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.
A busy day this over the years.
1994 – Aimee Mann, Shepherds Bush Empire
The three amigos (me, John and Graham) tonight for what I think was Aimee Mann’s first UK tour. Touring here in support of the excellent debut ‘Whatever’ Mann has been delivering the finest music for over twenty five years with her unique voice and intelligent songs. As you would expect the majority of the setlist comes from her only album which is a treat, but there is room for one of my favourite tracks from her first band Til Tuesday, ‘The other end of the Telescope’. It must be a good track as even Elvis Costello has covered it. Looking back this was probably the best gig of hers I have seen just because it was the first and in a canon of great albums ‘Whatever’ is peerless and to see most of it live was perfect and I managed to find the setlist below.
2011 – Raphael Saadiq, Shepherds Bush Empire
Me and Anne tonight for some contemporary soul, well certainly in Saadiq’s age but his style is very much rooted in R&B tradition. This may well have been his first UK tour under his own name after being part of Tony Toni Tone back in the day. If you have not heard of him he’s worked with everyone who’s anyone from Whitney to Wonder. This was probably the ‘Stone Rollin’ tour and it’s been eight long years between that album and last year’s ‘Jimmy Lee’. I remember this being a stylish show and his voice was amazing. A great night of sweet soul music. Check him out if you don’t know him.
2014 – Eli Paperboy Reed, Village Underground
Continuing in the soul vein above and hot on the heels of my first ever review The Paperboy delivered the day after my Lucero epiphany. First time at the Village Underground and I have been back there a few times since but still remains one of my least favourite venues. It’s a long thin room in a railway arch and you need to get there early to have any decent view or you are pretty much standing at the door. I am often left underwhelmed at this venue but have seen some good shows there too and tonight is one of those.
I have seen Eli many times, never in the same venue, sometimes with horns sometimes without and once with a broken leg, him not me that is. Again it’s me and Anne plus we are joined by our antipodean reporter Erin. Luckily we get there early and the gig was not sold out so we had plenty of room for a boogie to his sweet soul sounds. It’s not the best I have seen him and he was touring perhaps not one of his finest albums ‘Nights like these’ but it’s always a good night when he kicks out his great cover of Motorhead’s ‘Ace of Spades’.
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