#but her threads did help me find the big black tour diary in full so there’s that at least

[evildilf2]

If you mention Peter Sotos on Twitter at all chances are this one terf will respond to you with a series of documents which I think she’s using to imply noise rock is a front for a pedophile ring. Like she has screenshots of emails she sends to cops & everything. & then screenshots of “demonic imagery” too…

[the-hindu-times]

April 2019 reviews roundup

Ricky Gervais at Guildford's G Live was followed the week by a trip to Edinburgh. Whilst there, after John Hunt’s ‘After Work Blues’ at The Jazz Barr, we headed to the Usher Hall for DMA's where the floor was a riot of 14 - 18 year olds making the most of their youth and the school break; lifting the music just from their mass attendance.

The day after, we past Isabel Caswell coming out of M&S in Sheffield, realising ‘Calendar Girls’ was in town, whilst heading over to the other end of town for an intimate performance from Chloë Foy and her band at Cafe No.9. Stood around one microphone, the perfect acoustic sound detailed her delicate songs in the highest, audible quality. It was clear there were a few returning regulars filling up the venue but we managed to find the perfect position to hear the mix as, due to the nature of the set-up, sitting on the left hand side may have been too piano heavy. 

Mixing folk with classical, the dynamic performance showcased some great melodic writing, whilst using her voice as a true instrument, rapidly putting herself in line with Phoebe Bridgers and Lisa Hannigan.

We were back in London on Monday for the first of Glen Hansard’s 2 nights at The Barbican. Like when I'd seen him with The Frames at the Scala, neither evening was sold out. Since the success of the film and musical 'Once', from around that time, featuring the Oscar winning 'Falling Slowly' and the equally popular 'When Your Mind's Made Up', his two LPs solo, which came either side of 'Didn't He Ramble', expectedly followed on from that style of writing and production The Swell Season (his duo with film co-star and former flame, Markéta Irglová) possessed. Now touring his fantastic fourth full length under his own name 'The Wild Willing', this record seems to be as important to him as 'Didn't He Ramble' in comparison to his other two solo efforts 'Rhythm & Repose' and 'A Season On The Line', which were not featured at all in the first night's setlist. In fact, this new album happened from moments of inspiration and improvisation that took place in between takes from pre-penned songs - eventually casting aside the original plan altogether as the musicians involved propelled Glen's threads of ideas into songs; disrupting the flow if songs were heading in a certain area. 

Having been sent the new record’s audio in advance, before I was able to buy the vinyl, it arrived with a strong feeling of weather - like a storm was coming in; as featured at the end of the first night's opener 'Wait Of The World', which eventually became subsumed in wind; emerging like a fog. Balanced on a stall, just for this opener, Glen asked for a set list or possibly a lyric sheet during this new composition? 

For the last few years, Glen Hansard had been travelling as a 13-piece, soul revue, big band. Tonight the horn section had been disbanded but had the addition of acoustic guitarist, Javier Mass, (making them 11 on stage) joining them from the second song 'I'll Be You Be Me' - a studio improvisation in France; connecting with the idea of intimacy, surrendering to someone until you become each other. You can hear a split second of Bowie's vocal rasp on the loop (from a cassette demo of the Queen and Bowie session for ‘Under Pressure’) that David Cleary added to the track as the beat.

The end mantra of the third song played 'Don't Settle' built on the advice Liam Clancy gave to Bob Dylan, before the theatre went pitch black for a pre-recorded vocal performance from Aida Shahghasemi at the end of following new number 'Fool's Game' - a song they opened with the next night.

After 4 songs from 'The Wild Willing', a sigh of relief met the plucked intro chords to 'Didn't He Ramble''s 'My Little Ruin, which soon lead onto 'Once' film soundtrack favourite 'When Your Mind's Made Up', which Glen halted momentarily on night 1 just as the drums and bass came in. The 5/4 time signature seemed fine to me – especially with one of the best drummers in the business. On night 2, the Irish singer teased the title lyric about the UK having not made up their mind about Brexit before he showed how his solo/acoustic Swell Season song 'Leave' took on a whole new meaning. Joking aside, the band leant into the shift in dynamic even more so; covering the particular tones of the album’s Iranian musicians, who were absent, along with Aida, after being refused visas into the UK.

After 'Winning Streak' from 'DHR', another 4 songs (including 'Mary', 'Brother's Keeper' and 'The Closing Door') from 'The Wild Willing' were aired, mixing in The Specials' 'Ghost Town' (night 1 only) with 'Race To The Bottom' - a title which is already a play on AC/DC's 'It's A Long Way To The Top...', whilst the lyrics are diary entries of rhyming couplets from day to day occurrences from his writing sessions in Paris. Night 2 saw the only outing for a ‘Between Two Shores’ track with ‘Roll On Slow’ which lead on to a cover from Van Morrison’s former band, Them, in the shape of ‘Gloria’, with help from an audience member on lead vocals.

'Didn't He Ramble' (recorded for the 'Season On The Line' ep and not for the LP of the same name) saw Glen pass his electric guitar down to Javier to improvise a solo, which was better on night 1 but night 2 lead to an extra chorus at the end. 

With Glen coming to the front of the stage to sing 'Grace Beneath The Pines', he strummed a few of the chords on guitar for it on night 2 before putting it down. Despite having his string section with him, Glen decided to sing the fiddle part at the end of his 'DHR' solo, piano song 'McCormack's Wall', clapping along with the audience. This song was traded for a completely unplugged (like ‘Grace Beneath…’) version of 'Falling Slowly' on the second night, with the strings and keys watching closely for the changes. Maybe he was about to perform it on night one too before Javier Mas returned to the stage a song too early. Glen asked him to stay to duet one from his former boss: Leonard Cohen's 'Famous Blue Raincoat'. Night 2 saw the band go into Cohen's 'Bird On The Wire' after DHR's 'Her Mercy', Night 1, instead saw a snippet of 'Wedding Ring', from the same album, thrown in at the end, which wouldn't have been right now that Curtis Sonny Fowlkes is no longer in the band to come to the centre stage to sing a verse. After an old Frames rock number ('Revelate' on night 1, switched for 'Fitzcarralado' on night 2) the whole band did get an opportunity to take turns to sing a part of Pete Seeger's 'Passing Through' as the last song on the opening night, and Brendan Benhan's 'The Auld Triangle' at the end of the second.

As intended, he's certainly uncomfortable again and both nights proved how beauty exists outside of comfort. Don't settle. 

On night 2 we had gone to Rough Trade East beforehand for 'Idlewild: in conversation'. With no live performance, I went down to Southampton Engine Rooms to see them the following Tuesday. 

photo by Nic Bennett

The next day, we caught a bit of Lauren Aquilina's [mostly] solo performance at the House of St Barnabas private bar in Soho, where we’d previously been taken to by Starsailor, before catching the second half of Newton Faulkner’s set at the London Palladium – a place he deserves to be after the career he’s had so far.

After Ed Byrne at Kingston’s Outside The Box, we headed over the road for a sleepy Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres New Slang gig. We were back at Outside The Box for Tom Rosenthal & Ian Stirling as the month came to a close.

Nic Bennett