Skip to main content

A blue echo

Something of a first on a few counts. I stumbled across the legendary Peter Green's tour dates a few weeks back. Slightly surprised as I was under the impression he was no longer around!! I wanted to go to tonight's (24th February) show at The Globe, but it was (somewhat unsurprisingly) sold out. Fortunately, Green's 23rd February show at Huntingdon Hall in Worcester still had tickets available. Huntingdon Hall was originally built in the 18th century as a Methodist chapel but has been a live venue for a while now. It's certainly one of the more unusual live music venues we've seen.

First visit for both of us, somewhat different to have a church pew for one's seat! Looked like a sell our or near sell out on the night. Also interestingly, the show/door times operate more like a theatre than a live venue - show started at the advertised time which nearly caught us out!

The support act was a local singer-songwriter called Dan Whitehouse (not forgetting Tom on violin). Dan had a good banter as well as pretty reasonable songs. An acoustic set but I believe his EPs have been recorded with a larger band. Overall very entertaining.

Peter Green (and Friends) were, overall, truly excellent. I was slightly concerned as the first few numbers (blues standards) received a good welcome but not rapturous applause, however this all changed after a rendition of Long Grey Mare. The set (about 1 1/2 hours including encore) was a mixture of old blues tunes - Willie Dixon, Elmore James to name a few - and early Fleetwood Mac tracks, notably Oh Well and Albatross; the encore consisted of a John Mayall track followed by Black Magic Woman. Green is still an excellent player, & his band (another guitarist who also acted as main vocalist; organ, sax, drums and double bass) highly polished. Post -Long Grey Mare, I can't really find any faults with the set, only with the audience! Partly that's because the venue is an all-seater, but I would really have enjoyed the chance to boogie to some of the tracks! Very slightly disappointed in that respect not to have got tickets for The Globe. It wasn't really a photos show, but here's one below. Green himself looked a bit worse for wear, sadly.



I'd certainly look for any future tours of his (preferably venues with standing room!); whilst feeling something of an echo from the past the show was brilliant! Also made me smile thinking that we've heard 2 different 'incarnations' of the same classic band playing Oh Well.

Our week of music (its turned out a bit like that!) concludes on Saturday at St David's Hall. The Philharmonia are playing 3 concerts this spring & Saturdays is the second, works include Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 2 and his Symphonic Dances.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pigeon Funk

Notes on a very random purchase. Earlier today I acquired Venetian Snares 'Rossz Csillag Alatt Sz ü letett ' purely on the basis of the language and artwork. Its certainly something different - and most definitely not pop. After a bit of searching: Venetial Snares is, according to Wikipedia, the performing name of Aaron Funk, who seems to specialise in experimental tracks in odd time signatures. Article here . The sleeve notes for this album (whose title is Hungarian for 'Born under a bad star') poses the question: what if, for just a day, we could both be pigeons? Interessant. Apparently this concept (a day in the life of a Hungarian pigeon) is non-typical of Venetian Snares sound, but one could ask, does Mr Funk do 'typical'? On first listening, the sound of this CD mixes classical/traditional Hungarian sounds and breakbeats. but aside from that? Definitely a 'listen for yourself' artist; try the website , fan site or myspace .

Hidden Witness

Moving house completed - for now - and we are back in the Vale of Evesham. The wonders of Facebook unearthed a live gig and St Richard's Hospice fundraiser by slow-burning band Hidden Witness so off we went for an evening out in Worcester. I honestly can't remember the last time either of us did that.... cue pleasant surprise at our venue for the evening, Keystones Cafe Bar . Quite open and spacious in terms of standing room, reasonably large stage and a bar ensconced in the remaining medieval walls - much more atmosphere than many other small bars... A busy few weeks meant I hadn't had time to check out Hidden Witness' SoundCloud page so I had fresh ears and no expectation. The support band, The Miffs , were ok, with a few engaging covers, but sadly (for my ears) nothing memorable.  After a short break -  in which the background music made me feel both young and old simultaneously - Dan, Chris, Neil and Dan took the stage for an interesting set. A few ...

Mini update

I have finally sorted out my site links to reflect some new/renewed interests and my current location. We have something of a National Arts Centre bonanza shortly: I had already booked to see Angela Hewitt on 16th Feb but found a good ticket offer on LivingSocial.com to see Radu Lupu this coming Wednesday, 26th. In addition to all that, New Yorker music critic Alex Ross (his recent book, Listen To This , is excellent, as well as his previous tome, The Rest Is Noise ) is giving a talk there on 13th February. This is all followed in March by a complete about turn to the Bronson Centre to see Finnish band Apocalyptica . They have been somewhere on my radar for a while but I was spurred on to book tickets after a bout of nostalgia. M and I were regular visitors to Wolverhampton UK to see various bands at Civic Hall/Wulfrun Hall; a few months ago a mutual friend posted on that there Facebook thing about seeing said Apocalyptica at Wulfrun Hall. Nostalgia for the venue and renewed intere...