Buffy Sainte-Marie at Union Chapel

My second audience with Buffy Sainte-Marie this week was at Union Chapel tonight. I've been there a few times before and was wondering how Buffy would sound in that space - it really is a Victorian chapel. When we arrived there was already a long queue so I immediately gave up any hopes of being close to the stage but we weren't too far back, so that was ok.

I felt part of the 'in' crowd when I saw Mike come on stage to check his drum kit and open up his Mac because I knew who he was and had met him last year, and then Jesse came on to check his guitars and then Buffy's guitars, re-tuning them, and a new face, Leroy, checking his bass. All in black and beads that said 'we are different, we are Buffy's band'. They're all big lads and could look intimidating but they all wore big smiles and it was lovely to see how they responded to Buffy and looked after her throughout the show, especially Leroy (who Buffy said was 'Cree like me') who straightened Buffys guitar strap and quickly sorted out her guitar leads when she changed guitars.

On came Buffy and her band, all wreathed in smiles and waving, strapped on her guitar and launched into 'Piney Wood Hills' and we were off and running. Next up was 'Cho Cho Fire' with the wild powwow chorus, with both Jesse and Leroy banging on their guitars to amplify the powwow singing of the chorus and we loved it! The setlist included (not in the right order):

'Piney Wood Hills'
'Cho Cho Fire'
'Until It's Time For You To Go'
'No No Keshagesh'
'Little Wheel Spin And Spin'
'Up Where We Belong'
'Universal Soldier'
'Soldier Blue'
'Still This Love Goes On'
'Blue Sunday'
'Darling Don't Cry'
'Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee'
'Starwalker'
'He's An Indian Cowboy In The Rodeo'

It was great to hear Buffy chat about the songs and contextualise them and tell us that she received 18 yellow roses from Bobby Darin when he recorded 'Until It's Time for You To Go'. As a teacher she is still setting us homework in referring to the 'Indian Givers' and 'Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee' books, both of which I've read following past instruction from Buffy (and both are available from Amazon).


I heard some great songs this evening. 'Cho Cho Fire' is one of my alarm songs ('Hey you better wake up...') and one of my favourites from the latest album, 'Running For The Drum'. 'Still This Love Goes On' makes my eyes go moist through the beautiful imagery and melody. I was delighted with 'Bury My Heart' and 'Starwalker', both of which received huge applause, and I love 'Indian Cowboy' (the ultimate 'crush' song). 'Indian Cowboy' was the encore song, extended by powwow singing and drums on tape as the band put down their instruments and danced with Buffy around the stage, particularly Mike who danced from one side of the stage to the other with all the audience on our feet applauding - a great way to end the show! Buffy looked delighted to be bringing a little bit of powwow to London.

The set wasn't as long as usual and there was no meet'n'greet afterwards since a photo-shoot was scheduled but what a treat to see Buffy and her band in such fine form. They make a great noise and Buffy's songs are always worth listening to. Thank you Buffy!

Buffy Sainte-Marie at Porchester Hall for the BBC

This evening we were lucky enough to score tickets to see a recording of the 'Songwriters Circle' programme for BBC4 at Porchester Hall in west London. The show puts three songwriters together to sing their songs one after another in rotation and on the bill tonight were Buffy Sainte-Marie, Donovan and Roger Cook.

I've been to one of these BBC recordings before and this was a mirror of that time with lots of BBC staff running round but no-one seeming to know what's going on and no-one telling us what's happening, just herding us from one place to another and then squeezing as many people as possible into a small space. Oh, and reserving the best seats at the cabaret tables for what I assume were BBC and music biz execs since many of them seemed to know each other. Still, I was happy with my view of the stage and when I saw Buffy arrive and walk through to the backstage area the excitement mounted.

Roger walked on stage, followed by Buffy and Donovan and they sat down and picked up guitars - Donovan was acoustic, Buffy was electric and Roger had a ukulele. And that's the order in which they sang for an hour and a half or thereabouts, chatting about the songs, how they came to write them and who covered them. Donovan opened with 'Sunshine Superman', followed by Buffy and 'Until It's Time For You To Go' and Roger singing his song 'Somethings Gotten Hold Of My Heart'.

Buffy's setlist was:

'Until It's Time For You To Go'
'Piney Wood Hills'
'Cod'ine'
'Little Wheel Spin And Spin'
'I'm Gonna Be A Country Girl Again'
'Up Where We Belong'
'Universal Soldier'
'Still This Love Goes On'

All the songs got a great reception but 'Universal Soldier' received the longest applause of all the songs of the night, a really powerful version. I'd also single out the harrowing 'Cod'ine' with Buffy's excellent guitar playing, creating a big sound as if she was playing several guitars, every now and then adding a trippy almost psychedelic riff under the main chords. It really stood out for me, just Buffy's voice and guitar had the audience mesmerised. After the applause Roger Cook said, 'How do you follow that?'. And he was right. But, quite sensibly, having him follow Buffy was the perfect thing to do so he could lighten the mood with songs like 'Melting Pot' (I cringed inside at the line' 'Little bit of red Indian boy') and 'I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing' (it was great seeing Buffy sing along to that one!).

I'd also single out Buffy's 'Still This Love Goes On' as a highlight, one of my favourite songs from her latest album, 'Running For The Drum'. It paints a lovely picture of the seasons in Canada and Buffy's love of the land - a true love song. I want to see Jingle Dancers one day. It was also nice to hear Roger Cook say he thought it was the most beautiful song he'd heard in years. It is.

Donovan had to sing two songs again because there was something wrong with the recording of his guitar (I won't say which). He commented at one point that he only ever recorded his own songs with the exception of recording two of Buffy's ('Universal Soldier' and 'Cod'ine') and it was nice to see them holding hands a few times - they've known each other for a long time. I was wondering whether they'd duet on 'Universal Soldier' but, given Buffy's extraordinary version, I'm pleased they didn't. Donovan went through his big songs, like 'Colours', 'Mellow Yellow' and 'Lalena' but didn't do 'Hurdy Gurdy Man' or any of the more trippy songs.

All in all, it was a good night out. It will be interesting to see what stays in the final edit and what will be cut. I might be in it as well - cameras were panning over the audience and at one point one camera stared right at me knotting dreadlocks into my beard. O dear. I think it's meant to be screened on BBC4 in the autumn so watch out for it.

Tomorrow night I see Buffy with her band at Union Chapel, so I'm on a Buffy overdose this week!

Meera Syal at the Purcell Room

This evening we had the distinct pleasure of listening to Meera Syal being interviewed about her career as part of the 'National Treasures' series at the Purcell Room in the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the Southbank. She was interviewed in a very intelligent and no-frills way by writer and broadcaster Bidisha, which was such a relief and nice to have a change from the usually self-centred interviewers at these types of things. Anyway, it was all about Meera.

Meera is a delight to listen to, witty and serious by turns, with some belly laugh stories and some quirky observations. She's an excellent speaker and not at all like the actors and famous people who seem to need to say 'um' or 'err' every other word to make it look like they're thinking - Meera opens her mouth, goes for it and hits the target every time. Sometimes in her normal voice, sometimes with her Wolverhampton accent and sometimes in the stereotypical British Indian accent. Switching between them all at will and carrying us along with her narrative.

She told us about growing up in a small mining village in the Black Country, going to university and planning to train as a teacher since she thought her acting ambitions were a pipe-dream until she's offered a job and Equity card, lots of theatre work in the '80s, how she met the others in the 'Goodness Gracious Me' ensemble and went on to do the 'The Kumars'. It was a fascinating romp through her career - a play here, wrote a book there, 'Bollywood Dreams' (that was mentioned but not elaborated on - I walked past that theatre every day for over two years but, sadly, didn't see the show), multi-award winning TV series, wrote a film then wrote another one .... it's all there. And, looking at it collectively, what an achievement! She's done so much and such a wide variety of stuff - off the top of my head I can't think of anyone else who's done the variety of stuff she's done and had the success at her age. But... There's always a but.

Circling in the background but never quite asked was the question, 'Why aren't you bigger?' in terms of more famous or more influential. Meera contextualised it for us a few times in that she is part of the first generation of British Indians born here of immigrant parents and as such had no role models, no-one to look at and think, 'I could do that'. She sounded deeply proud of her parents, leaving the Punjab for the English Midlands to start a new life, and she seemed conscious of having to make her own way with no-one having gone before her to show her the way. She mentioned that at university she could put on shows every week but when she looked at the theatre and television she couldn't see anyone like herself. It was interesting that she never referred to herself as Indian or British Asian or any of the other labels, but she did say 'people like me' a lot, and in a way, that's exactly the right thing to say since she's not a stereotype.

In discussion there were a few comments about the number of hoops her and the 'Goodness Gracious Me' gang had to jump through before they were allowed a TV series. After that phenomenally successful series, she and Sanjiv had to jump through all the hoops again to get 'The Kumars' on telly. Other writers/actors of successful programmes are often nurtured and offered new opportunities but not Meera and co. She said she didn't put it down to racism, more down to lack of imagination about what to do next with the gang. That's probably quite generous of her. What struck home for me was when she mentioned that around 80% of her work on radio - an anonymous media that works solely on voice - was playing an Indian woman. That's ridiculous.

After the interview there was an opportunity for some Q&A with the audience and, for a change. we had some interesting questions that took Meera down different routes to the main interview. Chris asked her about 'Rafta Rafta' that she starred in at the National Theatre a few years ago and was excellent in, and learned that it's been made into a film due to be released next year. She'd love to be at the National Theatre but would prefer it not to be in another 'Asian' play. She can, after all, play a load of other roles. We learned about her new book, also due out next year. She's in 'The Killing of Sister George; later this year and will play Beatrice in 'Much Ado About Nothing' next year - next year is looking busy for Meera.

I wracked my brains to try to think of an interesting question if the opportunity arose, gave up and decided I'd ask if Meera had been a punk in the 70s (she's a year younger than me so is the right age). I didn't get the chance.

After the talk Meera was doing a signing so we both bought books to be signed (I already have Meera's books, so there's now a spare one for Oxfam). It was nice to meet Meera and have a brief chat. I told her I'd loved her 'Shirley Valentine' and that she made me cry, we talked about why she didn't have a proper website, she mentioned Twitter and I asked if she was on and she said 'no' and finished with seeing her in the autumn in 'Sister George'. She was lovely and very patient with random fans. But I now have an autographed book and she let me take a photo for this blog. And here she is...


Thank you very much, Meera, for a very interesting evening. I'm looking forward to the play, the book and the film and whatever else you decide to spring on us. I *like* you being a National Treasure - because you are!

Buffy Sainte-Marie - 'No No Keshagesh'

To celebrate the start of Buffy Sainte-Marie week in London, I thought I'd post the video for 'No No Keshagesh' from Buffy's latest album, 'Running For The Drum'.

I'm lucky enough to be seeing Buffy twice this week: firstly at a recording of 'Songwriters' Circle' for BBC4 and then at her London gig at Union Chapel on Thursday. Donovan is also on the bill for the BBC4 show, so it'll be interesting to see who sings 'Universal Soldier', Buffy's anti-war song that was a big hit for Donovan - maybe a duet? Wouldn't that be something! I think the show is due to be broadcast in the autumn.

David McAlmont at The Fairfield Halls

On Thursday evening we traipsed down to Croydon to see David McAlmont at the Fairfield Halls, not in the main hall, but in one of the smaller venues with a dance floor. Now, I've been to the Fairfield Halls before and my abiding memories of the place are that it's terribly 70s, rather provincial and very brown. It still is. Clearly, Mr McAlmont feels the same since he attended in a smart - but brown - suit and brown brogues. He is, of course, a Croydon lad so this was a 'homecoming' of sorts and the last gig before going to Ireland to write a new album.

I was quite keen to see David following his great performances at the 'Ready Steady Go' show at Meltdown a couple of weeks ago when he brought the house down. I hadn't seen any publicity for the show so it wasn't surprising that it wasn't terribly well attended but it is to his credit that he performed as if it was packed out. It was a mix of some new songs, old songs and favourite covers, interspersed with chat to the audience and telling stories of his day in Croydon.

It was nice to see him again and it'll be interesting to see how the song-writing pans out. No doubt we'll see more of him in the autumn.

X-Ray Spex - 'Identity' x 3

I am delighted to post a video I've never seen before of X-Ray Spex playing 'Identity' at the Spex reunion gig at Brixton in 1992. I didn't know there was any video footage (OK, it's not terribly good quality but I don't care). Poly pogos and jumps around the stage in her white robes and how I wish I'd been there that night ...



I *was* there 16 years later for the next Spex reunion gig at The Roundhouse in 2008 (I wouldn't have missed it for the world). Poly was on top form and blasted out all those classic X-Ray Spex songs plus a few from 'Conscious Consumer' and the new 'Bloody War'. Buy the live CD and DVD and enjoy it!



And to round off the incarnations of X-Ray Spex, here is the original video from 1978 with, of course, Poly Styrene doing her thing. This is when I fell in love with Poly.

Alela Diane - 'Desire'

This is the video for Alela Diane's new single, 'Desire', from her recent 'Alela Diane & Wild Divine' album. The video was filmed in Soho in London but I wouldn't have recognised her on the street if I'd been wandering past. Unfortunately I missed her on her recent visit to London, but I'll be there next time.

The Human League - 'Love Action (I Believe In Love)'

To celebrate the news that the Human League will have a new single - 'Sky' from 'Credo' - plus a hatfull of remixes released on 17 July, here's a video of Phil, Susan and Joanne in Barcelona on Friday night playing 'Love Action'. You've got to love the Human League.

Kathy Griffin at The Palace Theatre

This evening Chris took me to see Kathy Griffin at The Palace Theatre (normally the home of 'Priscilla'). I sort of know who she is and have seen her on telly a few times but that's about it. She's lithe and fit looking and, surprisingly, the same age as me (I've obviously gone wrong somewhere). She's rude and seems to like the disingenuous 'ooo did I really just say that?' pose. Well, yes you did Kathy, we all heard you.

Waiting in the bar before taking our seats I marvelled at my fellow audience members and 'fellow' is the right term. 80% male, terribly thin, size 0 tee shirts and odd haircuts on the younger fellows, with the odd beard on show here and there with a bit more flesh. Yes, that audience. There also seemed to be quite a few Americans with loud voices dotted round.

Kathy had no support act (good for her) and came on at about 8:10pm and stood there talking to us for two hours - now that's good value in anyone's book. She's got a great way of delivering her jokes, jumping from story to story, mainly about celebs and stars, people she's met and people who avoid her, dishing the dirt in a gossipy style. This wasn't simply the same act she does everywhere since she'd clearly had her eyes and ears open over the past few days in London to tell us choice tales about her hotel and running into eastern Europeans everywhere she's been. Everyone is fair game and she had some choice words to say about Sarah Palin and Oprah, and that's what makes me think of the audience tonight as a bit like a braying Oprah audience.

I enjoyed Kathy but I thought my fellow audience were awful. Shut up! Chattering away, seeing who could laugh the loudest, whistling, explaining jokes to others in their party - shut the fuck up! It probably sounds great to Kathy on stage - she's connected - but I missed quite a bit of the show because of the noise. And the cheers and jeers for names of people famous in America that I've never heard of - do people spend their lives glued to YouTube or something? People getting up to go the bar and all that - this is a theatre not a rock gig. Maybe I'm getting old and grumpy (um... I am) but that selfishness of the audience annoyed me. Look at me, I *really* get this joke because I'm laughing louder than anybody else....

Leaving that to one side (I'm being grumpy), Kathy was excellent. She seemed to revel in being able to say things that would get her into trouble in America, such as the death threats she gets from Palin fans and the Tea Party in America. I nearly went into one when she talked about making rain (ie throwing money at crowds) and explained that that was what rappers did when they weren't in prison - that touched my funny bone for some reason. She talked for two hours and clearly could have gone on longer. She's a very clever woman and knows how to use words like weapons. And that's a good thing. Come back soon, Kathy.

Ray Davies at the British Film Institute

This afternoon we went to our final Meltdown events, both at the British Film Institute (the National Film Theatre to you and me) and both featuring Ray Davies.

First up was a talk between Ray and Julien Temple about the films that influenced Ray and his songwriting. It was a mixture of chat, anecdotes and film trailers from a '50s Italian film about a stolen bicycle to the late '60s 'Performance'. There was a fair sprinkling of European 'art' films but the ones I enjoyed seeing trailers for were closer to home - 'Passport To Pimlico', 'The Ladykillers', 'The Vikings' and 'Carry On Cleo' (I've never seen any of those on the big screen).

Ray told us how he first started seeing films when his sisters took him to the local cinemas as their chaperone on dates with boyfriends, and then he started going himself. He and a friend set up a film club at art school and even tried their hand at making an 'art' movie on Hampstead Heath. He said he liked watching the old films since you could see things and buildings that simply aren't there anymore, such as almost all of Pimlico having been re-developed since the film.

The last two films talked about were 'Blow-Up' and 'Performance', both swinging '60s films and both of which Ray dismissed as being after the 'revolution' (such as it was) was over. He said the 'revolution' was over by 1965, after which the old guard and America started grabbing it back from British youth culture. Throughout the discussion he was very conscious of class and his working class background. He commented at one point that his father was slightly to the left of communists. He seems to have seen the '60s as a time of breaking down class barriers for a short time before they reasserted themselves again in slightly different form. I've never thought of Ray as a class warrior before, so maybe I need to listen to some of his lyrics again. He also commented that 'Dedicated Follower Of Fashion' was his angriest song yet it made people laugh and smile, so people hear what they want to hear.

He returned a few times to 'Performance', which he's never seen, and Mick Jaggers' (ahem) performance. He said he though Mick should have stuck to acting, which the audience took as a dig, until he said he thought Mick would've been an excellent Fitzcarraldo in the Herzog film of the same name. I didn't mind since I think I heard a bit of 'Dyed Dead Red' by Buffy Sainte-Marie in the film trailer.

The talk began with a re-edited video by Julien Temple for 'You Really Got Me', which was excellent, and ended with the full video for 'Come Dancing' which I've never seen before. Just before then one of the questions from the audience was about the future of the 'Come Dancing' stage musical (which I loved) and it seems that Ray hasn't given up on it yet. There may be more to come.

The second event of the evening was a screening of two of Ray's television performances from the early '70s, a BBC Play For Today, 'The Long Distance Piano Player' from 1970 and Granada's 'Starmaker' from 1974. At this point I need to get something off my chest - I hate Play for Today. My abiding memory of the endless Plays for Today that I saw were that they were all incredibly earnest, serious and endlessly dull. All of them. Every single last one of them. Well, there might have been *one* sparkly one but I didn't see it. Why my parents watched them - and therefore I watched them - is a mystery...

'The Long Distance Piano Player' started life as 'Marathon Man' and is, how should I put this? Tripe. Absolute and undiluted tripe. It's in black and white (for which read various shades of grey), small and claustrophobic (like all Plays for Today), set in a stereotypical northern town with northern accents (apart from Ray, of course). He's a piano player who, for some obscure reason is playing non-stop for four days in a village hall and somehow this will get him bookings to play big shows in America. Right. So that's how to break America. Easy-peasy.

In his introduction to the screening he apologised for his acting (his first proper acting job) but I'd say to Ray - stop apologising, all the acting in that play was awful. As was the script, the lighting and the filming. I cringed. It was awful. I covered my eyes a few times to avoid watching it. The basic idea is obviously based on the book behind 'They Shoot Horses Don't They' but whoever thought the sound of increasingly bad piano playing throughout the play would be a selling point needs a new job. Let's move on...

Next up was the shorter play for Granada, 'Starmaker' from 1974, in colour and Ray in full Gary Glitter glitter suit and platform shoes. I loved this play, written by Ray with songs that went on to become the basis for the 'Soap Opera' album. Ray starts off as a rock star and ends up as an accountant in a pin-stripe suit. It's very clever and manipulative and it's great to see the original play it all came from.

This play was far better that the 'Piano Player', probably because Ray knows his own strengths and wrote to them. It's also a far more interesting idea, more creative and experimental (it experimented with the idea of reality TV before anyone had invented the term). Unfortunately for Ray it documents him stripping down to his skimpy paisley boxers and donning a one-piece three-piece suit (you have to see it to believe it). He's still as thin as he was back then. Of the two plays, Ray's 'Starmaker' is far superior.

Just as the talk ended with the 'Come Dancing' video, here it is for you as well, an excellent song and an excellent stage-show that I hope I'll see again.



And with that, I bid farewell to Ray's Meltdown. I think it closes tomorrow with another show from Ray with an orchestra and the Crouch End Chorus, but I'll be elsewhere. I've enjoyed the shows I've seen. Wonder who will curate next year?