With the country still in the midst of lockdown and no sign of any live music in the foreseeable future if at all this year I thought I would take the opportunity to look back in the archives, sounds posh I know but it’s just an spreadsheet, and revisit gigs I attended on this day down the years. I will keep this going until I can attend my first gig again in person so hopefully this also brings back memories for my gig going chums who have joined me on this great musical journey down the years.
Just a couple for today’s trip down memory lane for you down the years.
2008, Brian Wilson, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, US and A
As is often the case I always look for a gig when we are on holiday, especially in the states. This was our big Californian road trip starting in LA driving up to San Fran via Sequoia and Yosemite national parks and coming back to LA via Pacific Coast Highway. A stunning journey that I heartily recommend for anyone thinking of doing it.
So back to the show we drove up to the Hollywood Bowl in the afternoon the day before and luckily there were still a few tickets left for the legend that is Brian Wilson. I had never seen Wilson before and wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to see him backed by one of my favourite bands, The Wondermints who had put their own career on hold while they backed Wilson for a few years.
On the evening it very much had the feel of the shows over here at National Trust venues with picnics and white wine flowing for the largely middle aged audience. When in Rome, we settle down with a bought picnic and chardonnay for the show.
It’s fair to say that Wilson has suffered from mental illness for some time and given his lifestyle during the sixties it is not surprising. This clearly impacts his stage presence and between song interaction. Whilst he is stood behind a keyboard and his hands go up and down I am not sure that his fingers actually touch the keys.
But all this doesn’t matter as his performance during the songs is first class. His voice is stills strong and the band more than make up for any deficiencies carrying him through the show as required whilst doing their best Beach Boys impressions throughout. The hits are there plus more and there’s something pretty cool seeing and hearing these Beach Boys classics in California.
A great show in a charismatic venue in the city of angels.
2003, Stewboss, the Grey Horse, Kingston
A local gig for one of my favourite albeit underappreciated Americana bands. I think there were probably five us of tonight in our group and we must have contributed to being more than half of the audience. It’s a tragedy in music that fantastic bands like Stewboss with their intelligent songs and musicianship cannot get a break and on the flip side some truly awful bands luck in and strike gold. Sadly Stewboss have now called it a day which is a real shame and this may have been the last ime they played these shores.
Despite the paucity in numbers the band still gave their all and were brilliant as always. A shortish set drawn from across their back catalogue but of course the highlight for me was their heart wrenching ode ‘Midnight Shift’.
That’s it for today’s trip down memory lane. Here’s hoping we can get to some form of normality soon. Support your small local venues and smaller artists in these difficult times, stay safe and keep on rockin y’all.