Peter Green – Leeds, 13 March 2010

I’ve been a fan of Peter Green for years, in fact the first stereo LP I bought was Fleetwood Mac’s Pious Bird Of Good Omen. Regrettably I was too young to see him play with Fleetwood Mac and then, as is well documented, he disappeared from playing music altogether.

Since he made his ‘comeback’ I’ve avoided going to see him as I didn’t want to be disappointed. Friends who saw him with The Splinter Group confirmed that this was likely to be the case. However when my friend Stephen suggested that we go see him with a new band at The Irish Centre I decided that I should bite the bullet and take a chance.

I wasn’t disappointed! He was surrounded by talented and sympathetic musicians, who I was pleased to see included the fabulous Geraint Watkins (Van Morrison, Nick Lowe) on keyboards and Matt Radford (Nick Lowe) on stand-up bass. It would be foolish to pretend that Green sings or plays as he did in 1969 but he can sing and play and, perhaps more importantly, seems to be having a great time. The band play few Fleetwood Mac tracks – Long Grey Mare, Oh Well, Albatross and Black Magic Woman – but plenty of Blues, Soul and R’nB classics – Dark End of the Street, The Thrill Is Gone, Off The Hook – and three tracks from the Hard Road album with the Bluesbreakers, including The Stumble.

If he continues to play this well I’ll certainly be going again!

Richmond Fontaine – Leeds, 8 March 2010

My friend Julian introduced me to the live Richmond Fontaine experience 5 years ago and I’m very grateful to him. They write and play songs that largely explore the underbelly of American society in an empathetic way and tonight they’re on fine form.  The stand out tracks, for me, are Two Alone and the encore, the Postcard tracks from Post To Wire. They’ve always played the New Roscoe previously but the Brudenell Social Club is a much better venue for them. Go see them next time they play Leeds but wait until I’ve got my ticket!

They have a live CD available – Postcards From Portland, Live At Dantes – and I recommend it. Their excellent singer, Willy Vlautin, also writes novels and they are well worth a look if you read.

I’m unimpressed by the support, Canadian Alana Levandoski, but amused when she tries to get us to sing along to a version of Neil Young’s Helpless!

Good to see Bob, find out what he thought of the evening here.

Glenn Tilbrook – Wakefield, 28 February 2010

The Theatre Royal in Wakefield is a new music venue for me, a lovely building designed, I’m told, by the man who designed The London Palladium! A small theatre with great sight lines.

When I first started going to Glenn solo shows it was in the days when he traded as the ‘singing jukebox’ and performed a lot more covers than he does now. Of course, then he didn’t have the solo material he does now. Of late the number of cover versions has started to increase again and tonight they include Tom T Halls’ Harper Valley PTA, Peter Green’s Oh Well, James Brown’s I Feel Good and the Chuck Berry classic Let It Rock.

Tonight’s show, split in two halves – the first solo and the second with percussionist Simon Hanson – includes a selection from his incredible back catalogue of Squeeze and solo songs. Particular highlights are Hostage, Best Of Times, Still and the rarely performed Vicky Verky.

Another fine performance from a beloved entertainer!

Fionn Regan, Danny And The Champions Of The World – Leeds, 16 February 2010

One of my regrets, despite having all 7 of their fine albums, is never seeing Grand Drive live, apart from the closing song of their set when they supported Aimee Mann in Manchester back in 2008. I hadn’t known they were the support and would still have found it difficult to get there if I had!

So the main reason I’m at The Brudenell Social Club tonight is to see Danny And the Champions Of The World, the band fronted by Danny George Wilson of Grand Drive. In fact I’m going to see them twice as they’re also performing as Fionn Regan’s backing band. Although they only play a brief 30 minute set I’m not disappointed as they play selections from both their (highly recommend by me) albums, their first, self titled, and Streets Of Our Time.

I’m unfamiliar with Fionn Regan, apart from listening to some of his tracks on his myspace site. The first track sounds uncannily like Highway 61 Revisited, not a criticism I hasten to say, but his originality comes to the fore as the set progresses. A strong enough performance to ensure I’ll be coming back for more.