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PLAYING OUT LOUD!
REVIEWS
Gig Reviews -
CD Reviews
Gig Reviews
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The Coral, Southampton Guildhall - 18/10/05
 This
Tuesday gig saw The Coral return to Southampton, performing to a largely
enthusiastic sell-out crowd. The Liverpudlian septet undoubtedly has the
potential to be a great, and certainly interesting band, so it was a shame that
this performance seemed so decidedly lacklustre. The band played before a
backdrop of a painted atomic mushroom cloud which, with painful irony, served
only to illustrate how inexplosive and uninspired the show really was.
Now promoting their fourth studio album within only a three-year period, The
Coral appeared to be band that was merely going through the motions onstage.
They failed to interact with the crowd beyond a cursive ‘hello’, the occasional
‘thanks’ and the mumbled naming of songs. And what an odd selection of songs they
played too. “Pass It On,” Bill McCai” and “In The Morning” were met by raucous
cheers, outright delight and joyful dancing, while bland, long-winded pseudo
psychedelic album tracks sadly left a lot to be desired.
All the more frustrating was the fact that they have such catchy, melodic
singles, infinitely danceable hits, and in a live capacity they can sound pretty
damned good. Perhaps too good; maybe The Coral have now perfected their sound so
much that they have lost their verve and raw enthusiasm. The band seemed so
intent on recapturing their painstakingly flawless studio sound that their
play-by-numbers set ended up leaving their observers more than a little cold.
We were left with the distinct impression that The Coral didn’t really want to
be here tonight, or at the very least didn’t care about being here as they
rattled off both new and familiar songs. In fact, they barely cracked a smile
until the roaring reception that greeted “Dreaming Of You,” surely the highlight
of the night, and the song that much of the crowd appeared to be there for.
Ultimately The Coral proved themselves to be extremely proficient and
technically flawless musicians, but emotionally they failed to strike a chord.
Guest review by Laura Giles - photo copyright Claire
Edwards
An Evening with Dio, Southampton Guildhall - 20/10/05
 The
‘Evening With Dio’ comprised two sets, the first seeing the performance of
1983’s “Holdy Diver” album in its entirety. Diminutive frontman Ronnie James Dio
has overseen the recent repackaging and reissue of the album that is often
credited as being among the all-time greats in the Heavy Metal genre.
Only Ronnie remains from the original lineup. The sound remains sharp and Dio’s
legendary voice compensated for the imperfect acoustics that are a significant
feature of this venue.
Dio opened with “Tarot Woman” from his days as frontman in Ritchie Blackmore’s
Rainbow before reliving his Black Sabbath days with “The Sign of The Southern
Cross,” interspersed with a brief medley of tracks from the Dio back catalogue.
A video introduction heralded the performance of the “Holy Diver” section, and
the album was brought back to life with typical Dio flair. “Gypsy,” “Invisible”
and “Caught In The Middle” all tood out, but the crowd erupted to the hits
“Don’t Talk To Strangers,” “Rainbow In The Dark” and the title track.
Many casual observers may view two headline sets and the lack of a support act
as self-indulgent, even arrogant. This is unlikely to faze Ronnie James Dio who
has repeatedly faceted this accusation during his 40+ year career in Rock. With
a back catalogue as extensive as Dio’s it is hard to feel aggrieved.
The second part of the set therefore included more from his Rainbow and Black
Sabbath days. The ovation songs like “Heaven and Hell,” “Man On The Silver
Mountain” and “Long Live Rock & Roll” received go far to suggest that any
reunions of Rainbow and Dio-era Black Sabbath would be popular. Two encores saw
Dio anthems “The Last In Line” and “We Rock” bringing the night to an
enthralling climax.
Dio may be reliving the days of their greatest success with the “Holy Diver’
tour but there is surely a long way to go before the little man with the
enormous voice calls time on his career. As the notices outside the venue
stated: “Tonight’s performance is Dio, not Dido”! Amen to that!
Guest review by Carl Webb - photo copyright Claire Edwards
The Oysterband, The Brook, Southampton, 20/10/05
 After
impressing at The Oysterband’s recent Big Session event, support for their
current tour is Nick Harper, son of Roy, whose expertise on the acoustic guitar
is rarely in dispute. The line between technical excellence and self-indulgence
is a narrow one, but Harper cleverly avoids the latter by introducing an element
of self-effacement into his set. Mixing his own shrewdly observant folk songs
with snatches and covers of songs by artists as diverse as Elvis, Led
Zeppelin and even Monty Python and Liberty X, Harper is both compelling and
amusing. It is his biggest strength, but perhaps also his biggest weakness, that
he is likely to remain the perfect support act.
The last time I saw The Oysterband was at the band’s 25th Anniversary bash in
2004, but anyone expecting a similarly retrospective set tonight will have been
disppointed. Old favourites The Road To Santiago, Never Left, John
Barleycorn and the evergreen Bells Of Rhymney may have been resurrected for this
tour, but on the whole the choice of songs tonight focussed more on the last
three albums, Deep Dark Ocean, Here I Stand and Rise Above, with several new
songs, such as the promising Here Comes The Flood, receiving its first public
airing tonight, thrown in for good measure.
From the opening song The Soul’s Electric, it was clear that this was a band out
to entertain rather than exhaust its audience, and opportunities for the
faithful to dance were sadly limited. Singer John Jones did thank us for
indulging the band, and by the time we were treated to encores of Another Quiet
Night In England, along with some energetic acapella acrobatics, honour had to
some extent been restored. But nonetheless I couldn’t escape the feeling that
this show had been a little more professional than thrilling. A good night
enjoyed by most, but I for one know how much better the Oysterband can be.
Guest review by Martin Sirl
Wild Child. The Brook, Southampton - 5/10/05
 This
Doors tribute band from LA produced an authentic recreation of The Doors’ sound.
With a lead singer dressed in traditional Jim Morrison leather trousers who
looked and sounded like Jim, with a suitable moody demeanour, a great
lead guitarist, drummer and keyboard player, it was a pleasure to hear the best
of The Doors back catalogue again. Opening with “Break On Through (To The Other Side)” and “Love Me Two Times” the band played a great set to an
appreciative audience. Probably no-one in the crowd had actually seen The Doors
live, me included, but it was a reminder that in their short career with Jim
Morrison at the helm before his death in 1971, The Doors produced some classics
that sound just as good today - “Strange Days,” “LA Woman,” “Backdoor Man” were
amongst the early songs covered by Wild Child. All of these were spot-on, but
the highlights for me were the timeless “Alabama Song,” a spellbinding take of
“When The Music’s Over” and the two songs most associated with The Doors,
“Riders On The Storm” and “Light My Fire.” Wild Child captured The Doors’
organ-dominated avant-garde bluesy style to perfection, and if the lead singer
was slightly more restrained than the late Jim Morrison, well, that’s probably
not a bad thing. Jim was arrested for some rather lewd acts on stage during his
short career, and we wouldn’t like to see anything like that at The Brook, would
we?
CD Reviews
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ERIC CLAPTON. BACK HOME.
 REPRISE RECORDS.
No
wonder the advance promo CD I received was under the name of “Edgar Cole.”
Presumably the security of mailing it under this name and water-marking the CD
was to prevent piracy, but Eric would have done better to have released it
under Edgar Cole and forgotten about it. Not that it’s bad, but when you’re a
so-called God people tend to expect a lot from you. This CD is perfectly
produced, instrumentally and vocally OK with a lot of talented people involved
in its’ making, but the day after I listened to it I could not remember one song
clearly. Eric Clapton gone MOR - afraid so, there is not a spark of originality
and very little passion here from the opening “So Tired” to the closing “Back
Home.” In between, very little of the raw blues which Eric excels at, instead a
bit of reggae and a lot of middle of the road soul. Lacklustre.
JACKIE LEVEN. ELEGY FOR JOHNNY CASH.
 COOKING VINYL. COOK CD 331 -
Running
time: 49:59
Another great studio album from Jackie Leven; despite the title only a couple
of tracks could be called country-tinged. Otherwise it’s the typical Leven
sound - emotive Celtic soul vocals, biting lyrics, beautiful arrangements - as
usual with Jackie, quality all the way. He’s also enlisted some excellent
musicians from around the world including Robert Fisher of Willard Grant
Conspiracy who takes vocals on one of the stand-out tracks, “”The Law of Tide”
and
the final track “Why Log Truck Drivers Rise Earlier Than The Students of Zen.”
Another guest vocalist Martin Okasili gets down to some serious rapping on
another album highlight, the hip-hop style, “All The Rage.” Musicians from
the Lebanon, Greece, Ireland, Wales and England also contribute to an album full
of engrossing songs including the haunting “Vibration White Finger” and the
poetic “King of the Barley.” Recorded in Beirut, it’s well up to Jackie’s
high standards, raising the usual questions - how does he do it? and why is he
not more universally well-known. I know Jackie is popular in places like
Scandinavia and Australia and all points in between but in England, it’s still a
case of Jackie who? If you like genuine, thoughtful, challenging music with
memorable melodies, just go out and buy this - you won’t be disappointed!
NAZARETH. BAD BAD BOYS - THE BEST OF NAZARETH.
 DISC
1 - Running time: 68:29 DISC 2 - Running time: 72.10
I have to agree with the comment on the sleeve notes “one of the most criminally
underrated bands ever”. Nazareth are a personal favourite of mine, and still
doing the business with a mainly original lineup. The Scottish crew are not only
a great band, but an influential one too. Without them bands like Guns n’ Roses
just wouldn’t have happened. These two albums are a well chosen selection of
their greatest hits and best album tracks, 17 tracks on each disc. “Broken Down
Angel” kicks off Disc 1 which also includes “Bad Bad Boy,” “My White Bicycle”
and all the early hits. Disc 2 contains the great 4-part “Telegram” which
includes “So You Want To Be A Rock n’ Roll Star,” the staggering “Hearts Grown
Cold” and many more terrific rock tracks. The formidable voice of Dan McCafferty
is probably what gives Nazareth their distinctive sound, but great guitars and
exceptional drumming boost Dan’s roaring vocals. A must for every Nazareth fan,
and anyone who just loves hard-driving riffy rock.
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Featured artists:
see POL Articles
Capercaillie
The Brook, Southampton
Friday October 21
Mukka
Salisbury Arts Centre
Friday October 28
Ray Davies Southampton Guildhall, Southampton Wednes October 12
Joe West Trio
Talking Heads, Southampton Thursday October 27
Guy Davis
Quay Arts Centre, Newport, IOW
Friday October 14
& The
Anvil, Basingstoke Thursday October 20
Lizz Wright
Turner Sims Concert Hall, Southampton Friday October 28
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