Music

Another Hidden Gem – Sam Eason at the OTR

Posted by Muntle on June 4, 2014
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I first came across Sam Eason a couple of months ago when he supported Scott Matthews at the Colston Hall in Bristol, and was really impressed with his short set.   So when I saw a poster for Sam Eason & Friends at this super venue, I decided to pop along last night to see how he would be as a headliner.

Sam EasonAt the Colston Hall, he performed his own songs with a friendly and relaxed air.  He quickly built a good rapport with his audience, raising  a smile with his occasionally self-deprecating little links between the songs.  Armed with acoustic guitar and looper, his music is very much in tune with the current crop of singer/songwriters, with observations on life and love, told from the viewpoint of an observer who appreciates the lighter side to life.  He was joined there for the last two songs by his wife, Beth, whose harmonies fit his vocals perfectly, and it is easy to see where the inspiration for his uncomplicated love songs comes from.

He has produced three EPs since 2011, plus a digital album of demos and covers, and I bought the latest EP called Leave the Dark Low that night, the title track being the opener for his set at the Old Theatre Royal, and one well-deserving a wider audience. Continue Reading

Hidden Gems – Matt Cook at the OTR

Posted by Muntle on June 2, 2014
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The problem with Arts Festivals is they are a bit like grapeshot, lots of up-and-coming performers taking their opportunity to put themselves in the limelight at small venues around a town, but ultimately competing against larger heavily-sponsored events.   Which is why, as a festival-goer, it sometimes pays to ignore the big-banger ‘do’ that is advertised weeks ahead on every billboard, and look instead for that potential hidden gem.  Which is how I found Matt Cook at the Bath Fringe last night.

The Old Theatre Royal in Bath is another hidden gem.  It is tucked down a quiet cobbled side street behind Marks & Spencers’ loading bay, so you would be lucky to stumble across it.   It is also quite an anonymous building that has been the local Masonic Hall for nearly 150 years, but originally came into being as the City’s first purpose-built Theatre in 1750, becoming the inaugural home of the Theatre Royal company in 1768.  The original auditorium space, along with its superb acoustics,  still exists and is the part used for their annual series of Festival gigs.

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The Other Brit Awards 2014

Posted by Malcolm Toogood on February 23, 2014
Posted in: Music.

As a spectacle, this year’s Brit Awards maintained the recent high standards, particular the stunning visual effects.  But somehow the show has become too contrived, lacking any spark of spontaneity and leaving me wondering at times if the 1989 nadir of Sam Fox and Mick Fleetwood really was as cringeworthy as some of the table set-ups we get these days.

Brit Awards

Ella Eyre winning the award for Best attempt at achieving a Wardrobe Malfunction

We all like to disagree with the judges – it’s a British tradition, and not only in Awards Shows.  However, even there I found myself nodding approvingly at some of the nominations, even if most of those inevitably lost-out to that frightful combination of corporate dollars and Buggins’ Turn.   So whilst enduring the more tedious parts, I found myself creating a few awards of my own: Continue Reading

Album of the Year 2013

Posted by Malcolm Toogood on December 31, 2013
Posted in: Albums of the Year. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Along with the usual crop of interesting new bands, we had the welcome return of a few old favourites in the shortlist for my Album of the Year 2013, one or two of whom have been away for too long.

aoty13

I suppose it is only to be expected in this world of instantly-downloadable individual tracks that back-catalogues are being visited by new generations of music-lovers, but it is still interesting to see the age-spread in the crowd for a gig by any big names of the previous century, when they make their return to the stage after a long absence. Such as when we visited the O2 back in June to see a band I hadn’t seen live for over 45 years – The Who. They came to Bath several times in the ‘sixties, and my main memory is of a cold November night in 1965 when hundreds of us, parka-clad, packed cheek-by jowell into The Pavilion, a venue only designed for half our numbers, in the hope of hearing something discernable come out of the crap PA. It didn’t, and nobody cared, but was it any wonder the band smashed-up all their kit at the end? Continue Reading

The Bear, the Hare and the Passport

Posted by Malcolm Toogood on December 7, 2013
Posted in: Music, Where's that Handcart?. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Once upon a time, there was a bear who missed Christmas every year because he hibernated for the winter.  A hare decided this was sad, so left his sleeping friend a present of an alarm clock, which woke him on Christmas Day.  To do this, he enlisted the help of a Mr Lewis, who sold bits of Christmas to the local folk.   Mr Lewis thought it would be nice to tell the locals all about the hare’s plan, and they became so interested that they twittered about it to their friends far and wide.

the bear and the hare

This generated so much interest that Mr Lewis’ business grew and grew until he felt he just had to make a film about it and, as films have to have a title song, he enlisted the help of a famous songstress to sing it for him.  Mr Lewis played the song in his store, and it so enchanted the people who heard it that they wanted to buy their own copy.  So Mr Lewis manufactured a single that became so popular it topped the Hit Parade.   So where, you may ask, does the Passport come into this.  Well to tell you that part of the story, I need to take you far, far away, to another land – Somewhere Only Jobsworths Know. Continue Reading