Posts Tagged ‘folk’

14 Feb

Judy Collins The Sage Gateshead February 9th 2010

Posted by vintagerock in Judy Collins. Tagged: , , , , , .

Judy Collins The Sage Gateshead February 9th 2010

Last year I bought a couple of old Judy Collins albums at a local car boot fair. When I got home and played them I realised how beautiful her voice is, and how important she was in the 60s US folk movement. I’d only been aware of Send in the Clowns and her version of Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now but listening to those albums, and some web surfing, soon made me realise that there is much more to her than that. She was, of course, the inspiration for Stephen Stills’ Suite Judy Blue Eyes, and a friend of all the major folk rock stars in the 60s.
I’d never been to see Judy in concert before. She played at the Sage a couple of years ago and I didn’t make it, so I was pleased to see that she was returning, and bought a ticket. The concert was in the smaller hall and had been sold out for some weeks; there are still a lot of people who want to go along and see her.
I missed the support and arrived just in time to grab a drink before the show. Judy came on stage at around 8.50pm. She looks great, her hair is white now (she is over 70 years old) and her voice is as clear and sweet as ever. She intersperses the songs with some tales of her life in the 50s and 60s. How she met Barbra Streisand before she hit the big time, and how she was a friend of Leonard Cohen and he came to her house and sang Suzanne to her before he recorded it.
With her acoustic guitar and accompanied by Russell Walden on grand piano, her wonderful voice filled the small hall and captivated all of us. The songs were a good mix of old folk songs and ballads, and included, of course, Both Sides Now, Send in the Clowns, the Beatles Blackbird, Cats in the Cradle and a lovely version of Over the Rainbow. A great way to spend a Tuesday evening in the company of a true legend, whose voice is as clear as it is on the old albums that I have (and without the scratches and clicks). I can only begin to imagine what it must be like to have lived such an exceptional life, and to continue to travel the world, singing great songs to people.

website: http://www.judycollins.com

ticket

7 Feb

The Groundhogs and Stray The Cluny Newcastle 3 Feb 2010

Posted by vintagerock in Groundhogs, Stray. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

The Groundhogs and Stray The Cluny Newcastle 3 Feb 2010

Will and I went to see our old hero Tony McPhee with the Groundhogs on Wednesday at the Cluny. This was a true classic rock double header, with the Groundhogs sharing the billing with old favourites Stray. Tony suffered a stroke last year and hasn’t been so well; we were pleased that he was now well enough to play again and were looking forward to seeing him. He hasn’t yet made a full recovery in that his speech is still affected, and as a result his wife Joanna had become an honorary Hog and is deputising on vocals.

The Groundhogs are first up. This is the first time we have had a chance to see the new four piece line-up which includes Joanna on vocals, Tony (of course) on guitar, Dave Anderson on bass and Mick Jones on drums. Its at first strange to see Joanna fronting the band and singing. She really gets into the spirit of it, dancing all over the stage, and making a good fist of the vocal duties. Tony seems to be playing better than the last couple of times we’ve seen the Hogs. He takes over the vocal duties for Still a Fool. Last song is, as always, Cherry Red; the higher notes suit Joanna’s voice well.

After a short break, Stray take the stage. I’d forgotten what a great front man and guitarist Del Bromham is, and how loud a three piece band can be. He obviously loves being on stage, and is still an excellent and very under-rated guitarist. The old Stray tracks stand the test of time, and those from the new album sound just as good. Last up is old favourite All in the Mind, with Del, ever the showman, hanging his Strat from the Cluny ceiling and whipping it with the guitar lead. No strobes, or dustbins with flames and flares like the old days, but just as good all the same.

We have a chat with Del on the way out, and get a poster signed. We ask him if he remembers playing Spennymoor Top Hat in the early 70s (he does) and to pass our regards to our old friend Tony Rolfe who now lives near Del and sometimes plays guitar with him.

A great night. The old ones are still the best.

Groundhogs Setlist: (from memory; I might have missed some) No More Dogging, Eccentric Man, Garden, Still a Fool (Tony singing), Split 1, Split 2, Split 4, Mistreated, Natchez Burning, Cherry Red.

Stray Setlist: Included quite a few (great!) songs from the new album and old favourites Time Machine, After the Storm, Jericho, I believe it, All in your Mind.

Groundhogs website: http://www.thegroundhogs.co.uk/
Stray website: http://www.stray-the-band.co.uk/

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31 Jan

Buffy Sainte-Marie The Sage Gateshead Jan 28th 2010

Posted by vintagerock in Buffy Sainte-Marie. Tagged: , , , , , .

Buffy Sainte-Marie The Sage Gateshead Jan 28th 2010

On several occassions I have gone along to see a legendery performer, only to be disapointed. Tonight wasn’t one of them. Buffy Sainte-Marie certainly fits into my definition of a legend. She started singing in the early 60s and was a contemporary of Dylan and Joan Baez, she’s written some great songs, a few of which have become standards. My first encounter of Buffy’s music was when I went to see the film Soldier Blue when it came out in 1970. Of course I’d heard Universal Soldier by Donovan, but wasn’t aware that Buffy had written it. More recently I bought a copy of her first lp on eBay, enjoyed it, and decided that it was about time I went to see her in concert.
The Sage was about 3/4 full downstairs for Buffy. I came along a little late and missed the support; he was autographing CDs in the foyer when I arrived. I took my seat near the back of the hall and about 5 minutes later Buffy took the stage. At 68 she looks great and is clearly still enjoying performing. The set is a mix of her well known songs and others from her albums. Her band are, like Buffy, of native American descent and between the songs she tells stories of native American life, still “a teacher” (her words) and passionate about civil rights. Her songs are all sung beautifully; many of them drawing from native American culture and music. It was quite a short set, but I sensed as I left that everyone had enjoyed it. Particular favourites for me were Universal Soldier (of course), Cripple Creek (great mouth-bow; I think that is what you call it?) and Until its time for you to go (Buffy proudly tells us how this has been covered by Elvis and Barbra Streisand).

Setlist: I don’t know Buffy’s songs well enough to list them all, but the set included the songs below:
Little Wheel spin and spin
Cripple Creek
Universal Soldier
Soldier Blue
Up where we belong
Until its time for you to go
He’s an Indian Cowboy in the Rodeo
No No Keshagesh
Starwalker

website: http://www.creative-native.com/

ticket

20 Dec

Steeleye Span Sage Gateshead Dec 16 2009

Posted by vintagerock in Steeleye Span. Tagged: , , , , .

Steeleye Span Sage Gateshead Dec 16 2009
Another band celebrating 40 years together with an anniversary tour. I was never a massive fan of Steeleye, but I did see them a few times in the 1970s, the first being as support for Jethro Tull on the Aqualung tour at Sunderland Empire. I also recall seeing them at Newcastle City Hall (with the great Amazing Blondell as support), the Grangemouth Festival in Scotland in 1972 or 73 and a wonderful night at Middlesbrough Town Hall around the time All Around My Hat was in the charts where Maddy danced up and down the aisles, big skirts twirling, to the delight of the packed hall.
So some 30 years or more on from my last Steeleye encounter I was in the cheap seats upstairs in the Sage to see what the band were like now. The show was in two halves with an interval, and the hall was pretty full with levels 1 and 2 packed and level 3 quite full. The set was just what I had expected and hoped for, a good mix of their own particular brand of folk-rock. Maddy Prior looks great and dances just as she did all those years ago (she didn’t venture into the aisles this time). The rest of the band are all great musicians and the sound was clear and crisp as it often is in the lovely Sage concert hall. I can’t pretend to have recognised many of the songs, but I enjoyed them all the same. The encore was All Around My Hat to which we all sang along. A great evenings entertainment, which relived some old memories for me. It was nice to see them again.

website: http://steeleye.freeservers.com/

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13 Dec

Shift-Static & Blank Canvas Forest Cafe Edinburgh 5 Dec

Posted by vintagerock in Shift-Static. Tagged: , , , , , .

Shift-Static and Blank Canvas The Forest Cafe Edinburgh 5 December 2009
Shift-Static took the next step in their career last Saturday with a gig in Scotland. The Forest Cafe is a volunteer run, not-for-profit arts, social and events space masquerading as a groovy veggie café in the heart of Edinburgh. In its own words: “Forest is people. People is Forest. You is people. You is Forest.”
Gordon hails from Scotland’s capital and had lined up this gig, so Laura, Gordon, Charlie, Will and Joe made the trip across the border to take the stage at Edinburgh’s groovy cafe. Marie and I decided to make a weekend of it and followed Lenny Henry’s advice and booked a room in a Premier Inn on the outskirts of the city.
We easily found the Forest Cafe; its not too far from Princes Street. The stage lies at the rear of the cafe, which has a nice laid-back feel to it, with art work all over the walls and comfy settees all over the place. We took a seat near the stage ready for the arrival of the band. A folk band were on stage when we arrived; they reminded me of early Fairport.
Next up came Blank Canvas, a local band which includes Gordon’s brother Douglass on bass. Their set was a set of some originals and some well-chosen covers from Talking Heads and Orange Juice. A great set, which went down well with the crowd. Shift-Static closed the evening with a set which was cut a little short as closing time came upon us. The set was very much the same as their debut Head of Steam gig; tonight they sound much tighter and are really playing well together. Their sounds echo around the cafe and the crowd give them a great reception. A great Scottish debut for the band, in a lovely venue.

website Shift-Static: http://www.myspace.com/shiftstaticmusic
website The Forest Cafe: http://www.theforest.org.uk/
website Blank Canvas: http://www.myspace.com/blankcanvas1

7 Nov

Shift-Static Head of Steam Newcastle 5 November 2009

Posted by vintagerock in Shift-Static. Tagged: , , , , , .

Shift-Static Head of Steam Newcastle 5 November 2009

Shift-Static are a new band from Newcastle. All of the band members are students at Newcastle University, all coming from different musical backgrounds and with different musical tastes, who have come together to give us some wonderful music. Although the band have been together for some time, and have caused quite a stir with their recent demo which was rated demo of the month by Narc magazine, this was their first performance.
The Head of Steam was pretty packed for their debut gig, with Shift-Static taking the stage second, sandwiched between local bands The Cut and Sword Attack. Most of the crowd had clearly come along to see Shift-Static, many of them being friends of the band. They took the stage to a great cheer from the crowd and launched into their five song set. Shift-Static music is difficult to categorise; they blend some very complex sounds with strong guitar and basslines. Laura’s lovely vocals weave in and out of the sound textures, almost like another instrument. Its sort of Portishead meets New Order meets Enya but its not really like any of those. For a first gig its pretty wonderful, in fact its pretty wonderful for any gig. The crowd love it; give them a great reception; their short set is over all too soon.
Shift-Static are back at the Head of Steam next Wednesday 11 November supporting Foot Village; if you can make it go along and see them.

Setlist (may not be in the correct order) : Green Knees; Haystacks; Fathers Footsteps Part 1 & 2; Give you all.

myspace site: http://www.myspace.com/shiftstaticmusic
another review on wordpress: http://musicfromagreenwindow.wordpress.com/

shiftstatic

Shift-Static Debut at The Head of Steam

shiftstatic

1 Nov

Fleetwood Mac Sheffield Arena Nov 2nd 2009

Posted by vintagerock in Fleetwood Mac. Tagged: , , , , , .

Fleetwood Mac Sheffield Arena Nov 2nd 2009
Fleetwood Mac were on great form last night. Went along with Norm to see them. This was probably the best I have seen them. The set list was a greatest hits which drew mostly from the Rumours period. Lyndsey Buckingham was the star of the show, he’s a great guitarist and a human dynamo. Steve Nicks’ vocals were very strong; much better than last time I saw them in Manchester. The crowd loved it and sang along with every word. Well worth the drive to Sheffield.

Setlist : Monday Morning ; The Chain ; Dreams ; I Know I’m Not Wrong ; Gypsy ; Go Insane ; Rhiannon ; Second Hand News; Tusk ; Sara ; Big Love ; Landslide ; Never Going Back Again ; Storms ; Say You Love Me; Gold Dust Woman ; Oh Well ; I’m So Afraid ; Stand Back ; Go Your Own Way
Encores: World Turning ; Don’t Stop

mac

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1 Nov

Green Day Manchester MEN Arena October 30th 2009

Posted by vintagerock in Green Day. Tagged: , , , , , .

Green Day Manchester MEN Arena October 30th 2009

I had promised David and Laura that we would go to see Green Day when they returned to the UK. Although they have been around for some 21 years; I’ve never fancied seeing them until recently; largely because of the American Idiot album which we all liked, and their growing reputation as one of the best live acts in the world. So on Friday we braved the rush hour traffic down the A1 and across the M62 to the vast MEN Arena to see if they would live up to their reputation.

We got to Manchester in time for something to eat at Nandos in Printworks and went into the MEN around 7.45pm, having missed the support act Prima Donna. Laura was sitting with me and David was in the next block on his own (there was a limit of two tickets per person for this show).  Green Day were advertised as coming on stage at 8pm. Around 8.15pm a giant drunken rabbit took to the stage drinking out of two cans and started dancing to YMCA to the delight of the audience. I guess this was a sign of what was to come. Green Day took the stage at around 8.20 to a great roar from the crowd. Billy Joe worked the crowd from the start. Lots of singing along; several fans were brought up on stage to sing lead vocals and then asked to stage dive into the crowd. Lots of effects; explosions, flames, etc. And the show was very long at around 2 hours 40 mins. Underneath it all lies a great rock band. The favourites are all played, and played very well and we do enjoy it. But there is something of the pantomime to it, which the kids in the crowd of course love.  

We meet up with David at the end of the show; we all agree that it was good but perhaps a little long and too geared towards the kids in the crowd. We get home around 1.15am.

website: www.greenday.com

Setlist:

Song of the Century;21st Century Breakdown;Know Your Enemy;Viva la Gloria!; East Jesus Nowhere;Holiday;
The Static Age;Burnout;Are We the Waiting; St. Jimmy; Boulevard of Broken Dreams; Hitchin’ a Ride; When I Come Around; Give me Novacine; Brain Stew/Jaded ; Knowledge; Basket Case; She; Welcome to paradise;
King for a Day; Shout /Orgasim Addict/Teenage Kicks/Champagne Supernova/Satisfaction; 21 Guns; American Eulogy
Encore: American Idiot; Jesus Of Suburbia; Minority

Encore 2: Last Night on Earth; Wake Me Up When September Ends; Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)

greenday

my ticket

greendayprog

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1 Nov

Classic Legends of Rock Tyne Theatre Oct 28th 2009

Posted by vintagerock in Focus, Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash, Strawbs, Wishbone Ash. Tagged: , , , , , .

Classic Legends of Rock Newcastle Tyne Theatre October 28th 2009

Featuring Focus, Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash, The Strawbs

Went along with Will and Norm  on Wednesday night for our second dose of Classic Legends Rock. We saw the tour last year in Harrogate; this year it came closer to home at the Newcastle Tyne Theatre. The only change from last year was that the Groundhogs have been replaced by Strawbs. This is sadly because Tony McPhee has recently suffered a stroke, and although reports are that he is recovering well, he is not yet well enough to join the tour.

First up was the Strawbs who delivered a short set of classic folk-rock. Dace Cousins is, as always, the showman of the band delivering the songs with his own very characteristic vocals. After a short break Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash take to the stage. Tonight they deliver the enitre classic Argus album, followed by a great version of Jailbait. Focus keyboard and all-round character Thys Van Leer joins them on organ for one song. I find it hard to decide which of the current versions of Wishbone Ash is truer to the original. In my view they both deliver and are well worth seeing. If anything Martin Turner’s band are closer to the original albums; tonight they could have done with a being a little louder for me. Coincidentally Andy Powell’s Wishbone Ash were playing the night before at Newcastle Academy. I decided to give them a miss this time, but have promised myself that I will catch up with them next time  they come to the North East.

Closing the show was Focus. Last time I thought their set was a little too long and some of the solos a little too drawn out. Tonight I felt it was just the right length. Thys is as eccentric as ever and plays his Hammond organ wonderfully. The guitarist is spot-on; musically this band can’t be faulted. We get great versions of House of the King, Hocus Pocus and Sylvia.

Verdict: Three great bands; all playing well and playing the songs we  wanted to hear. A good night.

classiclegends

i hate ticketfast printed tickets

classics

flyer

23 Jun

Roger McGuinn The Sage Gateshead June 21 2009

Posted by vintagerock in Roger McGuinn. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

Roger McGuinn The Sage Gateshead June 21 2009

Roger tells a good story. We get treated to the story of his life, wrapped around those great songs. And what a life he’s had. From working in folk bands to backing Bobby Darin, to song writing, through the Byrds and beyond. He explained how the Byrds concept was putting a “Beatle beat” to Dylan and folk songs. He played us Mr Tambourine Man, Turn Turn Turn, My Back Pages, All I really want to do, Chestnut Mare (Laura finds this amusing).  Just him on his guitar, swapping between acoustic guitar and his 12 string Rickenbacker, telling his stories and singing his songs to us. He finished with Eight Miles High, explaining that it was a mix of the Beatle beat, John Coltrane and Ravi Shankar. It was good to see him again. The last time I had the pleasure was in Hyde Park on a free show with Roy Harper and Julie Felix.

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