Stamping on your own toe: not the greatest idea in the world.

I’ve been quite lax when it comes to updating this lately (and that’s putting it lightly…) which is silly, considering that over the past few weeks I’ve been to some of the best gigs I have ever been to. So here goes one big old massive post that’ll take you through the last few weeks….if I can remember what number I’m on!

A Gig A Week #11:  Caravan Palace & Electric Swing Circus   23/11/12, Bristol

I’ve been getting into electro-swing recently – as one of my friends on Twitter put it, “It’s the best blend of old and new!”.  I absolutely loved the energy of these two bands on stage – and the atmosphere in the venue was incredible.  Scat battles, multiple costume changes, jive dancing…yep, this was definitely money well spent! I’m definitely hoping to catch both bands again and need to get myself to some more electro-swing events in London.  If you have any recommendations of where I should go/what I should listen to, please please post them in the comments!

This first video is worth watching for the seamless dancing-microphone catch-singing transition alone (at about 3:28)

A Gig A Week #12: The Urban Folk Quartet  King’s Place, 30/11/12

Phenomenal.  With added triangle.  Don’t think there’s a lot more I can say to that…oh, apart from the fact I was dancing so enthusiastically that I stamped on my own toe.   It’s really hard to find a video that really captures the energy and atmosphere of their live performance…so watch this instead. And go and see them live!  NOW!! (Well, not now. But when they have a gig near you…)

A Gig A Week #13: Hannah James & Sam Sweeney   Walthamstow Folk Club, 2/12/12

There’s not a huge amount more I can say about this duo – I reviewed them a couple of months ago but just had to go and see them again (and take my mum with me this time! I did promise, after all…).  However, since the last time I saw them, Hannah & Sam have been nominated for Best Duo and Sam has been nominated for Musician of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 folk awards – so congratulations to them both & best of luck with the awards!

A Gig A Week #14:  Lucy Ward  (with support from David Gibb & Elly Lucas) Green Note Camden,  3/12/12

I’ve mentioned David Gibb & Elly Lucas before, having seen them a couple of times at Towersey this year – I won’t say too much more now, as I’m hoping to make their London gig in January but they were a fantastic opening act for Lucy.

I’ve been trying to see one of Lucy Ward’s gigs for over a year now, and it was well worth the wait. Lucy had the audience captivated from the very first note until the very last – and even managed to fit in a request of “Santa Baby for Folkies” and a couple of Britpop covers. Not your usual for a folk gig, but then neither’s blue hair….

On a more serious note, Lucy is honestly one of the best – if not the best solo performers I’ve seen.  Incredible voice, fantastic stage presence and a brilliant way of putting a song across you that you hang on every single word she sings.

Brilliant.

I think that’s me up to date now…..

Belated Bellowhead Broadside Blog

First off, I just want to say that I am very, VERY proud of myself for the alliteration in the tittle of this…just a little bit of self-congratulation there. And also that I have been a bit quiet of late. Again. Must do better!

(if you’re reading this and you know me, you are hereby granted the right to nag. In fact… even if you don’t know me, nag away!)

So, back to it. i’m still (sort of) doing my ‘gig a week’ but haven’t quite kept up to date with it…I’ve seen The Robbie Boyd Band (#9) (link takes you to my review on Thank Folk For That) and popped up to Birmingham to see The Old Dance School’s triple bill with Lady Maisery and Gilmore & Roberts – a really fantastic gig, which was finished by an amazing one-off version of ODS’s track “John Ball” featuring all three acts. (There’s a video of it here for those who are interested…)

A couple of weeks ago I went along to see Bellowhead at Camden’s Roundhouse (#10) – I somehow managed to get to the front of the 2000 strong crowd & didn’t realise quite how many people were there until I saw a photo after the gig!

Bellowhead are always great fun to see live – and their current tour is a riotous rampage through their latest album, Broadside – which reached number 16 in the UK Official Album Charts (and number 1 in the independent album charts!). This gig was probably the best I’ve seen them, from opening song Black Beetle Pies to the inevitable encore of New York Girls – dedicated in this instance to Obama, who had just been re-elected as president of the USA. (Yep, I’m definitely a bit behind on this blog…)

I defy anyone to go to a Bellowhead gig and not dance. Even if it’s a seated one….

Fiddling & Diddling: A Gig A Week #3

Hannah James & Sam Sweeney with support from Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker

Folk On Monday @ Green Note, Camden, 17/09/2012

I was definitely back in my comfort zone on Monday. And what a comfy comfort zone it turned out to be! For any Londoners who haven’t been, The Green Note is a lovely little vegetarian restaurant that hosts gigs in the evenings – well worth a visit (especially on a Monday!).  Up until now, I haven’t really mentioned support acts at gigs I’ve been to, but it would be verging on criminal if I didn’t talk about Josienne & Ben’s opening set.  On record, Josienne has one of those voices that tugs at your heartstrings. In live performance, it’s simply heart-stopping. They opened with “Silver Dagger” – for some reason the song I associate with Josienne & Ben the most (alongside her self-penned song “Done”).  The majority of their material for this set was trad folk song – including a ‘flirtation’ with “Flash Company” (and a very successful one at that!) and a beautiful rendition of “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?”. Stunning, absolutely stunning.

As if that wasn’t enough top-quality music for one night, along came Hannah James and Sam Sweeney. We were treated to about an hour and a half of anecdotes (how many of us can claim to have a 93 year old relative who knows what a Nintendo Wii is, let alone owns one!), intriguing trivia (apparently Alan Titchmarsh has written erotica…make of that what you will!), clog dancing and, of course, phenomenal music.  “We released an album in April and we’re going to play you all of it…well, except one track” announced Sam as they took to the stage.  They kept to their promise – with a few extras added in too (namely half of their earlier album!).  And there began a whistle-stop tour of tunes and songs interspersed with chatter from Sam. And by whistle-stop, I mean whistle-stop. With Hannah on accordion, clogging and vocals (and ‘diddling’ (singing instrumental tunes) on “On Yonder Hill There Sits A Hare”) and Sam on violin, viola and Hardanger fiddle (a Norwegian traditional instrument), the duo had the audience captivated from the very first note. Which is hardly surprising…I feel like I should go into more detail, but I’ve been sitting here for quite a while to no avail. It was just far too good a gig. My personal highlights? “Ploughboy’s Dream” featuring some pretty impressive viola-strumming and, by the tiniest of margins, Sam’s solo set.

You’ll just have to go and see them live for yourselves.  And I’ll just have to add viola and hardanger fiddle to the list of ‘instruments I want’ (along with accordion, flute, cello, concertina……)

Set lists

Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker

Silver Dagger
Green Grow The Laurels
Flash Company
My Donal
Red Red Rose
Brigg Fair
Who Knows Where The Time Goes?

Hannah James & Sam Sweeney

Battered Hake Polka/Jack’s Maggot
Gaol Song
Sportsman’s Hornpipe  (Clog)
How Do You Do/Gallons Of Cognac
William Taylor
On Yonder Hill There Sits A Hare
Hole In The Wall

–INTERVAL–

Parson Upon Dorothy/Dolly
The Farmer’s Cursed Wife
The Ploughboy’s Dream
Bagpipes/Mount Hills  (Sam Sweeney solo)
The Lay Of The Land (Clog)
Dick’s Maggot/Dog Leaps Stairs
The Young And Single Sailor
The Bonny Miller/Strike A Bell

Encore: The Falmouth Packet

What next..?

After a trip to Towersey Village Festival, I’ve been thinking what to do next with this blog. As is glaringly obvious, my updating has been sporadic to say the least and it’s often hard to find the right thing to blog about.

Therefore, to give myself some structure for this blog I will be attempting to attend at least one gig per week – something to talk/blog about. I already have a few gigs in the diary of bands I’ve seen over the festival season I want to keep up with, but hopefully the weeks in between will be new discoveries, recommendations and perhaps people I might not have heard of before.

Let’s see how it goes….

As for Towersey: my personal highlights* were Bellowhead, who included some new songs from their forthcoming album “Broadside” in their set; David Gibb & Elly Lucas, whose song “Old Chairs To Mend” I chose as my song for the week on This Is My Jam and Northern Irish winners of the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award, Ioscaid. I’m still kicking myself for not buying their EP whilst I was there….

*Of course, there were many, many more fantastic acts…these were just the first three that sprung to mind…

Too many potholes! (a belated reflection on (some of) Sidmouth FolkWeek….)

9 days, 9 ceilidhs, multiple gigs and potholes, oh so many potholes….sleeping on a hill full of potholes is no mean feat, I can tell you!

Campsites aside (or maybe included…), there is definitely something special about Sidmouth FolkWeek – I don’t even know where to begin with my highlights from the week.

First there were the ‘concert-y’ gigs – I was going to call them the ‘chilled out’ gigs, but that just wouldn’t do them justice.  Click on the names, it’ll take you to their websites…you won’t regret it, I promise…

Maz O’Connor – a folk singer and songwriter from Cumbria, who launched her album at the festival (which I now regret not picking up a copy of!) Maz’s blog says “it’s a very strange feeling to have a room full of actual people singing the chorus you wrote in your bedroom” – but how could you not? In fact, I’m still singing it now…”I’m a rambler till I die, die, die…”

Jackie Oates – the only person I’ve ever seen play a violin and a viola. At the same time….

Jonny Kearney & Lucy Farrell enchanted the audience with their mainly self-penned songs and raised a few laughs with “Lullaby“. Simple, yet captivating.

For tonight, I’ll leave you with Fay Hield & The Hurricane Party – a bit of a who’s who of folk, to say the least!