Nanci Griffith 23/7/2012

This was rescheduled from earlier than year when the Bristol gig was postponed because of illness. I assumed at the time that Nanci had caught a cold or something but actually she didn't look good at all when she struggled onto the stage. It looks as if she is not at all well so I was pretty impressed that she came back to England to fulfil her commitments. The support was Pete and Maura Kennedy who were also the main part of Nanci's band so it was a pretty low key tour as opposed to a Blue Moon Orchestra type gig that we have usually seen. They played an interesting countryish set where they saved the best songs to the last three - a Dave Carter song called 'When I go' followed by an up-tempo railroad song about 'The Midnight Ghost' and then a big finish with the Monkees' 'Daydream Believer'. Nanci looked frail but her voice was in fine fettle. As soon as the first chords of 'Speed of Lonliness' kicked in I knew it was going to be a good set. She followed that with 'I want a simple life' and 'The Flyer' and basically as ever she trawled through her catalogue picking the songs she felt like singing . As ever she also chatted between tracks in her inimitable informal style, unafraid to stand up as a lefty liberal and proud of it. The tracks that impressed me most were, firstly of course, 'Across the Great Divide' which always affects me very directly. It is laden with pathos and resilience and Nanci sings it perfectly. Pete Kennedy also excelled with a guitar break, understated and powerful. I also liked a song I am not sure I have heard before although it is an old one of Nanci's 'Troubled Fields'. 'Tequila after Midnight' was suitably raucous and 'Listen to the Radio' suitably evocative of rural Texas. She also finished with a surprise choice - a cover of 'No Expectations'. She billed it as a Stone's tribute but I think there was a message there that this may be her last tour of the UK. That's a shame. She is a major part of the alt country scene with a superb singing voice. I am going to miss seeing her.

Andy Fairweather-Low 20/7/2012

I must have seen AFL a lot of times when you add in all the Clapton gigs and a Roger Waters gig and supporting Robert Cray but this was the first I had seen him as the headline act. As it was on his home turf in South Wales with friends and family in the audience it was a very relaxed and informal gig and that suits him very well. Inevitably he brought out the old Amen Corner hits but that was done without much real passion towards the end and the highlights of the gig were when he was playing the music he loved - country blues in particular but also some twang and a stones tribute version of 'Route 66' at the end. His guitar playing on a couple of Jimmy Reed songs ('Bright Lights, Big City' and 'Baby, what You want Me to Do') and on a Lightening Hopkins track was outstanding; effortless and atmospheric. He surprised me by including a little twang section which started off with 'Apache' then did another Shadows hit 'FBI' and then brilliantly a great version of 'Peter Gunn'. Having waited twenty plus years (since the 80s Duanne Eddy tour)to hear Peter Gunn live I then get to hear it in successive gigs - how weird is that? There were various other countryish tracks of note - a heartfelt version of 'When Things Go Wrong' comes to mind - and then that great finish. AFL admitted he had learnt the Keith Richards solo by heart as a teenager and then he reproduced it. Great stuff. As ever Nick Pentelow provided that rocking sax sound to accompany AFL and the rhythm section did their duty expertly. I am now wondering whether I can catch the band later on in the tour that is just starting.