NEWS
Amanda Palmer, London Islington Union Chapel, 16 November.
Willie Nelson Teatro CD/DVD with seven bonuses and documentary film, Light In The Attic, 27 October.
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, London York Hall, 1 November.
The Beatles Authors And Artists Symposium is in Walnut Ridge, Arizona, 14-15 September 2018. See www.beatlesattheridge.com.
A Leonard Cohen memorial tribute led by Elvis Costello is at Montreal Bell Centre, Canada, 6 November.
Jonny Lang, London Shepherd’s Bush O2 Empire, 4 November.
Maroon 5’s 21-track Red Pill Blues Deluxe Edition 2CD, Polydor, 3 November.
Toyah has a Q&A at London Royal Exchange Theatre, 15 November.
Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention’s 11-track Bacon Fat, Toronto Rockpile, 1969, Keyhole, 27 October.
Skinny Lister The Devil, The Heart & The Fight with bonus live tracks, three new songs, Xtra Mile, 27 October.
Goldheart Assembly play their final show, London ULU, 7 December, with guests The Magic Numbers, Starsailor’s James Walsh, EMF’s Ian Dench, The Bluetones’ Mark Morriss.
Ramones The Final Tour 2CD, Hollywood Palace, August 1996, featuring Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Hobo, 3 November.
No-Man’s 23-track Returning Jesus Deluxe Edition 2CD, Kscope, 3 November.
Levan Tsikurishvili’s Avicii: True Stories documentary film is in select UK cinemas, 26 October.
The Dusty Springfield musical, Dusty, tours the UK in June/July 2018. See DustySpringfieldMusical.com.
Wingfield Reuter Sirkis Lighthouse is on MoonJune in November, featuring Mark Wingfield (Peter Gabriel), Markuse Reuter (Stick Men), Asaf Sirkis (Gilad Atzmon).
The Making Vinyl conference at Westin Book Cadillac Hotel, Denver, 6-7 November, features a keynote address by Jack White.
Alan Simon Excalibur IV is due 3 November, featuring Alan Stivell, Michael Sadler (Saga), Jesse Sibenberg, John Helliwell (Supertramp), Martin Barre (Jethro Tull), Moya Brennan (Clannad), Bernie Shaw (Uriah Heep), Siobhan Owen, Sonja Kristina (Curved Air). See https://en-gb.facebook.com/Excalibur.The.Celtic.Rock.Opera/.
RC attended the launch at London Gibson Studios on 25 October of Gary Moore’s Blues And Beyond 2CD, 4LP, and 4CD box set with two unissued cuts, book, repro ticket, invite, wristband and pass, due via BMG on 24 November. The event was attended by members of Gary’s family, featured an exhibition of guitars, awards discs and artwork, and included informative talks by biographer, Harry Shapiro, and Gary’s guitar technician, Graham Lilly, who revealed to RC that there is still unissued live material in the vaults.
LIVE SPECIAL
By Andy Rawll
Voodoo Six
London Underworld
8/9/17
View: standing, stage-left
Kicking off their tour supporting the superb Make Way For The King, new boy Nik Taylor-Stoakes’ strong, raspy voice revealed a rich, Eddie Vedder-esque vibrato and range that suits the band’s fresh grunge style. Matt Pearce has been deservedly elevated to six-string leader, and new recruit Craig Price provided razor-sharp rhythm guitar.
The rhythm core remains with Tony Newton and Joe Lazarus, whose fluid percussive barrages could wake the dead. But the rebirth was driven mainly by the quality of recent songs, many of which recall Alice In Chains and Soundgarden. Add in Take The Blame and A Little Something For You and they knocked it for six.
The Dowling Poole
London Borderline
9/9/17
View: standing, stage-left
Will Dowling and Jon Poole’s exhilarating, idiosyncratic band traverse indie, art-pop and prog, recalling XTC at their quirky best. A partisan crowd ensured a raucous atmosphere, the band reciprocating with a kinetic performance of fine songcraft, wit and verve.
Acclaimed debut, Bleak Strategies, dominated, with Saving It All For A Saturday apt, The Sun Is Mine shimmering with 10cc swagger, and Hey Stranger captivating. Selections from One Hyde Park ensued, Adam And Eve a highlight, melding Madness’ music hall with The B-52s’ zesty new wave. Encore, Clean, featured the strong vocals of backing musician Givvi Flynn, emphasising the depth of the excellent five-piece.
Chantel McGregor
London The Islington
15/9/17
View: rear, standing
Singer-guitarist McGregor delivered an unplugged set showcasing her strong, emotive voice. Supporting Lose Control, she alternated between her own accomplished songbook and covers. Hearth song, Home, the numbing Anaesthetize and tumbling Freefalling were arresting, but it was her elegy to Jeff Buckley, Eternal Dream, that was most eye-opening.
A second set followed a Q&A, featuring Stevie Nicks’ Dreams, Gold Dust Woman and Landslide, plus Lady Gaga’s Edge Of Glory, Melissa Etheridge’s Come To My Window, Alanis Morissette’s You Ought To Know and a captivating I Can’t Make You Love Me. A knockout performance.
Lil & Ollie
London Barnes Olympic Studios
21/9/17
View: by the bar
An enchanted evening curated by producer Chris Kimsey featured Lil Rice’s resonant voice and Ollie Clarke’s expressive acoustic guitar, showcasing elegant songs from their forthcoming debut. Wickmere proved an evocative bluegrass-tinged ode to home, Do Me Wrong revealed the gritty edge to Lil’s malleable voice, atop Ollie’s swamp slide, contrasting with the subtle folk vibe and warm lilt of Wild Woman.
The sparse jazz swing of Waltz For Mumma was delightfully poignant, Ollie excelling with fluid accompaniment and lead flurries. Lions prided itself on an atmospheric, soulful groove and prefaced Call Your Daughters Home, channelling Fleetwood Mac. They closed with the understated blues shuffle of Candyman (Long Way Down).
Grim Reaper
London Camden Underworld
23/9/17
View: standing, left
Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper headlined a gig promoting rising talent compilation, British Steel. Following spirited performances from Seven Sisters, Aggressive Protector, Eliminator and the excellent Amulet, Steve’s NWOBHM warriors provided a tight, energetic and emotional finale.
Back on his feet after losing a limb, Steve bounded on, the atmosphere supercharged, as songs from their three classic 80s albums and 2016’s Walk In The Shadows were rendered, opener Wings Of Angels impressing. The infernal encore of See You In Hell never sounded so heavenly.
SIMO
London Borderline
26/9/17
View: standing, front-centre
The Nashville power-trio, promoting the intoxicating Doors-meet-the-Dead psych-blues of Rise And Shine, offered loaded drums, groovy bass and technicolour guitar in meandering, mesmerising fashion. Their slow burn included the haunting ballad, I Want Love, funked-up People Say, with its phat, dirty bass and wah-drenched guitar, and groovy Mediation. Shine dazzled, with its bluesy swing and smooth, confident vocal, while Climb featured JD Simo’s fluid, strung-out playing, akin to the young Leslie West, whom he resembles. The swampy, stomping Light A Candle was the highlight, with its psych, phased vocals, choruses and deep, dark desert-blues instrumental section.
King Creature
London Gibson Studios
28/9/17
View: front, centre
Marshall’s new signing played a taut, raunchy set, promoting debut, Volume One. The gnarly rockers powered through anthemic slow-burner, Can You Forgive Me, sleazy Low Life and dynamic Fortune Teller, their brand of blues-inflected metal recalling Black Label Society, Matt Vincent on six-string complementing the controlled aggression of guitar foil Dave Evans. Bassist/vocalist Dave Kellaway’s rich, assured tone invested ample verve into each song, while Jack Sutton’s drum thrusts completed the picture, making for a watchable creature feature.
Big Big Train
London Cadogan Hall
30/9/17
View: middling seat, left
The folk-proggers opened with Folklore, encapsulating their locomotive sound: The Waterboys-meets-Jethro Tull. First-half highlight was A Mead Hall In Winter, featuring ecstatic, Kansas-like interplay between Dave Gregory’s guitar and Rachel Hall’s violin. Part Two picked up with the dapper Experimental Gentlemen and elegant Swan Hunter, backed by a five-piece brass section. Judas Unrepentant was the closest to drummer Nick D’Virgilio’s Spock’s Beard days, with its quirky time signatures, while East Coast Racer accelerated with cascading staccato guitar and muscular mellotron before hitting the buffers.
Set-closer, Victorian Brickwork, was a pleasant surprise, all Yes-style instrumentation, great vocals and a brass-fuelled coda nodding to Elbow. The hearty Wassail encore wrapped up a fantastic evening.
TOURS
Gary Barlow 16-26 April 2018 www.stereoboard.com.
Evil Scarecrow 28 October-10 December http://www.evilscarecrow.co.uk.
Night Demon 8-13 November www.nightdemon.net.
Marti Pellow 18-29 May www.stereoboard.com.
Paradise Lost 3 November-22 February 2018 www.stereoboard.com.
Police Dog Hogan 31 January-24 March 2018 www.policedoghogan.com.
Seal 10-21 February 2018 www.stereoboard.com.
New Model Army’s Justin Sullivan 5-16 November http://www.newmodelarmy.org/.
36 Crazyfists 18-21 January 2018 https://www.facebook.com/36crazyfists/.
The B-52s’ Cindy Wilson 23-26 February 2018 www.cindywilsonb52s.com.
Paul Young 1-18 February 2018 www.stereoboard.com.
