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.
Records go back to my first gig, which was Whitesnake at Hammersmith Odeon on 28th May, 1981, and so recollections may be hazy will certainly be for those attended before I started reviewing six years ago. Memories will be sought from the dark recesses, events may be embellished and if you were there with me, tag the post, although the elusive Mr Cade who I attended my first gig and hundreds more with, militantly refuses to join social media so these trips down memory lane will probably pass him by.
2004 – Norah Jones, Hammersmith Odeon
With Norah’s superb debut album ‘Come Away with me’ still fresh a mere two years before she is over here promoting follow up ‘Feels like Home’. This was either the first or maybe second gig I had dragged Anne along to and she has in the main been happy to be dragged to many many more since then. We are up in the gods for this hot ticket in town, so clearly I was still honing my ticket buying skills at that time as I am very much a stalls guy.
It was great show with most of both albums being played but the biggest reaction were to the tracks from the debut. My lasting memory was when she introduced one of the many tracks co-written by the excellent Jesse Harris and name checked him. I think I was the only voice that cheered and who had probably heard of him and his great band in their own right the Ferdinando’s. Earlier in the night when she had introduced I think a Hank Williams track and it was met with silence. She commented that Jesse would be stoked when she told him he got a bigger cheer than Hank.
2008 – Chuck Prophet – The Borderline
Given I have seen Chuck over a dozen times with probably half of them st the Borderline it’s difficult to remember many specifics. Chuck stalwarts, John and Graham would have been there and Chuck would have been backed by the Mission Express. He would have been touring the ‘Soap and Water’ album which to be fair is not one of his best and at this time and ever since he has eschewed playing anything from his, I believe, artistic peak nineties albums.
One thing you can be sure on though it will have been a great show full of wit, stories and above all else intelligent songs and a great musical performance. Thanks Chuck for being there over the past nearly thirty years. It’s been a blast.
2018 – Courtney Marie Andrews – Islington Assembly Hall
This was one of the easiest reviews that I wrote in 2018. Absolute stunning show and probably gig of the year that year. The Twin Towers, Gavin and Martin Burgess and ‘Birds Eye’ Andy and me were in attendance we were treated to a tour de force musical show for the last night of this tour. I read some review afterwards in I think the Guardian that described as tired, lacklustre and going through the motions. Well if this show was going through the motions hold on when she gets to full tilt. The band were spot on and her voice just took over and filled this great venue.
Wonderful, wonderful show
That’s it for the first in my trips 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