Dead Weather 26/10/09

I found it impossible to ignore a local Jack White gig even if he plays drums rather than guitar in his latest band. So it was off to the Birmingham Carling Academy to see Dead Weather. When I got there I found the place closed up - it had moved in September although you wouldn't know that from the ticket or website. Finding the new venue eventually I caught the last minute or so of the support act "Creature with the atom brain". They sounded OK but I wasn't distraught at having missed them. Dead Weather came on, rather bravely but also excitingly to "Sure 'Nuff Yes I Do" and started playing as it faded out.
With Jack hiding away at the back the band was fronted by Alison Mosshart who had attitude to spare. This was clearly the polar opposite of my previous gig listening to Appalachian folk music - this was bona-fide rock'n roll.

They played a number of tracks from their album "Horehound". "So Far from Your Weapon" stood out for me with Alison screaming out the lyrics and some heavyweight guitar from Dean Fertita whilst Jack pounded demonically on the drum. They did a Dylan cover "New Pony" which is also on the album.

After forty five minutes in the final pre-encore track Jack White at last strapped on a guitar and demonstrated that while he really is a good drummer he is a great guitarist. They played "Will there be enough water?" and it was riveting. Too soon the track was finished and the band were offstage after less than an hour. They came back for an encore of three songs and Jack again played guitar for part of a track. This time Dean Fertita was also playing guitar and he was hitting a fuzzy rhythm while Jack played his trademark screeching frenetic lead. I could have done with a whole gigs worth of that.

Buffalo Gals 22/10/09

Another opportunity to see a class band within walking distance of the house due to the Centre Stage subsidy for village performances. This time it was a largely British set of musicians playing American folk music mostly Appalachian. In fact the leader of the band was from West Virginia and she was an excellent fiddle player. Unusually her playing underpinned and unified the music whereas fiddle players are often relatively showy and solo instruments. The band also featured a 'percussive' dancer who had an amazing skill with a still upper body and her feet beating out a rhythm. The music included bluegrass and other folk styles. One of the stand out tracks was "In My Time of Dying" which has been covered by Led Zeppelin amongst others. It still echoes in the mind a week after the gig. Kate Lissauer the band leader did a lot of the singing but a second vocalist had a distinctive voice and it suited a Patsy Cline song she did down to the ground. I must get some Patsy Cline albums.

Joan Baez 15/10/09

The show started bang on 7:30 and was over by 9:20 but as Joan was on stage the whole time it was a good effort for someone in their late sixties. Her voice is still stupendous though it may be struggling a little bit more at times that it was five years ago. The band was excellent and in particular John Doyle played a mean acoustic guitar. The show was very much a retrospective with songs from five decades and a lot of old favourites included but there was also a wish to freshen up the selection. "Silver Dagger" for example came in a bluegrass version and there was a new song written by one of the band Dirk Powell. Also included were a couple of tracks from the most recent album one of which was an Elvis Costello song "Scarlet Tide" which she sang last time we saw her a couple of years ago. The other was a song from Steve Earle - "God is God" with characteristic chord progressions.
Old favourites included "Diamonds and Rust" as the first encore which was solo. In fact there was a fair amount of the show which was just her solo and she still plays an accomplished guitar. Other favourites included "Love is a four letter word" with a couple of lines sung imitating Dylan, "Farewell Angelina" which she delivers beautifully and hauntingly, "Joe Hill", and my personal favourite "Carrickfergus". Her voice was just amazing on Carrickfergus, so powerful and pure and dripping with poignancy. The band were good singers as well as musicians. There was a great gospel song involving harmonies from the whole band and they also finished the evening with an acappello gospel song. As the penultimate song she of course did "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" guaranteed to send the audience away in good spirits.

Rango 13/10/09

This has to be the most deeply roots African music I have heard. It was very much a fusion of percussion and a chanting style of singing. No hint of bass or guitar as you would find with someone like Tinariwen. In some ways it reminded me of Native American music although the vibe was definitely desert camp fires. The music is Sudanese and Rango are an Egyptian-based band. The gig featured wall-to-wall audience involvement - basically you had to clap throughout and there was audience singing and dancing too. This all added to the feeling of being part of a desert ritual.

The gig started with a four older men on stage who waited while a women brought incense through the hall. She then joined them after a few tracks and I wa surprised when three more performers joined about half an hour into the gig. Pretty much everyone had a go at lead vocals but there was a backing vocal response thing most of the time which all the band contributed to. Most of the band were on percussion instruments which included one that you tied round your waist. It percussed according to how you moved your hips. The band leader played some instruments I had never seen before - a sort of triangular mandolin-sounding instrument and a big old marimba-style instrument as well.

This was another Centre Stage funded event - eight amazing musicians from Africa for a tenner within walking distance of the house. It seems way too cheap.

The Unthanks 10/10/09

I decided to see the Unthanks after a newspaper review of their latest album so I was fresh to their music. They are from Northumbria and folk-based with the emphasis on female vocals so that is in itself a recommendation for me.

The support was a duo - she with a haunting voice, he with lots of songs and a guitar. They were good particularly a slightly offbeat ballad about Benjamin? Brown.

The Unthanks had apparently expanded their band since their last tour and now featured three violinists, a cello, piano, bass and drums as well as the Unthank sisters fronting on vocals. Actually the backing band did more changing around of instruments than I have ever seen - after almost every track people swapped around or changed their instruments. They also contributed a lot of backing vocals particularly one of the violinists who featured a couple of times as a third vocalist.

The voices were sweet, the music was mostly Northumbrian in origin. A gentle musical evening in front of a surprisingly sparse audience.

The Pixies 7/10/09

This was one of the few UK dates on the Doolittle Tour to mark 20 years since it was released. The support, Bombay Bicycle Club, were average.

After a The Pixies started with a few tracks from the 'B sides' compilation of singles B sides. They then did Doolittle from start to finish in order, before four or five encore tracks which notably included "Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)" and "Where is My Mind?"

Doolittle is a superlative album. "Debaser" is a great opening track which demands immediate involvement from the listener. "Wave of Mutilation" is a tiny gem of a track which can be listened to endlessly. "Monkey Gone to Heaven" features some of the best singing ever. I could go on.

There is often for me a song which grabs my attention more than I expected. I expected to love the three tracks picked out above. The surprise package for me was "Number 13 Baby". It just seemed to stand out whereas I had not particularly noted it before.

The Pixies are consumate live performers. Every track is tight and exciting. Black Francis' shouty but immensely tuneful singing is complemented by Kim Deals backing singing. Both guitars are precise and full of emotion. The rhythm section is driving with unfussy drumming and richly expressive bass. What more could you want?

Massive Attack 2/10/09

I had only recently started listening to Massive Attack so I wasn't quite sure what to expect and that added an element of excitement to the event.

The support act was Martina Topley-Bird who also was one of the Massive Attack vocalists. I found her support set disappointing. While she has a nice voice the music seemed too contrived and uninvolving. The best bit was after she had left the stage and the accompianist who played a number of instruments banged out an increasingly frenetic drum riff as a big finish.

Massive Attack were good right from the start. The early tracks I didn't recognise and as there was no recognition from the audience either I guess they are new tracks from the album currently in progress. The sound was good and all-enveloping. The musicians were individually good. The set up which featured two drummers and a variety of ever changing vocalists also worked well for me.

I think they included Daddy G, Horace Andy and the aforementioned Martina T-B.

The gig really took off for me when quite a way into the set they brought on Deborah Miller to sing vocals on "Safe From Harm". She came back later to sing vocals on one more track in the encore "Unfinished Symphony". She added a powerful emotional vocal which sat with the underlying multi-layered sound perfectly. "Safe from Harm" is also a damn fine song as is "Unfinished Symphony". Also good was "Teardrop" with M T-B on vocals. The gig was good from start to finish though and I was a little surprised that the audience wasn't more enthusiastic. I heard someone after complaining as he was wanting a more dance-based gig. Personally I didn't.

Jackie Oates & James Dumbleton 22/9/09

A local gig sponsored by Centre Stage which means that really good artists are seen in small local village venues. Jackie had a pure, sweet, folky voice and played fiddle and James accompanied on guitar and some droney sub-accordion from the sub continent. I do like drones. They should be mandatory in every band. The songs were both old and new but all in the English folk tradition. They deserved an audience bigger than the thirty or so who crammed into the cellar bar.