Monday 27th February. The O2. Rod Stewart. First time for me to see Rod at this rescheduled gig from last November. It’s not a shock that the majority of the audience are middle aged women and I am indeed with one myself who has proclaimed Rod as her first love.

We are sitting at The Deck, an area in the O2 with bar stools on level one with waitress service. Very civilised and good views too.

After a twenty minute set from the UK Mariachis who didn’t overstay their welcome we sit back waiting for Rod.

What follows is two hours of Rod classics, covers and American standards all wrapped up in a slick production. The stage is bedecked in black and white checkerboard, the band are identically dressed as are the coordinated backing singers and female string section. The lighting and video walls are impressive without being over the top projecting images of Rod throughout the years.

We kick off with Sam Cooke’s ‘Having a Party’ and that’s what the crowd does all night. The band are tight and all are given an opportunity to shine with extended solos to allow for the various costume changes. The set tonight is well paced taking in all eras from Rod’s career with a couple of Faces numbers through to a track off of the new album. The acoustic section was particularly good and was one of the highlights for me especially his version of ‘I’d rather go blind’.

Rod’s voice is still an impressive tool considering his age and he bemoans the mimers and auto tuners in pop music at the moment.

It’s all over too quickly and seems to end abruptly with the band playing ‘Enjoy yourself it’s later than you think’ as the curtain comes down. Well its only 10 o’clock which is hardly late but I suppose the oldies have to get home for their Ovaltine.

I’m glad I’ve now seen this legend who is still going strong. Here’s hoping for the much talked about Faces reunion.

Keep of soft rocking y’all

Thursday 23rd February. The Troxy. Band of Horses. So a trip into deepest East London at the lesser used Troxy. My only other experience of the venue is a few years ago to the short lived supergroup Monsters of Folk. It’s a nice size but get there in good time to get into the pit at the front.

Taking our own advice we get there early for the excellent support of Israel Nash. It’s just an acoustic guitar and pedal steel for this short taster set for those who don’t know him. It works really well and arguably highlighted the songs and his superb falsetto voice better than the full band show from last year.

Next up is Band of Horses. Confession time. These are in my top three favourite contemporary bands so this review is somewhat biased. But in summary they f@ckin rocked. To describe BoH as purely a country rock band is doing them a massive disservice. Every time I have seen them they have offered the lighter contrast of an acoustic segment be it lead singer Ben Bridwell on his own on stage, up in the circle at the Hammersmith Odeon or by turning a Lollapalooza set in 09 into an intimate club gig. Tonight’s acoustic section is Bridwell, joined by guitarist Tyler Ramsey, and on mandolin Ryan Monroe surrounding a single mic ‘bluegrass’ style. Beautiful stuff.

Band of Horses are five albums into their career and they already have probably a dozen stone wall classic songs and to my delight they perform most of them tonight along with some assorted cuts from their new album ‘Why are you OK’ neatly skipping tracks from the below par Mirage Rock.

Bridwell advises the audience that the evening has not got off to a great night after severely cutting his finger and treading in shit, possibly human outside the venue (welcome to East London). Bleeding all night on guitars, jeans and towels he doesn’t let it affect his performance and he leads the band through a storming set.

Highlights too many to mention. ‘Laredo’ is a great singalong as is ‘NW Apartment’ and the encore of ‘Funeral’ and ‘General Specific’ ensures the pace doesn’t let up and there’s even time for a spot of Powderfinger’ for good measure.

It will take a lot to beat this from a purely rock concert perspective and joins Mandolin Orange as my favourite gig of the year so far of the ten I have been to

A great rocking night and keep on country rockin y’all
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Tuesday 14th February. Clapham Grand. Rag n Bone Man. It’s been over twenty years since I last visited the Clapham Grand and so this Valentines night I and my lovely wife find ourselves here to see Rag n Bone Man and support War Child.

I would be amazed if there is anyone in the country who is not aware of him as a result of media saturation recently and much hype. Billed as the saviour of soul we are about to find out if he can live up to the hype.

Well he certainly opens the set impressively coming on stage solo with just a guitar for accompaniment. Belting out an impassioned version of ‘Reuben’s Train’. Bedecked in a T Shirt that resembles one of those Magic Eye pictures he is the joined by the band.

What follows is an hour or so of OK soul tunes that don’t really move you or force you to take that step back and think wow. There are moments of course when he hits the highs and really unleashes the voice but they are few although the breakthrough single ‘Human’ is top drawer.

It’s difficult to know whether you want him to let go and really belt out the songs or take a step back, shut the band down, and build some intimacy and feeling.

The crowd love it though and maybe I’m just a cynical old man but I think the quality of songs needs to improve if he is going to sustain the current industry train he is riding. I suggest that they go back to listen to how it should be done from the sixties.
 
Clearly a talent and with more consistently good tunes and a bit more felling he could be the real deal.

A good not great night and keep on rockin y’all
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Wednesday 8th February. The Garage. James McMurtry. It’s been over seven years since McMurtry last graced these shores. That night it was a solo show at the Borderline. Tonight it’s a full band. The gig has been upgraded from the way too small but great venue of the Lexington to the Garage tonight.

McMurtry is a singer songwriter from Texas whose dry self-deprecating wit and storytelling songs are his trademarks. And he doesn’t disappoint with either tonight.

It’s a best off set tonight with no album to promote although there are a few from his last the excellent ‘Complicated Game’ came out a couple of years ago now. An understated guitarist but he sure can play and his backing are really tight tonight powering through the tracks.

McMurtry’s voice is reminiscent of Dylan but much better and most songs are full of wonderful stories that take you away on a musical journey.

With such an impressive back catalogue picking a highlight is tricky but ‘Just us Kids’ and ‘You got to me’ stand out for me. Requests are quickly shut down with the ‘you know what you want me to play but you don’t know what I’m going to play’.

Time flies for the nearly two hour set running way over the curfew. Let’s hope it’s not another seven years before he graces these shores again.

A great night and keep on rockin y’all
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Monday 6th February. Islington Assembly Hall. Shovels and Rope. After North Carolina’s Mandolin Orange taking the stage on Saturday its South Carolina‘s turn tonight with husband and wife Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst. Again it’s a two piece male female partnership and whilst both bands roots are country, Shovels and Rope certainly put a harder rock feel to it.

First up though it’s a support set from the Matthew Logan Vasquez, leader of the brilliant Delta Spirit. With a pick up band of Glen and Gary who he only met at sound check they rattled through a 30 minute set. It was the classic combination of wailing guitar and Vasquez extraordinary voice. There was even time for a ‘Middle Brother’ song from the short lived supergroup. The perfect starter for the main course.

It’s hard not to describe them as a country rocking White Stripes such is the intensity of the electric guitar drum combination. To describe either as a drummer is doing both a disservice. They alternate between guitar and a drum set up that has a bass, a snare for one hand and the other hand is used to play a mini keyboard.

Vocals are shared between the two and often both take the lead, their voices complementing each other with Trent’s throaty pitch dovetailing with Hearst’s traditional female country twang albeit belted out full bore for the whole show.   

They joked that the main souvenir that they bring back from Europe is heavy colds and you can tell Trent is suffering between songs but his performance was no less diminished by this. Lesser players would have bailed.

It’s a ninety minute treat of the finest hard rocking country by two talented musicians. Their intensity and connection can only come from being husband and wife and you sometimes felt you had gate crashed an intimate moment but we were grateful that they shared this with us.

‘St Ann’s Parade’ and ‘Hail Hail’ were highlights for me in a set full of them. They served their state well and matched everything that the North has thrown at them recently.

A great night and keep on country rockin y’all
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Saturday 4th February. The Lexington. Mandolin Orange. So it’s the fourth gig this week and I saved the best to last. I am new recruit to Mandolin Orange coming on board for the last two albums. They consist of singer songwriter, guitarist and mandolin player Andrew Marlin and guitarist, fiddle player and singer Emily Frantz. Hailing from North Carolina, I am beginning to think I should move there as NC is home to some of my favourite artists, The Avett Brothers, Ryan Adams and Hiss Golden Messenger and I can now include Mandolin Orange on that list.

In the immortal words of John Hiatt, “sure I like country music and I like mandolins” so it goes without saying that I will love this band.

After a great support slot from Dietrich Strause it’s onto the main act. A simple setup with just two microphones we settle down to a great night of acoustic country, bluegrass, Americana or folk whichever label you want to hang.

We are treated to 100 minutes of pure joy. Just two talented musicians performing unadorned by a big band or fancy staging playing great songs to a warm and appreciative crowd. Aside from the musicianship with each changing instruments throughout the set, the two voices blend perfectly together with each harmonising as the other takes lead.

The stories and tales and interaction between songs is warm, self-deprecating but most of all funny and natural. The crowd are fully engaged whooping for mandolin solos, foot stomping on some to provide a back beat or just sitting back and letting the warmth of the music envelop them like a comforting marshmallow pillow.

Highlights too many to mention as the quality is exceptionally high throughout but special mentions for ‘Little Worlds’ and ‘Hard Travellin’. I cannot wait to see these guys again.

Special mention to the venue. Once again the Lexington demonstrates that it’s the best small venue in London with great sound (although you might want the disco downstairs to be turned down a little until the music has finished in the top room).

A great night and keep on country rockin y’all
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Friday 3rd February. The Forum. St Paul and the Broken Bones. This was the fifth time I have seen this band over the past three years starting with a support slot for Jason Isbell which I made all of my gig going mates attend. They have all since become fans with us all racking up multiple attendances. It’s the biggest venue (aside from Glastonbury) that they have graced in the UK and it will be interesting to see if they can make the transition.

The set is taken mainly from their album last year ‘Sea of Noise’ with select tracks from their debut plus the usual array of covers. It’s fair to say that their albums do not do this band any justice. Nothing prepares you for the impact of first seeing this band and Paul Janeway’s stunning voice. It’s live where they really excel. It’s almost impossible to capture the energy of their live performances on tape.

The band are really tight working seamlessly as a unit with their superb horn section and the great Browan Lollar on guitar (check out his solo Ep from a few years back). St Paul are now a highly polished outfit and their sound has really grown from the first time I saw them.

The crowd are really up for it tonight, maybe because its Friday night but I don’t think I have heard such a noise at the Forum for many a year. It’s a big stage at the Forum and the positioning of the band isn’t great as we couldn’t see most of the horn section who were far stage left. The dilemma for any band that grows quickly is the pressure to put on bigger shows at the bigger venues. Tonight the music did the talking but maybe the set production values, lights, etc. need to be raised for these bigger shows.

Highlights for me come from the first album with ‘Call Me’ and ‘Broken bones and pocket change’ along with the cover of ‘Shake’. I think here lies my only small gripe. The quality of the songs needs to be raised to really take them to the next level. The highs are very high but some can often level out.

It’s a minor gripe but these guys are a must see if you haven’t. Its sweet soul music.

Keep on soulful rockin y’all
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Wednesday 1st February. The Water Rats. Promised Land Sound. So from the behemoth O2 with 20,000 metal fans on Sunday we are in the back room of a pub in Kings Cross with 100 other knowledgeable souls tonight.

It’s Promised Land Sound’s first time in London and after two fine albums chock full of jingly jangly guitar based psychedelic pop I can’t wait. PLS are a young band from Nashville but their sound is very much seventies west coast. Think Byrds, Gram and the Laurel Canyon set.

After a fine set from the Hanging Stars who I think feature the guitarist from the Rockingbirds, PLS take to the stage. It’s immediately engaging with a beautiful blend of three part harmonies supporting the fine songs. One song in there’s a broken string and a borrowed guitar but that blip aside we are treated to about an hour of the finest music. Joey Scala, bassist, songwriter and chief singer leads the band through the set but the key word here is band. They are a four piece unit who work perfectly together. Vocals effortlessly shift between the front three and their loose style fits perfectly with the music. Their sound reminds you of a blend of a hundred different bands from REM to Buffalo Springfield.

It’s all over too quickly and here’s hoping they come back real soon

Keep on rockin y’all