We have a date 21st June. That means another ten or so gigs that will either be cancelled or postponed some for the third time. So cautious optimism is the watch word here. Given that the summer months are usually a little quieter the autumn could be crazy for gigs if things get back to normal. So with everything crossed let’s hope there is real light at the end of this horribly long tunnel.
When I first started this little exercise we were a month into lockdown on the 24th April. Like most of you I expected this to last a month or two. The reality now is clear and sadly it will be a full twelve months and probably a lot more between my last gig and the next one. We go again and hopefully this brings back memories for my gig going chums who have joined me on this great musical journey down the years.
A busy one with four today for my look back down memory lane.
2019, Mike Henderson, Bluebird Café, Nashville
Visiting the Bluebird was in the top three things for us to do on our stay in Nashville and by chance the great Mike Henderson was in residency. It’s a first come first served arrangement and we manged to get it by the skin of our teeth with probably only another four people getting in behind us. It’s a tiny cramped room with inches between the tables and for tonight a minimal stage at one end as opposed to its regular ‘in the round’ setup.
Prefacing the show Henderson advises the audience that this won’t be the usual hushed Bluebird gig but a full on blues show. And so it was with Mike supported by local old time blues guys in his band.
Great stuff by the great man and we leave with CDs and Bluebird merch safely bought.
2013, Jesse Ware, Oxford Academy, Oxford
We treated this as a city mini break staying just outside Oxford, with this gig being the evening’s entertainment. The Academy is just outside town but it must have taken us 30 minutes to find anywhere to park which was a fair way away.
We arrived to a packed hot and sweaty Academy just in time to see support act Laura Mvula who was decent enough. Onto Ware, this may have been her first headline tour in support of her debut ‘Devotion’ album and indeed the whole album was played. Sadly I don’t have any significant memories of the show so it was probably decent enough but I just think the packed room with flat floor and poor sight lines took away something from the performance for me.
2003, Richard Thompson with Kim Richey, Shepherds Bush Empire
Another day, another Richard Thompson gig, this time it’s the ‘Old Kit Bag’ tour which was a very fine album in a large canon of very fine albums. It’s the usual great show with Richard supported ably by namesake Danny in the band. It’s a fine balance of tracks from the early days right up to date but of course selfishly I would always want to see more from Rumour and Sigh’. Minor grumble aside a lovely evening from the master and special mention to Kim Richey who is brilliant. If you don’t know her, she has a voice like Aimee Mann and her songs have a little bit more of a country folk edge but she is definitely worth checking out.
1991, Chris Isaak, Town and Country, London
Wow thirty years. Isaak over here without an album to support but still trading heavily on his breakthrough ‘Heart Shaped World’ the set takes in his previous albums in equal measures. Not known for his long shows this is a short sharp sweet concert from the master of witty stories and traditional rock n roll from the Elvis lookalike and Orbison sound-alike. As usual he is backed by a superb band with the enigmatic Kenney Dale Johnson on drums with whom there is back and forth banter throughout the night. Some thirty years later he is still in the band.
I think Isaak is vastly under rated and those first five albums are all excellent. He is still doing the business and we saw him a couple of years ago supporting Hall and Oates and he stole the show.
That’s it for today so don’t forget, support your small local venues and smaller artists in these difficult times, stay safe and keep on rockin y’all.