It Is Finished!

I’ll play Musical Russian Roulette...

12 months ago to this day I sat on a bus on the way to a gig and had the idea to celebrate my 50th year by going to 50 gigs.  Its now 3^rd March 2016, I turn 50 in a matter of three or four hours, and I find myself once again on a bus, this time heading to gig #50 – a late night session at the Royal Albert Hall! To mark this momentous moment I’ve decided on something a little leftfield (for me) - if you’ve read my blog of gig #42 ‘So long and thanks for all that Jazz’ you’ll understand I’m not a great Jazz fan. However, this gig appeals because it takes me right up to the birthday deadline (and anyone who knows me, knows I work right up to deadlines!). Its also a grand setting to spend my last few hours of being 49! I am really excited about this last gig as I am completing the challenge I set myself 356 days earlier and I feel a sense of pride.

Tonight is the 50^th gig in the 29^th different venue, and Gwyneth Herbert, whom I’m heading to see and know nothing about, is artist 101! I trust this will not be an Orwellian experience! I don’t know what to expect and it could be a wonderful evening or a total disaster, but listening to new music always excites me. Often in a CD shop I’ll play Musical Russian Roulette and buy a safe CD, a CD by an artist I know or have heard about, and then purchase a wild card. Those wild cards have been some of the best (and I have to say the worst) music I have bought! The feeling of discovering a great album by chance is hard to beat.

The gig isn’t in the main auditorium – Cirque du Soleil are entertaining the masses in there – rather, it is in an ancillary room. As I walk in on the last minute - right up to the deadline again - I realise I am struggling to find a seat at a table. Eventually I find one in the corner and squeeze in. As the gigs starts it soon becomes obvious that although this is relatively late night – as billed - it is not exactly jazz. To me, this feels more like progressive folk. Rewind a year to blog #1 ‘It’s Not My Birthday Yet’ and I mused about Progressive Folk as I genre I’d like to see. One year on and I am finally experiencing it live, albeit unexpectedly!

I am struggling. I so want this to be a fantastic last gig. Musically I like what I am hearing, but if I’m honest, I’m put off by what feels to me like the over bubbly personality of Gwyneth herself. I can’t decide whether she is naturally like this, or if this is nerves or some kind of stage persona she believes is infectious!

Happy 50^th gig and birthday...

As the gig continues there are some fantastic songs and I get much more used to her introductions. A couple of beautiful songs start the second set that leave me wanting to hear them again and again. I’m not sure what has won me over - the great songs, the celebratory glass or two of birthday wine or the gradual calming of her persona as she relaxed into the gig.

As the gig finishes with her strolling round the tables strumming her ukulele, she has totally won me over and I am very glad that I chose this as my 50^th gig to end my 50^th year. So I head to the merch. stall and buy her latest CD (with the two aforementioned songs on) and start a conversation with the artist herself. I tell her about my 50/50 challenge. I mention that this is the ultimate gig and that in 15 minutes I will in fact be 50. Spontaneously, she picks up her ukulele and sings ‘Happy Birthday’ to me and signs my CD with Happy 50^th gig and birthday! It’s a lovely touch to a wonderful last gig and a brilliant challenge!

I turn 50 at a bus stop outside the Royal Albert Hall!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...

On the bus on the way home I start to try and answer the questions family and friends have asked during this year – ‘Best Gig?’, ‘Worst Gig?’, ‘Best Moment? You get the idea. So here goes the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of my 50/50 Challenge.

Bad:
Blog #3: ‘The Boys are Back in Time’ 
Having to queue for the urinals at Black Star Riders Gig (and then staying to listen to Europe).

Good:
Blog #4: ‘The Siegal has Landed’ 
A master class in guitar playing from Dusty Ciggaar (real name - real talent - check him out).

The Siegal has landed - Ian Seigal @ The Jazz Cafe - 28/3/15

Bad:
Blog #5: ‘Catfish Lost His Bottle Man’ 
I might have well listened to their CD on shuffle (in reality that’s what I did) and the crowd thought this was the height of gig going and live music! DISAPPOINTED.

Good:
Blog #6: ‘I Ain’t Ever Heard No Horse Sing…’ 
Guy Garvey and the MacColls rendition of ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’- you had to be there or at least listen on the radio...

Ugly:
Blog #6: ‘I Ain’t Ever Heard No Horse Sing…’ 
Hearing an audience member use the phrase ‘Simply divine, darling’ as she drank Champagne at the Folk Awards! Give me earthy folk (music and people) in spit and sawdust pubs any day of the week over the bubbly swigging awards crowd.

Ugly:
Blog #7: ‘The Curse of the Blues Guitarist’s Face’ 
Faces pulled by Dan Patlansky during solos - thankfully his guitar playing is beautiful! 

Bad:
Blog #9: 'A Different Kind of Gig’ 
People not returning for the second half of Melkit’s Gig.

Good:
Blog #11: ‘Musical Chairs’, 
Every visit to the wonderfully intimate Green Note.

Standing watching from the wings - Hannah Sanders @ The Green Note - 21/5/15

Bad::
Blog #11: ‘Musical Chairs’, 
Never getting a seat at the wonderfully intimate Green Note!

Good:
Blog #12: ‘Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad’ 
Rory Butler – superb support act - best support of the fifty.

Bad:        
Blog #12: ‘Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad’
Peter Bibby – not a great support act - worst support of the fifty.

Good:  
Blog #13: ‘Foliage and Favours in Beetroot Fields’ 
British Sea Power – a wonderful gig, with everything you would expect (from BSP) and more... one of the best gigs of the fifty!

He's behind you! - British Sea Power @ The Roundhouse - 13/6/15

Ugly:
Blog #14: ‘Filling the Dance Floor with Songs for an Empty Room’ 
Feeling old because I knew people were thinking I was the father of one of the support band!

Good:
Blog #15: ‘The Nursing Homes of North London are Empty Tonight’ 
Feeling young at a gig again!

Good:
Blog #19: 'A View from Outside the Club’
Every visit to the wonderfully intimate Green Note.

Bad:    
Blog #19: 'A View from Outside the Club’
Never getting a seat at the wonderfully intimate Green Note!

Ugly:
Blog #19: 'A View from Outside the Club’
William Nein’s Ego.

Good:
Blog #21: 'The Afterglow of Greatness’ 
Richard Thompson playing 1952 Vincent Black Lightening (I love that song).

Good:
Blog #22: ‘Sustained Class’
Every visit to the wonderfully intimate Green Note.

Good:
Blog #22: ‘Sustained Class’
Asking Danny Schmidt to play Stained Glass before the first set, him playing it during the first set and then chatting with him about the song after the first set! The whole gig one of the best gigs of the fifty!

Bad:       
Blog #22: ‘Sustained Class’
Never getting a seat at the wonderfully intimate Green Note!

The troubadour - Danny Schmidt @ The Green Note - 1/10/15

Bad:
Blog #23: ‘Keep My Seat Warm – I’m on My Way’ 
Getting to the venue late and not being allowed in until the song had finished – they’ll be serving ice-cream at the interval next (oh they did!).

Good:
Blog #25: ‘Nativity Plays and Nervous Parents’ 
Rae Morris from The Kenlis Arms, Garstang Unplugged Singers Night to the Shepherd’s Bush Empire – a special moment to experience having seen her so early on in her career and tonight headlining at the Shepherd's Bush Empire.

Long way from Garstang - Rae Morris @ The Shepherd's Bush Empire - 8/10/15

Bad:
Blog #27: ‘The Problem with an Unbeatable Superlative’ 
Being told off for talking by Jon Gomm (like a Headmaster in Assembly)– when we were just trying to put together the pieces of the phone that had dropped from the balcony and reunite them with their owner!

Ugly:   
Blog #27: ‘The Problem with an Unbeatable Superlative’
Getting beer dripped on my head while the person in the balcony, whose phone we rescued, applauded! (every time – didn’t matter how much I shuffled sideways or backwards!).

Don't let him play your guitar - Jon Gomm @ The Jazz Cafe - 21/10/15

Ugly:
Blog #29: ‘Need a New Guitar, John?’ 
Audience members who declare in the opening bars of a song that they ‘love this one’ and then talk loudly through the whole song!

Good:
Blog #30: 'Sex and a Bit of Protest Thrown In’ 
Just love False Lights and they didn’t disappoint live!

Good:
Blog #31: ‘How I Long for a Leader Who is Like A Jewel’ 
Caramel.

Ugly:     
Blog #31: ‘How I Long for a Leader Who is Like A Jewel’
The comment posted about my opinion that the support act was not up to opening a show at the Hammersmith Apollo!

A jewel of a leader - John Grant @ The Hammersmith Apollo - 12/11/15

Bad:
Blog #32: ‘Alabama Safe’ 
So disappointed in how safe Alabama Shakes played this gig – I was so looking forward to the show!

Good:
Blog #34: ‘May You Build a Ladder to the Stars’
Every visit to the wonderfully intimate Green Note.

Bad:      
Blog #34: ‘May You Build a Ladder to the Stars’
Never getting a seat at the wonderfully intimate Green Note!

Ugly:
Blog #36: ‘I Didn’t Realise the Middle Classes Still Owned Family Pews – My Mistake!’ 
Finding my bag and coat unceremoniously dumped on the floor after I went for a drink during the interval - it is not easy being a solo gig goer at the best of times - but it doesn't mean I have no mates and can be treated like rubbish...

Good:
Blog #37: ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go (Go!)’ 
Wonderful multi-media gig - Public Service Broadcasting - one of the best gigs of the fifty!

Good:
Blog #38:‘Leaning on a Lampost with a Slight Sexist Nod to Bygone Days’ 
Every visit to the wonderfully intimate Green Note.

Bad:        
Blog #38:‘Leaning on a Lampost with a Slight Sexist Nod to Bygone Days’
Never getting a seat at the wonderfully intimate Green Note!

Bad:
Blog #40: ‘Bellows, Books, Lamps and Dolls’ 
No Sound Engineer for a gig - if you are going to run a venue you need some basics!

Ugly: 
Blog #42: ‘One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer – One Music?’ 
White people trying to dance to African music!

Good:
Blog #47: ‘It is finished!’ 
The personal and lovely happy birthday from Gwyneth Herbert! 

Concert: 50 of 50
Date of Gig: Thurs. 3rd March 2016

Venue
Royal Albert Hall


Artists 
Gwyneth Herbert

Total number of artists seen 101

Leaning on a Lampost with a Slight Sexist Nod to Bygone Days

Magicked away on a wave of happiness...

The last gig before Christmas and I’m back at Green Note. I still haven’t learnt my lesson to get there in time to get a seat, so I stand at the back; at least I’m close to the bar (humbug)!

We are gathering for Sarah Spade and the Noisy Boys and an evening of ukulele music. The humble uke has enjoyed a massive growth in popularity recently. Ukulele groups have popped up across the country and self respecting guitar players who would never have been seen with anything less than 6 strings are now proudly standing on stage with their miniature, but mighty, ukes! It is almost as if the diminutive dynamo of the string world has finally shaken off the ‘Formby’ shackle and come into its own. It is not that the Ukulele influence hasn’t been heard – George Harrison has always championed the instrument – it’s just not been seen.  In 1999 Harrison explained,

“Everyone should have and play the ‘uke’ its so simple to carry with you and it’s one instrument you can’t play and not laugh!”

The ukulele is the happiest of all instruments and even in Pete Seeger’s great story-song Abiyoyo it is the lowly ukulele that causes the giant to smile and lie down so that the magician can magic him away and save the village!

And magicked away on a wave of happiness is exactly what happens to us tonight. It is an infectious sound that can’t help but make the audience smile, as sounds from the 30’s right through to the present day are strummed by Sarah Spade and wonderfully accompanied by the Noisy Boys on bass and percussion. With the joyous sound ringing in my ears I don’t care that I’m standing not sitting. I’m not the slightest bit bothered someone has stood in front of me so I am straining my neck to see the stage, or that I can’t reach my glass I placed on the bar due to the crowd!

What would the bright and brilliant uke make of a Joy Division song...

Sarah Spade looks like she has stepped right out of the 30’s in her red dress, pearls and Hawaiian flower in her hair. Her publicity is straight out the 30’s too: “Beautiful Voice. Beautiful Face” D.J. Rob Da Bank (Radio One)! OK obviously the quote is present day but the attitude is pure 30’s. Am I the only one who is insulted by such a quote? Am I really only going to go to the gig if what I see is as beautiful as what I hear? Am I so shallow? Is D.J. Rob Da Bank (Radio One) so shallow? And why, oh why, does Sarah Spade need to put such a quote on her publicity? Would D.J. Rob Da Bank (Radio One) say that about a bloke playing ukulele?

In any event, she lets the music speak for itself with a mixture of original and cover versions, traditional ukulele songs (including Leaning on a Lampost) and songs I never dreamt I would hear on the uke! Delivered with the lovely, light touch demanded by the instrument, but also with the balanced backing of the Noisy Boys who prove that beauty is no necessity for music talent!  There is an infectious fun feel to each song, aided by the antics of the Noisy Boys, which seeps out from the stage into the audience. Standing at the back I see the waves of musical melody wash over the gathered crowd, people engulfed in their fun-filled foam, giggling as they surface for air.

The interval is soon with us and as the crowd dissipate to queue for the toilets. I manage to revive my drink and finish it, and decide to check out the CDs. The percussionist is sat close by, relaxing during the interval, and he starts up a conversation;

“Do you play an instrument?”

“Yes – a little!”

“Guitar?”

“Yes and the Uke”

“Oh! That accent’s not from round here…”

“Yeah, I used to live in the northwest”

“Whereabouts?”

“Last place was Cheshire”

“Oh Joy Division. They were from there weren’t they?”

“You know one of my biggest regrets was never seeing Joy Division…”

And so the conversation dissolves into an appreciation of Joy Division! And immediately a challenge crosses my mind. What would the bright and brilliant uke make of a Joy Division song, and would it make you smile?!

Set against the hype, and the false, forced jollity of a commercial Christmas...

As I make my way back to my spot in the corner at the back of the venue I am still trying to get my head round the fact that I ended up talk about Joy Division with a member of a ukulele singer’s backing band! Chalk and cheese, light and dark, now and then – but I guess it proves the old saying, ‘there are only two types of music: good and bad.’  It’s a simple saying and a simple truth, but one that we learn too late in life I fear. The irony is that although in 1979 I knew who Joy Division were, I didn’t ‘allow myself’ to like them because they were not the type of music I was into. That is why it is such a big regret that I didn’t ever see them live - simply because I wasn’t sufficiently open to the possibility that I could like them. I had a closed mind when it came to music and a musical closed mind is a cardinal sin. How apt the album title: Unknown Pleasures. It’s an album I still listen to, and love, to this day but which remained unknown to me back then.

Having said that, 35 years ago I would never have believed that I would ever go to a ukulele concert, yet alone so enjoy playing the instrument. At least I have now learnt to be open minded when it comes to music (even if an open musical mind can sometimes let you down – I kept my mind open to the possibility that Genesis would produce a good album after Gabriel left!)

Back to Sarah Spade, and the second half is every bit as good as the first. The fun continues, and some of the crowd even find space to dance. This is as far away from a Joy Division gig as I imagine that it is possible to get! I doubt that in 35 years time I’ll be talking to someone who tells me that their greatest regret is not seeing Sarah Spade live but tonight has been an uplifting occasion of great musicianship. Set against the hype, and the false, forced jollity of a commercial Christmas it has been a genuinely happy Christmas gig! Even the very unsubtle innuendo in her obligatory Christmas song raises a genuine smile.

Now home and onto the internet - there has to be a ukulele tab for a Joy Division song…

Gig: 41 of 50

Date of Gig: Sat. 19th December 2015

Venue
Green Note

Artists 
Sarah Spade and the Noisy Boys

Running total of artists seen 87

May You Build a Ladder to the Stars

On the altar of his wealth...

Headline News: 'Louisa Johnson has recorded the lowest chart entry for an X Factor winner's first single, making her debut in this week's UK singles chart at number nine.' Could this be the end of the manufactured pop star? Could this signal that finally the public are fed up of Cowell’s foie gras Christmas #1? One can only hope. 

What I hate about X Factor is the premise that you can take a 17 year old (Lousia Johnson, the youngest ever X Factor winner) and turn her into a star overnight. Cowell preys on the wanna-be’s dreams and makes a packet for himself sacrificing the hopeful’s career on the altar of his wealth while enjoying God-like power over them. Purely and simply the only X Factor winner is Cowell himself.

It used to be accepted that you learnt a trade. An apprenticeship was to be valued and stood you in good stead for the rest of your working life. It is with a certain irony that Johnson sings on her Christmas #12 ‘May you build a ladder to the stars’ and yet it is Cowell who had built it for her and will knocked it from under her feet once she fails to line his pocket. Too many times have I seen young musicians catapulted to fame too soon who have learnt nothing of the craft of the stage and are not able to mature musically enough to produce a half decent second album. 

Sorry for the rant and in the season of peace and goodwill to all!

Better the experience was for such distance...

Having said all the above it is good to be able to reflect on an evening in late November at the Green Note in Camden. I will be honest, the only reason I went was because an old colleague of mine was headlining. It was a great evening of young artists who were still learning their trade but who were making a way for themselves and not a packet for someone else. Yet who entertained and gave us a great night out.

Vive La Rose opened the night with a beautiful vibe produced by delicate and laid back guitar playing. Finishing with his Christmas Single - that will never get close to the Top 100 never mind the Top 10 - I realized how far removed from X-Factor we were in the Green Note, and how much better the experience was for such distance!

Second up was a brilliant show person - Rachel Sage. She was funny and quick witted, switching between keyboard and guitar and keeping everyone entertained. She started with the closest she would get - as a Jewish Girl - to a Christmas Single!

Next up was Jess Hall, my old colleague, with her beautiful voice and chilled songs. She was accompanied by great cello playing that lifted the songs to a very special musical place. Jess’ encore was the old favorite 'Red Jumper' - not a Christmas Single just a beautiful homegrown love song. 

You don’t have to sell out to make money...

I wish Louisa Johnson well in her career. I hope and pray that she doesn’t stay 'forever young' but matures into a strong independent artist. But credit to the Green Note for promoting independent music in an otherwise grey mediocre melee of manufactured popular stuff. The fact that I can count on the index finger of one hand the number of times I’ve managed to get a seat at the venue is testament to the fact that you don’t have to sell out to make money.

Gig: 37 of 50

Date of Gig: Wed. 25th November 2015

Venue

Green Note

Artists

Vive La Rose

Rachel Sage

Jess Hall

Running total of artists seen 78