12 September 2007 (gig)
16 September 2007
This gig was arranged to commemorate the opening of Stage 2 @ The Stables, Wavendon, Milton Keynes. And The Baron went along to cast his view on proceedings.
It was a sophisticated, almost surreal affair, and unlike any other gig! 6.30pm drinks and canapés, 7.00pm official opening ceremony, 7.30pm live music.
Dame Cleo Lane and Sir John Dankworth were preciding over affairs (well, The Stables is their home). And It felt almost like the opening of some fancy council offices - and The Baron felt decidedly most uncomfortable! All this sophistication - canapés and chairs is not what The Baron is used to at gigs!
Finally, 7.30pm arrives and we were herded between 2 rooms - Stage 2 and The Stables foyer. The 7 acts playing alternately between both stages. The specially invited guests - each with their own name badge - were shepherded between the 2 stages akin to a festival albeit full of respectable late-middle-aged various suits and suitesses - then along came Molly (name changed to protect her innocence) - a vision of complete loveliness - a heaven-sent angel!! Who was she? The Baron didn’t have the courage to find out.
Meanwhile, there was an evening of music to comment on. The compere for this special occasion was non-other than Mr. Phil Jupitus. With a gradual deteriation into a semi-drunken state of euphoric well-being as his evening progressed, his careful improvisation helped the evening nicely along between the artists performances.
The Baron at one point briefly spoke to Mr Jupitus - on overhearing his conversation with a waitress re the possible introduction of pudding after the canapés, asked him if there was indeed pudding. He said yes. The Baron then replied: 'Ah...trifle on a stick!'
You could see the tumbleweed flying, and hear the the bell of the grim reaper a-ringing and the embarrasing non-response from Mr. Jupitus.
So much for comedy!!
Anyway, back to the music. And about time too, I hear you read. Each artist had 12 minutes each - 3 songs - to impress/entertain whilst competing with the at times apathetic crowd, chomping, slurping and chatting without due care and attention to the musicians on show.
The 7 acts consisted of: 5 young artists (who were chosen from over 40 applicants) who participated in a professional development programme for singer-songwriters - The Leverhulme Artist Programme (lauched by The Stables) - tutored by (amongst others) Boo Hewerdine & David Knopfler, both of whom also played tonight (the other 2 acts).
The first act on was Lucy Pullin . At first-glance resembling Courtney Love, she has a strong voice with a good dynamic vocal range and good stage presence. For her 3 songs she played 1 solo with acoustic guitar and 2 with keyboards, bass and guitar backline. Didn’t get any tracks by name, but overall was left with a strong sense of haunting melody and evoking an atmosphere - on closing ones eyes - was walking in the rain on a country hillside with Molly - holding hands (Oh well, The Baron can dream can’t he?). It was that sort of emotion. Very good indeed.
Next was Matt Rivers who presented us with a more upbeat uptempo rendition of the singer-songwriter - 2 Acoustic guitars, bass and Matt's vocals. A more Americana folk-style collection of songs. Both Rainbows & Butterflies and Life is Sweet have a Buffalo Tom-style vibe about them and would work equally as well with electric guitars & drums (The Baron likes drums). The 3rd song, Summer, had a more Jazz-vibe about it but was not as strong, but overall another good strong dynamic vocal range.
Cate Ferris was on third. The first track, No Heroes had a Suzanne Vega feel to it. Acoustic guitar, vocals and keyboards. Another strong haunting voice, with a mere hint of psychedelia about it. The second track, Little Lay featured acoustic guitar, vocals and bass. Wow!! Made the hairs stand up on the back of The Barons neck!! (With Molly again on that country hillside!) A haunting ballad. Track 3, Pieces was a more uptempo tune almost straight pop in part, 'Sweet red wine takes all your worries away'. There was a sense of liking of the red wine here as it featured prominently in this set.
Sara Spade was on next. Acoustic guitar and vocals. A solo singer-songwriter. A sassy-jazz style evident here (The Baron may have created a new music genre). The 1st song had a whisper of Joni Mitchell with lots of 'do du’s and 'da’s'. Track 2 was a song about her childhood. A whiff of nostalgia and very much a 'storyteller to music’ theme here; 'Where did they go?'. A good vocal range. After a brief pause to promote her current 5-track EP, Sara played her final track of the evening. Another good acoustic ballad plucking at the heartstrings 'What’s the point of watching TV, just me and you and you and me forever!'
David Knopfler - co-founder of Dire Straits - was on next. 2 acoustic guitars and vocals. His first 2 tracks, King of Ashes and Deptford Days had that Dire Straits feel to it which is no surprise really. The Baron detected foul play - with reading lyrics from via a music stand and the useage of...AMPLIFIERS - herecy is the cry! Track 3, Tears Fall - a keyboards and acoustic has Slowly and quitely, The Baron a touch of Let It Be about it. A good song. Overall a professional acoustic MOR set.
Martyna up next, displaying her musical wares via keyboards, vocals and bass. Track 1, She Said again evoked that walk-in-the-country-feeling again. (Blimey, Molly is being taken on plenty of hillside walks with The Baron this evening.) A strong voice and a good song. Little Town is next. Karen Carpenter revisited perhaps? A haunting mini-epic; 'Blame it on this quiet little town'. The Trouble With Me was another good song to wrap things up.
The final act of the evening was Boo Hewerdine - ex of The Bible. Acoustic guitar and vocals. Track 1 was Patience of Angels (backing vocals by Sara Spade). A chorus of angels personally arranged this song with such angelic grace and precision. And as if from nowhere, along came Molly!!? indeed an angel herself. After Heartless Gypsy (No.1 in the folk charts Boo reassures us), track 3 is a cover-version of ELO’s Can’t Get It Out Of My Head. Great acoustic version of the song.
For his final 2 tracks of the evening Boo is joined by Lucy Pullin who performed earlier. 'One eye on the clock, time doesn’t move, It’s almost as if I’ve got something to prove'. A hauntingly grown-up twisted lullabyesque folkerama. You could almost hear the violins playing. The final track of the night was about being a superhero - Lightning Girl - and co-written with Lucy; 'Lightning girl feel her spark, burn so bright in his heart.' A good
pop song.
Overall a good evening was had by all. The 5 young artists on show have all got the beginnings of something very good going on and a nod of apreciation goes to The Stables for giving them the opportunity to perform.
The Baron then slips quitely into the night, with haunting melodies in his head and a wet jacket on his back from all that emotional walking-in-the-rain stuff going on.
