Thu 22 Jan – Folk America: Greenwich Village Revisited

I’ve just returned from the second Barbican concert night of Folk America, the BBC folk series. Last night was the stompin’ kind of folk, played by the new generation. Tonight was called Greenwich Village Revisited, and featured some of the original members of the ’60s New York folk scene. It was a quieter, more thoughtful, more moving night.

Read the rest of my review on my blog.

Wed 21 Jan – Folk America: Hollerers, Stompers & Old Time Ramblers
There was a time in 1920s and 1930s America when, having cross-fertilised and gestated sufficiently, folk, blues, jazz, gospel and country music saw the light of a bigger day than they had before. Radio and records meant that music started spreading faster and wider than it had previously. But in the early stages there was great overlap between what was blues, what was country, and what was folk (and what was gospel, and what was jazz…).

Last night at the Barbican was the first of two nights that…

Sun 11 Jan – The Duke Spirit

I’ve seen London rock act The Duke Spirit six times already, but the chance to see them in the tiny 100 Club last night wasn’t something I could pass up. And my pal Siany and her friend Eddie showed up too, so I didn’t have to be a gig saddo.

The support act was Joe Gideon & The Shark. I’d just recently heard of these guys: a brother-sister act (the Shark’s real name is Viva Gideon, which is already so rockstar-cool that it could only be bettered with a name like The Shark)…

Tue 25 Nov – Monkey: Journey To the West

It’s a convoluted cultural path that took me to the O2 last night. Pay attention.

In 16th century China, Wu Cheng’en wrote one of the great works of Chinese literature, called Journey to the West. It’s the mythological story of a Buddhist monk on a quest to India to obtain some sacred texts, the strange creatures that accompany him, and the demons and trials they overcome along the way. One of those strange companion creatures is the Monkey King, born from a stone egg, who learned the secret of immortality and…

Thu 13 Nov – Leonard Cohen

I’m just back from London’s O2 arena and a Leonard Cohen extravaganza. It was awesome.

Cohen toured the UK earlier in 2008 for the first time in over 14 years. I didn’t go then because I resisted the notion of seeing a performer like him in a large stadium. Then I read the reviews. They were very good. So when he added some more London dates, I got a ticket.

Cohen was the absolute epitome of cool.

Read the rest of this review on my blog.

Thu 23 Oct – The Mighty Boosh
The performance would be an impenetrable chaos of sketches to anyone who hadn’t watched several episodes of the show. But it delivered what all us Boosh fans wanted: the Crack Fox in ’80s dance-pop mode, poking fun at Howard’s eyes, a giant eel, tentacled head Tony Harrison talking smack and Bollo having none of it, Howard in jazz/serious actor mode, Naboo turning his back, and the Bouncy Castle crimp.

Read the full review on my blog

Wed 15 Oct – dEUS, De Staat

Last night I was at a gig where one of the crowd’s biggest cheers was in response to the pronouncement, “The next song is a song about Buckminster Fuller!”

Click here to read the rest of this review on my blog.
http://theplummetonions.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/deus.jpg?w=450&h=337
Photo from franfiorini via Creative Commons license

Thu 2 Oct – Joan Baez
I like folk music because it matters. Woody Guthrie and Stan Rogers and Bob Dyan are saying something. It’s the opposite of bubblegum pop and brainless rawk (both of which I also like, but for different reasons).

Tonight I was at the Royal Albert Hall to see one of the great legends of folk: Joan Baez.

Read the rest of this review on my blog.

Tue 30 Sep – The Duke Spirit, Howling Bells
Just back from seeing The Duke Spirit at the Astoria. This was the first place I saw them play, when they opened for Elbow in early 2006. I’ve seen them several times since. They’re my favourite guitar band of the moment.

Read the rest of my review on my blog.

Sat 20 Sep – Howard Jones
Music Man and Earth Girl are friends of ours that, like many sets of friends, we don’t see as often as we should. Nevertheless, they were nice enough to invite us to the Howard Jones 25th anniversary show at indigO2 last night. This might seem a rather random thing to do until I remind you that Music Man runs the label that Howard Jones is on. So, once again, all the prejudices of this blog are laid bare.

Read the rest of this review on my blog.
http://theplummetonions.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/hj-red-shot-2-blue-b-w.jpg?w=391&h=399
Photo credit: Simon Fowler / howardjones.com)