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 and some form on normality would have prevailed and I would be back to live music by the autumn. It quickly became apparent that this was not going to be the case and I soon wrote off the whole year pinning my hopes on a quick resumption in 2021.
Well after his latest bout of brinkmanship with the virus Boris has blinked too late yet again and we’re back in full lockdown. 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. I will be surprised if I am seeing any live music again before June.
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.
Just a couple today with the inevitable January Marillion gig for my look back trip down memory lane.
2013, JD McPherson, Electric Ballroom, London
If you like a slice of old time rock n roll then, along with James Hunter, you don’t have to look much farther that JD McPherson. I’ve seen him a couple of times and it’s usually a good time show and certainly a notch above your local covers band down the pub.
Tonight though it was all a bit flat. The band seemed disinterested and this translated to the crowd and there seemed to be a collective lack of energy. The ballroom wasn’t full by any means and maybe this contributed to the lethargy, maybe it was just the January blues but while the show itself was perfunctory it doesn’t live long in the memory. I think the most disappointing thing was probably, on my recommendation, dragging Graham along who wasn’t that aware of the artist. It usually works out and I have a reasonable handle on my friends’ musical tastes and the gig justifies my enthusiasm but tonight sadly the show didn’t match up to the artist himself.
1988, Marillion, Hammersmith Odeon, London
Ha ha another January night another Marillion gig. This time around it’s the ‘Clutching at Straws’ tour and although it features heavily nearly half the set is Misplaced Childhood too. Not so much from the first two so luckily I had seen all of these albums live in the preceding years. There little else to write about this band who were my obsession for the mid to late eighties.
That’s it for today’s trip down memory lane. With hopes dashed of any form of normality soon I am trying to cling on that by June we could be back in business but my hopes have been dashed so many times in the last twelve months that I wouldn’t bet on it.
Don forget, support your small local venues and smaller artists in these difficult times, stay safe and keep on rockin y’all.