04 October 2015 (gig)
05 October 2015
The basement at the Green Note is a compact and very personal space to listen to artists and Mark Harrison put on a delightful show last night.
I have seen him play a number of times and he always puts in a performance filled with original songs and anecdotes that bring the audience right in to his music but last night he was missing two crucial parts of his group of artistes – Will Greener (harmonica) who has left the country and Charles (drums and mandolin) who is sadly sick. In their stead he was accompanied by Ed Hopwood who played drums and filled in on harmonica, doing a fine job and more than just filling in.
Most of the songs were from the new (yet to be released) album and I would describe them as utterly contemporary but in a very classic Blues style. With Harrison finger-picking his resonator guitars and Ed’s gently brushed snare and cymbal as well as harmonica, the new material is intense but it also carries a sense of sardonic humour.
These aren’t songs of how badly the world is treating him, nor are they love won or lost – his songs represent his view of the world, whether it be economics or the plight of Midlands engineering and his lyrics are both clever and meaningful. The stories that accompany his songs are sometimes excruciating (in a good way) or engender debate with the audience. The two played nearly an hour and a half and I for one would have been happy to sit through another 1.5 hours.
With some impressive support from Lane Hines who played Blues classics in the manner of the original Delta Bluesmen – a great version of Robert Johnson’s ‘Terraplane Blues’ – this was a gentle evening of musical delights and highly engaging stories.
