Davblog

In which someone you've never heard of writes about things you have no interest in

Posts Tagged ‘folk’

Flaming June and Fire Up Mary

Over the last couple of years I’ve been getting back into the habit of seeing live music. But most of the gigs I’ve seen recently have been at relatively large venues. I haven’t been going to places like Wembley Arena, but I’ve seen a lot of gigs at places like the Union Chapel and the Barbican Centre.

One thing that I haven’t done for ages is to just go and see some bands in a small venue like a pub. Last night I put that right and went to the Monto Water Rats on Gray’s Inn Road.

There were four bands on the bill. The night started with Flaming June. They are an “alternative folk” band from Suffolk. Their music certainly has a folky feel to it, but it’s presented in an enjoyably modern manner. In some ways they remind me of the (much missed) Boothill Foot-tappers. They got even better when the lead singer remembered to plug her guitar in! They don’t seem to have any music available to buy or download yet, but they mentioned an EP which will hopefully be released soon. I’ll be looking out for it. If you see them on a bill then they’r definitely worth checking out.

Next up were a band who I think were called Pirate Jenny but I can’t find any evidence of a British band of that name (note to bands: if no-one is likely to know who you are then it’s worth telling us several times). Just before they appeared on-stage I overheard a friend of theirs in the audience saying how they hadn’t had time for a soundcheck. That would explain why it took them ages to set up and get going. They told us that it was their first London gig and that fact combined with the lack of a soundcheck meant that they seemed rather nervous. There were a couple of false starts and the sound really wasn’t very good. But despite that, there was an enthusiasm that to their performance that meant I enjoyed it immensely. They were selling an EP, but I didn’t buy a copy as I thought I’d get a download from the internet. I’m regretting that now as I can’t find any kind of web presence for them. I suspect I’ve got their name wrong.

[Update: Thanks to the efforts of FiddlersMrs (a member of Flaming June) I now know that this second band was actually called Fire Up Mary. Guess that shows just how bad the sound was!]

The third act was called The Raven. They were a more traditional folk duo. It was nice stuff, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first two acts.

Throughout those first three acts I had a pretty good spot near the front of the room. But it was starting to get a bit crowded there so I moved to the back of the room to get a bit more space before Eliza Carthy came on. It didn’t really work. The venue seemed to have sold far too many tickets for the night and the place had become uncomfortably overcrowded. I was tired, too hot and couldn’t really see the stage from my new spot. I’m ashamed to admit it, but after Eliza had done three or four songs I sloped off and went home. I’ll need to make plans to see her again soon to make up for that.

I don’t feel too bad though. In Flaming June and Pirate Jenny (or whatever they are called) I’ve discovered two news bands that I’m really excited about.

I call that a successful night out.

BBC Four

The always excellent BBC Four has been excelling itself over the last couple of weeks. First there was the Folk Britannia season which looks at the history of British folk music since the 1950s. Then there was Lefties – a series of three programmes about people involved in left wing politics in the 70s and 80s. And this week they’re starting a series of documentaries about climate change.

This is TV as it should be done. This is why I pay my licence fee. Do yourself a favour – watch more BBC Four.

Folk is Cool Again

Well, at least, it is according to an article in today’s Observer.

One of the new names to watch that they list is Sheila Chandra. I’m not sure I’d describe her as a new name though. I first heard of her in 1982 when she was the lead singer on Monsoon’s hit single “Ever So Lonely”. A few years later she sang on “Raining” by Ancient Beatbox, which was one of the first Cooking Vinyl records that I heard.

In it’s monthly music magazine, the Observer also mentions that a new Beth Orton album is imminent – which has to be a good thing.

Cambridge Folk Festival

Strange how your priorities change. Ten years ago I’d never have missed the Cambridge Folk Festival. This year I didn’t even register that it was happening.

The BBC review makes it sound like it was a lot of fun. And maybe I did subconsciously realise that it was taking place as I’ve been listening to a lot of Christy Moore on the iRiver over the weekend.

I have to take issue with a couple of things that the BBC reviewer says about Christy.

His first song – Burning Times (by Charlie Murphy), about the burning of witches, – was a bit of wordy dirge.

Actually, “Burning Times” is a song I like a lot. It’s not the jolliest of tunes – well you wouldn’t expect that from a song about the church’s systematic destruction of a competing religion – but it’s a very powerful song. If you think it’s a bit of a dirge then maybe you’re the wrong person to be reviewing a folk festival. The reviewer then compounds his error by going on to say

It’s a problem with a few of his songs that sometimes put a simplistic political message before tune, rhyme and rhythm.

Which is, to be blunt, bollocks. Yes, a lot of Christy’s songs are political, but I really can’t see how you’d describe something like “La Quinta Brigada” or “Smoke and Strong Whisky” as simplistic.