Oh (Punch) Brother, Where Art Thou?

I instinctively know if a gig is good or not. I don’t wrestle with the good points and bad points to decide. I normally just know! However, this gig is throwing up more questions than answers!

So many questions it feels like I'm sitting an exam…

RFH Exam Board

You have two hours to answer all the questions.

Please show all your working out.

Turn over your papers once the headline act takes to the stage.

Please put pens down after the encore.

Q1: Philosophy 101: If this gig was a philosophical question what would that question be?

A1: When does virtuoso become mundane?

A great song is not necessarily a collection of sublime solos. It can be a well-crafted simple set of chords married to a deep and poetic lyric played well within the ability of each musician. Songs should be allowed to speak for themselves. In this gig however, it felt as if each and every song was little more than a fusion of five fabulously talented musicians showing off!

Q2: Mathematics: Express the gig as a mathematical conundrum.

A:2

Q. 26.5 strings are played by 50 fingers for two hours what is the speed?

A. 150 miles an hour

However, the best solos are not necessarily the fastest. It is harder to control a motorbike at walking pace than at 70 miles an hour (I couldn't say for speeds above the speed limit - honest!) there is more to a great lick than speed. In what is not played, in the pure clean note held for an incredible length of time, in the sweet slow serenade of the solo - it is in these things the listener finds excitement and amazement too.

Q3: Media Studies: If this gig was a film, what film would it be, and why?

A3: Oh (Punch) Brother, Where Art Thou?

Not just because of the pun, but because they are ‘The Men of Constant Solos’!

Q4: Politics: If this gig were an electoral voting system would it be First Past the Post or Proportional Representation? Explain your conclusion.

A:4 Proportional Representation!

Every band member does not need to shine in every song! This is democracy gone too far! The result of giving every musician a crack of the whip each time round is that the songs become formulaic. Giving everyone a solo works in some songs - the final song of the night was a brilliant tour de force and an inspired way to finish. However, the brilliance was dulled by the fact that it mirrored every other song!

Q5: Philosophy 201 “A gig is an essentially existential experience.” Discuss

A5: “Hello Band, let me introduce myself - I’m the audience and I paid good money for these rather comfortable seats…”

At times I felt superfluous to the gig, and it takes more than faux flattery between songs to make a crowd feel part of a performance. By definition, a gig is a chance for musicians to play in front of an audience. There were times tonight when I was convinced that we could have all walked out and the band would have played on, and the first they would have been aware we had abandoned them would have been when there was no applause!

Q6: Sociology: “A gathered crowd at a gig becomes one.” Discuss

A6: False

If I have to sit through at least 4 solos in each song, please, fellow audience members, don’t applaud every solo, especially when it means I miss the start of the next one.

Q7: Musicology: How would you classify The Punch Brothers’ music?

A7:  Eclectic

American bluejazz, modern grass, barber pop, rock ’n’ shop, country roll classical chamber music!

Q8: Performance Studies:  “A gig is to music what an exhibition is to art.” Discuss

A8: I am convinced that the faithful audience would lynch me if they knew what I was thinking. The Punch Brothers can do no wrong in their ears but I feel like I’m standing looking at a painting in an exhibition and listening to the people next to me talk about the wonderful expression in the artists portrayal of skies, when all I can see are cartoon clouds which I’d expect to see on a seven year old’s drawing. It is like staring at a work by Ravilious when all you want to see is a John Martyn!  I can see it is art but I can see no reason for the fanatical dedication of the audience.

I put my pen down and I’m not sure if I’ve passed the exam. I envisage lots of red lines through my stumbling, meandering attempts at answers!

Rachel Sermanni supported tonight and shone. Not through her music, which I felt rather stumbled than flowed in her performance, but through her ease at being on stage and being one with the audience. She walked on, guitar in one hand and mandolin in the other, and said hello down the mic. Then she looked around, obviously having lost something, and asked if we had seen her drop a plectrum! Then, with grace and poise and no hint of embarrassment, she retraced her steps into the wings searching for the lost plectrum, all to great applause and appreciation from the audience!!

In-between her set and The Punch Brothers I was treated to a ride in the Singing Lift in the Festival Hall! As we descended so did the notes of the musical accompaniment and as we ascended so did the music. It is a wonderful musical lift and as I went up and down in it I reflected that perhaps that is why I go to live music - to get that metaphorical musical lift. And in the end, I guess that is what I was missing from the headline act; The Punch Brothers are undoubtedly brilliant musicians, writing finely crafted songs, but they failed to connect with me through their formulaic approach to showcasing their talent live. 

Gig: 16 of 50

Date of Gig: Sat. 1st August 2015

Venue
Royal Festival Hall

Artists
Rachel Sermanni
The Punch Brothers

Running total of artists seen 38

Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad

The Lexington is a great little venue. Whether it’s drinks and music after work, new lovers on a first gig date or you just simply want to hear some good honest live music - the Lexington is the place for you. I’m really looking forward to tonight I have seen the headline act before but never heard of the two other artists on the bill. I love hearing new music…

The Embarrassing drunk who insists on swearing at you…

The first act is Peter Bibby, an Australian, but I’m not going to hold that against him. In fact, I try very hard to like him.  I listen carefully to his lyrics. It has been said of him that he is a great storyteller, but his words just tell the same old story about drinking too much. I try not to let the terrible tinny guitar sound annoy me, but it does after the endless repetition of the three chords that comprise each song. I want to accept he is a bad boy but the fact that he f**king points its out at every f**king juncture is just too f**king much and makes me think it’s a f**king act - the artist doth cuss too much me thinks. He is the embarrassing drunk who insists on swearing at you on your quiet night out in your favourite bar! The truth is he just doesn’t do it for me!

A New friend we are enjoying a few beers with…

Rory Butler is on next and for a few moments I think John Martyn has graced us with his presence from beyond the grave.  A beautiful, haunting set delivered by an exceptional talent. This is the life after the death of the first act. The antithesis of all that has gone before - carefully crafted lyrics, a creative and ethereal guitar style and sound and an easy and natural rapport with the audience. The ease and naturalness of Butler’s stage presence is a gift. He is not trying too hard to impress or create a persona and his easy introductions have us laughing and feeling like he is a new friend we are enjoying a few beers with.

With head resting on the microphone as he plays the exquisite intro to the second song you know without any explanation or reasoning that this is art not just music.  That this is feeling not just expression. That his heart and soul will be found in this song. 

As with all great nights spent with new friends in a bar, time is called all too soon and we are left wanting more…

A last tipple of single malt dances on your tongue…

I saw Dan Owen - a fresh-faced 20 something - support Wille and the Bandits at the first gig I went to in London last September and was blown away by him. It  was his barmy guitar playing that first attracted my attention but then suddenly, out of nowhere, his voice - which is like a crack of thunder on a hot summer evening - boomed across the venue.

And I am not disappointed second time around. It’s a superb set.  We have been left wanting more from Rory Butler and although this is something different it is of equal quality. His set is fiery and peaty yet with a subtle rich mixture of flavours, like a dram of single malt at the end of a wonderful evening. Owen explodes on stage with a fast and furious blues number. He is a sight to behold seated on a high stool with his left leg bouncing on his stomp box! He is also a sound to be heard as his voice and guitar blend effortlessly on both the raucous and the laid back songs.

We demand more after he finishes his set with a great rendition of Little Red Rooster, and as a last tipple of single malt dances on your tongue so during the encore a couple of audience members dance on stage (much to his amusement) and the rest of us more traditionally clap along. We all loved his set and despite the encore are left, as we were with Rory Butler, wanting more and more.

Meatloaf once declared that two out of three ain’t bad - tonight two out of three were brilliant and the less said about the third the better!

(Photos Stephen Baxter)

Gig: 11 of 50

Date of Gig: Thurs. 4th June 2015

Venue
The Lexington

Artists
Peter Bibby

Rory Butler

Dan Owen

Running total of artists seen 29