Solid Silver 60s Show 2011, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.

I have skipped a couple of years of Solid Silver 60s shows for various reasons, but last night my best friend Ellie and I went along to the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall for an evening of fun. Actually we started at the Philharmonic Pub for drinks with Toni from the Dakotas who is currently sitting in on keyboards with The Merseybeats. There was a fair amount of catching up to do as I'd not seen him for ages. I mustn't leave that long again!

Vanity Fare were on stage when we took our seats, we were just in time for Hitching A Ride. Vanity Fare provided the backing for all the solo artists on the bill. They are jolly good at it too.

Wayne Fontana took the stage in his white suit and cowboy hat. Still in fine voice he entertained the crowd in his own inimitable style. With classics like Um Um Um Um Um Um and Game Of Love we were already dancing in our seats and singing along.

Following Wayne was Chris Farlowe.  It had been a while since we'd seen him on a Manfreds tour. He still sounds great. The set list included Handbags and Gladrags, a rather nice new song the title of which escapes me right now and ended, of course, with Out Of Time. 

After the interval it was time for Dave Berry. Opening with Memphis Tennessee and working his way as only he can through a cover of ZZ Top's Give Me All Your Loving, Mama, Little Things (cue us joining in on the backing vocals) and The Crying Game he gave a great show. He even came back for a kind of encore, which was a version of the BeeGees' First of May. 

Next was Terry Sylvester who was in both the Escorts and the Hollies for a while. As a local lad he must have had a lot of family in judging from the reaction from the audience. Vanity Fare did a fabulous job of recreating the Hollies-esque harmonies for the set. 

The evening was rounded off by The Merseybeats. They very quickly had the crowd going and even had some up on their feet. By the end we were all on our feet actually! The band never fail to entertain. We got Wishin' And Hopin', a coupel of Everly Brothers tunes, Don't Turn Around, I Think of You, a version of Live and Let Die with pyros and strobe lights...and that was topped with a crowd pleasing rendition of Sorrow before they belted out a version of Hi Ho Silver Lining. 

The finale was Glad All Over with all the acts back on stage and the crowd clapping and stomping along. We had a fabulous night and it reminded us how much fun we have at these things. Personally I'm already eager to find out the line up for next year!

Full set of photos here at my flickr account.

Rick Wakeman - Pacific Road Arts Centre, Birkenhead

This was my first Rick Wakeman solo concert. I had seen a couple of DVDs so pretty much knew what to expect.

The format was simple. The stage was set with a piano and a microphone. Rick introduced each piece with an amusing anecdote before sitting at the piano. Lots of the stories are well known, but he does love telling them. In fact he seemed to be really enjoying himself up there.

His piano playing is quite something to watch. Luckily from where I was sat he didn't have his back completely to us and I found myself quite mesmerised by his technique.

Highlight were A Glimpse of Heaven, You And I/Wonderous Stories, Morning Has Broken, Dance of A Thousand Lights (karaoke version - he played over a recording of the orchestral bits.) and Catherine Howard which is rapidly becoming one of my favourite pieces of his music.

There was even audience participation. We all got to be birds on The Birdman of Alcatraz.

It was a fun evening all round, and really do hope the opportunity arises that I can go and see him again.

Five Songs

 

It’s quite simple – just list five songs you really into at the moment; not your five greatest songs of all time, but five songs you’ve been listening to a lot recently, for any given value of “Recently”. And give a few words explaining why.

Note - I have previously posted a Five Song thing here. But I didn’t look at it till I had finished this post.

Brandenburger – The Nice

I’ve just been reading about The Nice and filling in the gaps in my CD collection. This one particularly sticks in my head because for a few days before I acquired it on CD I had the Brandenburg Concerto playing over and over in my head (I think I’d heard it on a TV show or something.)

Friends Like These – T’Pau

It’s quite sad that this song as been applicable in my life at least twice. Still I currently don’t have any friends like these, I have fabulous, open-minded, caring, empathic friends of all kinds. And all praise to the powers that be that this is the case. Still like the song though and have done since the album came out.

Somebody Who Cares – Paul McCartney

I’ll admit it, I have a soft spot for the Tug Of War/Pipes Of Peace albums. This tune lives in my head and surfaces every now and again. Lyrically Paul captures the frustrations of life. It’s a simple analogy but effective. “Like somebody has taken the wheels off your car when you had somewhere to go” He couples this with the assurance that there’s “always someone somewhere, you should know by now there’s always somebody who cares” and he’s probably right!

Shoot To Thrill – AC/DC

The Iron Man 2 soundtrack is one that I often listen to on the way to work. It blows away the cobwebs as well as blocking out the general chatter that drives me insane at that time of day on that bus route – works on the journey back too!

My Resistance Is Low – Hoagy Carmichael

This tune is quite the earworm. And it’s well and truly stuck in my brain!

(stolen from here by the way.)

Incoming!

Quick list of my forthcoming gigs.

20th March - Toyah in Liverpool

22nd April - Joe Brown in Liverpool

23rd April - Rick Wakeman in Birkenhead

13th May -  Mostly Autumn in Manchester

17th to 24th May - International Pop Overthrow Festival in Liverpool

29th May - Roger Hodgson in Liverpool

28th July - Iron Maiden in Manchester

13th November - Yes in Manchester

Also possibly 

The Zombies in Liverpool (I think that's on 18th May, but it depends if there's a scedule clash with anyone I want to see at IPO)

and I am still saving up for High Voltage in July.

The list will of course expand as the year progresses. 

Notable by their absence is Crosby And Nash (much as I think it will sound amazing in the Liverpool Philharmonic I couldn't justify the ticket price at the time), The Monkees (again I couldn't justify the ticket price as it included getting to Manchester because I really do not like the Liverpool Echo Arena as a venue) and Ringo Starr (far too expensive for what is on offer!)

Best Quote Ever!

"Progressive is an attitude rather than a genre, isn't it?"

This quote is from Matt Stevens in his recent interview with Classic Rock Presents Prog magazine.

I love it.

I occasionally sit and ponder the various musical genres and still can't even begin to understand them properly. I like all kinds of music, and I'm not keen on being pigeon holed due to whichever type of music I appear to listen to the most.

I remember when I first joined last.fm and someone I know in real life added me there. They seemed concerned that whatever system they use to compare you to your friend meant our compatibility was low. Hardly, we had other things in common other than music and I like my friends to have diverse tastes. This is how I get introduced to and am able to explore different music.

In simple terms, I like what I like. If that skews your impression of me in someway, I'm afraid that's your problem. So yes - I will happily listen to a couple of hours worth of prog and follow it with cheesy pop, then a bit of classical music, maybe something with a jazz feel, perhaps a touch of Rolf Harris followed by some battle metal or traditional folk.

And Matt Stevens' music is in that mix too. I find his work a fabulous soundtrack for winding down at the end of the day or for working on the computer. You can find lots of his music by clicking here and you can pay what you want for it too.

Jacqui & Bridie's Folk Club: 50th Year and Final Night - Liverpool Philharmonic 23rd January 2011

Some of you may know that I spend a lot of time in Liverpool, in fact I am there all week now I work full time in the city, going home at weekends. What you may not realise is why I first I fell for this city.  It wasn't due to the Beatles as many would suspect given that I am a fan and my day job involves them more than a fair bit.

My love affair with the city of Liverpool began with the songs my dad would sing to me as a child, and many of these would be songs performed by Jacqui & Bridie and The Spinners.  (Incidentally, I would go on to a deep appreciation of The Mersey Poets to further my affections for the city before finally proceeding to The Beatles.)

When it was first suggested that there was going to be a concert to celebrate Jacqui & Bridie's Folk Club I immediately knew that I wanted to be there and, more importantly, I wanted to take my dad. I didn't particularly need to know who was going to be on the bill, when the tickets went on sale seats were purchased near the front and dad's Christmas/Birthday was dutifully sorted. The tickets were a small price to pay for the musical grounding I had been given.

The night was fantastic. From the first song, Kilgary Mountain, the audience were in fine voice, and the joy in the venue was almost tangible. The folk club ideal was upheld throughout the night, if you knew the words - sing along, if you picked up the chorus - sing along! The songs were punctuated with "terrible" jokes from Jacqui which the audience would either giggle at or greet with a well meant groan.

Everyone had a good time, whether they were on stage or in the audience. We were all a part of it and it was such an amazing thing of which to be a part.

It's hard to pick out highlights when I enjoyed all it so very much. Perhaps the most enduring memory will be Jacqui almost crying with laughter at John Gorman's hilarious performance of Ten Whisky Bottles. Jacqui remained on stage for the entire duration of the concert either listening to or joining in with the acts as they came on stage.

The evening was to mark the end of the folk club, but Jacqui went to pains to point out that she herself was not retiring and would be still available should anyone want her to appear anywhere.

The evening ended with the assembled musicians and the audience singing The Leaving Of Liverpool, followed - after loud calls for more - by the lovely Wild Mountain Thyme.

I was honoured to be there, even more honoured to share it with very special people and still hold the joy of the evening in my heart when I think about it.

Link to an online version of the programme for the evening. - for background information and details of performers.

Kilgary Mountain.


The Leaving Of Liverpool.


Link to youtube playlist of videos from the evening (in no particular order)

Thank you to Stephen for the photos.

My Top Ten Artists and Tracks of 2010

According to my last.fm profile.


Top Ten Artists of 2010
1  Yes
2  The Buggles
3  Emerson, Lake & Palmer
4  Huey Lewis & The News
5  Dolly Parton
6  Kirby Krackle
7  Asia
8  ABBA
9  Strawbs
10 Mostly Autumn

Top Ten Tracks of 2010
1  The Buggles – Video Killed The Radio Star
2  Yes – Starship Trooper: Life Seeker (Single Version)
3  Dolly Parton/Kenny Rogers – Islands in the Stream
4  Honeybug – Anything For You
5  Toto – Africa
6  Yes – Tempus Fugit
7  Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Nobody Loves You Like I Do
8  Dolly Parton – Here You Come Again
9  Dolly Parton – 9 To 5
10 Strawbs – Lay Down