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.
Three of the best for my look back trip down memory lane for you down the years.
2012, Dawes, Dingwalls, London
I wrote recently about this band who never fail to deliver live. Whilst their most recent studio albums haven’t been up there with their best, live they are always on point.
This was I think the second time of seeing them in 2012 touring in support of their great second album ‘Nothing is Wrong’. Of course its great show taking in most of their first two albums.
I don’t need to say anymore as I have reviewed them here many times since.
1992, Black Crowes, Brixton Academy, London
Our first time out to see the Robinson brothers and supporting cast nearly thirty years ago. This was in support of their masterpiece ‘The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion’, which I still maintain has the best opening tracks for a blues rock album with Sting Me and Remedy.
There’s no complaints as most the album is played plus a few from their debut and of course their version of ‘Hard to handle’. It’s a smokey old affair and the smell of Mary Jane fills this large room both from the stage and the audience.
It’s a great show and no songs come in under five minutes, I guess with extended solos and jams. They can be a bit hit or miss live but when they hit they hit it hard.
1988, Steve Earle and the Dukes, Town and Country, London
Regular readers will know I have reviewed Steve Earle many times and in the eighties John and I saw him and the Dukes quite a few times. This was the first time seeing him in our home from home the Town and Country Club at this time.
This was probably the Copperhead Road tour and as I have mentioned before you have never seen so many guitars to the side of the stage for the band. All are used some being swapped out during a song. It’s a long show, well over two hours of the finest country rock around.
That’s it for today’s trip down memory lane. Here’s hoping we can get to some form of normality soon but with the new lockdown my last chance of a gig disappeared this month and I have now had my first gig of 2021 cancelled so that will take it to a full twelve months at least between gigs.
Support your small local venues and smaller artists in these difficult times, stay safe and keep on rockin y’all.