So, I have actually made it to a third entry. I’d originally planned to write up this
review (review is perhaps not the exact word to describe the rambling) of 2011
gigs as one entry but due to my incessant rambling it is only fair on your poor
eyes and time constraints that I break it up somewhat. My own time constraints
aside....Oh yes that's right.... Valerie (the banjo playing badger) has just
reminded me that with my time machine I shouldn't have any kind of time
constraints at all. Thank you Valerie. I can always trust him to stick his
snout in. I don't recall asking for his opinion on the matter. I can hear the
banjo now, which can mean only one thing - he has some song of wisdom to sing
at me. Speaking of wisdom I’ve got to have one of my wisdom teeth out in a few
weeks. What, may I ask, is the point in us still having these teeth when the
majority of adults have to have them removed due to the issues they cause?
Valerie
will disagree but I smell conspiracy at work here. All of these wisdom teeth
being extracted. All that wisdom gathering together and plotting the downfall
of humanity or some such....What's that?......I suppose you're right there.
Valerie just said that humanity needs no help from inanimate teeth.....Nice
tune.....I do so enjoy the sound of a banjo, a banjo being played by a badger
even more so. It is, as you can imagine somewhat unique.
Where was
I? Oh yes, wisdom teeth. They're gathering on mass somewhere out in the
wilderness until their numbers are great enough for them to connect together
forming as to like a huge figure tall and terrible. Imagine it!! A twenty foot
tall monster made out of all the wisdom teeth removed over the last hundred
years or so. Several (or more) of such wisdom teeth monsters all chattering
towards you. They would have some pretty nasty looking teeth wouldn't they? And
don’t even get me started on the five mile radius bubble of halitosis wafting
out in all directions. Right, enough!! After that vivid dream where I was being
chased by zombies last night without the aid of cheese or any zombie related
media I don't think it’s wise to conjure up the image of an army of wisdom
teeth monsters this close to bedtime.
The BBC
missed out on that one during their brainstorming sessions for old 60's Doctor
Who. Think of the money they'd have saved on the props/costumes they ended up
using for their alien designs. All they would have required would have been
some glue to stick all the teeth together. *Note to self....next time I'm in
the early 60's stop by the BBC Doctor Who writing/production team and offer my
services*
Anywho,
let's get back to sanity (in theory) and crack on with the review before that
apocalypse kicks off.
2.) Next up was one of my ultimate favourites The Levellers on their tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of the album Levelling the Land. This was the first Levellers album I was introduced to (as it is for many lifelong fans I expect) in 1997 so it was a real treat to see the band perform it in its entirety for the first time.
I make an effort to see this band at least once each year (four times in 2010, twice in 2011 and now if I can get my time machine working I plan to nip back to 1992 & 1994 for those early Glastonbury appearances of theirs where the Boatman became the Spaceman) so I think I've seen them play each song from the album over the years. Their legions of loyal fans all come together at each gig like one mass blob of drool that's formed from many lesser blobs. All end up jumping up and down as if we're in an 80's pogo stick competition in some playground in Hackney (It's true (or maybe it isn’t). This moshing is in rhythm to the joyous guitar, banjo, fiddle and vocal sounds, ingredients which combine to make one tasty meal for our ears.
Standing at the bar waiting for a pint of beer I hear a loud drumbeat thud above the din of chatter cutting through the thick heavy fog of anticipation and excitement. The beat thuds again gathering momentum as it picks up the haunting sound of the harmonica. Sirens and horns! It sounds like sirens and horns all from one blow which then latches on to the violin's lament. The fidgety crowd are off immediately. That first drumbeat is enough to engage them. The chatter ceases as they take their places amidst the collective of the blob. All are now one with the band on stage. Needless to say the beer is forgotten as I rush to merge with the collective. Resistance is futile. One will be and is assimilated. I merge and become one with the moshing blob just in time for the vocals to kick in.
This is an iconic album with a clear message that still resonates loudly twenty years on (perhaps even more so in this post post modern era with added double dip recession*). Many will argue the album made and defined the band. I wouldn't agree completely as their first offering A Weapon Called the Word had many similar themed songs. It is true Levelling the Land fermented the overall sound of the band and the phenomenal success of it propelled them into the stratosphere of the music world. That said, they've always been shunned by the popular music media, something that never phases them and for which we as fans are more grateful than not. It has meant we keep our bunch of Levellers as they always were - owing their successes to their hard work, their loyal fans and the more savoury kind of people in the music business.
There really is only One Way of Life and all our friends in all their jobs, it's all a bloody waste. The words conjure visions of the rat race the majority of us find ourselves in just to survive. Mind numbing jobs just to pay the bills and feed our faces. The Game of life continues to play out while the girl from Fifteen Years ago has packed and gone away. I stand here looking across mountains and the valleys deep where I would take my weary feet and if I really could choose the life I pleased then there's little doubt I’d be a Boatman. Now, if only I could afford that barge. Alas, I like most others am not a freeman as there's one too many, two too many holes are getting bigger in the garden wall. If I'm not careful they're going to get to me, to take myLiberty
2.) Next up was one of my ultimate favourites The Levellers on their tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of the album Levelling the Land. This was the first Levellers album I was introduced to (as it is for many lifelong fans I expect) in 1997 so it was a real treat to see the band perform it in its entirety for the first time.
I make an effort to see this band at least once each year (four times in 2010, twice in 2011 and now if I can get my time machine working I plan to nip back to 1992 & 1994 for those early Glastonbury appearances of theirs where the Boatman became the Spaceman) so I think I've seen them play each song from the album over the years. Their legions of loyal fans all come together at each gig like one mass blob of drool that's formed from many lesser blobs. All end up jumping up and down as if we're in an 80's pogo stick competition in some playground in Hackney (It's true (or maybe it isn’t). This moshing is in rhythm to the joyous guitar, banjo, fiddle and vocal sounds, ingredients which combine to make one tasty meal for our ears.
Standing at the bar waiting for a pint of beer I hear a loud drumbeat thud above the din of chatter cutting through the thick heavy fog of anticipation and excitement. The beat thuds again gathering momentum as it picks up the haunting sound of the harmonica. Sirens and horns! It sounds like sirens and horns all from one blow which then latches on to the violin's lament. The fidgety crowd are off immediately. That first drumbeat is enough to engage them. The chatter ceases as they take their places amidst the collective of the blob. All are now one with the band on stage. Needless to say the beer is forgotten as I rush to merge with the collective. Resistance is futile. One will be and is assimilated. I merge and become one with the moshing blob just in time for the vocals to kick in.
This is an iconic album with a clear message that still resonates loudly twenty years on (perhaps even more so in this post post modern era with added double dip recession*). Many will argue the album made and defined the band. I wouldn't agree completely as their first offering A Weapon Called the Word had many similar themed songs. It is true Levelling the Land fermented the overall sound of the band and the phenomenal success of it propelled them into the stratosphere of the music world. That said, they've always been shunned by the popular music media, something that never phases them and for which we as fans are more grateful than not. It has meant we keep our bunch of Levellers as they always were - owing their successes to their hard work, their loyal fans and the more savoury kind of people in the music business.
There really is only One Way of Life and all our friends in all their jobs, it's all a bloody waste. The words conjure visions of the rat race the majority of us find ourselves in just to survive. Mind numbing jobs just to pay the bills and feed our faces. The Game of life continues to play out while the girl from Fifteen Years ago has packed and gone away. I stand here looking across mountains and the valleys deep where I would take my weary feet and if I really could choose the life I pleased then there's little doubt I’d be a Boatman. Now, if only I could afford that barge. Alas, I like most others am not a freeman as there's one too many, two too many holes are getting bigger in the garden wall. If I'm not careful they're going to get to me, to take my
Another Man's Cause brings a lump to my throat each time I hear it. The message is clear and not aimed at the service personnel but at those in power who make these terrible, seemingly endless and (in most cases) pointless (not including their thirst for oil and/or dominance) wars.
This is a band that has been with me through everything in my adult life. A band whose music I can always rely on to entice the smile back to my face when I'm feeling down so by the end of even one song I'll be itching to jump about like a loon. They continue to provide me with inspiration helping to nurture my creative side, something I am eternally grateful for.
As with ALL of their gigs I've attended over the years this was more like an evening in the company of friends. A sweaty beer filled evening, admittedly but one of complete enjoyment. At the end of each gig I always find myself saying, ‘Bring on the next…’ I’ve seen them in a number of places around the country yet never in my original hometown of
Who knows where I’ll see them next (probably at least at their own Beautiful Days festival) but with a new album due soon I’m looking forward to it.
*at the
time of writing it has only been forecast the UK may be heading into that
dreaded double dip recession so if it doesn't actually happen this asterisk
thing means you can't sue me for incorrect information and all that bollocks. A
double dip recession sounds a bit like a new rollercoaster to me (and not
metaphorically so).
To follow: Tom Mcrae with String Quartet.
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