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PLAYING OUT LOUD!
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STOKES BAY FESTIVAL, GOSPORT – SUNDAY
AUGUST 3
 I’m
only going to give a fleeting impression of my experience of the festival,
catching a few acts on the last day, before leaving my friend Martin Sirl to
review a couple of acts in detail below. My first impression was – what a great
site! My second impression, well organized, as you would expect from any
festival Peter Chegwyn is involved in. And thirdly, a great idea to invite
Cirque de Normandy who had their own big top, where they entertained adults and
children alike over the four days. A great half-hour show featuring jugglers,
clowns, a trapeze artist and more – thoroughly enjoyable and the kids were
enchanted.
What music I did see was also impressive – Lauren MacColl, Rachel Hair and Maeve
Mackinnon played a great set, followed by The New Rope String Band and 3 Daft
Monkeys. It was the first time I had seen the latter band – no wonder they are
getting so many bookings – they played a storming set.
Time for Martin Sirl to give his impressions of two acts who appeared later in
the day:
BELLOWHEAD
Depending on your point of view Bellowhead are either thumbing their noses at a
glorious segment of British culture, or earnestly attempting to make traditional
music accessible to an audience whose exposure to folk music ends with Mike
Oldfield's Portsmouth. Either way, to those attending a slightly damp Wickham &
Stokes Bay Festival the band's motives hardly seemed to matter. Bellowhead's
infectious funked up folk did wonders to perk up a crowd beginning to flounder
after three days in a windswept field. Veering wildly between reels that would
do credit to The Albion Band and something resembling a bizarre mix of Fairport
Convention and the Average White Band, this soon-to-be-huge 11-piece won
festival goers over within minutes of opening up with an irreverent their
version of Led Zeppelin's Gallows Tree. With every section of the band taking
centre stage in turn it is clear that Bellowhead are one seriously talented
bunch, as one might expect from any band assembled by musicians with the
pedigree of Spiers and Boden. While Rigs Of The Time may not have prompted the
mass sing-along that singer Boden had hoped for there was plenty here to both
win a whole bunch a new followers and send existing ones away delighted, the
sweetly melodic Jordan being a particular highlight and Fakenham Fair, from the
forthcoming Matachin album already becoming a lynchpin of Bellowhead's live set
and hinting that there is a whole lot more still to come from this lot.
PHIL JUPITUS & THE BLOCKHEADS
It's easy to be cynical when you see a name like The Blockheads on a festival
bill and I'm pretty sure Ian Dury was the last person who would have taken any
pleasure in seeing a dead horse flogged. But make no mistake: they might be a
little longer in the tooth but this incarnation of north London's finest are the
real deal. Davey Payne may be missed but the nucleus of Chas Jankel, Mickey
Gallagher, Norman Watt-Roy and John Turnball remain, while Derek The Jaw, Dury's
former minder is perfectly suited to the front man's role. He may look like a
Steve Coogan caricature of an old rocker but the man has the voice and, more
importantly, the attitude and dark humour of the great man himself. Jupitus'
presence on stage is almost incidental, save to inject the occasional spot of
humour and to remind us, if we ever needed it, of just how great these guys
really are. Always one of the tightest bands on the circuit The Blockheads
remain so and from the opening bars of Sex And Drugs And Rock'n'Roll this was a
million miles from any lame tribute act. What A Waste, Clever Trevor, The
Inbetweenies and Reasons To Be Cheerful all followed in quick time, while Sweet
Gene Vincent is still as heart-wrenching as ever, only this time it wasn't the
Be-Bop-A-Lula man we were mourning. Predictably the set climaxed with a buoyant
Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, though at least one encore would surely have been
forthcoming had the tight festival schedule permitted it as there are so many
more great songs in the Blockheads archive. Phil Jupitus & The Blockheads: a
first class festival act but well worth catching in their own right.
DENNIS LOCORRIERE, THE BROOK,
SOUTHAMPTON – JULY 21
 Dennis
Locorriere must be one of the greatest live performers I have ever seen, and
judging by the cheers booming out at The Brook at this gig the crowd of about
300 fans agreed with me. On his own with just his guitars and several bottles of
water, he kept the audience alternating between spellbound and roaring with
delight for over 2 hours. He did have an unaccustomed break in the middle,
explaining that the management liked to give the audience time to get to the
bar, and declining a loud invitation from the floor to join us, saying that he
went from sober to maudlin when he drank!
During the evening Dennis played an excellent mixture of old Dr Hook songs,
encouraging audience participation, especially with “Millionaire” when we all
sang mon-ey over and over again as background to the main song - Dennis was very
grateful, even when everyone sang in the wrong place - and songs from his solo
career including the moving “Shine Son,” written especially for his son Jesse
when he went to college.
Dennis also thanked everyone for supporting him over his 40 year carreer, even
though he had an 8 year break, and we all ended with a mutual appreciative round
of applause. I left the gig feeling uplifted and happy and hummed the songs all
the way home. He is touring again in the autumn and I for one will be watching
his website and the press for the dates.
LARMER TREE FESTIVAL, DORSET – JULY 16
– 20
The 18th Larmer Tree Festival was my 12th visit and one of the best Larmer Trees
ever from a great opening night with Eric Bibb supporting Jools Holland’s Rhythm
& Blues Orchestra to the final days’ festivities with the annual parade. Eric
Bibb was the ideal artist to open proceedings, a warm, joyous personality who
immediately connects with crowds and makes you feel he’s singing just for you.
He played a brilliant set with his upright bass player and drummer, the
highlight being an extended version of “Don’t Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down,”
which got the crowd singing along. Jools & Co gave their usual polished
performance, obviously revelling in the special Larmer Tree atmosphere.
(Click on the photos above to view
larger versions in a new window)
Over the next three days it was all about eating, drinking,
wandering around the craft stalls, enjoying the antics of performance artists
and listening to great music from all over the world. The highlight for me on
Thursday was a brilliant set from The Glowglobes in The Arc. John and Laura
Holmes on guitar and upright bass respectively complement each other perfectly –
fine songs, great harmonies and a charming stage presence.
(Click on the photos above to view
larger versions in a new window)
Amongst the other acts I particularly enjoyed were the Glitzy
Bag Hags, whose turbo-skiffle-gypsy punk sound was both amusing and
entertaining. From Canada, The Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir were sensational –
blues-hollering at its best with several songs from their album “Ten Thousand”
inspiring me to rush off and buy the CD. Jackie Leven was another artist who
played in The Arc to an enthralled audience with the help of partner Debbie and
ex-Doll By Doll guitarist Jo Shaw. Rachel Harrington’s set on the theatre stage
was just a little too down-home for me, but I did enjoy her display of
tap-dancing. And a quick look at Foy Vance in The Arc was rewarding. An Irishman
of considerable charm with a raspy soulful voice and a curious crouching
demeanour over the mic, he was a big hit with the audience.
(Click on the photos above to view
larger versions in a new window)
But with over 80 acts on the bill, playing on different stages
you had to pick and choose who to see. Pronghorn were their usual ebullient
selves, The Bedouin Jerry Can Band mixed coffee-grinding with traditional
Bedouin music, playing an enchanting and colourful set on the theatre stage. And
for folk music fans, Julie Fowlis and Kate Rusby must be the top two female
singers on the scene today. Both their turns on the main stage were greeted with
rapturous applause.
But the festival, as usual, was over too quickly. All that work by the kids
produced another splendid procession on the final day, and thankfully the rain
held off. Congratulations to James and Julia for a perfectly organized festival,
which ran like clockwork, apart from a few late artist arrivals which were
beyond their control. Roll on Larmer Tree Festival 2009!
CD Album Reviews
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CD Album Reviews coming soon. Watch this space!
CD Single Reviews
(top)
BY MARTIN SIRL
Love Is Noise by The Verve
The Verve always had one ear fixed firmly on the dance scene, which is something
that sets them aside from many of their indie contemporaries. Love Is Noise
features driving guitar cunningly blended with heavily sampled strings and
backing vocals, creating something which instantly gets your feet into gear as
well as bearing all the trademarks of a classy pop song. Richard Ashcroft and
Co.’s ability to pen a meaty tune was always a strength and one that the Verve
have obviously not lost in the intervening years. Anyone who found Ashcroft's
solo work a little on the bland side will see this as a major return to form.
Heartbeat by Late Of The Pier
Strange mix of pop, funk and rock from Castle Donnington-based 4-piece.
Heartbeat opens with chintzy, Wham-style keyboards before settling into
something altogether harder and more interesting. The Zappa-style mood changes
suggest that there is some degree of humour bubbling away below the surface
here, as well as a razor-sharp pop sensibility. But for now I’m happy just to
report that this is a simply a darn good radio-friendly pop song.
!Francheskaar! by Charli XCX
Silly 80s-style electro rap performed by a teenager for the benefit of other
teenagers. Charli XCX might appear to have attitude by the bucketload but so did
Billie Piper when she yelled Because We Want To and look how she turned out.
Bitchy it may be but The Slits it is most certainly not. Even a Lil’d remix
can’t lift this piece of nonsense above pure novelty status.
{satellite state} EP
Atmospheric, Snow Patrol-style soft rock from upcoming Guildford-based indie-rockers
who wowed fans at last year's Guildfest. Every song here is immaculately
constructed and beautifully played, with Gary Nicks' classy vocals a particular
feature. What this EP does lack is a some much-needed change of pace, with only
the excellent closing track Lights Out offering something that isn't ultimately
pretty downbeat. Clever, but party music this is not.
On A Scale by The Raid
This is just how a guitar band should sound. Energetic, irreverent pop with a
chorus that gets into your head on the very first hearing then simply refuses to
budge. Some people might compare this to the pseudo punk of The Strokes but as
an old 'un this reminded me a lot of The Chords, and frequently threatens to be
as great. The Raid are clearly too young to know better so let's hope they don't
grow up just yet. I'll resist the obvious temptation to grade this on a scale of
one to ten.. Oh, what the hell; I'll give it eight.
Discussions by Look See Proof
It's always good to hear young people having fun but I'm afraid this simply
sounds like too many other bands who have, at some stage, picked up guitars and
thought to themselves "You know, we're actually pretty good". In fact this is
OK; it just lacks the originality of so many of their contemporaries. I'm sure
Look See Proof will do very well, but I suspect that, in years to come, this
won't be seen as one of the band's crowning moments.
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AMY WADGE
ALBERT BAR
SOUTH PARADE PIER FRIDAY AUGUST 22
GWYN ASHTON CELLARS AT EASTNEY SOUTHSEA
WED AUGUST 20
VOODOO GLOW SKULLS
TALKING HEADS SOUTHAMPTON
SUN AUGUST 17
OWEN TROMANS
& THE ELDERS RAILWAY INN WINCHESTER FRIDAY AUGUST 8
CONOR OBERST
& THE MYSTIC VALLEY BAND WEDGEWOOD ROOMS, PORTSMOUTH
TUES AUGUST 26
TOFU LOVE FROGS DORSET,
SIXPENNY HANDLEY FRIDAY AUGUST 8 |
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