Pedair - 28 November 2024

Pedair (means 'four' in Welsh) are Siân James, Gwenan Gibbard, Meinir Gwilym and Gwyneth Glyn, each an individual Welsh musician steeped in the traditional music of the country who have formed a 'supergroup'. Having seen them perform on 'Nosen Lawen' I was keen to see them live. I wasn't expecting that they would conduct the entire show without a word of English nor that the audience would be entirely Welsh speaking , apart from us, but that's the way it seemed. With Siân James on electric piano and harp, Gwenan Gibbard on harp, Meinir Gwilym on guitar and Gwyneth Glyn on guitar but most of all with all four on beautiful vocals this was a memorable gig. I don't know the names of the songs but the whole thing was an extraordinary event, just one beautiful and moving song after another. Sometimes both harps were on the go at the same time, sometimes it was keyboards, harp and guitars but always the voices - usually all four were featured in some way on each song. It ended with an audience participation which raised the hairs on the back of the neck - the final song was basically sung by the whole audience, beautifully in tune. I felt I was in the middle of a Welsh choir which in fact I was. A great finish to the 2024 gig schedule.

Hannah James & Toby Kuhn - 23 November 2024

We'd seen Hannah James before with her Jigdoll Ensemble which featured a lot of clog dancing and soft shoe stuff. This time it was as a duo with a Belgian cello player. He played a beautiful sounding cello often plucking in addition to bowing. She sang, played accordion, also occasionally a small electronic instrument and added in some barefoot clog dancing if there is such a thing! Near the end of the gig she put on some tap type shoes and added some percussion and dancing to tracks. The highlight of the first set was a song called 'Three Ravens' and the second set included some fantastic cello/accordion instrumental stuff near the end. Varied and unusual this gig absolutely enthralled the audience - me included.

Calan - 9 November 2024

What a treat to be in the front row at the delightful Borough Theatre for this Welsh band. This was the fourth time we have seen them but probably one of the last as they are quitting as a band after this tour. (We do now have tickets for the Cardiff leg next year!). First up were the Marcellas, two sisters one on bass and vocals the other on a minmalist drums and vocals and their uncle on guitar. I always like sibling harmonies and all told this was an excellent support act - all competent musicians and the voices blended nicely. Calan gave their usual high energy performance and after twenty years of playing together they were just as tight as you would expect. The current line-up is a foursome namely: Bethan Rhiannon – accordion, piano, vocals, step dancer Sam Humphreys – guitar Shelley Musker-Turner - harp Patrick Rimes – fiddle, pibgorn, whistle, bagpipes They are all excellent musicians who seem to generate a great fusion between tradional Welsh music and a modern approach and sound. I am particularly taken with Bethan's clog dancing - just one dance this evening, but stunningly executed. Looking forward yto a final Calan gig in Cardiff next April......

Public Service Broadcasting - 26 October 2024

I realised it had been seven years and several new albums since we last saw PSB and with front row balcony seats and the excellent sound in the Beacon Hall this was one gig I was really looking forward to. First up was Halo Maud and she was much better than I expected based on the sample video I had seen. The guitar and drums were dense, the voice was sweet and rose above them and I enjoyed the set. PSB came on mob handed compared to the first time we saw them as a support act when there were just two of them - now the cast list is eight musicians including a female vocalist (Era) and a trio of horns. They kicked off with three tracks from their latest album about Amelia Erhart and as expected the videos showing on multiple screens built into a huge aeroplane cockpit structure were superb. The problem started in the middle of 'The Pit' from the 'Every Valley' album. There was a power cut and the band went off stage. The delay was about 20 minutes I guess and then they started again and managed to complete a couple more tracks from 'Every Valley' The second power cut occured a couple of tracks into the second segment of 'The Last Flight' songs. Eventually they came back and managed to complete the gig albeit we missed out on four songs and had two cut off midway through. Delighted that they managed to paly 'Spitfire' without interruption and really enjoyed the space themed songs and the Berlin songs. Actually enjoyed it all and while the flow and build of the gig was degraded the band and the audience handled it well. Era was a great singer and the drumming from Wrigglesworth was excellent. Very enjoyable despite the difficulties. Towards the Dawn Electra The Fun of It The Pit - abandoned like the pits! People Will Always Need Coal Progress The South Atlantic Arabian Flight - abandoned partway through - second power outage Blue Heaven Spitfire Go! Sputnik People, Let's Dance Gagarin Everest

Dylan Fowler - 11 October 2024

This was something a bit different for us but at a great venue in Abergavenny - a beautiful old chapel we have been to once before for a gig. We have seen Dylan Fowler before but as part of Alaw with Oliver Dickson-Smith but this was a solo acoustic guitar gig exploring a range of musical traditions. The Welsh influence was of course strong including a couple of pieces based on harp music but there was also Bulgarian, Indian, American jazz, Scottish and Beatles influences. The concert was pretty much the whole of his new album 'Ebb and Flow' and with a surprising encore of 'Albatross'. I particularly enjoyed the second half and though most of the pieces were new to me they all had a quality of involvement which all good music brings. Dylan was looking a lot older (and iller) than when we last saw hime with Alaw but he is still producing exquisite music.

Robert Vincent 6 October 2024

Robert Vincent impressed a few years ago as a support act so it was good to get a chance to see him at the small Acapela Studio venue. I was surprised when I arrived to find the venue less than busy and so it was an audience of of maybe 60 to 70 people that welcomed Robert plus his bassist and his piano player. The first half consisted of quite a few songs from his 2020 album 'In this town you're owned' and the second half featured in large part the new album 'Barriers' neither of which I knew before this week. In summary the gig was outstanding from start to finish - he writes interesting and melodic songs, sings strongly and the painist/keyboards player and double bassist were excellent. Of the new songs I loved 'The Insider' and 'Burden' particularly and also 'Lost Souls' but it was all great stuff. Sitting about six feet away we couldn't have had a better appreciation of a very good gig. The informal atmosphere also contributed with some good scouse humour along the way.

Elvis Costello & Steve Nieve 17 September 2024

I bought what I thought were surprisingly expensive tickets for this show at the Beacon because Elvis Costello has always delivered a great show and an original one whenever I have seen him. This was no exception First up was Ian Prowse who was a full throated scouser singer songwriter. He started with an acapela folky song and played an interesting selection ending with ‘Does this train stop on Merseyside’ which we had heard Christy Moore sing many years ago but which he wrote. Elvis Costello appeared with just Steve Nieve plus a technician who sometimes sorted out some drums and other stuff. Steve Nieve was brilliant – I hadn’t appreciated how good a keyboards player he was. Elvis as always delivered superb singing, interesting guitar accompaniment and a great selection of songs. It was a two hour set with all his hits, some covers and a lot of songs I didn’t recognise but without exception enjoyed. The covers included ‘Ghost Town’ and a super version of ‘Don’t let me be misunderstood’ which blew away the Animals version which I had previously thought was good. The EC hits were all done as new arrangements, ‘Alison’, ‘I don’t want to go to Chelsea’ and ‘Olivers Army’ all came across as original versions particularly with Steve Nieve's piano which featured strongly throughout the gig One highlight was ‘Shipbuilding’ which has to be my favoutrite of his songs but that was soon followed by ‘Watching the Detectives in up tempo mode and the the entirely appropriate ‘What’s so funny bout peace love and understanding’ to finish the gig. Yet again Elvis Costello delivers.

Catrin Finch and Aoife Ni Bhriain - 3 July 2024

This has become my favourite of Catrin Finch's collaborations and it is the third time we have seen them the first time being at this venue right be Catrin's home at the start of their work together and just before they recorded their album 'Double You'. Aoife's fiddle playing is extraordinary and different, perhaps partly because of her use of the Hardanger fiddle that has five strings which resonate separate to the main four bowed strings. However the main brilliance is how well these two gifted classically trained musicians play together. They started off with a Bach piece that was mesmeric. I like Bach but I have never enjoyed one of his works so much. A perfect start. They then played a number of tunes from their album. 'Whispers' and 'Wandering' stood out for me but it was all pretty sublime. The second set started with anoth piece of Bach and then more from the album. An uplifting gig.

Saucerful of Secrets - 17 June 2024

The third time we have had the privilege of seeing this brilliant band who were only formed six years ago and then were restricted by lockdowns. They only play early Pink Floyd songs and they play them brilliantly as you would expect given Nick Mason on drums and a stellar line up. With two great guitarists overlain on the drums, bass and keyboards the sound is if anything even more immersive and exhilarating than the original Floyd line up. After an opener of 'Astronomy domine' and 'Arnold Layne and 'See Emily Play' they launched into a beautiful 'Obscured by Clouds' which definitely set this up as a memorable gig. After an interesting song where they accompianied a restored vocal from Syd himself they then did a version of 'Atom Heart Mother' topped and tailed with'If'. I certainly prefer the guitar based AHM over the original trumpety one and Lee Harris and Gary Kemp were outstanding on this song (as well as during the rest of the gig). 'Set the Controls' eneded the first set and soon up on the second half was 'Fearless', another highlight for me as Guy Pratt on bass and the two guitarists played up a storm. If OBC and AHM were epic then the version of 'Echoes' that completed the second set was ultra epic. What an amazing immersive spectacular tour-de-force this was. First Lee Harris then Gary Kemp were outstanding and through all of it Nick Mason's drumming was studied perfection, never showy but just what was required. The encore featured another of my favourite Floyd tunes ' One of These Days' and then of course it was time for 'Saucerful of Secrets' to finish the show. Is it too early to award 'Gig of the Year'? '

Rheingans Sisters 11 April 2024

A new venue for us - the Arts Chapel in Abergavenny - handy and a nice place to see a gig. We had caught the Rheingans once before and they were interesting and good enough that we were pleased to get another chance. It transpired they had actually recorded two albums in Aber in local muso Dylan Fowler's studio. Both Rowan and Anna play a lot of fiddle and in an unusual hypnotic way - definitely folky and with nordic and french influences, it is a captivating sound. They also play various other instruments including full size banjo (Rowan) and tiny banjo (Anna), guitar and a french stringed instrument played with a stick. They also sing. All in all a gig that stays with you.

Richard Thompson - 26 May 2024

Richard Thompson always comes with new songs, new bands and new arrangements and this was no exception. Last outing in 2021 was just him and a guitar, this time the band consisted of ,Dave Mattacks...Drums, Taras Prodaniuk...Bass/ Vocals, Zak Hobbs...Mandolin/ Guitars/ Vocals, Zara Philips...Vocals/ Guitar/ Percussion. As before there are family connections as Zara is his wife and Zak his grandson. First up was Jim Murray who started by doing a complicated acapella song using loops controlled on his phone. Impressive. His set was mainly acoustic guitar plus vocals doing traditional stuff. He was good - nice voice, good song selection. Richard Thompson was touring a new album which is not relesed until the 31st so a number of the songs were new to me. He started with one called 'Freeze'(which I had heard) and then 'Hard on Me' which I really liked and also played another five or six off the album. I particularly liked 'Singapore Sadie' and even more the one straight after which included a beautiful guitar solo, subtle and delicate from Richard and also one from Zak. Zak was good and was given plenty off space to show off his skills. Dave Mattacks is of course an excellent drummer and the bassist Taras played some great riffs and solos. There were also, of course, songs from the back catalogue. 'Withered and Died', 'Turning of the Tide', solo acoustic versions of 'Dimming of the Day' and 'Beeswing', 'Tear stained letter' (which always goes down well) and 'A Man in Need'. He also did a Sandy Denny cover 'John the Gun'. As ever some of the most memorable moments involved RT's guitar playing which is always so fluid and delicate but all of the band were good and RT's voice is still holding up despite his years. Already a highlight of 2024 for me.

Maya Youseff - 4 April 2024

Maya is Syrian and plays the qanoon a 78 string instrument somewhat like a flat harp or zither. It has 26 groups of 3 strings and through that design a unique sound and way of being played. She was accompianed by a piano player and a percussionist but most of the focus was on her extraordinary playing. The notes came thick and very fast, the whole effect was mesmeric and brilliant. Of course the scales were usually arabic sounding and that plus the often percussive feel of hitting three strings simultaneously added to the unusual feel of the overall sound. The piano player was excellent as was the percussionist who was subtly producing all sorts of sounds from what very simple round hand-held instruments. Shame that there was such a small audience for such a talented musician.

McCusker, McGoldrick, Doyle - 22 March 2024

Our first gig at the rebuilt Lantern was this trio we had last seen in the foyer of the Beacon building just before lockdown. As last time this was a beautiful gig, starting with an air featuring Mike on bagpipes. Each of the three led in turn throughout the gig, John Doyle with Irish folky songs, Mike McGoldrick with tunes from all over Galicia, Brittany, Shetland usually with him on whistles, John McCusker with fiddle led tunes including his 'Friday Island' tune he played last time. John Doyle has a great singing voice as well as super fast rhythm guitar playing and all in all it is just a great pleasure that deserves a bigger audience than the 300 or so in the Lantern.

Saving Grace - 13 March 2024

We did see Saving Grace in November in Cardiff and this was their first gig since November so unsurpisingly it was a similar experience and just as good as last time. First up was Scott Mathews who plays a good guitar but can't really sing very well. Saving Grace are excellent musicians and singers. One of the highlights for me is Matt Warley doing his gospelly bit taking the lead vocals and with Robert and Suzie on backing vocals. The two guitarists/any stringed instrument players are superb. The drummer is up to the standard and Suzie does a number of stints on accordion as well as an occasional bass. Other memorable songs were 'In my time of Dying' an old Blind Willie Nelson number which was done by Led Zep (as were a number of other songs - perhaps explaining the increasing popularity of Saving Grace), 'It Don't Bother Me' (a Bert Jansch song) and some more of their standard tracks such as 'Angel Dance' and 'Gallows Pole'. Robery Plant's vocie was spot on, perhaps due to this being his first gig for a few months whereas last time in Cardiff a long tour had maybe taken a bit of a toll. Suzie Dyans vocals are always top notch. An excellent outing.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) with the Bristol Ensemble - 27 February 2024

Another classic film with live accompaniament this time from the Bristol Ensemble. They included violin, viola, cello, bass, oboe, piano, frnech horn, other brass and a hard-working (for this film) percussionist. This music adds immeasurably to the impact of the film and they were fantastic for all 110 minutes of the film.

Seth Lakeman - 26 February 2024

I was wondering whether to include this as it was a livestream. I was unable to make the Bristol leg of the tour so it was good to sit down in real time and watch the Chester gig a few days after. It was a Kitty Jay 20th Anniversary tour so the first half consisted of that album and the second set involved songs from the rest of his career including a few from 'Fields of Freedom' which is a great album. From that I enjoyed as ever 'The Colliers' - a stirring song. The first half finished with the manic fiddle playing of 'Kitty Jay' the title track to the album. Other than that 'Race to be King' stood out and the musicianship of the band was first class with Alex Hart on background vocals and various instruments and Benji Kirkpatrick playing a mean guitar and other string instruments - mainly a Bouzouki. Seth himself was on fiddle, guitar and bouzouki but mainly the first two. He is a very good fiddle player as shown in style on Kitty Jay and a set of jigs in particular. I must try and make the real live gig next tour but this will at least serve as a reminder to do so.

Catrin Finch & Aoife Ni Bhriain - 15 February 2024

A welcome second opportunity to hear this spectacular duo after their gig last year at Acapela prior to recording their album. Catrin does lots of collaborative work and this is an outstanding combo. Aoife is an Irish fiddle player who has a compelling style - with a sort of screechy element like the sound you'd expect in a remote shebeen. She is very very good and the two of them weave patterns of rhythm and melody that you get lost in. They started both halves with a little bit of Bach which melded into their own compositions all of which started with a 'W'. 'Woven' near the end was outstanding incorporating some Irish influences and Welsh ones but actually it was all outstanding. I remember 'Wings', 'Whispers', 'Waggle', 'Wandering', 'Waves' and 'Wish' - all simply outstanding. Luckily we have tickets for a July gig back at the Acapela. I feel privileged.

Transatlantic Sessions - 8 February 2024

The annual TS gigs are always a joy and this one was also our first visit to the Bristol Beacon since it reopened after 6 years closed. The house band was extended formally to include Alison de Groet on banjo and Tatania Hargreaves on fiddle althought they also featured extensively last year. That makes the band eleven strong and of course there were also four guest vocalists. The opening tune was as usual 'Waiting for the Federals' and then the first guest vocalist came on - Lynsey Lou, who was difficult to pigeonhole except to say that she was somewhere on the Americana scale. Kim Carnie was next up and she was the cream of the guests for me. Like a softly spoken version of Karen Matheson, she sang in gaelic and the band were clearly enjoying the songs as was I. Joshua Burnside from Northern Ireland was the third vocalist and his songs and playing were also top notch. Last up was Carlene Carter of that family who brought some country into the occasion. It was interesting to hear four very different vocalists only one of which was 100% in the folky camp. Meanwhile in between the vocalists there were various band tunes with different combinations of musicians. I enjoyed a trio knocking out some great tunes with Alison and Tatania accompanied by Mike McGoldrick and of course Phil Cunningham wrote and led a sad air 'Melody for Eve' with the fiddles prominent. The second half started with a song from the bassist Daniel Kimbro about the astronaut Michael Collins and then Jerry Douglas had his usual spot and the fiddle players and Mike McG on pipes and whistles also had their turns. The main set finished with Carlene Carter singing 'Ring of Fire' written of course by her grandma and then the encore with just the band playing tunes that got faster and faster and another great Transatlantic Sessions gig was done. Only a year to wait - I just hope they come back to Bristol.

Tommy Emmanuel and Molly Tuttle - 11 January 2024

This was the third time seeing Tommy Emmanuel but on each occasion he was not the reason for going! This time it was the wish to see the support act, Molly Tuttle. She came on with just her acoustic guitar and played a set that was difficult to categorise but easy to enjoy immensely. She hit a purple patch with 'More Like a River' followed by 'Old Dooley's Farm' the first a love song the second a country song about growing illegal plants. She also did a Stones cover 'She's a Rainbow' a jaunty song called 'Side Saddle' and finished with 'Take the Journey'. Her guitar playing throughout was mesmeric, her fingers are seriously quick and she sang up a storm. Tommy Emmanuel is astonishing in terms of hwat he can do with a guitar although I am not always sold on his jocular on-stage personality or his choice of material. Still a very enjoyable set as he rattled through some fast picking stuff and then brought on a guitar player called Mike Dawes who turned out to be very good and the two of them played a couple of songs the second of which was 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' - a brilliant instrumental version. About four minutes in Tommy's guitar went silent and there was a few minutes of technical investigation before he got going again and pleasingly they started the song again. Good stuff. Tommy did a beautiful version of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' and soon after did his Beatles medley (meh) then straight into Classical Gas (better). However the best part of his show then happened when he brought back Molly Tuttle and they did three superb songs together, 'White Freightliner Blues' (a Townes Van Zandt cover), 'Deep River Blues' (a Doc Watson cover) and 'Crooked Tree' (a Molly Tuttle song). I will say this for Tommy he plays with great guitarists and he gives them space and equal presence as he did last time with Jerry Douglas. Both played brilliantly in this part of the set. There was one more tune from Tommy on his own and that really took me by surprise. It was 'Waltzing Matilda' and it put that song in a whole new light for me. No longer a jolly up tempo sing-a-long but a moving poignant folk tune. Some finish.