All entries for Thursday 31 March 2005

Catching up

OK, as I have been to 2 gigs this week I thought I ought to catch up a bit and review them, even though other things sorta took over!

Sunday night; Sharon Shannon, The Eliza Carthy Band, and support.

I say and support because I can't remember the name of the Gaelic (probably spelt wrong) trio that opened, although they were very good. It was interesting to hear a set sung completely in the Celtish tongue.
The Eliza Carthy Band are wicked, playing mostly traditional songs tonight, with three fiddles (on occassion), sometimes guitar, a squeeze box of some variety and a tuba for bass! They were a lot of fun, bouncing around the stage, really loving what they were doing. Eliza's voice is marvellous, she retains her accent while singing which I love, and today she had blue hair! Check 'em out if you get chance, well worth it!

Sharon Shannon and co. I wasn't so taken with, as they played just tunes for over an hour which would be great if we were in a sunny field somewhere, not sat in the Farnham hall! They were good, you know, skilled musicians and everything, but it all got a bit samey towards the end.

Tuesday night; Arlen in the RMA, Portsmouth

The great thing with Arlen is you can never be quite sure what you're going to get. They've been playing the same songs pretty much, with some swapped in and out for the past year or so purely because they are too far apart to work on new stuff half the time, and some of the songs they started with three years ago are such firm favourites and so good there's no reason not to play them, and quite frankly if I didn't hear "Lonesome Angel" and "Tom Brown" at some point I am heartily disappointed!
Disappoint is something this band don't do often though. The songs change slightly each time, with a new chord here or new fiddle part there, and in the case of tuesdays more electric guitar solos from Chris, which were excellent! It's amazing to see how the musicians develop as well. Russ' drumming keeps getting better (being at the BIM probably helps!) Lucy's voice will always be fabulous but somehow she keeps improving it, and her guitar skills make me sick with jealousy, one year, possibly one and a half of tuition, she's a natural musician, that's all there is to it. They've started working some of her songs into the set now, so I'm looking forward to hearing more of them. That does mean that now there are three song writers in the band (David, Chris and Lucy) and Simon writing tunes, so even though some of their stuff is traditional, I don't think they can really be faulted on origonality!
I ought to stop this, because I could go on forever. Just check out the website and if you're near Petersfield tonight there are still a few tickets left for the Traders. I'd love to go but have no way of getting there without going with them and missing tea here…again…which I'm trying to make up for after last night's incident!

Keep music live! xxx

: 31 Mar 2005 11:52 |  Tags: Gig Reviews |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

This place is confusing

Today's bedtime will be a bit before 7am, but I thought I'd give you a bonus entry of a song. Enjoy!

hold me
Cos that's all you can do right now.
This place is confusing
And I don't don't know if I'llmake it out

It's not a person I'm missing
I'm just a person with a piece gone.

It's not the touch of a hand
It's not even a smile.
It's not the shirt he was wearing,
You can't pin it down to style.

It was caring so much
I'd do anything, and I did.

I haven't cared so much for so long,
Maybe that's why they question me.
All the things that I love,
Seemed to pale ____ly

I try to pick myself up
But knowing I have to drags me straight back down.

I know you've been through the same thing,
I just hope you can understand.
I need to be needed,
And wanted, if you can.

So, hold me,
Cos that's all you can do right now.
I know I'm not easy,
But I'll try to be easy somehow.

There's a difference between what you say
And what you convey.

I need a little help actually-what's the word for when things have a relationship, so when one goes down so does the other? answers in a comment box please...

: 31 Mar 2005 00:24 |  Tags: Poetry |  Comments (5) |  Close comments |  Report a problem