Nosferatu (film) + live piano

Neil Brand provided a superb accompaniment to the superb film. An oustanding tour de force which matched the screen action beautifully.

Dracula (Film) with live orchestra

This was with the impressive Bristol Symphony Orchestra who I estimate had around 50 to 60 musicians on stage. They played for around half an hour then played with the film. We'll forgive them drowning out some of the dialogue. Tod Brownings film is in any case almost a silent film in its approach. They were very good.

The Lodger (film) with live trio.

The second of four film+live music events in the space of ten days. This was a brilliant experience for film and music as it was an early Hitchcock silent. The pianist accompanying it was astounding - it must be very difficult to play non-stop for 90 minutes. The cellist added some lovely tones and the percussionist was spot on with his sounds even marking the putting of a chess piece down with an appropriate noise. What a film except perhaps for the ending I'm guessing the studios forced on Hitchcock - they couldn't have the film ending with the death of Ivor Novello!

Arcadia (film) with live music by Adrian Utley and Will Gregory

with a nine piece band including two female vocalists and strings. I was more impressed with the music than the film itself which was a series of images from the national film archives. The music was immersive and complemented the images seamlessly with Adrian Utley's guitar contributions right on point. The two vocalists had very different voices one folky and tuneful, the other more searing and powerful. A lovely experience and very different musically to most of what we go to hear.

Karine Polwart & Dave Milligan 5 November 2022

Karine is becoming a regular at St Georges coming down to play with other people from her Scottish village. This time it is pianist Dave Milligan. This was the polar opposite of the last gig - or at least the 'Les Amazones D'Affrique' part in that it was low key and gentle on the ears and mind. They did a selection of folky Scottish songs, some based on Burns - others written by Karine. Her voice is in the folk style clear and pure and she sings very well, his piano is accomplished and nuanced. They finish with that Burns' favourite 'This Parting Glass'. I'm relaxed and refreshed.

Vieux Farka Toure - 30th October 2022

This was part of the Llias event at the Millenium Centre in Cardiff so a new venue for us. Specifically it was the Hoddintot Hall. The support act was 'Les Amazones d'Affrique' which on this line up featured three female vocalists in front of a guitar, synth and drums. The vocalists were tall women with powerful voices and this was really a party style show with dancing in front of the stage from an early point. The songs were loud and distinctly West African. Two ofthe three vocalists were great singers particulalrly the older one in centre stage and the lead guitarist played some nice stuff that fitted the mood. Vieux Farka Toure brought a desert vibe straight away starting by playing an acoustic with a great desert twang and extraordinary dexterity. After a few songs he moved to his electric and continued to amaze. I can pay no higher compliment than to say he brought back memories of his father in the way he played guitar. His hour long set included a long stupendous gobsmacking slow 'desert 12 bar blues' number near the end and his encore track had a hypnotic rhythym that is still going round my head two mornings later. A virtuouso guitar performance.

John McCusker - 16 October 2022

Fell upon this gig and the venue fortuitously ten days or so before it happened after a two year Covid delay. And the venue (Acapela Studio near Cardiff) serve pizzas as well! The gig was a 30-years-a-muso tour for John McC who we have seen a numbers of times in different bands (Transatlantic Sessions, Mark Knopfler, trio with McGoldrick and Doyle) and who always delivers a dynamic fiddle performance. The five piece band was from all over these islands; Ian Carr from Wales, Helen McCabe from Co Monaghan, Sam Kelly from Norfolk and Toby Shaer from Scotland. All turned out to be excellent musicians. The tunes played were largely ones that had not been played for a while according to John. They also gave Sam Kelly the opportunity to lead on four songs, very folky stuff and he is a really good singer. I particularly enjoyed his song in the Cornish Language (Let it Rain). Basically it was all great stuff and done in lovely humour with great banter in the band and with the audience. I remember a tune for his daughter (Jessica's tune?) and there was a piece written with Phil Cunningham that had both their fingerprints on it and a lovely sad tune called 'Leaving Friday Harbour' but this was high standard stuff with a small audience in an intimate setting. Nothing better.

Albert Lee - 29 September 2022

Albert seems to include a gig at the Savoy regulalrly now which is brilliant. The set does not vary much but the band is good especially the keyboards player whose brother is on bass. The gig takes off with a Carl Perkins song 'Restless' and amongst the highlights are 'Luxury Liner' and in the second half 'Country Boy' of course. The guitar playing is still ferociously fast and precise despite the 78 years of age. Apart from the great guitar playing more time was afforded to the keyboards and his solos and playing was excellent. Song writers are all credited, each gig features more comments on an amazing career that went from Chris Farlowe via Head Hands and Feet to the Crickets, the Everly Brothers, Eric Clapton, Emmy lou and so much more. Great night out.

Rachel Newton & Lauren MacColl - 14 September 2022

A lucky co-incidence saw us in the Joan Knight Studio at Perth Theatre with a paltry 40 or 50 others listening to a beautiful set from two Scottish folkies. We had seen Rachel Newton briefly at the Cardiff Harps gig and I found out she was doing her only mainland Scottish gig at the start of an islands tour just 25 miles from our holiday accommodation. Rachel on harp and vocals was joined by Lauren on fiddle and vocals. The first set was from their back catalogues and I loved the opening number a gaelic traditional song (Mo Chubhrachan) -I think. They took it in turns the next song that stood out was 'The Fairburn Calf'.The third tune that I remembered particularly liking was 'The Changeling Air' andat the break I managed to secure all three tracks on CD. The second half was new songs on the subject of the Scottish Witch Trials of the 16th and 17th Centuries with video accompaniment and words written by a separate writer. The whole thing was just brilliant - but where was the audience?

The Handsome Family - 2 September 2022

Another of the much delayed gigs, this was a bit of apunt as I didn't know their music too well and it was a new venue. The venue turned out to be a disappointment, no character, no nice bar area, uncomfortable and very hot. The gig also a bit underwhelming. First up was a weird but funny singer songwriter who played an electric piano and sang downbeat songs. The Handsome Family seemed a little ill at ease, mainly because the singer and rhythym guitarist Brett Sparks was not well - he obviously had a virus of some sort and was not a happy bunny. The music was interesting and enjoyable. The lead guitarist was a mixed bag - early on I found him a bit jangly on some songs but he played some great stuff towards the end particularly on 'Far From Any Road' and the following song - 'Owls'. The drummer was good and With Rennie Sparks playing some harmonious stuff on banjo or bass the overall sound was excellent on most songs. Enjoyable but could have been better.

Carmina - 28 August 2022

Gigs in Monmouth are rare so Carmina appearing in a town pub was not to be missed. This was the three member iteration of Carmina with Paul Bradley on guitar joining Pippa and Rob. The gig comprised a familiar pattern with original songs such as 'Bird of Paradise', 'Landmarks', 'Song for Pepper' and covers including 'Killing the blues', 'Into the Mystic' and as a final track 'Heroes'. There was also a rendition of 'Lord Franklin' which is a favourite of mine that they do, a Sioned O'Connor cover and a new song they had written to be a bit darker after a reviewer called them 'unremittingly mellow'. The encore was 'Big Yellow Taxi' an appropriate response to current times. Always worth a trip out - I think this must be the sixth gig I have seen of theirs.

Gretchen Peters - 25 August 2022

Another much delayed gig landed at last in St Georges. The support was as in 2018 Kim Richey who delivered a half hour of excellent songs good vocals and some strong rhythym guitar accompaniment. Always a pleasure. Gretchen's band was also familiar with hubby Barry Walsh on Paino and Accordion, Culm McClean on lead guitar and Connor on Bass. The gig was largely a selective trawl through the back catalogues with a few covers thrown in. She has so many classy songs that the selection is always different. Pretty much standard are 'Five Minutes' and 'Idlewild' which maybe her two best songs. I particularly like 'Disappearing Act' so was glad to see that included and her rendition of 'Independence Day' sung with just her on Piano was a highlight. An old song that I hadn't heard before 'Love and Texaco' was memorable. Other than that it was another tour de force from Gretchen. I am grateful we have tickets for her final tour next year and also pleased that she has just released a live album from her 2019 tour including several songs from when we were sitting in the exact same front row seats as on Thursday. She said that the live album audience noise was from St Georges even on the tracks recorded elsewhere.

Calan + others at World Harp Congress - 25 July 2022

I plumped for tickets to this as there was a two month hiatus in gigs and we like Calan who are part of the Welsh Folk scene. It featured six performers and four of them proved to be excellent and made for a great and unusual gig. The opening act was Maya Youssef from Syria playing a quanun a 78 string zither. She had a pianist bassist and percussionist and her playing was extraordinary. Hiroko Sue from Japan was playing a koto and the music was definitely Japanese sounding. I wasn't particularly in tune with it but she did have great endings to her songs. Next up was atrio of griots from The Gambia playing koras. Another highlight and the first time I had heard three koras on the go together. After the interval we heard Venzuelan Leonard Jacomb who was into looping with his Harp and Cuatro. The penultimate act was the best, Scottish singer and harpist Rachel Newton. I would have preferred her having a little more stage time and Leonard a little less. Her voice was pure the harp sounded beautiful and I'd like to hear her again. Last up was the ever energetic Calan (missing one member due to maternity leave) and they are always great to hear. They included a clog dancing track - always brilliant and finished with 'Can' very Welsh very anthemic. Great stuff.

Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita - 26 May 2022 & 1 June 2022

This was an extra date slotted into a tour that was supposed to take place in the lockdown and there was a big bonus in that meanwhile they had recorded and just released a new album so there was a loto of new stuff as well as tunes from 'Soar'. As usual they started the gig off with 'Chlarach' a tune that is so beautiful it reduces me to tears. Thereafter the concert passed by as an inticate masterclass of string playing that you could get completely lost in. The melodies flowed and the tightness between the two musicians was impeccable. Every note and beat was synchronised. New tunes included 'Dimanche', 'Tabadabang' and I think 'Julu Kuta'. From 'Soar' I remembered a couple of other tunes. Every tune was a joy. A week later and we were there again in St David's Hall this time to bathe once again in the mesmeric string playing. The new album stuff is superb - I clocked 'Gobaith' meaning 'Hope' in Welsh which started the second half and 'Jeleh Calon' as particularly joyful.

P P Arnold - 10 May 2022

As a big fan of backing vocalists I couldn't resist a gig from 60s icon P P Arnold who started out as an Ikette and then sang with pretty much everybody from Small Faces to Nick Drake to Freddie King to Peter Gabriel. And produced two classic singles along the way. The show started with support act Lady Nade who had a tremendous voice, powerful and solid but whose songs were not as good as her singing. P P Arold played with a five piece band of guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and of course a backing singer. She did a number of songs from her recent (2019) album and quite a few covers. The new songs plus her two absolute classic hits were the best bits - the covers of 'Eleanor Rigby' and 'God Only Knows' fell a bit flat for me although the cover of 'Medicated Goo' (Traffic) and 'I'm a Dreamer' (Sandy Denny) were excellent. The newish songs were good original music, from a veteran, but she had assistance from people such as Paul Weller which helps. Though It Hurts Me Badly Baby Blue Different Drum I Believe Medicated Goo I'm a Dreamer Shoot The Dove (If You Think You're) Groovy Hold On To Your Dreams Eleanor Rigby Angel of the Morning God Only Knows The First Cut Is the Deepest

Saucerful of Secrets - 7 May 2022

Almost to the day two years after it was supposed to happen (when Nick Mason was a callow youth of 76), the gig took place at the Forum. It was the same line up as 2019's gig with Nick, Lee Harris and Gary Kemp on guitar Dom Beeken on keyboards and Guy Pratt on bass. This was a long gig with over two hours of music and featuring proper versions of the classic extended early Floyd songs with 'Atom Heart Mother' (topped and tailed by 'If'), 'Set the Controls' to finish the first half, 'Interstellar Overdrive' and 'Astronomy Domini' to start the second half and the final track before the encore the inimtable, ultra brilliant 'Echoes'. I struggle with the idea that anything can be better Floyd-wise than 'Set the Controls' but 'Echoes' surely is perfection. In between they did a number of shorter Floyd songs featuring particularly a number of Syd Barrett compositions and also the other two classic tracks from 'Meddle'. In fact the first four songs were 'One of these Days', 'Arnold Layne' 'Fearless' and 'Obscured by Clouds'. What an amazing start. The encore featured a couple of classics - 'Saucerful of Secrets' (Of course), 'See Emily Play' and finished with another song that could only be a Syd Berrett song 'Bike'. The lights and videos were incidentally brilliant. What a great gig.

Father John Misty - 11 April 2022

This was a bit of a punt as I knew that he had been with Fleet Foxes (though only for a while which happened to be both times I saw them). It was a promotional gig for the new album that had been split into two performances to fit the limited St Georges audience capacity. When we arrived there was already a long queue an hour and a half before the gig was due to start for the unallocated seats there. He came on with just an acoustic guitar and a pianist although many tracks were without the piano and some tracks were with piano but no guitar. Second track in was the brilliant 'Mr Tillman' but all the songs were good and his singing was excellent, strong and melodic. As was indicated by the queues, the audience was super excited to be seeing him - definitely a cult figure to a section of society. I particularly enjoyed 'Q4' and both of the audience requests he threw in near the end 'So I'm Growing Old on Magic Mountain' and 'Bored in the USA'. He had a warm presence and seemed to enjoy St Georges and the reaction he got. I liked his 'I'm just going to leave you with this final bit of tuning' - he had obsessively tuned between each song. All in all a different and very enjoyable gig. Disappointing Diamonds Are the Rarest of Them All Mr. Tillman Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings Kiss Me (I Loved You) Funny Girl I Went to the Store One Day Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins) Q4 I Love You, Honeybear So I'm Growing Old on Magic Mountain Bored in the USA Holy Shit

Haiku Salut - 6 April 2022

Live film music to the classic silent 'The General'. A trio of women playing various electronic keyboard and percussion devices plus a delicate guitar. Sublimely fitted to the film this was another in a long line of live film scores that I have experienced. Shame about last month's Moishes Bagel cancelled film performance but this sort of made up for it by being so good.

Moishe's Bagel 10 March 2022

Another much delayed gig which was supposed to include a set by the band and live film accompaniament music they had written for the 1930 documentary 'Salt for Svanetia'. The film was ditched at the last moment as showing a propoganda film from the Soviet era was not considered appropriate any more. They did however play some of the film score in the second half of the gig after a first half of their songs - a few of which I recognised. It has been ten years since I last saw them play but the band seemed pretty much the same. Phil on piano (mostly) and accordion and Greg on fiddle are the two leaders in the band but all contribute with songs and the fusion of styles and rhythms is what makes their gigs a real joy. Mario on bass contributes a Spanish/Brazilian music sensibility illustrated beautifully by a song he wrote that starts off as a solemn Spanish Rumba tune that explodes into a Brazilian Rumba tune half way through. 'Timgad' was a slow paino led piece by Phil and another highlight was of course the Klezmer based tunes they play so well. The band has been playing together for nearly 20 years and they make their hard to categorise but great to listen to music seem effortless. I and the audience enjoyed it immensely.

Tommy Emmanuel and Jerry Douglas - 5 March 2022

I liked what Tommy Emmanuel did at the 2020 Transatlantic Sessions but my main motivation for going to this gig (originally scheduled for 2021) was to see Jerry Douglas. Although he was designated as 'Special Guest' he did play with Tommy for around half an hour as well as having the opening slot as a solo act. His set was of course brilliant, mostly on Dobro but with a couple of tunes on a Lap Steel guitar as well. He just mesmerises with that wonderful Dobro sound. Among the songs he played was a Tom Waits cover '2:19', 'A Peaceful Return', 'Monkey Let the Hogs Out' and a set of four tunes that included 'Little Martha' which is of course an Allman Bros song - it's been a while since I heard that. Tommy Emmanuel came on playing fast guitar with incredible skill but I think the songs I enjoyed most of his were the more melodic ones. Early on he did 'Deep River Blues' which resonated and a song called 'The Mystery' (allegedly written whilst he was in Ebbw Vale) was nice. I was less taken with a Beatles medley but then I don't like medleys and I am not a huge Beatles fan. That was immediately followed by a brilliant version of 'Classical Gas' which I enjoyed a lot. Thereafter he played a couple of old old songs namely 'Secret Love' and 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' which were more of the quieter melodic end of his repertoire. After an hour or so he brought on Jerry Douglas and that upped the level hugely. Fair play to Tommy he let Jerry take the lead part mostly and they did a great version of 'Choctaw Hayride', a great track called 'Half Way Home', a cover of 'I'm on Fire' (which Tommy also did at the Transatlantic Sessions gig) and brilliantly ' Hey Joe' - a song that means a lot to me since I saw Hendrix do it. All in all it's been a long wait to see this gig but with front row seats at St Davids Hall - this was good night out.

Freedom to Roam - 2 March 2022

Sadly synchronous with the Ukrainian conflict and refugee situation this project band was playing the last date of a brief tour. The project involved an album, a film and images to accompany the music all based on the need to respect the planet better than we are doing currently. I spotted this gig because Catrin Finch was part of the band and whilst I hadn't heard of the other musicians they were all outstanding. Eliza Marshall (flutes, whistles, bansuris) seemed to be the band leader; Jackie Shave, (violin, piano) wrote quite a few of the tracks and was an original and dynamic fiddle player, Donal Rogers was on bass and Robert Irvine on Cello, which added greatly to the overall sound. Surprise of the night for me was the astonishing percussion of Kuljit Bhamra whoe sense of rhythm was riveting. The gig started with a half hour long documentary film raised issues with which I am already too familiar! The band then played for an hour - playing 'The Rhythms of Migration' album in full and that was an experience that both flew by and provided loads of great, absorbing passages. Onscreen above the band were images from Amelia Kosminsky blurred and superimposed images that reflected the music, of landscapes, animals and people. A special gig and I'm sure the album will get played here a lot.

Transatlantic Sessions - 12 February 2022

Of course this annual gig was missed out last year due to Covid although we had caught the 2020 version which was a month or so before lockdown. It is always excellent and always interesting to see which new vocalists/songwriters/musicians are going to be showcased by the 'house band'. There was a slight disappointment when Aly Bain did not appear amongst the 13 musicians who walked on stage to start the gig. It turned out he had become ill mid-tour so we had to do without his extraordinary fiddle playing. The remaining musicians coped! The usual suspects were in the band - McCusker, McGoldrick, Shaw, Cunningham, Mackintosh, Douglas and Doyle with Daniel Kimbro on bass who I don't remember from previous gigs. The guests were Paul Brady, Dirk Powell, Siobhan Miller, Leyla McCalla and Sara Jarosz. Paul Brady was Irish and on the slightly rocky/poppy side of Celtic folk - a joy to listen to and he was having a ball as well. Dirk Powell I'd seen before with TS and plays southern US stuff expertly whether on banjo or guitar. Siobhan Miller has a beautiful voice and sings Scottish songs, Leyla McCalla is ethically Haitian and brought a different vibe to the gig both in Haitian music and the first time I've seen a cello at TS. Sara Jarosz is a consumate musician, plays stringed instruments superbly and sings beautifully and writes good songs. She played some lovely little fills while on guitar and as well as singing on her own spots snag 'guitar' with Jerry Douglas on dobro to open the second half. And of course we had the tunes every so often with the usual ramping op of the speed particulalrly towards the end of the gig. Not forgetting an air from Phil. Another great TS show.

Teddy Thompson - 2 February 2022

The first gig for 2022 (which was originally booked over two years ago) turned out to be a cracker. The support Roseanne Reid was an excellent Scottish singer songwriter with a raspy yet very tuneful voice and a good line in original songs. She started with the excellent 'All I need' and it was great all the way through her half hour set. Teddy Thompson came on with an acoustic guitar and a lead guitarist ( Zak Hobbs) and went straight into a song I must have heard before perhaps on Transatlantic Sessions and I am sure the reason I booked the tickets in the first place. It is 'Delilah' ( but not the famous one) and it is a lovely song that immediately highlighted his soulful voice backed by chord changes that hit the spot. I suppose that was the big takeaway for me from the gig - how strong his vocals are, full of emotion, whereas I sort of thought that being the son of Richard Thompson there would be a guitar focus. Of course he is also the son of Linda Thompson so I should not have been surprised. At times Teddy Thompson recreates an almost perfect Buddy Holly vibe and sometimes he sounds quite Everly Brothers but I particularly liked the stuff off his latest album 'Heartbreaker Please' which is his own sound. Near the end of his set he did the title track and he finished the encore with 'Record Player' both outstanding songs. For the first few songs I was a bit unimpressed with Zak Hobbs as the timing and the accompaniment seemed slightly off but about four tracks in he had a solo and suddenly he was spot playing some original stuff both in solos and fill ins from then on until the end of the gig. He was a big plus to the evening's music. I also enjoyed Teddy's stage presence which was sort of Eddie Izzard surreal chat plus some attempt at a very specific sound with many tunings and instructions to the sound engineer. An A star gig to kick off 2022.