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.
A busy one today, as I guess in most normal years this week see live music properly kcik off again after the Christmas holidays, for my look back trip down memory lane.
2020, Amanda Lee Platt and the Honeycutters, Water Rats, London
One of the few gigs I did actually go to last year to start things off and it was a fine show with me and missus. Top quality female country in a great small venue near Kings Cross, the Water Rats. Reviewed here at the time.
2017, Moreland and Arbuckle, Blues Kitchen, London
These guys are brilliant live blending great guitar and harmonica for some old time blues. A freebie at the Blues Kitchen in Camden and the only criticism was it was too short but a sweet one nonetheless. All reviewed here at the time. Sadly though they have split and gone their separate ways so it will be interesting to see how their new careers fare.
2016, Noah Gundersen, the Borderline, London
Unbeknown to us Gundersen had attracted a new much younger audience on the back of tunes on some popular TV series in the states such as the Vampire Diaries. So feeling positively old John, Graham and myself stay a respectable distance back to let the young ‘uns see their hero. In a world seemingly full of earnest acoustic singer songwriters, Noah stands above most of the dross and delivers a perfect performance. All was reviewed here at the time.
1991, Iggy Pop, Brixton Academy, London
This would have been the ‘Brick by Brick’ tour which is actually a good solo album from the Iggster. We're off to a great start with That Petrol Emotion as the support act. Onto Iggy, you know it’s going to be a good night when he starts with ‘Raw Power’, followed by two other Stooges songs and ‘Lust for Life’ in the first five songs. We gather our breath as he runs through a lot of the new album before delivering a power house finale with ‘I Wanna be your dog’, ‘No Fun’ and an incendiary ‘Search and Destroy’ which of course leaves him in a significant state of undress.
If you have never seen Iggy live his energy level is relentless and even now he still rocks like the proverbial. Checkout the video from Jools Holland’s ‘Later’ a few years back with Josh Homme on guitar. It’s up there as one of the best performances from anyone on that programme for me.
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.