length frock thing, with the blokes dressed like middle aged men on a night out. Guitar, bass, electic fiddle and drums with Maddy's great voice out front but, of course, the three front blokes also take lead vocals on different songs and that's one of their strengths - four lead vocalists on different types of song. Maddy didn't play any instruments but she danced and jigged and flounced around the stage as her contribution to the spectacle (she even did a hula-hula dance at one point).

They opened with 'Little Sir Hugh' (one of my favourites so that was a good sign) and started moving backwards and forwards through time as they explored their 40 year back catalogue for the next hour. That was followed by an interval and chance for a drink and a visit to the incredibly busy merch stand to get their 'Winter' album and their new album, 'Cogs, Wheels and Lovers'.

Then back into the auditorium for the band to return along with some special guests and former members of the band, John Kirkpatrick and Martin Carthy - seeing Martin transported me back to the summer and seeing The Imagined Village at the Tower of London and him playing that fine old traditional jig, 'Cum On Feel The Noize' by those olde English balladeers, Noddy Holder and Jim Lea. They were on for a few songs then left the stage to appear at the end again. We also had a guest appearance by Rose Kemp, Maddy and Rick's daughter, who is also a singer. Including two encores, they were on stage for a further hour and a quarter, so that's well over two hours of great music, fun, stories, jokes and much love for the band.

Favourite moments for me were 'Little Sir Hugh' followed by their version of 'Cold Haily Windy Night' with Rick Kemp on lead vocals and fingers flashing around his bass at incredible speed made me think he'd invented punk (much as the Mamas and the Papas invented disco - o yes they did). I loved Maddy swinging her hips in full on hula tradition during 'Seagull', and her lovely version of 'I Love Not Where I Live' that Maddy explained she had sung with Tim Hart when they were a duo before Steeleye got together and went on to tell us that he was very poorly at the moment and her annual raffle was to raise funds for him. What are friends for, she said, if not to rally round and help out?

The (first) encore was, of course, 'All Around My Hat' along with 'Hard Times Of Old England' and a song I hadn't heard before but loved, 'Bonny Black Hare', very electric and chugging rock song with Maddy's roughened voice floating over the top, with guitar solos a-plenty. I also loved 'The Gallant Frigate Amphridite' from the new album and 'Babylon', a song from the '90s I hadn't heard before.

What a great night out. The give good show, do Steeleye Span, and not a finger in the ear or 'fol-de-rol' to be seen or heard. The only disappointment was no 'Gaudete'. The musicianship was excellent with what at first sounded like raucous rock guitar solos by Ken Nicol's guitar often turned out to be Peter Knight's electric fiddle, with Rick Kemp moving between simple basswork to funk and punk at the drop of a hat and Liam Genockey swapping between a 'normal' drumkit to playing tabor and other percussion.

It was great to finally see them play live and I wouldn't hesitate to see either Steeleye Span or Maddy Prior again the next time they play London. They've open my ears to new sounds many times over the years and they did it again last night. See them when you can.

New York Dolls & Alison Moyet

I'm running behind with my blogging I'm afraid, so here's two for the price of one!

On Friday night we went to the long-awaited New York Dolls gig at the Forum in Kentish Town - it seems like an age since I bought the tickets and got the new album. We got there in good time and grabbed good seats in the centre of the balcony with a guaranteed view of the stage. Then on they came, all rock swagger, picking up guitars and then on came David Johansen, said something into the mic and off they went with 'Looking For A Kiss' in guitar thrash-a-go-go style.

Now, much as I love that song, it started a trend for the rest of the evening with poor sound quality, guitars too loud and David's vocals too low in the mix. A twiddle of a knob would've sorted that. But, you know what? I didn't really mind at all. The sound was awful but it left my ears ringing, and it's a long time since that's happened! That's a good thing. After seeing and hearing folk music, pop and disco music, Motown classics and all manner of other music over the last six months or so, here was some down and dirty swaggering rock music, guitarists pulling poses and thrashing away, and I loved it. Does that make me a bad person? It's the Dolls - what's not to like?

There was a goodly selection from the last two albums and their mid-70s albums, enough to keep anyone happy. 'Personality Crisis', 'Trash' (pronounced 'tray-ash', both the rock version and the nod towards reggae version), 'Pills', 'Subway Train' , they were all there, mainly towards the second half of the set, with the marvellous 'Jet Boy' as part of the encore. From the previous album we had the great 'Dance Like A Monkey' (with Syl on monkey sounds), 'Gotta Get Away From Tommy' and 'We're All In Love'. From the latest album we got 'Nobody Got No Bizness', 'Exorcism of Despair' and 'Cause I Sez So'. Syl started singing a version of 'You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory' which morphed into 'Lonely Planet Boy'.

They were gloriously rock'n'roll, pulling poses and striking power chords, Sylvain Sylvain and Steve Conte vying for the rock god crown while David just oozed cool and ignored their vainglorious attempts to usurp his crown. It's not gonna happen, guys, give up while you can.

My gripes are the awful sound (which, perversely, I also loved), the fact that Syl has lost weight and David is still a stick insect and that the lights were behind the band and shining into the audience rather than on the band. Other than that, they were perfect! Come back soon guys!


For a complete change we went to see Alison Moyet on Sunday at the Royal Festival Hall (Chris gritted his teeth so hard I had to nudge him a couple of times since it was interfering with the sound and the flight-path of low flying aeroplanes). Something has happened to Alison in the last year or so and she has lost an amazing amount of flesh and she revelled in it on Sunday night, in a slinky full length black frock with sandals. Good on you, is all I have to say. It hasn't affected her voice or presence, and that's the main thing.

I've had a soft spot for Alison since her time with Yazoo in the early '80s (I missed the reunion gig last year, unfortunately) with her powerful voice and skill at interpreting songs. With a stripped-down band of four musicians plus one backing singer, Alison presented us with a selection from the last 25 years of her solo career plus Yazoo classics and I was well satisfied. She's developed some new versions of old classics, bluesy and basic, that are on the extra disc of her new 'best of' so I think I need to get them.

She seemed to be having fun up there on the stage in front of her 'home crowd', with her mother and daughters in the audience - I couldn't help but wonder what her daughters must think seeing mum up there on stage with a worshipping crowd? I loved every second of the show (except for 'Love Letters', a song I've never liked by anyone) and it was great that she got a standing ovation at the end of the main show and after the encore. She'd earned it!

So, what were the highlights? 'Only You', 'Love Resurrection', 'Ode To Boy', 'Whispering Your Name' and 'That Ole Devil Called Love'. I'd single out for special praise her harrowing and cold version of 'This House' with it's dramatic ending sending shivers down my back.

It was great seeing her, seeing her enjoy herself in front of us (including starting a song again because it didn't go quite right), playing her harmonica solo, chatting and joking with us. She really had the audience in the palm of her hand and it'll be great to see her again in the near future. After 25+ years she's got a back catalogue to be envious of and I was sort of thinking that a gig at somewhere like Ronnie Scott's would be good. I'd go.

Slade - 'Merry Christmas Everybody'

From Top of the Pops many years ago - go on, click play, you know you want to... The festive season is here again!

Here Come The Girls at Hammersmith Apollo

Tonight we went to see the 'Here Come The Girls' show at Hammersmith Apollo - no VIP tickets tonight, not like my last visit to the venue. And I was gender-disadvantaged - I hesitate to guesstimate, but over 90% of the audience was female, and a goodly proportion were hormonally-challenged middle aged ladies. It was scary.

Anyway, 'Here Come The Girls' is a show featuring Lulu ('60s onwards), Chaka Khan ('80s onwards) and Anastacia ('00s). It's a surprising partnership that worked surprisingly well, Lulu and Anastacia pounding round the stage while Chaka was slightly more sedate. Three women with big voices and big songs behind them and, in the case of Lulu, a great big dollop of music history behind her with her first hit song back in 1964. And she still looks and sounds good!

I wasn't sure what to expect - I didn't expect the 'girls night out' aspect of the show - but they've obviously put a lot of thought, time and money into the show, with videos shot especially for it, a small dance troupe, loads of lights and a good set. The song, 'Here Come The Girls' from the Boots advert and a Sugababes hit featured throughout, which was a shame - a song from an advert isn't the best advert for the talents of three big voices.

I have records by all three of the 'girls' and was sort of expecting each would have their own segment of the show to sing their big hits but that didn't really happen. From the outset they were, mostly, on stage together, singing songs together, swapping lead vocals every other verse, that sort of thing, with them performing solo only once or twice. Even on Chaka's 'I Feel For You' they swapped lead vocals for each verse (and I can't hear that song without hearing Maximo Park's version of 'Like I Love You' and Paul talking about hearing the record years ago).

They started off with a Motown selection of songs before moving straight into the '80s with Madonna and Michael Jackson for the dancers (what's wrong with the '70s?) and then each took a '60s song themselves. Lulu, for some reason, did Duffy's 'Mercy' - I would've much rather she'd done on of her own '60s hits - there's lots to choose from! We eventually got some '70s in the form of disco but I was slightly disturbed by the Lady GaGa cover...

After an interval (and a massive queue at the bar) we got back to the music and a costume change for the girls, sticking to the same format as the first half, sharing songs and striking poses, and doing a great version of 'Lady Marmalade'. I liked the song selection, all well-known songs, but why did they cover other people's songs rather than sing their own? It was a puzzlement indeed, when they have so many between them. From Anastacia we got 'Left Outside Alone' and 'I'm Outta Love', from Chaka we got 'I Feel For You', 'I'm Every Woman' and a ballad, and from Lulu we got a section of 'Independence' and (you guessed it) 'Shout' (which sounded great by the way). The encore started off with 'Relight My Fire' which counts as a Lulu song before heading into a disco medley and closure. Phew!

It was a fast-paced show, lots of lights and razzmatazz, definitely a 'show' and not a 'gig. Rather than sing other people's songs it would've been nice to see the 'girls' sing more of their own songs but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Lulu was clearly lead 'girl' which is to be expected, given that she's been working an audience for 45 years, Chaka was, well, an individual, not fully joining in the dance routines but still being an enormous presence, and Anastacia was lovely.

I'm delighted to have seen all three 'girls' but I'm not sure I'd pay to see this show again (and the tickets weren't cheap). Anyway, I enjoyed it, but I want more Lulu!

La La La-La Christmas Ghost!

Finally it's here - 1 December! And it dawned with clear blue skies and frost on the ground, the way it should be in winter. Rather than the endless rain of November.

And what was the first Christmas song I listened to? Why, it was 'City Of Christmas Ghosts' by Goldblade ft Poly Styrene, of course, the best new Christmas record in an age. Go and download it now!

And what was my first *new* Christmas song this Christmas? 'I Believe In Father Christmas', Greg Lake's classic from the early '70s performed by reggae-meister John Holt! I already include his 'Ali Baba' in my Christmas playlist because it's sort of panto and panto is Christmas. I wonder what new Christmas delights will be on offer this Christmas?

Public Image Limited - 'ALIFE 2009'

Listening to John Lydon (or "Johnny Rotten" as they insisted on calling him) on the serious Radio 4 'Today' programme this morning, talking about the new Public Image Ltd tour reminded me that you need to know what's happening with the live album of the reunion gigs.

In conjunction with ConcertLive, PiL will be issuing instant live CD's from the December 2009 tour. As Mr Lydon says, "PiL live on CD instantly, immediately, available after the gig. Now, how good is that?"

The blurb says,

Concert Live have once again brought you a product that gives you more exclusive access than any other instant live CD. Each is comprised of a 4CD set which includes the full live show recorded over 3 discs and a bonus 4th disc including a video interview with John Lydon, as he discusses his career and return of the band. The 4th disc also includes behind the scenes video footage and high quality exclusive photographs of the band and John Lydon, taken both in rehearsal and from the bands first show in Birmingham.

The live CDs are available after the Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Brixton Academy gigs, so get your order in quickly. I'm seeing PiL at the Electric Ballroom so, unfortunately, there won't be a CD of that gig, but I'll order the Brixton CD anyway. Click here to order.

Oh, and that reminds me. Why do interviewers still think they can get one over on Mr Lydon? He's been in this game a long time. When he commented that he went on 'I'm A Celebrity...' to raise money for charity the interviewer then asked if his recent butter adverts were for charity - the instant response was no, the money was to put PiL back together for the forthcoming tour. Mr Lydon ain't stupid but journalists never learn...

The Unthanks at Shepherd's Bush Empire

I was lucky enough to see one of the last gigs by Rachel Unthank & The Winterset at the Royal Opera House in the summer and on Monday night I saw their new incarnation as The Unthanks at Shepherds Bush Empire. It's still Rachel and Becky Unthank fronting the band which is now eight-strong and multi-instrumental, lots of strings and horns, drums and guitar filling out the sound on the new songs from the latest album and adding new textures to the older songs.

The gig was to promote the new record and most of the songs were from the album, 'Here's The Tender Coming', sprinkled with some old favourites. Now that they have three albums under their belts there's a wider range of songs to choose from and the newly expanded band means they can experiment with sounds a lot more, and the sound was excellent. Of course, not everything changes, Rachel and Becky are still centre-stage, chatting away like you were in their living room or local pub rather than the expanse of Shepherds Bush Empire. They have a really nice stage presence that welcomes you into their world and their love of the songs they sing. They're on a long tour at the moment but they and the band seemed fresh and eager to please, and they did.

They played some of my favourites from the new record, including 'Sad February', 'Lucky Gilchrist' and the magnificent 'The Testimony of Patience Kershaw'. 'Lucky Gilchrist' has just been issued as a single on Monday (slightly edited) which is available for download and only available in hard copy from gigs (naturally I bought it). They asked if it was ok to play a Christmas song since it was still November and proceeded to play a lovely version of 'In The Bleak Midwinter' (their mother's favourite carol) which they recorded for a BBC programme to be shown in a couple of weeks time. They also played a great version of 'Felton Lonnin' from 'The Bairns' and, with a mixture of shyness and pride told us that the album was one of The Observer's Top 50 Albums of the Decade. Well done on that! Then, of course, there's the slightly rude, 'Where've Yer Bin Dick'!

The set ended with an extended version of the joyful 'Blackbird' with new passages for all the new instruments in the band. It wasn't long before they came back for an encore of 'Betsy Bell' with Becky singing and Rachel going into clog-dance heaven and dancing across the stage. The final song was 'Here's The Tender Coming' with a Geordie lesson and some audience participation and then they were off to great, warm applause.

I went down to the merch stand to grab a copy of the new single, an edited version of 'Lucky Gilchrist' with a song written by their Dad about New Year celebrations and first footing (nice and seasonal) called 'Tar Barrel in Dale', plus their version of 'Sexy Sadie' that they recorded for a Mojo freebie CD a year or two ago. The EP is on iTunes so go and download it now.

By then the two Unthank lasses had come out to chat to people so I had a brief chat to Rachel, she signed the single for me and I told her that I loved 'Patience Kershaw' and that the quiet pride of Miss Kershaw made me cry. Then I met Becky outside (she must've been freezing in her shoulderless dress in this weather) and she signed it as well. I said they should record a live album since the sound was excellent and Becky said a live record was on the list of things to do. What nice young women they are - I've decided to adopt me bonny lasses.

I had a lovely evening and it was delightful to meet me bonny lasses afterwards. Now, when's the next tour and the next album? I'll be there!

'Speaking In Tongues' at The Duke of York's

On Friday night we went to see 'Speaking In Tongues' at the Duke of York's Theatre that suffers the slight drawback of being on top of a tube line so every now and then the sound of an approaching train enhanced the sonic atmosphere. If I was in charge of the theatre I'd only put on loud plays, comedies and musicals, not plays with quiet dialogue and long silences...

'Speaking In Tongues' is a bit of an oddity, with two couples reflecting each others' lives and later interacting, opening with a scene with the four of them in a hotel bedroom talking about cheating on their partner who is also in the room with the others' partner, two scenes taking place in the same space at the same time. The play then continues with the fall-out from the infidelities, couple splitting and getting back together. The second act focuses on what else is happening around them that was referred to in the first act, a woman going missing, a man accused and another couple having an affair. It's a relatively complex plot but seemed a bit over complex and (ok, I'll say it) pretentious.

Saying the same lines and talking over each other is a nice device for a few minutes but it went on for too long. None of the characters were particularly warm or engaging and it was all a bit "me, me, me" - *I'm* not getting what *I* want out of the relationship, *I* want to have sex with someone else, *I* want more... - and very self-centred. Long monologues with little interaction don't really capture my attention. And then I started wondering 'what happens next?' just as the first half closed but, when the second half started, it was a different scene with different characters so I never did get to find out what happened next. The second half of the play is about the people spoken about in the first half...

On paper it sounds intriguing but it didn't quite work for me.

The cast were nice enough, the only one I'd heard of was John Simm from Dr Who' and 'Life On Mars', so at least I've now see The Master in the flesh and survived his attempt at world domination ... or rather, I survived his mind games to make me think the play was excellent. Then, of course, came the joys of the West End on a Friday night with hoardes of people (young people) strolling around with nowhere in particular to go.

'Sweet Charity' at The Choccy Factory

Last night we went to see the new production of 'Sweet Charity' at the Menier Chocolate Factory with Tamzin Outhwaite in the title role as Charity Hope Valentine. I'm familiar with the film and saw it years on telly, but I've never seen it on the stage. If you've seen the film, and the stage show is very similar to the film, then you know what you're getting and it all comes down to the performances.

Tamzin Outhwaite has been in loads of things on telly, unfortunately, loads of things I haven't seen other than 'Eastenders'. But I did see her in 'Boeing Boeing' on stage a few years back. I thought she was excellent as Charity - old enough to have a past but young enough to be the wide-eyed ingenue with hope for the future. She had the right touch of knowing humour and a big smile with, a couple of times, tears in her eyes. She sang and danced a treat (there was lots of dancing) and she ably held her own leading the professional dancers in the cast.

The main support was provided by Josefina Gabrielle and Tiffany Graves as Charity's best mates in the dancehall, cynical and sentimental by turn, with great moves and voices. I was particularly taken with their threesome on 'There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This' when Josefina sings about aspiring to be a receptionist. Their voices worked well together as did the warmth between them, friends for years in a seedy dancehall but believing in each other and wanting the best for their friends, with a touch of bawdiness too.

I'd also single out Ebony Molina for her totally aloof and energetic dancing in the 'Rich Man's Frug' in the nightclub scene - no-one is cool enough to dance with her. She also won the most sparkly dress on the night award.

Of the men, well, can anyone compete with Sammy Davis Jnr as Daddy? the answer is 'no'.

I'm afraid I sometimes suffer from excessive suspension of disbelief in plays when the character is real to me. And that's how I view the love interest, Oscar, played by Mark Umbar. He starts off as a neurotic geek who Charity befriends and we see their love grow but then, at the end, he's a nasty bastard. How dare he? He also played Charity's other love interests throughout the play, all of whom either let her down or will let her down. Therefore I don't like him. Enough said.

Big songs, big set pieces, short short mini-frocks, big smiles and some tears. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Tamzin is great, the musicians and singers are great and there's some great dancing. Go along and laugh and cry. I did, and I think I'd like to go back again and see it further into its run.

Christmas on Carnaby Street

Call me potty, but I enjoy public Christmas decorations, or, rather, I enjoy *good* public Christmas decorations. In recent years I've learned to use Carnaby Street as a measure of excellence - whoever does the decorations in and around Carnaby Street has continued to thrill and generate wonder with the originality of the decorations at Christmas and, thankfully, this year is no different.

I've only got a couple of photos from when I took a short-cut from Regents Street to HMV on Oxford Street last night and these don't convey the fun of the street, so I clearly need to go back with a camera rather than just my phone.

I have a theory about the theme this year - it's a history of Carnaby Street since the '60s. There are the 'love hearts' from the peace and love and total swingingness of the street in the '60s and then there are the small plastic colourful Christmas trees hanging down everywhere and the great big blow-up pink reindeer from the late '70s and '80s when the street was full of tacky tourist shops selling, um, tacky tat. No doubt there'll me more motifs further down the street that I didn't see. I love it!

I couldn't help but break into a big grin when I saw Pinky The Reindeer, ever so proud that he's made of plastic, and I wouldn't have him any other way. He's obviously the patron saint of Christmas tat and I must worship. I need to go back with my camera one evening and take some proper photos to show the street in all its Christmas glory. Regent Street? Hang your head in shame.

Whoever you are that designed the decorations this year, thanks v much!