Updated: 16 May 2011
THE HAT FACTORY, LUTON, FRI 15 APRIL 2011
Just to report that acoustic Strawbs bowled everyone over at The Hat Factory in Luton on Friday. Dick once again chauffeured me to the gig, which would have been an unspeakably awful journey thanks to the M1 being closed because of a fire were it not for such great company. Dick was good company too:)
Anyway, we eventually arrived and speaking to band members and Neil we found that, unsurprisingly, they too had had a hellish journey rather than having been wafted from paradise (ancient saying involving Luton Airport). Thankfully everyone had made it in good time despite the traffic jams and with a fairly late start scheduled there was time to relax in the pub opposite the venue (photo in files "The Hat Factory" - which strangely enough really was a former hat factory, hat-making being another of Luton's claims to fame).
As we sat looking through the pub window at the venue we contemplated the large numbers of people heading into the building, and whether they could all be there to see Strawbs - it seems they must have been because when we eventually headed over the place was pretty packed. (I'm not sure whether Strawbs have ever played Luton previously - I know I've seen them in fairly nearby Dunstable but don't ever remember Luton.)
Eventually we crossed the road and entered the unusual venue, where we were directed down to the basement for the evening's entertainment. After a pleasant opening set from a 3-piece support band (sorry I didn't catch the name) Strawbs took their places on stage - there were a few sound problems to start with (Dave Cousins' microphone wasn't working) but soon everything ran smoothly and the audience were very appreciative.
It was a predominantly standing venue, very dark, with tables and chairs at the front and a bar at the back behind the standing throng. Dick and I moved away from a man who must have had an invisible megaphone early on in the evening, and thankfully DC's banter kept audience chatter down to a minimum between songs. Maybe tonight wasn't quite as "note perfect" as some of the recent gigs I've been to and I gather from conversation afterwards that not all the band could hear well onstage - it was also very dark onstage and must have been virtually impossible for the band to see what they were playing, plus of course sound levels were likely to have been altered during the support act set. However, any minor sound problems did nothing to spoil a magical evening for the audience. There was an excellent reaction and everyone was left wanting more as the final notes rang out. I'm afraid I don't remember the setlist (although I probably should do as it was mulled over in the pub. Because of having a support act it was a "straight through" set for Strawbs rather than a game of two halves, however).
Hats off to Strawbs once again for another superb night!
Not the most encouraging trip to Luton: not knowing the M1 was closed we headed out that way rather than the A41, and took an hour or so (most of which was at a roundabout under a flyover in total gridlock) as two of the busiest routes north out of London on a Friday evening were herded onto just one of them, the A41, which predictably move at the pace of a snail. I'm told that one of my work colleagues waved merrily in my general direction as he headed north on hte train: B**t*rd !! However, silver lining time: north of the closure, the M1 was as traffic free as I have ever seen it, everything moving along at a splendid rate! Having stocked up with sandwiches for an in traffic snack, we got to Luton in time spare (after a confusing out of date Sat Nav moment, which kept telling us to go up and down a stretch of bypass near the airport, looking for a roundabout which as far as I can tell has NEVER existed!)
Spotted Chas as we parked in the sight of the Hat Factory, and shortly afterwards bumped into Dave and Neil headed for the pub opposite, where we joined them for a pint and a catch-up. A nice relaxing interlude, watching large numbers of people of varying ages (we pretty much knew which were our audience!) going into the large multi-venue building acroiss the road.
The Acoustics gig was down in the basement, nicely full up when we got there so we found a position to stand and watch the support act The Nimblewits (http://www.myspace.com/thenimblewits). Drums to the far side (nearly off the stage) with a vocal duo - main male vocalist heavy strumming guitar, with his female colleague playing a red heart-shaped bass. Quite liked them, most of all the number where she put down the bass and played an electric fiddle - more light and shade of that nature, for me, wuld definitely do the trick.
And on to our heroes, playing a truncated straight through set, worked out in the pub whilst we were with them. Highlights for me: an excellent "Queen Of Dreams", which I've only heard once before, "The Hangman And The Papist", which drew strong applause, and the banjo-tinged "Witchwood". " Oh How She Changed" was powerful, and of course "Lay Down" is always a great crowd-pleaser.
The sound out front was fine, apart from a few minor issues (the aborted first attempt to get the Nimblewits fiddle going, and DC's microphone being dead at first), and the venue itself pretty good, despite a noisy bar (with very noisy shouting bar-huggers) it was possible to get away from that area and not really be bothered too much by that noise. Next time I'll get there earlier and get one of the few seats! A greatly enjoyable evening after an inauspicious start, particularly for me as work pressures and conflicting holiday have meant that I've missed many of the gigs on this set of dates - I would have been going to the cancelled Worthing show the following night (even had a non-refundable hotel booked - humph!), so a long awaited pleasure to see the Acoustics again.
Next stop - The Borderline on 13 May.
WESLEY CENTRE, MALTBY, FRI 8 APRIL 2011
...... apart from DC's reminder that we were only 262 shopping days from Xmas.
A full house witnessed the Acoustics at the top of their game - the best I've heard them for some time. A slight adjustment to the running order with "Benedictus/Simple Visions" opening the set followed by "Golden Salamander" which left me wondering what the encore would be - fortunately "We'll Meet Again Sometime" filled the space. In between we were treated to some powerful renditions of "Hangman", "New World" and "Cold Steel" mixed with the more touching "Josephine" and "Copenhagen" and the ethereal "Witchwood". Add to that "A Glimpse Of Heaven", "Autumn", "Ghosts" and "Lay Down" and you have all you need for a great night out. To top it all DC was in great form with his story telling - Arthur, Big Bill Broonzy and the American Girl with Glasses ("Queen Of Dreams") brought the songs to life .
A good turnout from the Witchwooders - Andy, Lynn, Pete, Julie, Ali and Keith.
What chance of an Acoustics studio album?
The Maddermarket is a lovely old theatre in Norwich, and the show there on Wednesday was absolutely brilliant with all the band sounding terrific once again. So difficult to pick out anything in particular but Dave Lambert's vocals have sounded particularly good of late.
Definitely get along to see the Acoustic line-up if you get the chance on this tour - they get better and better (if that's possible!)
Thanks to Ali for booking seats in the balcony - it was really interesting getting a bird's-eye view of proceedings and watching the foot pedals in action.
Just a few thoughts to add to Mike's.
Highlights for me were a dreamy "Copenhagen", Chas' bass lines on "New World", and the wonderful rendition of "Queen Of Dreams" with ebow and bass pedals doing the "psychodelic" bit in the middle. DC was clearly on form telling many more anecdotes than on the recent electrics tour, and clearly enjoying himself. The Witchwooders who were at the front told me the sound was good there. Further back it wasn't a good mix, with DL being too far back: for the encore Chas' falsetto was louder than Dave's bottleneck. The only other criticism is that "Oh How She Changed" was far too short: it needs at least another 10 minutes of the mesmerising riffing at the end!
MADDERMARKET THEATRE, NORWICH, WED 30 MARCH 2011
It was another welcome return to Norwich for the Acoustic Strawbs. The band have always been popular in Norwich having played at various venues in the city over the years. This time it was the majestic Elizabethan Maddermarket theatre where the Electric Strawbs appeared in 2008, when they performed songs from their brilliant new album at the time The Broken Hearted Bride. When we sat down the obscured view seats started to fill up at the sides which was a good sign to indicate it was going to be packed house, and indeed it was.
At the start of the concert when Dave sang the first lines of "Benedictus" he had that sparkle in his eyes which to me indicated we were in for a good night. The sound was pitch perfect for most of the songs and you could hear in general all of the words; as the acoustics of this special and welcoming old theatre suited their style of music. The only song that struggled sound wise was "Copenhagen", the music although superb was just a bit over powering and some of the words were lost. The only other criticism of the night was when "Autumn" started Dave Lamberts seagull effects were flat and did not have the usual powerful sound.
It was great to hear "The Golden Salamander" performed live. This track from the Nomadness album, although not a great commercial success features many great songs such as "Hanging In The Gallery","The Promised Land","To Be Free", 'So Shall Our Love Die", and I would love one day to hear "Absent Friend" live, this to me is a masterpiece of words and atmosphere, with an uncharacteristic jazzy feel to it.
Also featured was "Queen Of Dreams", and indeed just like Pete Bradley's review when Dave was describing the Italian tour I also thought that "Tears And Pavan" was coming. This song was a highlight as was "Josephine For Better Or For Worse", "Cold Steel" and an uplifting version of "Lay Down" which happened to be the last song of the set. This brought about thunderous applause as the band left the stage. A couple of minutes later the three travelling minstrels came back on and performed an outstanding version of "We'll Meet Again Sometime" as an encore. This song had not been mentioned in previous set lists of the tour and was a welcome addition. This track gets better every time I hear it live, it just rolls on and on, it's always disappointing when it ends.
The applause just got louder and the band just hovered on stage soaking up the adulation, and then Dave Cousins who had already said the now standard 'We will see you all in another thirty years' then said 'I've changed my mind' the audience clearly thought that another encore was coming and Dave then said 'We will see you all in another twenty five years'. It was funny but there was great anticipation in the air.
The Golden Salamander
A Glimpse of Heaven
Josephine For Better or For Worse
The Hangman and The Papist
Witchwood
New World
Oh How She Changed
Ghostes
Copenhagen
Queen Of Dreams
Cold Steel
Autumn
Lay Down
Benedictus/ Simple Visions
NORDEN FARM CENTRE FOR THE ARTS, MAIDENHEAD, SUN 27 MARCH 2011
Hooray. Finally managed to get to see the Strawbs again, after almost a year of withdrawal. Groaned when we realised what night it was - the day when the clocks spring forward. Thought we were in for a late night just before an exceptionally early morning. Monday could have been a rough day.
The Norden Farm web-site stated that the concert began at 7:30. A 7:30 start normally means at least half an hour in the bar, followed by a support band for half an hour, with a thirty minute change over, so the main act would be expected to hit the stage at around nine, so we weren't panicked by the M25 congestion, and felt comfortable when we arrived at the theatre at about 7:29. Slightly worrying feeling though on seeing the bar completely empty. The theatre staff informed us that the band had actually started, so we legged it through the doors to the sound of applause. The Strawbs were already on stage!
So as not to disturb those already seated, we whispered to the usher to ask if they'd object if we sat on one of the seats on the side of the auditorium, and so we ended up sitting in our own little Royal Box. Liked it so much there that we stayed for the second half.
Luckily we hadn't missed much at all. "Golden Salamander" was just beginning as we walked in to the theatre, and at the interval we were delighted to discover that that was their opening number, "Benedictus" and "Simple Visions" having been moved from the start to the encore.
Highlights for me had to be "Witchwood" and "Queen Of Dreams". "Witchwood", because the line about being carried away in a casket made from the Witchwood was sung by Dave Lambert. Certain I haven't heard him sing that part before. "Queen Of Dreams" because I hadn't ever heard that played live before. When DC started to introduce it, he began by talking about the Strawbs' first trip to Italy, so I was expecting "Tears And Pavan", but the story soon drifted to climbing trees in a forest and meeting a girl who was on a cycling tour of Italy in a tent. Much mirth when DL pointed out how difficult it was cycling in a tent.
Wasn't sure whether photography was permitted, and would have hated to have been thrown out, so I took a few surreptitious snaps, but nothing I could say I was proud of. There was a red spotlight on DC's guitar throughout, which made it look as if it was yellow, but I assure you that it was his normal Gretsch. He hadn't gone out and bought a yellow one just for this concert.
The sound, as ever at Norden Farm, was immaculate. Only trouble was, from where we were sitting, hard over to one side, there wasn't much of a stereo effect. The sound from Chas seemed to come from stage left, the sound from DC seemed to come from center stage, but the sound from DL seemed to come from stage left as well. I dare say if you'd been sitting in the auditorium (where we were supposed to have been), the sound would have been perfect. No complaints about the balance. You could hear every note with crystal clarity.
As you might have expected, with such an early start the evening finished wonderfully early. Not sure if that's a feature of Sunday nights in Maidenhead - maybe some council regulations state no noise after ten o'clock - or whether the early start/ early finish was deliberate because of the clocks changing. Either way, we were very grateful. It was still a nightmare getting up the next day, but not half as bad as if we'd been out till the early hours.
Photo by Pete Bradley - more photos from Pete
The Golden Salamander
A Glimpse Of Heaven
Josephine For Better Or For Worse
The Hangman And The Papist
Witchwood
New World
Oh How She Changed
Ghosts
Copenhagen
Autumn
Queen Of Dreams
Cold Steel
Lay Down
Benedictus/Simple Visions
MISSION THEATRE, BATH, FRI 11 MARCH 2011
Just a few words to record the Acoustic Strawbs outing to the Mission Theatre in Bath last Friday. The occasion turned out to be a very sociable affair (despite the enforced absence of Slasher Bennett, currently forbidden to drive following a battle with a hedgetrimmer).
I met Dick at his London offices and we boarded his trusty Peugeot - Strawbs fans on a mission. It was almost 106 miles to Bath, Dick's glasses are slightly tinted and I occasionally wore my sunglasses but we didn't have half a pack of cigarettes and we very definitely didn't have a tank full of gas. There was a slightly hairy part of the journey when we "somehow" missed a slip-road to the service station where Dick had intended to fill his car with petrol, but thankfully we just about managed to make it to the next services. Thank goodness the last few miles were downhill!
We eventually arrived in Bath and after a tasty meal at the Nineteenth House (kindly pre-arranged and booked by Heather as it was just around the corner from the gig) our party invaded the lovely old Mission Theatre. My extensive knowledge of architecture tells me it must have been built as a Congregational Hall in, hmmm, 1797. Ok, thank Wikipedia! The atmosphere inside was warm and welcoming, and the acoustic trio triumphed in their quest to please the anticipatory throng - the place was sold out I believe.
"Queen of Dreams", a recent inclusion in the acoustic set, makes a great new addition and the more tried and trusted songs were as welcome and timeless as ever with everything sounding superb. All agreed the journey to see Strawbs in this beautiful city was well worth every moment of huffing and puffing in snarled-up traffic jams while trying to get into Bath itself. It was good to meet Gordon again and to get together with various Witchwooders and friends/spouses including the one and only Mr. Red Nose himself, Pete Rand.
The show had started at 7.30 which meant the night was still young when it finished, so we piled into various vehicles and headed up the road to Bristol where a fun evening/morning session involving various guitars, Doritos and liquid refreshments courtesy of Heather and Eileen followed (thanks so much for the hospitality). After eventually surfacing for breakfast, and following a fascinating little detour arranged by Ali to see the house used on TV in "Being Human", we all headed back to meet up in Bath once again at another trendy little eaterie (The Vaults). Choking back tears we all said our goodbyes before wending back from whence we came. Thanks to Strawbs and everyone else for a superb concert and the excuse to get away for a great couple of days. Roll on the next time!
My first Acoustic Strawbs gig on this jaunt - and Bath's a splendid place to start. Though I'm a regular visitor to Bath I hadn't actually encountered the Mission Theatre, I have to confess I've never come across this place before, but it turned out to be delightful - a nice-sized stage, well lit and good sound.
Nice to see "The Golden Salamander" back again - it was "acousticked" up by the original Acoustics line up, but benefits here from the Lambert/Cronk wall of harmony vocals. The other new entrant "Queen Of Dreams" works well in acoustic form - not heard since 2000's Strawbs tour when it featured in the acoustic first set. There's a lot from classic Strawbs period here (I like!) - three each from Grave New World and From The Witchwood - nice to hear "Witchwood" again too. And the former opener "Benedictus/Simple Visions" now serves as a crowd-leasing encore.
Many many thanks to Heather and Eileen for their hospitality to us all and keeping me supplied with Abbots Ale till 3am for our singalong at their place afterwards.
Photo by Alison Brown - more photos from Ali
The Golden Salamander
A Glimpse Of Heaven
Josephine For Better Or For Worse
The Hangman And The Papist
Witchwood
New World
Oh How She Changed
Ghosts
Copenhagen
Autumn
Queen Of Dreams
Cold Steel
Lay Down
Benedictus/Simple Visions
RED LION FOLK CLUB, KINGS HEATH, WED 23 FEBRUARY 2011
The regular Sat night slot at this venue has now been moved to a Wed and it was interesting to see if this would have any impact on the Acoustics' show, now an annual tradition. No worries! They were truly superb and at the top of their game as ever!
The show kicked off with a beautiful rendition of "The Golden Salamander" - a highlight of what (if such a thing is possibly!) is my least favourite Strawbs album - the patchy Nomadness - and then things just got better and better! "Queen Of Dreams" has now been introduced to the Acoustics set too and works really well - with some lovely textures on the Ebow from DL. "The Hangman And The Papist" was also given a truly brilliant airing this evening, driven by some excellent, punchy bass lines from Chas. I wonder how many times Dave Cousins has sung that song over the years! Yet he still has the capacity to give a truly passionate and moving rendition every time.
A great atmosphere and a brilliant show! Thanks guys! A special thanks to DL for the great 'fag break 'chat!' and that 'otherworldly' quality your vocals on the last verse add to "Witchwood".
Photo by Alison Brown - more photos from Ali