Gigging Forever Awards 2014: Part Three (The Moany edition)

Welcome back to Earl's Court, where you join us for part three of our annual awards ceremony, hope you've got your hard hats on, don't mind the demolition men... No, Sam Fox, we're good thanks...

(Don't tell me you missed Part One and Part Two, did you? Well, definitely don't tell me that now, because I just made sure you didn't.)

Ok, it's time to dole out some musical "Razzies" for the stuff that just really didn't hit the spot this year - I think it's only fair in the interests of balance, and let's be honest, praising stuff isn't as much fun to read or write.


The "I Don't Get It" award

The nominees:

- Gazpacho: Demon

- D'Angelo: Black Messiah

Both of these come highly recommended by people I trust. Like, seriously raving and drooling about them. Neither are in a genre that I know I hate, so neither could be said to be "not aimed at me". 'Black Messiah' was only released just before Christmas and already it is the number 2 top rated album of 2014 on RateYourMusic. 'Demon' is at number 46,  by the way, which is pretty good for an album on KScope.

I accept, therefore, that there is something pretty ruddy awesome about both these albums. It's just that apparently, whatever it is, I was innoculated against it sometime in my childhood. Those damn vaccinations...

I. Just. Don't. Get. It.

Feel free to enlighten me, please.


Most utterly, soul destroyingly pointless compilation

-Queen: Queen Forever (or "Queef Forever", as I just accidentally typed, perhaps appropriately...)

"Hey guys, I've just found this unreleased song from 'The Works', shall we put it on the remaster as a bonus track? What's that? You think we could milk a lot more money out of it? Have we got anything else to put it together with? A rubbish duet with Michael Jackson, yeah that'll do. Anything else? No? How about we remix one of Freddie's old dance tracks as a ballad? Ok, great, that'll make a good EP. What's that? Nobody would buy a 3-song EP? I suppose we'd better fill up the remainder of 2 CDs with a selection of album tracks and hits chosen by a blindfolded marmoset and randomised in a concrete mixer. Sweet. Do it."

If ever there was an argument for illegal downloading...

-Genesis: R-Kive

1. Shit name ("the kind of pun a 5-year old would come up with", says Karin. "It's not even an actual pun", says I.)
2. Shit album cover
3. Shit selection of previously unreleased material (i.e., um, nothing.)
4. Just a completely bizarre idea. Who listens to a CD which contains both "The Knife" and "I Can't Dance"? Who wants to hear both "Solsbury Hill" and "Over My Shoulder"? Oh, I know who. Genesis fans. Who already have all this stuff. Several times.

And the winner is... Genesis. For sheer brazen cheek. (See, there's a face on the front, which has got cheeks! That's a better pun than "R-Kive".)


Worst Album Art

The nominees:

Corvus Stone - II

I've never heard this album, by the way. I can't think why I'm not that inclined to check it out. I like the way they stole the woman-turns-into-crow thing from Kate Bush, but I'm not sure they really nailed the tone in quite the same way that she did.


United Progressive Fraternity - Fall in Love with the World

I think a rainbow unicorn just took a wizz in my eyes...


Schnauser - Protein for Everyone

Something about this just makes me feel very ill. Meat doesn't belong under a hat. It's a bit like the mixture of the Dolmio Puppets and a real spag bol. I accept that it must happen, but it doesn't mean I want to look at it.

(The music, by the way, is actually pretty cool...)

And the winner is... I don't know, my eyes are irrevocably damaged so I can't read what's on the card.

I've got the URL for Steve Hackett's new album ready for a quick CTRL-V into next year's awards, by the way.

The "Please, for the love of God, just make it stop" award

(Aka the one in which I lose most of my regular readership)

The nominees:

- Yes: Heaven and Earth

No.

(I'm pretty sure nobody's ever made that joke before...)


- Mike Oldfield: Man on the Rocks

 I know we've already had this, but look, it was just so terrible it's worth pointing out again. 

- Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope

Today, for the first time ever, having pre-ordered the deluxe edition, I actually managed to listen to the whole of this album in one go - purely for the purposes of writing this. I hope you appreciate it. Here are the notes I made, which I can't even be bothered to make into real sentences, that's how much I want my time back:

liked TA but this is same old same old, stupid growly voices, WHY? Don't let Pete sing. Just not very good songs, sorry. Black as the sky is kind of cool but it is basically Devil's Got my Throat from Snow so it ought to be

Look at that, I didn't even want to waste another full stop on it.


- IQ - The Road of Bones

Today, for the several hundredth time since it came out, I did not listen to this album. In fact, I tried to listen to it once when it did come out, and it didn't go very well, so I try to avoid it whenever possible. To mangle a saying from my friend James Allen, when people make suggestions for things for him to listen to: "But I've already heard an IQ album."


- Opeth - Pale Communion

I'm sorry, Sweden. I've let you down. I tried and failed to get engaged by this. It just sounded like more of the last album, and I wasn't that excited about that one. I shall go henceforth and give myself numerous lashings with an ornäsbjörk twig.


- Just basically all Prog

Ok, I don't know what it is, either I'm "growing out of" it, or it's stuck in a horrible rut in 9/8, or I'm just in a bad mood with the world in general, but me and Prog are not getting along this year. We've had our differences in the past and made it work, having that counselling session with Big Big Train last year certainly patched things up for a while, and that Lazuli/Moon Safari gig just before Christmas was a wonderfully illicit thrill, but I think for the sake of everyone, especially the kids, me and Prog are going to have to go our separate ways.

"Pleeeease come back, we can change...."

No, I'm sorry, that's my final decision. I'm not buying any more Prog albums. I'm just going to buy music from artists who push the boundaries, make interesting and innovative albums which demand a bit of thought from the listener - artists who aren't afraid to do different things with chords, rhythms and sounds, take on different influences from the whole world of music, maybe use some interesting instrumentation, who aren't constrained by things like song length, don't follow prescribed formulas, and who take me on a journey, maybe even tell me a story. Yes, that's right, progressive music.

P.S. For the love of all that is good and holy, can we stop calling everything Prog this and Prog that? Prog Curry? Prog Cruise? Prog Avocado? Are Sparks Prog? Is Nirvana? Are the Cheeky Girls? What are the most Prog words? How about which Christmas Carols have the most Prog in them? (Two genuine forum threads I read this year.)

This cushion, is that Prog? What's the most Prog fish in my aquarium? Oops, hold on, I think I may have just had a particularly Proggy bowel movement...


Next time: Some more stuff that I actually did like. I promise.

10th May 2013: Steve Hackett - Genesis Revisited - Hammersmith Apollo

Right back in post numero one of this blog, which nobody read, I hinted at the story of my adolescent musical awakening at the hands of a bald drummer who didn't divorce his wife by fax. That's a story which still needs to be told, but suffice to say that for me and gig-buddy-then-and-now Graham, there's something extremely special about seeing a bona fide member of Genesis live on stage, even if they don't play any Genesis songs - and let's face it that's something we've had even less chance to see since 1994. Apart from the two times we saw Genesis. And Phil Collins. And Steve Hackett. And Mike and the Mechanics. Obviously none of those count.

But it's a very special night tonight, marrying the singalong, nostalgic atmosphere of a sweaty tribute gig in a student union with the superiority and lack of shame which comes from knowing that tonight's tribute band contains one of our long-time musical and coiffeurial heroes.

Photo: Hackettsongs.com

There's a school of thought that says it's a bit sad to go out on tour, trading off a catalogue of songs from a band you left 35 years ago- it's a rather snooty school of thought, with prefects and fagging and probably the cane- so to that school of thought, this evening I say "Yah Boo Sucks", for three reasons:

1) Nobody else from the band in question is remotely interested in touring with this material, if at all. 

2) The man co-wrote and played on what is arguably the most enduring material from the band's legacy - and he does at least only play material he was actually involved in creating (Oh, Hi Ray, didn't see you there...) 

3) People pay good money to go and see tribute bands containing Canadians and Italians doing Peter Gabriel impersonations - so why shouldn't Steve go out on the road with a Swede doing a Pheter Gabrins impersonation and get a slice of the action?

4) He's still got the most hair out of anyone in the band, so he's the perfect choice to bring the music to a whole new generation of men who (like our party of four this evening) are only approaching, rather than leaving middle age. In fact the barnet is resplendent this evening, the light show behind him catching the edges of the tonsorial helmet at various points, making him look like he's wearing giant sparkly headphones. (Not a very serious look - you wouldn't catch, say, Robert Fripp looking like he's wearing giant sparkly headphones, oh no.)

Tonight's tickets proclaim "NO SUPPORT" and that the show will start promptly at 7:30, which confuses everyone when we arrive bang on time and find that most of the audience are still mingling in the bar. Unfortunately, there seems to be nothing to indicate when Mr Hackett actually will be putting in an appearance, which is probably why half the crowd are still quaffing lager in the foyer when the famous sci-fi opening to "Watcher of the Skies" announces that this evening's shenanigans are most definitely on the way. 

Tonight's party is comprised of the aforementioned Graham (he of the record shopping confessions) and his two younger brothers, who were literally children playing on the floor with fire engines when we were getting into this stuff, but are now fully-fledged humans with fiancees and jobs and mortgages - which is always a nice reminder of how OLD you are. It takes the entire Overture of 'Watcher' to get the stragglers into place, although as one of our party points out, at least the grand Mellotron intro makes a rather nice way to announce our entrance.

Safely in place, we settle down just in time for the song proper to start, and it's an impressive start with It Bites and Take That man Lee Pomeroy's meaty bass (one of the fattest I've heard in a while), and Gary O'Toole's powerful drums setting the foundation for a note-perfect but not too much so opening number. Oh, and there's some guy on guitar too, who gets centre stage and a bank of spotlights, but doesn't ever open his mouth to sing... the cheek of it. Wide smiles creep across 3,000 and something faces in the room this evening, and stay firmly in place for the next 2 and a half hours (no interval either, meaning Steve's bladder is definitely much stronger than mine.)

The night progresses with classic song after classic song - selections from all the Genesis albums which Steve played on and co-wrote, continuing on with 'The Chamber of 32 Doors', 'Dancing With the Moonlit Knight' and a medley of songs from 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway', culminating in a teasing snippet of 'Cuckoo Cocoon' before leaving us all hanging. But not to worry, there's an absolute belter up next, as Steve introduces tonight's first special guest, Nik Kershaw (he of 'Wouldn't it be Good?' fame and Genesis-acolyte through his solo work with Tony Banks, which nobody bought, as Tony would probably like me to remind you at this point...) - Nik's here to reprise his wonderful rendition of 'The Lamia', always one of the most haunting songs from 'The Lamb' and definite highlight of Steve's most recent album of Genesis reworkings, thanks to Nik's new vocal take on things which defiantly doesn't just consist of doing a cabaret Peter Gabriel impression.

This is blatantly a photo of 'Blood on the Rooftops' - I just thought
it had been a while since you'd had a picture to break up my waffle.

In fact, I owe Nik an apology because his vocals on the album are so controlled and precise in their tone, I ranted elsewhere about the possible use of autotune - but it's exactly the same story tonight, a vocal tour-de-force which we're extremely lucky to witness. And as if that wasn't enough, from out of the shadows at stage right appears Marillion's Steve Rothery, to recreate the guitar duel which closes the reworked version on the CD, battling with Steve over the extended closing section of the song. It's so good, it gets a standing ovation, which I'd like to think is for going a bit beyond a recreation of the original - although 'The Musical Box', which is up next with its screen graphics depicting playing cards and demonic babies is a very faithful rendition of the 'Genesis Live' version and gets an even bigger ovation, so what do I know?

There are a few things which set tonight's Genesis renditions apart from a tribute band like The Musical Box - firstly, there's room for a little interpretation, though not too much, to the relief of the man behind us whilst filing out who was "concerned that he was going to take extreme liberties with the material". Steve's updated many of his guitar solos, there are the various vocal interpretations we hear tonight, and then there are the places where keyboard solos are replaced by the fantastic woodwind of Rob Townsend - such as on the goosebump-favourite 'Blood on the Rooftops'. It'd be easy to bristle at the idea of iconic synth sounds from the 70's being replaced by cheesy sax, but firstly I imagine if they'd had a real woodwind instrument to use in the late 70's, they might have done it - and secondly and mostly thankfully, tonight's woodwind is less Kenny G and far more VDGG. 

Rob can stay - and so can his fellow hat-wearing band member Gary O'Toole, who's a great drummer and a good vocalist, although he does shout some of the vocals to the song in a most bizarre fashion, which suggests that the similar performance on the album was a stylistic choice and not because someone dropped a piano on his foot at an inopportune moment. The song's a triumph though, as agreed by someone across the way who yells out:

"Steve, thank you for choosing Planet Earth!"

I'm really struggling for useable photos here, bear with me.

Another un-tributey thing about this evening is that nobody dresses up in costumes, thankfully. Well, apart from main vocalist Nad Sylvan. His costumes range from undertaker for 'Watcher', to the South American gigolo outfit of lace-up frilly white top and leather trousers which he wears for most of the rest of the set. Nad's an interesting one - on the album I was less than impressed with his diction and "interpretation" of the lyrics (prompting a nameless friend to suggest that it sounded like he was swallowing his tongue) - however this evening you actually can't fault his vocals, they're on key and powerful and, sure there are a few pronunciation slip ups ("Today's a day to cellar-brate?") but he's no worse than his compatriots Abba, and nobody ever complains about them. Not for that reason, anyway.

No, on this showing, Nad's actually a great singer, managing to pull off both the Gabriel and Collins material. It's when you start looking directly at him that things become a little more tricky - he's obviously seen some videos of Gabriel's odd stage movements back in the 70's and decided to ape a few of them but pretty much just looks like he's having some kind of unfortunate fit for much of the set, especially at the start of 'The Musical Box' where I suspect he's attempting a kind of jack-in-the-box type thing but looks more like someone really uncool trying to dance 'the Robot'.

There's that standing ovation I mentioned earlier.

And then there's 'Eleventh Earl of Mar', where he comes out dressed like some kind of circus ringleader with a cane and all, starts the song by going "Wuuuuurrrrrgggghhhhhhhhhthe sun had been up for a couple of hours..." and starts on a bizarre little jaunty dance when he's not singing - prompting the following conversation between me and Graham:

Me: This doesn't really go with the subject matter, does it?

Graham: No, I'm pretty sure it's not a song about being a complete twat.

There are a couple more special guests this evening - firstly Steve's sister-in-law Amanda Lehman who joins the band to sing one of the very few non-Genesis songs played this evening, 'Shadow of the Hierophant', with its majestic, building closing section still managing to keep the audience rapt with its continual cycling of the same couple of chord patterns. And then John Wetton appears to belt out 'Afterglow' at the end of the 'Unquiet Slumbers / In That Quiet Earth' medley, during which the whole band shines, but especially note-perfect keys man Roger King. John absolutely nails the vocal, then hugs Steve and scoots offstage to leave the band to finish the song.

Yes, I know that could be any two men hugging on a stage. Just trust me.

After a rip-roaring run-through 'Dance on a Volcano', which is an absolute showcase for the whole band, as they tackle without difficulty the tricky ending section which Genesis themselves dropped as soon as they could, it's time for this evening's last guest. Jakko Jakszyk's vocal on 'Entangled' is a highlight tonight as on the album, harmonising wonderfully with Nad and Amanda, and providing a beautiful foundation for the spine-chilling woodwind and keyboard solos which wrap up the penultimate song of the main set. But what could possibly be left to play?


Well, of course, there's just under half an hour of the set to go, and it must be time for the main course, so we settle back and get ready for 'Supper'. The screens at the back of the stage have been adding background ambiance throughout the set and I've not really been paying much attention to them so far, freaky mutated babies aside, but it's at this point that one of my gig buddies points out the unseeable - that the images and videos for 'Supper' are perhaps a little too literal? Hence, on the line "the moon gets very bright", up comes our favourite lunar object, then there's a cross, then... yes, you're there already aren't you? "It's been a long long time..." oh, there are some spinning clocks. And so it continues into the second section of the song, as the farmer who looks after the farm is represented by some, um, dandelions, moving gradually into a field of wheat which then starts to burn as the fireman looks after his fire.

It's at this point that I decide to go back to ignoring the screens - the original Lamb show had it just right: appropriate but arty imagery, with some downright bizarre stuff and story enhancement mixed in for good measure - never was it quite so prosaic as tonight's demo reel for Stockfootage.com. This minor niggle forgotten about in a matter of seconds, we can concentrate on the music, and it's just as well we do, or we'd miss one of the finest things to be seen in London all year.

When you think you'll never see Genesis live and you therefore go to as many tribute gigs as I once did, it's very easy to get blasé about 'Supper's Ready', or in some cases actively dread its appearance with the fear normally reserved for someone slaughtering your favourite song at Karaoke. (I hope 'Sledgehammer' isn't your favourite song, otherwise that person was once me.)

However, there's something impossibly amazing about seeing it performed tonight by an actual member of Genesis, and a band whose every member is a master in their field and not just a bloke from down the pub who can hold an instrument. We're taken away on a wave of emotion (and yes, nostalgia, of course) and are reminded of what a wonderfully fine piece of music this is, why it's rightly held in such high regard, and why it's spawned 376 imitations and counting. It's not even spoiled by the re-appearance of Nad Sylvan at the end of 'Apocalypse in 9/8', "air-scribbling" with a feather ("He's writing the lyrics of a brand new tune", you see) - whilst the video screens behind him show parchments covered in words. ("I hope those are the lyrics to 'Invisible Touch',"  says Graham.) Box-head mask and black cloak, it ain't.

But the closing section of 'As Sure as Eggs is Eggs' is a showcase for this evening's main attraction, as Steve himself laps up the wonderful energy in the room, giving us a tour of his guitar mastery as the band fades away and brings this amazing main set to a close.

After this, anything else might seem an anticlimax, but there's the small matter of 'Firth of Fifth', and those iconic keyboard and guitar solos which Roger and Steve deliver with passion, prompting one man down at the front to get up and start dad-dancing before being mercifully carted away by security. Sadly the same cannot be said of Steve himself, who also partakes in a spot of awkward boogieing before his solo. But then, he does play that solo, and all is forgiven.

And then there's a closing medley of 'Myopia' and 'Slogans' from Steve's solo albums wrapped around 'Los Endos', which the band jam on before it comes crashing to a close in a wall of screeching sax and guitars, but not before Nad Sylvan redeems himself by belting out the "Angel standing in the sun" lines which, again, Genesis didn't bother with live. We even allow him a little freestyle improvisation on them - only a little, mind.

The band take their bows, all the special guests come back out for another wave, and we're left shell-shocked and ready for home. 2 and a half hours of unremittingly excellent classic prog could seem a little too much in anyone else's hands, but Steve's assembled the right band for the job, and his own performance is simply spellbinding. He seems almost overwhelmed and grateful for the reception he gets all night, but his place in musical history means he deserves a little recognition at last. The lord of lords, the king of kings has returned to bring his music home (along with a man dressed as a circus gigolo.)

Tribute bands - your argument is invalid.


Steve Hackett Setlist:

Watcher of the Skies
The Chamber of 32 Doors
Dancing with the Moonlit Knight
Fly on a Windshield
Broadway Melody of 1974
The Lamia
The Musical Box
Shadow of the Hierophant
Blood on the Rooftops
Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers
In that Quiet Earth
Afterglow
I Know What I Like
Dance on a Volcano
Entangled
Eleventh Earl of Mar
Supper's Ready
----
Myopia/ Los Endos/ Slogans / Los Endos

2nd - 10th December 2011: The Watch, The Lexington / Penn & Teller, Indigo2 / Renaissance Singers of London, St Giles Church

Oh dear. How long have I been writing this blog, 2 months? And already I'm getting lazy... very lazy indeed. No longer can I be bothered to write everything up properly at great length, I've resorted to a round-up. A "highlights". A clip show.


Or, to spin it another way, perhaps I've learned the art of self editing. Perhaps I've learned that writing should be punchy and concise to grab the reader's attention. (Seems unlikely, doesn't it?) After all, isn't there a reason why newspaper gig reviews are only 100 words long or so?


To tell you the truth, I'm running low on time to get things written up, there's a major gig event in the prog community tomorrow evening which is going to require the mother, father and sister-in-law of all blogs to do justice, and I just want to clear the decks before that happens. That, and I can't plug the charger into my laptop since it's started causing black smoke to emit from the socket, and I have but 55 minutes of battery to go before my new one arrives on Tuesday.

Yep, this is what's going to happen to me in the name of blogging,
 if I'm not careful.

So let's get cracking. (Bloody hell, I've already wasted several hundred words writing about how I'm not going to write very much.)


2nd December 2011: The Watch & John Hackett / Nick Magnus - The Lexington, London


Another last minute decision, I'm tempted along to this gig by my friends at the Fishtank who promise an evening of singalong prog, and I'm not disappointed.


A heavy afternoon and evening of work threatens to stop me from coming at all, but a sudden inspired piece of delegation to someone in a different timezone luckily has me heading off up to London to join in the fun partway through the evening's first act - John Hackett (brother of Steve) and Nick Magnus (ex Hackett band keyboard player). Not sure of what they play before I get there but as I arrive they're playing what sounds a little like lift muzak, with John on flute, Nick on keys, and an 80s drum machine on taped percussion.

John and Nick are joined by The Watch guitarist Giorgio Gabriel

Not the most inspiring start, but then there are a couple of beautiful tracks from one of Nick's albums, and then John, looking ever so much like his brother, announces that they will play a couple of Steve's songs. This might sound a little bit desperate but since both John and Nick were a big part of Steve's band in the 70s and 80s and made these tracks their own on stage, they've every right to give them an airing tonight.

And we're very glad they do - starting with the wonderful 'Jacuzzi', they then lead into the instrumental section of 'Overnight Sleeper', and finish up with the absolutely sublime 'Hands of the Priestess' from Steve's 'Voyage of the Acolyte' album, 3 tracks which I don't think Steve himself has played since those days. A wonderful start to the evening.

And then it's time for the main event. Most bands start out playing covers and then start doing their own material, but Italian band The Watch seem to have it the wrong way round, inasmuch as they first came to my attention as a new prog band with their own material, back in the early 2000's. I wasn't that impressed with the album I heard at the time but they subsequently appeared on my radar again some years later with their Genesis tribute shows, which seem to be their main line of work these days. Tonight is the last night of their 'Green Show' tour (dunno, don't ask me), which is a set based largely around Genesis' 'Selling England by the Pound' album from 1973.

I have had some of the best nights of my gigging career at Genesis tribute gigs, and some of the most soul-destroying "what is wrong with my life?" ones as well, so it's always touch and go, but this one falls somewhere inbetween. One great thing that the band have going for them is that they don't pretend to be Genesis - which is excellent news, and frankly none of them look anything like their counterparts anyway so it'd be a trifle embarrassing.


The exception is singer and flautist Simone Rosetti, who sounds every inch like Peter Gabriel in the 70's and even has his bizarre hip-twisting movements and stilted tambourine banging utterly perfected. You'd swear it was Gabriel. Until you looked upwards and saw the lovechild of Marty Feldman and Gene Wilder. Let's chuck into the mix the heavy Italian accent - which gets interesting when he's singing lines like these from the London brawl commentary 'The Battle of Epping Forest' :


"There's Willy Wright and his boys,
One helluva noise, that's Billy's boys
With fully fashioned mugs, that's Little John's thugs,
The Barking slugs, super smugs."


At this point we're watching a man with an Italian accent impersonating Peter Gabriel from nearly 40 years ago impersonating a cockney. It's not something I'm quite prepared for, and unfortunately it takes me most of the gig to get past it and stop sniggering. Terrible, I know. But he hits all the right notes and does so with power, so is by any measure an excellent singer. The rest of the band are spot on, too, with all the right sounds, and the keyboard player even plays guitar when Tony Banks would have done so, which scores maximum Genesis Tribute points. 10 Squonks to The Watch.

Simone Rosetti. Tambourine action not pictured.

But let's backtrack, the gig starts in very interesting fashion with some incredibly obscure and early Genesis tracks such as 'The Shepherd' and 'Let Us Now Make Love' ("Do we have to?", I ask out loud to nobody in particular, causing Tinyfish lyricist Rob Ramsay to inhale beer through his nostrils.) These two, as well as one of the band's own songs, feature John Hackett on flute, which is another nice touch. 'Let us Now Make Love' has a very rocked-up  arrangement and is one of the best tracks of the night. 


From here, the band move into the 'Selling England' set which is extremely well received by the faithful, (they play everything except for 'More Fool Me' and 'After the Ordeal'), and although I used 'Epping Forest' for my own sadistic humourous purposes earlier, I have to hand it to Simone, managing to spit out all those lyrics that even Gabriel struggled with on stage, and in a non-native tongue. It's actually one of the highlights of the evening for being a bit less played at these events. As well as the 'Selling England' tracks, they also play 'Musical Box', the last section of 'Supper's Ready' (cut due to the curfew) and some more of their own songs. Ah yes, their own songs. I'm sorry to say that my opinion of these hasn't really changed in that they have all of the sound and feel of vintage Genesis tracks but with none of the melody. I try, really I do, but I can't hear anything to get excited about. Sorry, guys.


For me, the fun of the evening is hanging out with some friends, watching some amazing musicians playing great music note perfectly, oh, and doing the super geeky thing of loudly singing Phil Collins's cheesy vocal flourishes from the tracks which he sang on the 'Seconds Out' live albums. Well, it has to be done.


Towards the end, they announce next year's show, which is called, wait for it... "The Yellow Show". It sounds intriguing, they plan to play some songs from the two albums released just after Peter Gabriel left the band, but in the style of the Gabriel-led band. So that'll be an Italian man impersonating Peter Gabriel from 40 years ago impersonating Phil Collins impersonating a cockney. That has to be worth a look.

6th December 2011: Conversations with Penn and Teller - 35 Years of Magic and Bullshit - Indigo2, Greenwich


Right, these last two are going to have to be super speedy - we have 30 minutes of battery left now and, honestly, I'm not exactly sure how to write about something which isn't actually a gig.


In case anyone's been living under a rock, Penn and Teller are American magicians/ illusionists / TV presenters chiefly famous for their no-nonsense approach to magic, their debunking of various myths and scams in their 'Penn and Teller - Bullshit' series, and their Saturday night TV show 'Penn and Teller - Fool Us'.

Penn Gillette is the tall, dark haired, ranty one on the left and Teller (he's so cool he only needs one name, like Sting and Dappy) is the short, balding, mute one on the right.


We've been told what to expect, so we know we haven't come to see a magic show as such, but rather an evening of conversation and Q&A. I'm rather wondering how this will work since Teller famously doesn't speak at all on stage or on TV, adding a rather unique dimension to his tricks. All is answered after the opening card trick (in which Penn picks out an audience member's card by stabbing it through Teller's hand), when Penn announces 'To interview us this evening, a good friend of ours, Mr. Jonathan Ross'.


Rather a nice bonus, since I do like Mr. Ross, although I later discover that the following night they're interviewed by Stephen Fry (dammit!). First question, to Teller, is he going to speak tonight? He pauses for dramatic effect... "Fuck yeah."

I know these two people could be anyone - but look, it does say 'Penn & Teller', so trust me.

So then, over the next couple of hours we're taken through their history (Penn met Teller when Teller was a high school Latin teacher), their relationship (we learn that they're not really friends and hardly socialise at all), what Penn hates more than anything (TV Psychics / Mediums provoke the best rant of the evening and a huge round of applause), and about their showbiz friends (Derren Brown, Matt and Trey of South Park amongst others - this is all I need to know about what kind of guys they are.)


After the very enlightening chat which I can heartily recommend if you're a fan, there's time for the fans to ask questions which range from the uber-geeky to the pointlessly vague, but interspersed throughout the night are about 5 magic tricks, all of which are very impressive although mostly seen already on the 'Fool Us' show. But then, when do I ever complain about a band playing a song I've heard them play before? Their 'tricks' (if you can call them that) are so expertly crafted and played out on stage with their trademark chemistry that they're worth watching again and again.


It all seems to be over very quickly, and Karin and I are off out into the main dome on our way home, but somehow the two guys are already out of the venue and standing outside doing some street magic for the passers by.


The cleverest trick of all though? The IndigO2's organisation causing us all to turn up 90 minutes before show time for a seated gig with allocated seats, and having us all queue up for 45 minutes without opening the doors. Truly impressive. When's the last time that happened at the theatre?

Only the O2 could get people to queue for 45 minutes for their allocated seats.

10th December 2011: Renaissance Singers of London: A Boy is Born - St Giles-in-the-Fields Church, London


And so to my first Christmassy event of the year, and one of a semi-regular series of concerts which Karin and I like to attend to support my sister Helen who's a semi-professional alto soloist and chorister. Helen's in various choirs,including the amazing Serlo Consort and this, the Renaissance Singers of London - a group which (so the programme tells me) was "founded in 1944 to spearhead the revival of interest in performing Renaissance sacred polyphony at the dawn of the early music movement". 

St Giles in the Fields, pictured, well possibly not yesterday, look at the fashions on display.

In the interests of disclosure, I have to say I'm not the world's biggest fan of very early music (not enough guitar solos for my liking), but it's almost irrelevant when you're sitting in a beautiful old church in candlelight, listening to amazing unaccompanied voices floating around the vaulted ceiling. And there's much to enjoy - with pieces from Byrd, Gibbons, Taverner (tonight's oldest composer, born in 1490) and Thomas Tallis amongst others, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy the massed voices of the whole choir, then just the ladies (and men with tight trousers), and then the full choir with soloists - including the aforementioned Alto who, biased though I may be, is the star of that particular piece.


There's even an organ solo piece, performed with enthusiasm by guest conductor Elizabeth Burgess. Nearly a guitar solo, but not quite. For me, though, there are two highlights, and in typical Philistine fashion, they're a) the one I know and b) the most modern piece on the  programme. "The one I know" is the evening's only "popular" Christmas Carol, the Coventry Carol, which is possibly the oldest tune of the evening, but is in a very interesting modern arrangement by 20th Century composer Kenneth Leighton. 


And the most modern piece is a song entitled 'Adam Lay Ybounden', by composer Matthew Martin who's just in his mid 30s - that's the same age as me! The mind boggles. Some very interesting harmonies and counterpoint provide a nice contrast to the largely more simple tunes from Renaissance times that make up the rest of the programme.

All in all, a most enjoyable evening, and there are even mince pies and mulled wine in the interval - an absolute godsend since the church is so freezing that Helen has to be rushed to the nearest Starbucks between rehearsal and concert to thaw out her hands and vocal chords on a bucket of peppermint tea. 




Epilogue


So, there we have it, three very different evenings to add to the year's gig tally. There are just two more in the calendar between now and New Year and then I think it'll be time for some end of year round-ups and 'Top 10' lists. I'll never be a proper blogger without lists.