Sera - 27/07/2016

My one and only visit to The Monmouth Festival this year. It's only 15 minutes away but seems to have an increasing number of tribute acts. However at the fringe of the festival I spotted that a Welsh singer/songwriter was playing who seemed both original and good (from Soundcloud). So she turned out to be - a bi-lingual gig with a violinist and drummer supporting her and it had a lot going for it. A number of tracks were particularly full of Welsh passion. Highlights of tracks I clocked the name of included 'Lifeboat' and 'Trouble' and there was one about a first meeting many years ago that was also excellent.

Frazey Ford 16/7/2016

Before I get to the impeccable Frazey Ford set I have to mention the support - aged stoner Howe Gelb. He managed to get the whole show delayed due to late arrival and in his 50 minute set also dragged a drummer from the audience much to the dismay of Frazey Ford's crew as the drummer used their kit, started disassembling the piano he was playing, and played with a camera he found recording his gig ending up putting it inside the piano distorting some strings to give a wierd sound to his last song. But fair play to him he was very funny with it. As to his music I was unimpressed with the first few jazzy standards where he was doing a sort of Tom Waits impression but enjoyed the last few songs especially 'Terribly So' (on piano) and something like 'Lost Love Found' on guitar. Frazey Ford came on with a four piece backing band, guitar, drums, bass and backing vocalist. From start to finish the set was perfect. With just two solo albums released she played a fair proportion of those two records with an additional three songs I hadn't heard from her. On the albums she has a definite 'country soul' sound with some superb horns so this was a pared down version of the band and it was great to hear those pared down versions. Through it all she kept the rhythmic nature of the music going through her singing but Craig MacCaul on guitar was also rhythm-and-note perfect all set so you didn't miss the horn section at all. It's difficult to pick out songs because everything was great but of the album tracks, 'Done' was superb as the venom in it was great live and raw; 'Weather Pattern' was absolutely stand out and the encore was perfection with 'Blue Streak Mama', 'Firecracker' and of course 'Indian Ocean' to finish. The 'new' songs were also brilliant to hear for the first time. She did a great cover of the Jimmy Cliff classic 'The Harder They Come', she did an old song called 'Separating' about inequality and a excellent song possibly called 'Can you Get to That'. Her singing is unique; the words coalesce so you cannot make them out and it is just pure emotion. It reminds me of the way Otis Redding conveys emotion and I can't say fairer than that. great singing, great band - it's between Neil Young and Frazey for gig of the year.

Lucinda Williams 15/7/2016

This was the third time for me seeing Lucinda Williams and having listened to the recent album 'The Ghosts of Highway 20' I was well up for it. The support was an exuberant Aussie drums and guitar duo The Pierce Brothers'. They were entertaining and I particularly liked 'Overdose' and a song probably called 'Running' but maybe the vocals were a tad shouty. Lucinda came on with a bassist (David Sutton - same as when we saw her in 2013), drummer and lead guitarist (Stuart Mathis) and kicked off with 'World Without Tears' dedicated to the Nice victims. The thing about a Lucinda Williams gig is that she pretty much makes up the set as she goes along as evidenced by the slight panic in the guitarist's eyes as he rapidly searches for the right guitar after Lucinda has made up her mind. I was delighted that 'Lake Charles' and 'Drunken Angel' seem to be fixtures in any gig. The title track from 'Ghosts of Highway 20' is another great song. She sang it up tempo on this occasion. Perhaps the highlight was 'West Memphis' another song off the album - a brilliant sense of place, of ingrained corruption, of alienation in rural America. Some very nice guitar from Stuart on this and several other songs, he seemed particularly good with rhythmic licks requiring precise timing although some of the solo work lacked a little feeling. She did 'Pineola' early on in the set as well. Later in the gig the songs became more up tempo and rocky but I think I preferred the first more introspective part. She is definitely a significant player in the alt-country scene and very good live but clearly is not as well known as some (Nanci Griffiths, Emmylou Harris etc). The Colston Hall was full but only downstairs. She deserves a bigger audience.