Musings of a middle aged man

Great oaks standing tall

27/5/2015

Wednesday 27th May. The Garage. Strand of Oaks. So it’s a big turnout and pretty much a full house of Gary’s gig gang (Ed’s note must come up with a better name that that). It’s the Burgess Brothers, John, Graham, Antony, Big Al, and Bird’s Eye Andy out tonight and after a few in the local ‘Spoons it’s off to the Garage.

The Garage is one of my favourite mid-sized venues with a high wide stage giving good sight lines wherever you are. It’s never over sold so there always room to get around.

We saw Timothy Showalter and chums last September at the Lexington for an amazing gig and I was tempted to just cut and paste that review. (http://garyw66.weebly.com/blog/archives/09-2014) The difference tonight is the absence of the super talented Eliza Jones, the keyboardist. So we strap in for what promises to be a full on rock show. And the Lord said let it be so.

Opening the night with the title track of their recent album ‘HEAL’ and then straight into ‘Goshen ‘97’ sets the scene for the next 80 minutes. The band tonight is supplemented with a second guitarist who acts as the perfect foil to Tim.

‘Shut In’ is an obvious favourite and my song of the year last year but tonight it’s the hauntingly beautiful ‘Woke up to the light’ that stands out for me. It highlights the subtlety of his voice and it is a real hair standing on the back of the neck moment.

There are some stylistic comparisons to be made between Strand of Oaks and War on Drugs but last year saw one delivering one of the most overrated albums of last year and the other delivering one of the most underrated. On current form give me the mighty oaks.

Like September there’s genuine emotion and gratitude to the fans. You can’t compare the two gigs as they were very different but I for one would pay to see these songs reinterpreted again in an acoustic setting along with the great Eliza on harmonies and organ.

Keep on rockin' y’all

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The Strypes, born in the 90s, feet in the 60's, listen to them now

18/5/2015

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Monday 18th May. The Boileroom. The Strypes. First time at the Boileroom in Guildford and it was living up to its name. It’s a sold out show and you can barely get in the door and past the hot steamy audience that’s a fair cross section of ages and sexes. From the old guys who were there for the sixties R n B groups first time around to tweenies checking out one of the hottest new bands with me and John somewhere in between.

The Strypes are four very young men (the oldest not twenty till later this year) from Cavan in Ireland. Their music is a mash up of all the great sixties British blues and rhythm and blues bands such as The Feelgoods, Yardbirds, etc.

Coming on stage to the Pogues Dirty Ol’ Town gets the crowd singing along and then they launch straight into a blistering ten minutes of high energy rhythm and blues. A minute to draw breath and we’re off again. The set is mainly pulled from their first album and recent EPs with a couple of new tracks thrown in.

The musicianship of the guys so young is amazing and props to Josh McClorey the lead guitarist and chief songwriter who must defy the 10,000 hour rule by being that good so young. But this is no one man band and you feel that the sum total is greater than the single parts.

It’s a runaway train performance as they rattle through the songs at breakneck speed not stopping at any stations along the way pausing briefly to mock the stockbroker Surrey audience into buying their T Shirts (come on Guildford we know you’ve got the money).

In a flash they disappear down some rabbit hole at the side of the stage to spring back out with a rousing rendition of Kick out the Jams that would have left the MC5 struggling to keep up and ending finally with the crowd favourite and the great Bo Diddley song You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover.

The best part of twenty songs in little over an hour, I’m exhausted just watching their energy. It’s a critical time for this talented group to ensure that they’re not labelled a heritage act but they have the songs and musical craft to rise above the bar room brigade.

Get a ticket and jump on board this train now you will enjoy the ride.

The Strypes Setlist The Boileroom, Guildford, England 2015, Roadtest Tour

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Southern Fried Rock - its finger lickin good

13/5/2015

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Wednesday 13th May. Oslo Hackney. Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires. It’s a short hop out east to Hipster Ville or Hackney as it used to be called to Oslo. The only similarity we could see between this and the Norwegian capital is the extortionate price of beer.

Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires are a hard rocking four piece band from Alabama. The main man himself earns his licks with the excellent Dexateens. It promises to be a loud night of Southern rock. And so it proves.

The fifty hardy souls who were there for the band’s first ever London gig witnessed from note one a tsunami of sound that you either went with, rode the wave or were swallowed up and spat out onto Hackney High Street.

It was loud, dirty, raw, southern rock played with gusto and energy from the whole band to an enthusiastic albeit small crowd. The music space in Oslo is a good size but the lack of numbers probably didn’t dampen the sound enough and the vocals were sometimes lost in the cacophony of guitars. In the brief respite from the wail of the guitar you could really appreciate what a fine voice Mr Bains has and this is finely demonstrated on the band first album.

The set leaned heavily from the bands second album which is full of great songs, low production values and a volume switch firmly set to above 10.

A great band slightly let down by sound issues and small crowd but this did not stop them from giving it all. However I am concerned that we are seeing the death by a thousand cuts of guitar bands. The last two gigs by American guitar based bands who for different reasons haven’t played here for years or ever were so poorly attended. You could comfortably fit the combined audience of this one and Drivin n Cryin into the Borderline. Whether this is poor promotion or lack of interest I don’t know but I sincerely hope it’s not the latter.

I will for one will do my best to keep the sound of Americana rock, southern rock and hard rock alive and kicking. Keep on rockin y’all.

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William's boys done good

6/5/2015

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Wednesday 6th May. Bush Hall. Sons of Bill. It’s a wet and windy night in West London as we set off to our favourite small to mid-size venue in London. SoB have a lot to live up to with some great gigs seen here in the past few months such as Hiss Golden Messenger, Guster and Delta Spirit

Sons of Bill are three brothers hailing from Virginia that play a fine brand of Americana rock. There are touches of REM but with a country twist and their three part harmonies are beautifully matched.

They are over here promoting their fine new album Love and Logic and the set heavily leans from it. The brothers exchange vocal leads throughout the set and Sam Wilson, a josh Widdicombe lookalike, unleashes his inner rock guitarist several times to great effect. The band look like they’re genuinely enjoying themselves which will always rub off on the attentive audience.

It’s a short and sweet set climaxing with Neil Young’s Unknown Legend that provides a great end to the night and further confirms Bush Hall as the small venue of choice for gigs in London.

They are due back in October supporting Ryan Bingham and that promises to be a great double bill.

Sons of Bill Setlist Bush Hall, London, England 2015

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Great oaks standing tall

The Strypes, born in the 90s, feet in the 60's, listen to them now

Southern Fried Rock - its finger lickin good

William's boys done good

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