I really like Laura Nyro …

… a classic example of an artist who is loved by critics but doesn’t have a great deal of commercial success.

Although she never achieved a U.S. top 50 single, her highest position being No. 92, her songs were hits for other artists, particularly The 5th Dimension, Three Dog Night and Barbra Streisand. Despite releasing nine studio and three live albums in her lifetime she only had one Top 40 album, New York Tendaberry. A particular favourite album of mine is Gonna Take A Miracle, a collection of covers recorded with Labelle.

Laura died from ovarian cancer, aged 49, in 1997.

Here’s a Spotify playlist of some of Nyro’s song covered by other artists, finishing with her cover of It’s Gonna Take A Miracle, originally recorded by The Royalettes.

Let’s Try Again

When I started writing this blog it was intended to be about anything that interested me. Somehow it became about reviews of live music shows. What had happened to the other things I’m interested in?

Where was the sport? Just one piece about the 2009 RL 4 Nations.

And the other things – film, books politics, and TV? It never happened.

Then I stopped. This happened for two main reasons: firstly, I thought no one was reading it; secondly, it had felt like a chore.

Recently I’ve been asked when I’m going to start again so someone must have been reading. I’m going to give it another go, and this time I will write about those other things. Let me know what you think.

May 2014

11 May – It’s the first time the GLW and I have seen Glenn Tilbrook for some time and, as it always is, it’s a fine evening’s entertainment. With solo material and Squeeze classics it would be hard to go wrong. Strangest song of the night is Ice Cream from his new recording Happy Endings. The most interesting, from the same album, is Persephone which owes an obvious debt to Deborah by Tyrannosaurus Rex.

 

20 May – Last year Jason Isbell‘s album Southeastern was in numerous album of the year list so I thought I’d go to the Brudenell and see what the fuss was about. With his band, The 400 Unit, Isbell treats me to what will almost certainly be one of my top five shows of the year. The set list mixes the acoustic feel of Southeastern with the rockier approach of songs from earlier albums and his work with the Drive By Truckers. Standouts for me are Flying Over Water, Decoration Day and a great cover of Candi Staton’s Heart On A String. I’m waiting for them to come back now!

 

29 May – A trip to the Leadmill in Sheffield is required to see the reunion of Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott. Their voices blend together exceptionally well and their new album, What Have We Become is a cracker and highly recommended. I’d forgotten what a great singer Ms Abbott is but am happily reminded tonight as they perform classics by The Housemartins and The Beautiful South as well as their new songs. They’re touring again in the Autumn so look out for them.

Setlist: Some Dancing To Do; Old Red Eyes Is Back; Costa Del Sombre; Rotterdam (Or Anywhere); Prettiest Eyes; Moulding Of A Fool; We’re Not Deep; The Snowman; Build; When It Was Ours; Dream a Little Dream; Don’t Marry Her; When I Get Back To Blighty; Good as Gold (Stupid as Mud); D.I.Y.; Happy Hour.
Encore: I’ll Sail This Ship Alone; Me and the Farmer.
Encore 2: Loving Arms; Caravan of Love.

April 2014

3 April – I like Simone Felice and so does the GLW. He just gets better and better, particularly as a live act, and The Brudenell suits him to a T! Tonight he’s playing as a three piece with cellist Gabriel Dresdale and guitarist/dobro/mandolin player Matt Green while Simone switches between guitar and drums. He’s out in support of his second solo album, the excellent Strangers, and plays a number of songs from it, with the standouts being Bye Bye Palenville and Molly O, as well as old favourites such as If You Ever Get Famous. The encore comprises a tremendous cover of Bruce Springsteens’s Atlantic City and Neil Young’s Helpless. If you missed him this time don’t make that mistake again!

11 April – What are Elbow? Are they, as someone said, a prog band without the solos, a great pop group or something else altogether?
Well what is indisputable is they write great songs, are excellent musicians and have a charismatic front man in Guy Garvey.
Garvey’s talent is to draw the audience in to the performance by talking to them as though he’s having a pint with them. I suspect this isn’t as easy as he makes it look but he succeeds tonight, almost making the Leeds Arena seem like a club show.
They play plenty of songs from their latest album, The Take Off And Landing Of Everything including my favourite My Sad Captains, a reflection on the nature of friendship, as well as the song many of the crowd will have come to hear, One Day Like This.

They’ve come a long way since Asleep In The Back and it will be interesting to see where they go next.

Set List: Charge; The Bones of You; Fly Boy Blue / Lunette; Real Life (Angel); The Night Will Always Win; New York Morning; The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver; Great Expectations; The Blanket of Night; Mirrorball; The Birds; Grounds for Divorce; My Sad Captains
Encore: Starlings; Lippy Kids; One Day Like This

27 April – I’m never going to miss a chance to see Neil Finn and this is also a first chance to visit the Lyric Theatre at The Lowry Centre, Salford.

Touring to promote his new solo album Dizzy Heights, which I recommend as a ‘Grower’, he also cherry picks from his back catalogue. Neil Finn could be a human jukebox but, luckily for us, he is so much more as he reinterprets many of the songs, for example playing Don’t Dream it’s Over as originally written on piano and organ.
The appearance of Johnny Marr for the encore is a surprise to those of the audience who’ve not seen Finn play in the Manchester area before.
There’s a second, solo, encore to bring the show to a fine end.

Set List: Impressions; Distant Sun; Pony Ride; One Step Ahead; Dizzy Heights; Into the Sunset; Sinner; Recluse; Better Than TV; Only Talking Sense; From a Friend to a Friend; Fall at Your Feet; Flying in the Face of Love; White Lies and Alibis; Divebomber; Message to My Girl; Don’t Dream It’s Over; Strangest Friends; I Got You; Locked Out;

Encore: There Is a Light That Never Goes Out; She Will Have Her Way; Weather With You
Encore 2: Love This Life; Chocolate Cake; I See Red; Pineapple Head; Better Be Home Soon

 

March 2014

24 March – I missed Johnny Marr when he played the Brudenell in March 2013 at the start of the The Messenger tour but I’m here tonight as he brings it to a close. Regular readers (!) will know that I was less than impressed when I saw him at Leeds Poly in October 2013 but this show more than compensates for that. Playing with his band, Jack Mitchell, Iwan Gronow and James Doviak, he is in fine guitar form as you’d expect but the pleasing surprise is the improvement in his vocals. The set includes three new songs Boys Get Straight, Little King and Candidate, five Smiths songs and a cracking version of I Fought The Law. Given another 12 months, with his new album due in September, they should be even more impressive.

Setlist: Upstarts, The Right Thing Right, Boys Get Straight, The Crack Up, New Town Velocity, The Messenger, Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before, Generate! Generate!, Big Mouth Strikes Again, Word Starts Attack, Little King, Getting Away With It, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

Encore: Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want, Candidate, I Fought The Law, How Soon Is Now?’

 
28 March – My first show at Leeds Arena, and what an excellent show it is. I may have said this before but the Manic Street Preachers are one of the few artists who are still producing work that is equal, or almost equal to anything they’ve ever done. Their last album, Rewind The Film, is very good indeed. What is apparent tonight is their enthusiasm for playing live. James Dean Bradfield is an underrated guitarist, Sean Moore is a bedrock and Nicky Wire is, well, Nicky Wire. A set list that includes everything that you’d want to hear short of a ten hour show!

I didn’t catch the name of the support act, which is a shame as it will make it harder to avoid them in future!

Set list: Faster, Your Love Alone Is Not Enough, Motorcycle Emptiness, (It’s Not War) Just the End of Love, Europa Geht Durch Mich, Love’s Sweet Exile, Everything Must Go, Rewind the Film , Show Me the Wonder , You Stole the Sun From My Heart, Enola/Alone, If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next, Black Dog on My Shoulder, This Sullen Welsh Heart, Archives of Pain, Futurology, Revol, You Love Us, Tsunami, 30-Year War, Motown Junk, A Design for Life

February 2014

17 February – The Strypes have come on in leaps and bounds since I last saw them at The Cockpit in May 2013. The biggest difference is the confidence they now exude. Whilst sticking to the R’n’B template that has served then so well they are beginning to slowly widen their palette, tonight including covers of songs by the Ramones and The Specials. Next time they play Leeds it’ll be at the Academy and hopefully I’ll be there.

Set list: What a Shame, So They Say, Lucky 7, She’s So Fine, What the People Don’t See, I Don’t Wanna Know, I’m a Hog for You, I Can Tell, Angel Eyes, Ooh Poo Pah Doo, Concrete Jungle, Perfect Storm, Hard To Say No, Mystery Man, Hometown Girls, Got Love If You Want It, Blue Collar Jane, Heart of the City, Rollin’ and Tumblin’.

Encore: Still Gonna Drive You Home, Rockaway Beach, Louie Louie, You Can’t Judge A Book By The Cover.

21 February – In my opinion, which is not at all humble, Laura Cantrell is currently the finest female traditional country singer performing. Fortunately I’m seeing her for the third time tonight at The Wardrobe. This is a well judged set that covers her entire output but, as fine a songwriters as she is, prolific she is not. This means that she has to do a number of covers. She always chooses these well – tonight including Lucinda Williams’s Letters, Burt Bacharach’s Trains And Boats And Planes and a particularly fine version of New Order’s Love Vigilantes. A particularly amusing moment occurs when Laura was introducing Kitty Wells’s Dresses by explaining who Kitty Wells was. “You won’t have heard of her,” she says. The audience loudly disagrees and one wag shouts. “She didn’t come to Leeds either!”
An evening in the company of Laura Cantrell is time well spent.

 

December 2013

11 December – My last show of the year and it’s a cracker!

The last time I saw Mike Scott it was a bit of a disaster. I arrived at the venue to discover I’d left my ticket at home and had to go back for it. This meant that I missed the first couple of songs. Then, to be honest, the show was lacklustre at best. I wasn’t in a rush to see him again.

Recently The Waterboys released a staggering six CD set of The Complete Fisherman’s Blues Sessions 1986-88 and are touring  to promote it with a five piece band that includes Mike, Anthony Thistlethwaite, Steve Wickham and  Trevor Hutchinson who all appeared on the original sessions. As a fan of the Waterboys I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity of hearing them live.

As you would expect the show heavily features songs from the new box set but manages to fit in such Waterboy’s classics as Bang The Drum, A Girl Called Johnny and, of course, The Whole Of The Moon. The band is great and have the audience up on their feet well before the end. I respect and understand Mike Scott’s desire not to live in the past but the occasional exception like this is more than welcome.

November 2013

15 November – I first saw Secret Affair on the March Of The Mods tour at the Fforde Grene in Leeds in August 1979 with The Purple Hearts and Back To Zero. The following year they played St George’s Hall in Bradford and I saw that show too. They made some great singles but after being ignored or abused by the music press, and with a little internal bickering, they called it a day in 1982.
Re-uniting in 2003 for three shows, they now appear to be a going concern again. This is the first time they’ve played Leeds in 30 years so I’ve no intention of missing it! I’m not disappointed. Now a six piece, having added a Hammond player and saxophonist, but with just Ian Paige and Dave Cairns from the original line-up, they play their back catalogue like men determined to show just how good those songs are, ending with a triple whammy of Time for Action;  Let Your Heart Dance and the incomparable My World. Don’t leave it so long next time.
A mention for the support The 45’s, young lads from Carlisle who are mining the same seam as The Strypes, 60s R’n’B, and doing it well. Worth catching.

17 November – Another evening of nostalgia, if I believed in that, with one of Britain’s finest Rock bands: Mott The Hoople. They’re another group who’ve decided to give it another run round after a long break, splitting in 1974 and picking up the reins again in 2009 for five London shows. After thinking about it they decided to play five dates around the country in 2013 and I’m at this one at the Manchester Apollo with Brian. Despite some negative reviews for the London show, mainly centred on Ian Hunter’s vocals, I think this is a great show! All the songs you’d want to hear played by the original line-up, with the exception of drummer Buffin who is very ill these days and is replaced by Martin Chambers of The Pretenders. Joe Elliott of Def Leppard joins them for All The Young Dudes and seems to enjoy the opportunity to play with a decent band for once.
I may never see them again, unless I buy the DVD of tonight’s show, but now I have a great memory.

Set List: Rock And Roll Queen; One Of The Boys; The Moon Upstairs; Hymn For The Dudes; Sucker; Soft Ground; Waterlow; Born Late ’58; Death May Be Your Santa Claus/You Really Got Me; Ballad Of Mott The Hoople; Walkin’ With A Mountain; Violence; When My Mind’s Gone/No Wheels To Ride/The Journey; Honaloochie Boogie; The Golden Age Of Rock ‘N’ Roll; All The Way From Memphis.
Encore: All The Young Dudes; Roll Away The Stone; Saturday Gigs.

27 November – Second time of seeing Jonathan Wilson this year and he continues to be a champion of the West Coast sound made popular by Crosby, Stills & Nash, Jackson Browne and others. In fact Crosby, Nash and Browne all guest on his new album Fanfare, which this tour is promoting. He still gives plenty of space to songs from his first album though and I’m particularly happy to hear Desert Raven and Dear Friend. Not that the new songs are slouches in any way. I do wonder how long the Brudenell will be big enough to accommodate him.
Have I mentioned I have a Spotify West Coast playlist before?

 

October 2013

12 October – The first show in a busy month sees me making a trip over the Pennines with Stephen and the GLW to see Crosby, Stills & Nash at the Phones4U Arena in Manchester. I’ve loved CSN since I went on a caravan holiday to Withernsea in 1970 with a portable cassette player and two tapes, Crosby Stills and Nash’s first album and the Glenn Miller Story soundtrack. Not so keen on Glenn Miller though. They’re now all in their 70s but are still excellent, using their younger band members to cover the cracks when necessary, which isn’t often. Stephen Stills is still a great guitarist and why he never gets a mention when lists are made is a puzzle to me. Almost uniquely for a band of this vintage they’re still writing and performing new songs. I could have done without the ‘choir’ sitting behind us though. Set list Set 1: Carry On/Questions; Military Madness; Long Time Gone; Southern Cross; Lay Me Down; Bluebird; Cathedral; Radio; Don’t Want Lies; Golden Days; Déjà Vu; Love the One You’re With Set 2: Helplessly Hoping; Just a Song Before I Go; Guinevere; Treetop Flyer; What Are Their Names; Burning for the Buddha; Triad; Our House; Almost Cut My Hair; Teach Your Children; Wooden Ships.
Encore: For What It’s Worth

13 October – The next night it’s down to the Poly to see Johnny Marr. Johnny is another great guitar player, although he does get mentioned in the lists. it’s an entertaining show but the criticisms I make are firstly that his voice isn’t strong enough to be the lead vocalist and secondly the new material is no better than workmanlike, something highlighted every time he does a Smiths number or the two other covers he played. Hopefully as time progresses these things will improve. Set List: Upstarts; Panic; The Right Thing Right; Sun & Moon; The Crack Up; Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before; New Town Velocity; The Messenger; Lockdown; Say Demesne;  Generate! Generate!; Bigmouth Strikes Again; Word Starts Attack; I Want the Heartbeat; How Soon Is Now?
Encore: Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want; The It-Switch; I Fought the Law; Getting Away with It; There Is a Light That Never Goes Out

16 October – A trip to the Brudenell Social Club and another night of seeking to re-live my youth with Stephen! This time it’s to see Spear Of Destiny on their 30th Anniversary Tour, supported by Leeds’ very own Expelaires and Barnsley’s The Danse Society.  The Expelaires open proceedings with a good set despite the absence of guitarist Dave Wolfenden due to illness. Their joined on the last song by SOD bassist, and original Expelaires keyboard player, Craig Adams. The Danse Society are not my cup of tea, sub standard Siouxsie and the The Banshees. For me Spear Of Destiny are entertaining without setting the place on fire, although most of the audience go nuts!

19 October – Another chance for me to see Smoke Faires, this time at a venue that’s new to me, Leeds College of Music. They’ve just released Ghosts a two CD set of their early recording, both released and unreleased. Tonight they’re augmented by Rasputina, who also act as support, two cellists and a percussionist, as strange a line up as I’ve seen and best described as intriguing. The Smoke Fairies are as great as always and thoroughly recommended.

22 October – This is the gig highlight of the year for me. The first UK shows in 30 years by Graham Parker and the Rumour. Stephen and I arrived early so that I could see the support, The Silver Seas, who I’d heard on Spotify. On the night it’s just Daniel Tashian, their singer and guitarist, and while he’s entertaining it’s no more than that. Graham Parker and The Rumour, on the other hand, are outstanding. Everything I’d hoped for and more. They played as though they’d never been apart with a mix of classic songs and cuts from their new album, Three Chords Good. I even though the Academy wasn’t that bad a venue. The really good news is they’re playing some more dates next year! Set List: Fool’s Gold; White Honey; Howlin’ Wind; Thunder & Rain; Snake Oil; Lady Doctor; Old Soul; Black Honey; 3 Chords Good; A Lie Gets Halfway…; Long Emotional Ride; Hotel Chambermaid; Soul On Ice; Discovering Japan; Don’t Get Excited; Watch The Moon; Protection; Stupefaction; Local Girls.
Encore: Passion Is No Ordinary Word; Don’t Ask Me Questions.
Encore (2): Soul Shoes.

September 2013

8 September – I saw the 2013 Diana Jones album The Museum Of The Appalachians Recordings mentioned in the No Depression newsletter and decided to give it a listen on Spotify. This was based solely on the fact that I’d visited the Museum in 2001. I was glad I did because it’s a fine piece of work and I bought a copy. Recorded sitting around a microphone in one of the cabins in the Museum grounds, with two accompanying musicians on fiddle and banjo and Jones singing and playing guitar, these are songs that could have been written any time in the last 150 years.

A first trip to The Hop in Wakefield is my chance to see her play live. The show would, in all honesty, have been better if she’d been accompanied by the musicians who played with her on the album. Despite that she’s an excellent singer and guitarist and the audience, the GLW and I see a great show. Highlight is O Sinner, the opening track both of the CD and tonight’s show.

28 September – I remember seeing Gang Of Four on their first farewell tour at The Warehouse, Leeds in 1984.
They’ve played a few tours since then but this is the first time I’ve seen them. In a way I wish I hadn’t bothered. The show is entertaining enough but Andy Gill is the only original member left and the singer, who doesn’t get introduced, performs as though he’s impersonating Jon King on Stars In Their Eyes – close but not the genuine article. It’s like seeing Gang Of Four as their own tribute act.

Setlist: You’ll Never Pay for the Farm; Ether; Not Great Men; I Parade Myself; Paralysed; Anthrax; It Was Never Gonna Turn Out Too Good; Do As I Say; Damaged Goods; I Love a Man in Uniform; We Live as We Dream, Alone; To Hell With Poverty; Gift.

Encore: He’d Send in the Army; What We All Want; Why Theory?; At Home He’s a Tourist.

30 September – I’d advise anyone who likes The Charlatans to go see one of Tim Burgess‘ shows but don’t expect it to sound like The Charlatans. His solo albums are his chance to play other styles of music he likes. His latest album, Oh No I Love You, is a fine set of songs co-written with Kurt Wagner of Lambchop. Not surprisingly these songs form the bulk of the set list tonight along with some covers and Charlatans tracks. His backing band is three quarters of the support band and Mark Collins of The Charlatans.

The support are Hatchem Social, a four piece from North London. They’re OK but need to have a clearer idea of how they want to sound as at the moment it sounds like a mish mash to me. Their bass player, fact fans, is Riley Difford son of Chris.