Gillian Welch 13/11/11

A much anticipated gig after listening to her recent album 'The harrow and the harvest' and it fully lived up to my expectations. Not only is she one of the best songwriters around but she can sing superbly and also has as guitarist Dave Rawlings who is one of my current favourites. He definitely has strains of Jerry Garcia about him and that is as good as praise gets on the guitar front. The thing is that he is always edgy, utterly fluid and his playing builds on and elevates the song. I loved the way the gig was just the two of them, there was no support and the guitars (and banjos) were properly acoustic and just fed through a mike to the PA. There were two sets totalling about two hours. There was lots of stuff off the new album and some off 'Soul Journey' and also off earlier albums and a couple of covers. There were a lot of highlights. Perhaps the most powerful track was early on , 'That's the way it will be' which was raw and deep. 'Miss Ohio' was a slow and more haunting version than the studio version and also hit home. Dave's vocal lead was also strong - 'I hear it all' from his album which segueued into 'This land is my land'. 'Everything is free', 'Dixie', 'Elvis Presley Blues', 'Tennessee' - all strong performances as well. In fact thewhole gig was great, great guitar, great songs, great singing. Contender for gig of the year.

Alison Krauss 4/11/11

With Alison Krauss and Union Station you always get an astonishing level of musicianship. Alison's voice often gets the attention but her fiddle playing is exemplary and with Jerry Douglas, Ron Block and Dan Tyminski in the band as well there is always incredible musical skill on show. Ron Block spent the half hour before the show started fine tuning his instruments and his trademark precision is unerring. My particular favourite is Jerry Douglas, partly because I love the Dobro and he is the other end of the scale from Ron, assured and relaxed at all times.
There was no support and the band just launched into 'Paper Airplane' followed by 'Dust Bowl Children' which are the opening tracks on their new album. Immediately her voice is captivating, never strained but always powerful and emotional. The gig included quite a few tracks of the new album but a great range of old favourites as well. 'Ghost in this House' for example early on had the hairs on the back of the neck standing up - the power of her voice on that song is astonishing. This gig also had a good compliment of older bluegrass favourites and Alison's fiddle playing was noticeably more prominent than in previous gigs. Jerry had a session as usual to show off his dobro playing where he elides several tunes and where his hands end up pretty much as a blur across the strings. I also particularly enjoyed Ron's banjo playing and had the impression he was spending more time than usual on the banjo. His style is distinctive and he is my favourite banjo player.
Despite the great track selection and the sheer joy of listening to such talented musicians there was something missing. I think it is the feeling that it would be great if they were let off the leash and improvised a tune or two. Jerry Douglas comes closest to it when he does his solo piece but at the other extreme the encore tracks were almost a medley with shortened versions of 'Oh Atlanta', 'You say it best...', 'Down to the river to pray' and a mere fragment of 'Whisky Lullaby'. I want to her this band get drunk and go mad but I don't think it is going to happen.

Steve Earle 24/10/11

A new venue for me - the utilitarian but not unpleasant St David's Hall or Neuadd Dewi Sant as they call it here in Wales. Front row seats helped.

Steve Earle started promptly at 7:30 with no support. It was a great band with Alison Moorer on various instruments and vocals and a duo called the Mastersons (Chris Masterson and Eleanor Whitmore) also playing various instruments and on vocals and with a rhythm section of bass and drums.

They kicked off with a few tracks from the latest album and Steve and the band were instantly in the groove. 'Waitin' for the Sky' and 'Gulf of Mexico' were good but 'Mollie-O' was sublime. Live the track gained some real power and I can now see what he was aiming at when he wrote it. They moved on to some classic Earle tunes including another very powerful performance of 'Jerusalem' and the always good 'My Old Friend the Blues'. Everyone in the band was an accomplished musician and they all moved seamlessly between various instruments. Steve plays everything with strings superbly - he delivers what a song needs whether he has an old acoustic guitar or a bazouki. Eleanor played a lot of atmospheric fiddle and also guitar and Chris played a twangy guitar with a hint of Duanne Eddy and pedal steel. Right after a rousing version of 'Guitar Town' Steve and Alison sang a duet 'Day's aren't Long enough' and then Alison took centre stage and delivered three songs, the last of which just took my breath away. 'A Change is Gonna Come' is a classic and she extracted every ounce of its yearning. It was faultless.

The second half had more stuff from the new album and more Earle classics and songs from the bassist and the Mastersons. Highlights for me were 'Meet me in the Alleyway' which is just a great song that perfectly suits Steve's gruffer vocals and also a duo of songs from his album with Del McCoury 'Harlan Man' and 'The Mountain'.

The encore was three songs and then we got a second encore which delivered a couple more highlights, firstly Steve Earle doing one of my favourite ever Dyan songs, 'It takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to cry'. That was a privilege. He finally finished off with 'Devil's Right Hand' around three hours after he started or more than two and a half hours of music and his inimitable chat which included how he had finally embraced gun control, labour unions, mining tragedies, Iraq and many other subjects. As always a privilege and a great pleasure.

Cara Dillon 16/10/11

My wish to see Cara Dillon in a bigger venue with better sound was fulfilled a lot quicker than I expected, having seen her in June this year when the sound mix was not ideal.

There were a couple of extra members in the band with an additional guitarist and an accordion player. There was no support and from song one it was clear how special her voice is when listening to it through a quality mix and reproduction. It is velvet and sweet but with plenty of layers of emotion within it. The band were also much improved over last time, again due mostly to the mix but also the additional musicians were both good and added a richness to the overall sound. For many songs the three acoustic guitarist laid down a subtle but driving rhythm with the violin and the less-used accordion adding some great Celtic phrasing on top. Emma on violin was less prominent than last time which was a shame but she again did the business with a slightly unusual fiddle sound. Some tracks were just Sam Lakeman on grand piano with Cara on vocals and that worked beautifully as well and Cara singing gaelic acapello was also a real treat.
She did a number of songs from her last couple of CDs - a lot of the stuff was traditional Irish songs. There songs stood out for me, all in the second half. She started the second set with a gaelic acapello song 'Fil Fila Run O' which was stunning. She also did the song that really hit home last time I saw her. I have now worked out that it is 'Shotgun Down the Avalanche' a Sean Colvin cover. (Unfortunately I can't find a recording of it by Cara). The other track that was particularly memorable was 'Hill of Thieves' which is haunting and beautiful and powerful all at the same time. Great gig.

She Keeps Bees 22/8/11

For a tiny space the Buffalo Bar venue is OK. Not too crowded, relaxed and best of all we had two of the very few barstools available.
The first support Totem Terrorist were poor and Mal summed them up perfectly; 'He thinks he's David Byrne but she is actually Tina Weymouth'. Which is to say he had his bass turned up way too loud loud and his bass and vocals drowned our her much subtler guitar and vocals which were good if almost inaudible.
The next support were a change and a surprise. I wasn't expecting much after the first act but 'Little Fish' had a lot going for them. Mainly it was the vocalist who had the attitude and energy of Patti Smith and who held nothing back. But the band were good too (fluid bass, tight drums, hammond with occasional moog as keyboards)and the songs were interesting and lively. I was getting strong Patti Smith vibes but there was also some Velvets influences there as well.
She Keeps Bees had a great line up which I don't think I have seen much before - two rhythm guitars and drums. This provided a swirling platform of sound for Jess Larabees rich, warm, intense vocals. She did a lot of stuff off the recent album and I have to say the highlight for me was 'See Me' which is a little gem of a song. But the set was quality all the way through and the main problem was that it was too short at about 50 minutes.

Fleet Foxes 23/6/11

Support was The Bees who were a bit dull. The songs just lacked any interest - what more can I say? I know - they droned on a bit.

Fleet Foxes started with about 20 minutes of material from the new album which in my view is not as good as their stunning first album. It was also the weaker songs from the album so wasn't as exhilerating as it might have been. However they then did a session of songs from the first album and that was when I really started to enjoy the gig. 'Your Protector' was memorable and 'Tiger Mountain Peasant Song' is just such a great song. There was however a problem in that the sound quality was not good enough. Fleet Foxes are subtle musicians singing harmony and they deserve a good sound system. The Civic Hall at Wolverhampton was not providing same. After about 30 minutes of older stuff they then moved onto the stronger songs from the new album including the excellent 'The Shrine/An Argument'with its manic sax solo.

The encore featured Robin on his own singing 'Oliver James' which is stunning.

Overall it wasn't the memorable ocassion that ny first Fleet Foxes gig was in 2009. The sound wasn't good enough, the delivery wasn't dynamic enough, but it had its moments.

Tim Richards Trio 4/3/2011

I like to see Tim play when he is in the Midlands. I am not normally seen at Jazz gigs but Tim plays at the bluesy end of Jazz and there is also an element of boogie-woogie in there and I have enjoyed his gigs over the years. This was one of my favourite gigs of his and that was due both to the band and also the material. The band was a tight trio and I was amazed to find the drummer was a stand-in for their normal drummer who was off at Van Morrison's request. The bassist (Dominic Howles)had a great understanding with Tim's forceful keyboards and was an excellent musician in his own right. The new stuff from the album 'Shapeshifting'seemed to move at pace and with intent and I felt there was more than a hint of boogie-woogie at times. But there was also some great melodies in there both standards and Tim's own stuff. There were also some tracks from 'Twelve by Three' and all in all it was an excellent musical evening. More and more I care about the venue, the sound and the occasion (actually I have always cared deeply about sound quality) and this was a nice evening.

Cara Dillon 3/6/11

The support was an enjoyable duo called Winter Mountain.

Cara's band featured partner Sam Lakeman on guitar and keyboards, a second acoustic guitarist and a fiddle player called Emma Sweeney.

She has a great voice, powerful but velvety, does modern and more traditional folky sort of songs and the band were good too. I particularly liked Emma's sound, she had a staccato sort of bowing motion allied to a traditional fiddle style which was slightly different and also engaging. Both guitarists were good albeit they maybe just overshadowed Cara's voice. It may have been that we were so close to the stage that the sound was coming more live than through the mix.

The material was new to me but there was one stand out song which I can't track down on her albums. It's tagline was 'You left me nowhere to go'. I need that track.

All in all a good gig - I would welcome the chance to see her in a better venue than the Nottingham Glee Club and I expect she will be filling better venues in time to come.

Eric Clapton 17/5/11 & 21/5/11

The annual Clapton residency at the Albert Hall saw me heading down for a couple of gigs as well as the Clapton/Winwood gig that followed.

The two gigs were pretty similar although the second gig edged it for energy and engagement from the whole band. The support of Andy Fairweather-Low and the Low Riders also moved up a notch (and were even better at the Winwood/Clapton gig a few days later).

The band was mostly old favourites, Willie Weekes and Steve Gadd as the rhythm section, Michelle John and Sharon White on backing vocals and the superb Chris Stainton on keyboards and the excellent Tim Carmon on hammond organ. Chris Stainton actually seems to get better as the decades go by or maybe he just gets more lead time these days.

The set was largely pretty standard Clapton tunes - he kicked off with 'Key to the Highway' and included 'I Shot the Sherrif' and 'Going Down Slow' and 'Hoochie Coochie Man' early on. There was a brilliant acoustic set which started with 'Driftin'' which is a master class in acoustic guitar playing and included perhaps the most memorable track for me as it is not a standard Clapton track - 'Same Old Blues' . Layla was also in there. The full band then powered to the end of the gig with standards such as 'Badge', 'Little Queen of Spades, 'Cocaine' and for an encore 'Crossroads'.

Clapton was assured, relaxed and at times stunning, Chris Stainton was outstanding throughout and Tim Carmon did the business when required to. Calpton may not vary the setlist greatly but he always delivers.

Eric Clapton/Steve Winwood 27/5/11

After a couple of EC shows this month, the one I am really looking forward to when Steve Winwood joins the band. The support was again Andy Fairweather-Low and he was on absolute top form for this gig. He did the same set but with some added zest from both him and the band especially saxophonist Nick Pentelow.

For the main band it was just a straight swap in personnel with Steve Winwood replacing Tim Carmon. However the set was radically different as would be expected with only about five or six tracks remaining from the EC shows - old favourites such as Layla, Cocaine, Crossroads, Driftin' and Key to the Highway remained in the set. Added to the set were a number of Winwood songs and songs that EC and Winwood have played over the years and one or two others such as the Robert Wilkins song "That's No Way to get Along" covered memorably by the Stones but done exquisitely by EC and Winwood on acoustic guitars. I mean I like Clapton's singing but Winwood can really, really sing. The acoustic set also included an immaculate 'Driftin' and a beautiful 'Can't find my way home'

The gig started with 'I Had to Cry Today' and then got into a great groove with 'Lowdown Dirty Shame' and 'After Midnight'. The band was beautifully balanced with either two keyboards when Winwood was on his organ or two guitarists when he picked up his guitar and both of them and Clapton picking out brilliant solo spots track after track.

The set continued with some songs from Blind Faith and Winwood as well as Clapton favourites. One of the very highest points for me was when they played 'Midland Maniac' which is just about my favourite ever Winwood song and the exemplary version of 'Crossroads that followed was almost an anticlimax. That's how good the gig was.

After the acoustic set there was some big numbers to provide a finale.
The penultimate track was an astonishing version of 'Voodoo Chile', - not everyone will know that Winwood played on this Hendrix classic-, and then into 'Cocaine' as a last track.

I was expecting to hear "Dear Mr Fantasy" which is uusually the highlight for me of any Winwood gig for his superb guitar solos and it duly arrived as the encore. Clapton took the first solo and it just blew me away. It was pretty much perfection and featured a tiny fading slide somewhere near the end that just seemed to nudge the universe into alignment. There was nowehere to go after that solo and Winwoods extended solo wasn't really up to the usual standard. Maybe he was blown away too.

The Unthanks/Trembling Bells 27/3/11

I was partly attracted by seeing the Unthanks again as I enjoy their mix of traditional and modern Northumbrian music but also I wanted to see the support act, Trembling Bells. We had seen them supporting Bonnie Price Billy but their set had been spoiled by poor sound quality which was more a product of the venue than their fault. Strangely enough their set was again marred by a sound issue but I guess that was our fault partly in that we ended up sitting very close to the drums which then rather dominated the sound. However their set was stunning even though aforesaid drummer was a stand-in. Lavinia Blackwell has an outstanding voice with a power and purity that reminded me of Sandy Denny. The songs are rooted in folk tradition but with a modern edge ( a bit like the Unthanks really)and the set was energising. I particularly remember 'Goathland' and 'Cold Heart of Mine' but it was good start to finish.

The Unthanks had a big band with various backing musicians as well as the core band members. There was perhaps more variety than I remember from last time I saw them but once again 'Gallowgate Lad' stood out with some beautiful vocals and a haunting quality to the song. Both the gals have great voices but also their voices blend so well and that makes them an act worth seeing again and again. There was also some excellent backing singing from the band members and they are a professional outfit all around.

Capercaille 12/2/11

I have seen Capercaille a number of times and it is always a joy to hear Karen Matheson sing. Micahel McGoldrick is another star (we saw him last year playing in Mark Knopfler's band)who is the best there is at flutes, whistles and pipes. But all the band members are great musicians and they play together tightly and with an easy professionalism. I particularly noticed the bassist, Ewen Vernal, this time, his playing was relaxed and faultless.

My particular favourites are the gaelic songs which often have a haunting and beautiful quality which is perfectly expressed by Karen's velvet voice. A couple of songs from Skye featured and hit the spot.

Another highlight was the John Martyn antiwar song 'Don't You Go'.

The gig was run along the lines of a couple of songs with vocals followed by a couple without and it was all very fine. There were some well known Capercaille songs in the mix. An evening that was both soothing and exciting. How do they do that?