I have been listening to the artists in advance of C2C and I am hoping to do a series of posts to get me in the zone so to speak.
First up is Luke Combes who has just hit me "like a hurricane"! I am delighted that he is doing the song writers night as his lyrics and songwriting craft to me is perfect for that format.
Luke has a brilliant mix of the easy sing along but with much more sensitive work. I think stripped back he is going to be sensational.
It is not very often you go to a gig where you literally know nothing about the artist and haven't heard a single song....and yet love the gig.
Josh Kelley at King Tuts was such a night. Armed only with his guitar, a great voice and amazing songs Josh Kelley was an absolute treat. I loved the fact that he gave it his all to what was a small but hugely appreciative audience (maybe 150 people) who all seemed very familiar with his work. He is a pretty amusing guy as well with a friendly sense of humour and he was very appreciative of the fact that a lot of the audience knew his deeper cuts.
I don't have a setlist but standout tracks for me were Georgia Clay, Its Your Move, One Foot In The Grave and Almost Honest.
He does a pretty good version of I'm On Fire.
He has, to my ears, a good mix of styles about him. Mostly Country / Americana but I was getting quite a lot of Jackson Browne in some of the songs.
Well worth checking him out.
If I can track down some live videos I will post them.
As a total aside I have listened to Soulfire again since this concert and it has really grown on me. I think his own version of St Valentines Day is exceptional and would sit alongside anything on The Promise.
Just in from a fantastic second night at the Kelvin Bandstand. What a stunning gig (leaving out the drunken *****) this is a superb venue. Mike Scott in stunning form, a more than enthusiastic audience. The current Waterboys incarnation delivers a seriously rocking sound reminiscent in parts of Neil Young and Crazy Horse.
Highlights to many to mention but The Pan Within and A Girl Called Johnny will always hit that spot!
This is the trailer for the "new" song The Dealer from her forthcoming album 24 Karat Gold. Made up of old songs (I think recorded as new). My Bruce has set a trend with The Promise and High Hopes...
Great to see the Kelvingrove Bandstand up and running afterrefurbishment. Also delighted to see the superb Steve Earle live again (albeit pretty quickly after his BBC Pacific Quay Slot), however he was excellent playing solo and really playing the best of his songs in my opinion.
I have been tempted to tackle a River1 lp or even harder Darkness as 2lp set.. ..not an easy task but I will give it a go at some point. Darkness in my view is an unbeatable single lp and it is amazing that "the boss" distilled down the wealth of superb material to form that one single document of those 2 year sessions...
So lets tackle the 83 - 84 recordings that formed the breakthrough. I think, but you need to check this out yourself, that Springsteen has officially released 32 tracks from the Born In The USA Sessions. Given that they numbered over 80 we should be expecting a deluxe re-issue sometime soon. Here is my take on the double lp that would have formed Born In The USA
Side 1
Born In The USA
Johnny Bye Bye
Shut Out The Light
Protection*
My Hometown
Brothers Under The Bridges
Side 2
Murder Incorporated
Bobby Jean
Dancing In The Dark
Trapped*
Janey Don't You Lose Heart
Sugarland*
Side 3
Man At The Top
Frankie
Light Of Day
Follow That Dream*
I'm On Fire
Side 4
Dancing In The Dark
Cover Me
I'm Going Down
No Surrender
This Hard Land
Even as I type and excuse the indulgence of the * tracks which are of course yet to be released., what a double lp. Man at The Top and Sugarland share the same music (roughly) and this is deliberate on my part. I have excluded the Gary US Bonds sessions around this time although I have to say On The Line at the very least would be a strong contender. I have included that below, great track.
For not the first time I have to thank my long time friend and erstwhile gig buddy Michael for an outstanding shout. If you have not heard of Jason Isbell and you are a follower of decent music - you will.
I have never come away from a gig for someone who I did not really know so enthused, and rarely for someone that I did know! Brilliant band, great sings and delivered with passion from someone who has clearly lived the life already.
The stops.... Neil Young to Ryan Adams with a whole dose of originality thrown in. Been buzzing on the quality of this performance for over a week now. enjoy these clips and see him soon..
Quite simply the was a stunning gig (following another equally superb gig Jason Isbell which I will post about later).
The set list was as follows and you can see he did not hang about.
Lets Go Crazy
Take Me With U
Raspberry Beret
U Got The Look (no Sheena!)
Musicology
Feel Good
Kiss
The Love We Make
Funkroll
When Doves Cry
Song O The Times
Hot thing
Forever In My Life
I Would Die 4 U
Controversy
1999
Little Red Corvette
Nothing Compares 2 U
Guitar
Plectrum Electrum
Crimson and Clover
Sometimes It Snows In April
Diamonds and Pearls - piano solo
The Beautiful Ones - piano solo
Purple Rain - piano intro then full band
Play that funky music
Live It Up
Housequake
A wee word of caution on the set list in that some of the songs were snippets/samples but that is not a complaint as it was very effective.
highlights? Too many to mention but the four song intro was hard to top. Purple rain just class with outstanding playing all night from the band - and Prince can really play the guitar.
Quite often, ok well every now and then, you hear the phrase "would have made a great single album. I thought it would be interesting to look at some double albums, or indeed triple, and consider which tracks would have made the cut sticking to the 10 songs, Side A and Side B format.
So first up is Sandinista from the Clash. Sandinista was released it is fair to say to some mixed reviews in the press however many well respected critics gave the album a huge thumbs up. Certainly at 36 tracks and covering an amazing array of musical styles it was certainly ambitious.
Here is my take on what Sandisita may have loooked like as a single lp:
Side A
1. Somebody Got Murdered
2. The Magnificent 7
3. Hitsville UK
4. Washington Bullets
5. Broadway
Side B
1. The Call Up
2. Police On My Back
3. Up In Heaven (Not Only Here)
4. Lightning Strikes
5. Something About England
This was a strange "concert", with Elvis projected onto a screen in front of an admittedly outstanding young band. I was reminded of Bowies Diamond Dogs Tour - just stay behind the screens!
Ultimately it did not really work for me and I left really just wishing I could have been at The International in Vegas 1970. That won't be happening any time soon!
