Saucerful of Secrets - 29/4/2019

I had wanted to see this band as soon as I read about them last year and when they came to Cardiff that was an opportunity not to be missed. First on was Mcnally Waters with Larry McNally on guitar and vocals and Harry Waters (yes - son of Roger) on keyboards plus a rhythm section of bass and drums. They were very good, an interesting Southern Rock/Blues guitar, a New Orleans style keyboards and an overall sound that was part Deep South and part New Orleans. The songs were good as well and perhaps the only thing that wasn't quite there was the vocals of Larry. They played a short (25 mins) set) and then it was SoS. The line up was Nick Mason on drums (obvi), Gary Kemp guitar and vocals (ex Spandau Ballet), Lee Harris guitar (ex Blockheads) Guy Pratt Bass (ex Pink Floyd/Roger Mason/David Gilmour collaborator) and Dom Beken (Keyboards and stuff). The first thing to say is that, as I hoped, this did not feel or sound like a tribute band, although with Nick Mason on drums it could not be called that anyway. It sounded like a new slant on some fascinating and excellent songs from a particular era that is pretty much a unique legacy of the original Floyd. In doing early Floyd songs the band also achieved a couple of things - restoring a mainly lost legacy (live at least) and appropriately reminding us of the nature of the sound mix of that band at that time. Drum driven to a greater extent than most music, bass telling the melody often and guitar given the freedom to do whatever along with the synthesised and recorded sounds that are also distinctive of Floyd. The guitarists were outstanding. Lee Harris was one of the most confident guitarists I have seen, hitting complex and precise licks without missing a beat and creating a perfect sound to overlay on top of the rhythm section. This was perfectly demonstrated during the first surprise track of the night for me 'Fearless' from Meddle. He also delved into a few Gilmour like (without being derivative) solos when the song required it. Gary Kemp was a great surprise to me as someone who has never been a Spandau Ballet fan. He was fairly restrained early on and was never showy but as the gig went on his guitar was increasingly prominent and increasingly very good. Guy Pratt on bass was immediately a perfect fit and this is not surprising given his history with the band and its former members. The gig began with a couple of old classics 'Interstellar Overdrive' and 'Astromini Domini' and with some Floyd-like videos and lights going on of course. After a few more vintage songs and the aforementioned 'fearless' (which is still going round in my head) it went up a level with a rousing version of 'Arnold Layne' with Gary on vocals. Shortly after came one of the highlights of the night, a long version of 'If' which had some 'Atom Heart Mother' in the middle. there was then some stellar guitar playing from Gary and Lee on the next couple of tracks and not long after the long-awaited 'Set the Controls'. This was especially resonant for me as that was the amazing highlight of my very first Floyd gig in '68. Another big memory track was on shortly after, 'See Emily Play' and then to my surprise 'One of these days' from my favourite Floyd album 'Meddle'. This of course perfectly suited the band and Guy and the two lead guitarists were perfect on it. The encore started with a brilliant version of 'Saucerful of Secrets' (of course) and then 'Point me at the sky' finished the evening off. Brilliant, just brilliant.

Gretchen Peters 19/4/2019

Gretchen Peters has joined the top league of alt-country singers for me. This was the fourth gig of hers for me, the first one being in 2013 and they have all been outstanding. This time she came with the same excellent band as last time (Barry Walsh on piano, Colm McClean on guitar and Connor Mcreanor on bass) plus a string quartet who came on for the second half (three violins and a cello). The first set was the basic band with a couple of songs where a single string player came on. Colm McClean was brilliant (as he was last time); subtle but beautiful guitar playing whether filling in or soloing. Barry Walsh is about as good on piano, relaxed joyful keyboards. Gretchen ran through a stack of her best songs. Th highlight of the first half for me was the outstanding 'Everything Falls Away' with brilliant solos from guitar and particularly piano. A song full of sadness and truth. 'Disappearing Act' is another favourite from her last album and it was great version of 'Saving Grace'. She finished the half with 'Five Minutes' and 'Idlewild' two of her best songs, telling stories which have resonance on a bigger scale than the particular tale they tell. The strings were on for the second half and they added a driving fullness to the sound which complemented her songs. All four of the 'Southern Fried String Quartet' were right on the button. She kicked off with 'Arguing with Ghosts', did a great version of 'Hello Cruel World', the superb 'Blackbirds' and a few older songs, the last two and most memorable of which were 'On a Bus to St Cloud' and 'To Say Goodbye' which again featured great playing from guitar and keyboards. There was a brief encore of 'When I grow old' and then that was it. A couple of other things worth mentioning were her acoustic guitar playing which is steady as a rock and a key part of the overall sound and the incredible enthusiasm of the audience. She seems to have found a rapport with St Georges and Bristol and I am hoping she turns up again soon.

Saving Grace (ft Robert Plant) - 17/4/2019

In by the skin of our teeth to this under-the-radar local gig for Robert Plant's most recent project - Saving Grace. I only heard of the gig in a local school theatre after it was sold out, by word of mouth. I got myself on the waiting list (in ninth place) but heard nothing so went down early on the night of the gig and just before the start time we managed to find two groups who had turned up one person short and sneaked in under the wire. I'm glad we made the effort - a stunning exposition of Americana from five great musicians, certainly Americana in the band sound which reminded me instantly of a T-Bone Burnett project. There was a muddy guitar, a frequent banjo, an insistent drum and the two vocalists, Robert Plant and Suzi Dian. Tony Kelsey was on guitar and also mandolin, and Matt Worley on banjo, acoustic and baritone guitars, and cuatro. Oli Jefferson was the drummer. The gig started with Suzi on vocals on a Patty Griffin cover, 'Standing' and the song perfectly suited her voice and the bands atmospheric Southern US sound. Then Robert took over on vocals to sing 'Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down' which he did with Band Of Joy when we saw them. The majority of the set was Americana of some sort backed by the excellent band musicians with Matt playing mostly banjo and he turned out to be a good vocalist as well and took the lead on one song. They also threw in a Donovan cover and this may have been the highlight of the set as 'Season of the Witch' is just such a great song and with this band and these two vocalists it was outstanding. There was another Patty Griffin cover 'Ohio' which was also excellent and then a Low cover of 'Everybody's Song' from The Great Destroyer. Those three songs were the last three before the encore - an outstanding end to what was a short set of a little over an hour. There was an acapello spiritual encore to finish. I'm so glad I didn't miss this local treat

Harbottle and Jonas - 5/4/2019

A complete contrast from the day before - from noisy, feisty Southern Rock/Blues in a packed standing city venue with a sticky floor to a gentle folk gig in a local village hall. They are based in Devon and many of the songs featured the sea and their recent album is 'The Sea is My Brother'. Freya Jonas had a distinctive folky voice and also played both an accordion with her hands and a harmonium with her right leg mostly. Dave Harbottle played guitar and sang as well. Both had a friendly audience engagement style with bits of chat and explanation between songs. I very much liked their opening song - 'Was it You?' about Scott in the Antarctic and also rated the title track of the aforementioned album. The other highlight that comes to mind was a cover of 'Black is the Colour' which suited Freya's voice perfectly. In fact the whole gig was great from start to finish. The encore was a rousing version of 'The leaving of Liverpool' which went down well all round.

Larkin Poe - 4/4/2019

Having seen Larkin Poe a couple of time I was keen to enjoy them again. They tick lots of boxes, feisty Southern Rock, guitar-led, drenched in blues influence, loads of slide guitar, sisters harmonising - what's not to like. The venue, The Fleece, was a first for me and whilst it was a nice building it had the usual disadvantages when its all about standing and drinking rather than sitting and listening. The support were coincidentally also siblings, two brother who were called Foreign Affairs and although they were supporting Larkin Poe on their whole European tour they were as it happens home town boys from Bristol. I enjoyed them, the guitar playing was excellent if occasionally a little over elaborate and the songs were interesting. Larkin Poe just came on and turned the volume and energy up to ten and kept it there for the whole show. It is a pleasure to go to a gig with four early blues covers (Leadbelly, Son House x2 and Robert Johnson) but their original songs are also good. There was of course a number of songs from their new album (Venom and Faith). I particularly enjoyed 'California King' on which Rebecca played the banjo to go with Megan's slide and the same instruments were kept for one of the Son House covers, 'John the revelator'. That's a good combo - banjo and slide. Other than that Rebecca played a mean, down and dirty guitar. One song fetaured a great solo from her followed by a fabulous slide solo from Megan and that was probably the high point of an excellent gig. Also memorable off the new album was 'Beach Blonde Bottle Blues' whilst older stuff that I noted included 'Trouble in Mind' and a great 'Preaching Blues' cover. The encore was a spare version of 'Come on in My Kitchen' and that is a good finish.