God is an Astronaut
The Garage, Highbury, London
28/10/2023
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On my birthday (9th October) I was taken to the London Palladium to see old Rog do his thing. One of the great things about this show was that you had to put your mobile phone in a locked pouch - so no idiots filming with their mobiles; hence no pics from me (these were taken from one of the papers). Rog wore a lurid pink jacket and didn’t play any instruments. He started off with a speech, then proceeded to read chapters from his forthcoming autobiography, Memoirs of a Lanky Prick. Some of it was about a duck. Then we got two songs, “The Bar” and “Mother”.
An interval followed, and then we got a 25-minute film of Rog explaining DSOTM Redux. Then we got the piece itself, which was beautifully played by his (17-piece?) band. The lady on the Theremin was outstanding. No encore. The sound was superb, the visuals pared back but effective, and like I say, the band were excellent.
It was all a little bizarre but I quite enjoyed it.
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Hope he brings the tour down under, also happy belated birthday. 
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Program
Mahler
Blumine
Bloch
Schelomo
Mahler
Symphony No. 1
Performers
Conductor: Nikolaj Szeps-ZnaiderCello: Jian Wang
Mahler 1 is one of my favourite symphony. This CSO set with Danish conductor Szeps-Znaider did not quite match the timing of Tennstedt/CSO set back in the 90s. His broad tempi felt somewhat trite and the build to the coda, missing was the momentum and overriped percussion. The band was definitley not together at times. This conductor had no rhythmic bones in his body. That said it’s always a pleasure to hear this symphony live experiencing the textures and colours of various instruments.
This is how it should have been done!
Bloch’s Schelomo with cellist Jian Wang was more enjoyable. He was expressive and plenty of emotions and that the orchestra provided a rich large background. Altho I preferred a warmer tones from the cello.
He’s in Brazil now with the “This is not a drill” tour” and not getting any younger either. Would be great if he got back here again, but I thought when I last saw him, that it might be the last chance.
None of us are getting any younger, maybe there’s one more tour in him.
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Brighouse and Rastrick brass band at Saffron Hall this afternoon. They don’t travel south very often so a rare opportunity. Fantastic venue, can hear everything. Loved it
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Kristin Hersh at St John on Bethnal Green on Saturday just gone.
She was superb and her between songs patter was funny at times.
The excellent acoustics in the church meant you could hear every word she was singing and the guitar and cello sounded really clear.
The only downside was the church pews meant I couldn’t actually see Kristin and “Cello Pete” from where I was sitting! Hence the photo was taken from her Twitter feed.
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I went to see the choir Tenebrae conducted by Nigel Short at Wigmore Hall last night. The quality of the singing was just astonishing and the whole thing was beautiful and very moving. This was the programme:
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Just got in from the OMD new album launch show at Camp And Furnace in Liverpool. It was supposed to be a 40 minute set but ended up over 50 minutes, a few songs from the new album but mostly oldies including Enola Gay, Electricity, Messages, She’s Leaving, Joan Of Arc and Secret. Brilliant short show.
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Indeed, that is an interesting program!
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Jim Jones All Stars at Future Yard, Birkenhead.
First gig there for me and it’s a cracking little venue with a 280 capacity. Absolutely brilliant! High energy rock and roll at its finest and the loudest gig I’ve been to in years.
Supported by The Pearl Harts who were really good too.
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Last night Ese performed solo as “Mama Vooduu” at the 100 Club on Oxford Street. She was supporting the lovely and legendary Rhoda Dakar (who has still got it) and her fabulous band.
Last time I saw Rhoda live was in early 1980; I was still at school, and she was with The Bodysnatchers – at the Electric Ballroom, I thought, though Rhoda corrected me and said it was the Lyceum.
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Sorry I couldn’t make it, Kev but I would have coughed over everybody the whole time. No fit state. Bloody shame, I was so looking forward to seeing her at the 100. Rhoda too - but if I’m honest, for me it was all Ese…
Glad that it went like a rocket! I’ll be better by the 11th (I’ll crawl there if necessary) for the Jazz Expo.
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that Scott-Heron tune is a great one.
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Went to an absolutely brilliant concert at the Royal Festival Hall last night which was a celebration of what would have been Bert Jansch’s 80th birthday. It was compered by super fan Stewart Lee who was very knowledgable and very funny. Among the artists who performed were Sam Lee, Kathryn Williams, Chris Brain, Bernard Butler ( who organised the show and was just brilliant), Jacqui McShee/Mike Piggott/Kevin Dempsey, James Yorkston/Ranjana Ghatak/Jon Thorne, Sam Grassie, Brigid Mae Power/Steve Gunn, Sarathy Korwar, Daisy Rickman and Martin Simpson/Louis Campbell.
Also performing was an up and coming young singer called Percy with his band Saving Grace
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Good weekend in the village.
Friday night with The Carpathians, a local band and vocalists of excellent quality. In some ways not “my sort of music” but I enjoyed it thoroughly.
And, last night, an interview with Sir Tim Rice in the church. Fascinating and also fun.
The Carpathians (not a brilliant picture but hey ho):
Natalie Merchant - London Palladium 3rd Nov 2023
No fancy light shows or video backdrops, just her and a very talented group of musicians doing their thing. Absolutely fabulous.
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Hiromi’s Sonicwonder - JazzMI, 5th Nov 2023.
What a fantastic concert, I was blown away by the performance, all the songs were heavily reworked (in a good way IMO) compared to those you find in her new CD. Also it was a nice to hear her playing an old song from her trio project.
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