Do you miss the early 90s? Do you miss those pre-Britpop days? Do you miss seeing Suede when Brett and Bernard were just so perfect together? Do you miss clever pop songs, delivered by a man in a well-cut suit? Do you miss gently fading glamour? Do you miss an arched eyebrow and a wryContinue reading “Hamish Hawk – Thekla – February 2023”
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The Little Unsaid – Folk House – February 2023
As the first half of a helter-skelter set from The Little Unsaid came crashing to a close, John Elliott held an imaginary globe in his hand, squeezed it and dashed it to the floor; “You’ve just got to grab hold of life”, he said “like this”. With that his extraordinary band galloped off, singing aContinue reading “The Little Unsaid – Folk House – February 2023”
Charm of Finches – Folk House – January
There’s an ancient Japanese meditation practice called shinrin yoku. It’s the process of forest bathing; an opportunity to lose yourself in nature, banish the stresses of the everyday world, to be calm and quiet. If it’s permitted to hook yourself up to some music whilst you do it then Melbourne’s Charm of Finches, and theirContinue reading “Charm of Finches – Folk House – January”
Valerie June – Thekla – August 2022
This one was for the dreamers and the thinkers, the singers and the shouters, the lovers and the abandoned. Two astonishing singers making something beautiful on a warm and sticky Bristolian evening. Susan O’Neill is from Ireland and is all things husky and heartfelt. With just a guitar, one of those nifty loop machines andContinue reading “Valerie June – Thekla – August 2022”
St Paul and The Broken Bones – O2 Bristol – July
We need to talk about voices. Specifically, the one that belongs to Paul “St Paul” Janeway of Birmingham, Alabama’s eight-piece soul monster The Broken Bones. It’s an amazing thing. Part James Brown, part Al Green, part lunatic hellfire preacher. It’s a controlled falsetto shriek and a silky, woozy croon. It’s the sort of voice thatContinue reading “St Paul and The Broken Bones – O2 Bristol – July”
Sea Power – Trinity – July 2022
What makes a Cult Band? What makes you fall so deeply in love – in L.O.V.E – with a band while the rest of the world smile weakly and say “Oh yeah, I think I’ve heard of them”? What makes a skinny armed, floppy fringed boy jump and point and point and jump and jumpContinue reading “Sea Power – Trinity – July 2022”
Belle and Sebastian – Lloyd’s Amphitheatre – July 2022
This is proper National Treasure stuff. We’re in Helen Mirren territory here, Brian Blessed territory, Bernard Cribbins territory. Belle and Sebastian at Bristol Harbourside should be awarded some kind of a blue plaque, they should be granted English (or Scottish) Heritage status. Towards the end of a set of massive favourites Stuart Murdoch tipped hisContinue reading “Belle and Sebastian – Lloyd’s Amphitheatre – July 2022”
India Electric Co. – Downend Folk Club – June 2022
It was an evening for bare feet, bare arms and baring souls. It was an evening for smiling, cheering and enthusiastic seat dancing. It was, for the third time (and very, very much delayed) an evening of India Electric Co. at Downend Folk Club. And those are the best kind of evenings. If there’s oneContinue reading “India Electric Co. – Downend Folk Club – June 2022”
First Aid Kit – Lloyd’s Amphitheatre – June 2022
Early on in Katy J Pearson’s support slot she surveyed the sun dappled audience and said “Well Bristol this is nuts, there’s a lot of people here”. And indeed, there were. The Swedish country rock sisters, First Aid Kit, had, seemingly, brought out every Bristolian that wasn’t standing in a field in Somerset. There wereContinue reading “First Aid Kit – Lloyd’s Amphitheatre – June 2022”
Cup O’ Joe – Downend Folk Club – May 2022
If there’s something lovely about the early summer sun then there’s something incredibly lovely about Bluegrass played in a church as that early summer sun washes across four amazing musicians. Without wishing to get all biblical, it seems like a blessing. Cup O’Joe aren’t your porch dwelling, grizzled old Bluegrass players huddled around a single microphone,Continue reading “Cup O’ Joe – Downend Folk Club – May 2022”
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