Marsh Towers: October 2018

October Gigs: Index

Click on the names to access the reviews.

Part One: Albert Lee; Jilted John

Part Two: Dawn Landes

Part Three: Dr Feelgood; Heather Peace

Part Four: Hailey Tuck

October Gigs, Part Four: Hailey Tuck

Hailey Tuck

The Crypt, Middlesbrough Town Hall

21.10.2018

Sometimes, it happens like this...

I 'discover' a singer by chance, investigate their tour dates and find out they are appearing locally, in the very near future!

That is exactly how I happened to be in The Crypt on a Sunday, attending an afternoon featuring excellent and varied acts as part of the Middlesbrough Jazz Weekender.

This was Middlesbrough's first jazz festival since 1978 - which was held at Ayresome Park. I was fortunate to be able to share a table with two very nice ladies, one of whom had been at the 1978 event and had just returned to going to jazz shows following the death of her husband a year or so ago.

I enjoyed the sets by Aurora and the Ushaw Ensemble, both of which featured the more experimental side of jazz, but it was my original mission which brought me the most pleasure.

Hailey Tuck is currently one of music's best-kept secrets, but that will not be the case for much longer. Her debut album, Junk, is simply wonderful.

Think Gatsby; think flappers; think the Roaring Twenties. This is the world inhabited by Hailey Tuck.

The songs are well-chosen and include a 1920s-style version of The Kinks' Alcohol, a fine song its own right, but one that is given a whole new twist, Tuck-style.

Hailey's set was fresh, original and uplifting. I will certainly be keeping a close eye on her tour dates.

Find out more over at Hailey's official website.

October Gigs, Part Three: Dr Feelgood, Heather Peace

Dr Feelgood

Georgian Theatre, Stockton-on-Tees

19.10.2018

It has been a while since I last saw Dr Feelgood. On that occasion, a disappointingly sparse audience rattled around the Middlesbrough Theatre. I don't know why there weren't more people there but I do recall it being a trend at the time.

This time the Teesside locals were out in force in a packed Georgian Theatre. Given the name, the band had apparently been expecting a gentile, all-seated venue and they were very pleasantly surprised to see the most vibrant of Stockton's intimate venues provide an all-singing, all-dancing crowd. Despite being lively, the crowd was very well behaved (apart from the occasional drunk, there rarely is at the Georgian Theatre).

The evening had started well enough with local punk band Johnny Seven warming everyone up in frantic and loud fashion. After 40 years they have finally put out an album!

Dr Feelgood are never likely to disappoint. Yes, there are no longer any of the original members in the band, but their ability to put on an evening of good old British rhythm and blues is never in question.

The tempo started off high and dropped very occasionally for a slower number or two, before reigniting to burn as brightly as ever.

The sing-a-along hits were all present and correct: Roxette, Milk and Alcohol, All Through the City, Going Back Home...there was even a pulsating encore of Route 66.

Who wouldn't feel good after such an evening?

Heather Peace

Arc, Stockton-on-Tees

20.10.2018

Another new act for me, as I came towards the end of a gig-packed October.

I expected Arc to packed to the rafters but there were plenty of seats left unfilled, for some reason.

The support from Samantha Durnan was very good and I recognised key personnel from Serinette.

Heather Peace gave a passionate performance that was well-received by the audience. The only blot on the evening's entertainment was the string of people in the balcony area who insisted on talking throughout the evening (a growing problem at gigs and cinemas, of course). Why do they bother coming out?

Anyway, I would definitely like to see Heather Peace again next time she is town.

October Gigs, Part Two: Dawn Landes

Dawn Landes

The Basement, York

16.10.2018

A new singer and a new venue; a rare double for me.

The Basement is an intriguing venue, situated directly beneath the City Screen Picturehouse cinema. With a seated capacity of 100 it is a venue for serious music fans, which suited me just fine.

I spoke with a couple of regulars who were seated next to me. They know their music well and we shared a lot of information on singers and venues. We had all seen Eilen Jewell earlier in the year (albeit in different venues) and it was just as we were talking that I noticed a friend from the Manchester Eilen gig. Very nice people!

Support came in the form of JF Robitaille and Lail Arad, who played a very interesting set.

Dawn Landes was touring her new album, Meet Me at the River and the set list on a considerable of the new songs. Indeed, the evening opened with the excellent title track.

There was still plenty of room for songs from other albums, such as Bluebird, and a few covers found their way in too, including Dolly Parton's Longer Than Always and Jimmie Driftwood's powerful What is the Color of the Soul of a Man?

Verdict: Top show; great venue.

October Gigs, Part One: Albert Lee; Jilted John

October was full of gigs and I embraced all genres from punk to folk, rock to country and Americana to jazz.

Some thoughts will now follow over the course of the next four blog posts.

Albert Lee

Arc, Stockton-on-Tees

13.10.2018

Albert Lee seems to be on tour permanently. I have seen many times in the past as part of Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings but this was the first time I had seen him with his own band and set.

It was straight into the action with I'm Ready, which set the scene nicely for the evening of rock 'n' roll to follow.

It was a set full of highlights, including Restless, Luxury Liner, 'Til I Gain Control Again and a storming encore of Real Wild Child and Tear it Up.

Along the way, he told lot of very interesting stories from his lengthy career, full of fascinating characters such as Emmylou Harris, Buddy Holly, Iggy Pop and The Everley Brothers.

At 74, he shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. Hopefully he will return to Teesside in the near future.

Jilted John

The Crypt, Middlesbrough Town Hall

14.10.2018

We all have a race memory of watching Jilted John on Top of the Pops back in 1978.

Not quite punk and not quite not punk, his performance was the talk of the school playground for some time to come and made Gordon, a boy in the year below me, the only child at St. Peter's Primary School to prefer indoor playtimes.

It seemed completely unrealistic to believe I would ever see Jilted John live and yet the opportunity presented itself, 40 years later, in the crypt of Middlesbrough's Town Hall.

John Otway opened the show with a truly extraordinary set, starting off with his biggest hit - Really Free - and following up swiftly with another that 'was released the same year and sold exactly the same number of copies' (i.e. the B side).

The choice of songs was extraordinary too, including an almost entirely spoken word version of Sweet's Blockbuster, seemingly as a device to introduce the astonishing double-guitar depicted here, which proved perfect to the task of reproducing the screaming chords for the chorus.

The highly entertaining set concluded with Headbangers, the very song the most vocal of local yokels had been demanding since the first song of the set. It soon became apparent why this song was saved until last, as it showcased Otway's talent for repeatedly smashing his forehead against the microphone.

Jilted John's legendary status ensured a capacity crowd down in The Crypt. The eccentric - and extremely hard-working - band added to the occasion and everyone was fully in role and on target from the very first song, I'm Still Jilted John - a worthy update to most famous of all songs featuring a protagonist called Gordon.

The tempo rarely dropped from this frenetic opener as we were given a musical tour through the highs, lows, chip shops and bus stops of Jilted John's largely unrequited and certainly frustrated life.