The relatively low profile of Neko Case is something of  a mystery. She is undoubtedly the owner of one of the best voices in modern music, a voice that is equally comfortable with country, ballads and pure pop music (watch this video of ‘Crash Years‘ by the new Pornographers for evidence of that). On the evidence of tonight’s show she is a brilliant live performer with an extremely strong back catalogue, and some excellent sounding new songs coming on her next album. By rights she should be challenging Adele in album sales, but she remains a popular but relatively niche attraction.

Neko Case

The Village Underground in Shoreditch, a new venue to me, is packed and expectant when Case and her impressively bearded band hit the stage. It has been four years since she released and album, and although I don’t know how long it has been since she last played in England, this seemed like a big event. From the first song it is wonderful stuff, her voice (complimented perfectly by the backing vocals of Kelly Hogan) is pitch perfect throughout and the song choices are exactly what I wanted.

Songs are largely plucked from her last the albums, the majority from Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and Middle Cyclone, with three very promising cuts from her forthcoming album. Her voice is such a powerful instrument that it is sometimes easy to forget the quality of the songs she is singing. ‘I Wish I Was The Moon’, ‘Hold On’ and ‘People Got A Lot Of Nerve’ are just three of the songs from a packed set that rivals any artists for quality of lyrics, melody and vocal performance.

Case and Hogan are also very engaging and amusing hosts for the evening, their irreverent between song  chat being frequently hilarious, be they discussing the best places to go in order to catch the menopause or Hogan’s improvised song ‘Remembering’, as they ask the crowd to watch rather than film the show. And when Hogan mentions a dream she had where her vagina was full of silicate, or Case’s claim that her vagina ate her bikini bottoms, you know that it is going to be a memorable evening.

I could go on at length about how much I enjoyed the show, and what a wonderful gift Neko Case’s voice is to the world,  but my fan-boy rambling would get tired pretty quickly. Shows later this year, in support of the new album, are promised and I urge you to buy tickets the day they go on sale, you’ll not regret it.

By Dorian Rogers

The slightly strangely named Bearded Theory festival celebrated the occasion of its sixth birthday by throwing a mad party in the grounds of the splendid magnificence of Kedelston hall, just outside Derby.

Three days of musical merriement and happy vibes were guaranteed, and I know you may find this hard to believe, but on the Sunday we had wall to wall sunshine, which matched perfectly the wall to wall smiles of the very, very happy festival goers.

Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control (yes, work, i’m looking at you !) this mini review will concentrate solely on the Sunday, don’t worry it was brilliant.

Stiff Little Fingers

In a relatively small area, the organisers had constructed a mini-Glastonbury, all very accesible, no long treks and with multiple stages, stalls, rides, entertainments and the proverbial beer tents it proved a joy to walk around. On an afternoon of unbroken sunshine we came across all sorts of diversions, including at various times, two cardboard robots, a man with an unhealthy interest in the history of the swastika, Noel Coward, the worlds loneliest fairground ride attendant, some of the biggest wooden cocks it has ever been my misfortune to see on a craft stall, more beards than a Z Z  Top convention and a gang of can can dancers, some of whom were women.

Among  the musical highlights were Stiff Little Fingers, who tore up the main stage especially with their opening broadside of Alternative Ulster, a screaming burst of righteous anger. Goldblade with the uncontrollable John Robb at the helm proved just as volatile.

Goldblade

Mid afternoon saw the arrival on platform 5 of the groovy train , driven by Liverpool’s The Farm, yes  they’re still going strong, all together now and  they were awesome.

In a tiny tent we witnessed the arrival of a talented young lady by the name of Lucy Ward, a local lass with a cracking voice and a wonderfully down to earth attitude, she was a bubbling volcano of folk lava and performed a new tune called Icarus which was stunning.

Also appearing on the Sunday was The Men Who Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing, a band who seemingly emerged from a faulty time machine and billed as purveyors of ‘steampunk’. Imagine if you will a cross between Metallica and Isambard Kingdom Brunel. They were the most original, funny and clever band I’ve seen since the Crimean war, with songs about whores, Nicholas Tesla, Robert Louis Stephenson and Cthulhu. They made my day.

The Men Who Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing

Mind you, the headliners The Levellers weren’t bad either. You might think that after two decades their popularity and enthusiasm may have evaporated but nothing could be further from the truth. They rocked the main stage for a solid ninety minutes, the crowd loved them and it was one big love fest. Those tunes from their album Levelling the Land are going to be standards forever; folk tunes for a generation of dreamers. God bless ‘em.

So we say a beardy  farewell to the first big festy of 2013, and look forward to next year’s close shave

Word by John Haylock, pics by Arthur Hughes

The Flaming Lips – is there ever anything bad to be said? True, lead singer Wayne does go on a bit with his Wayne Coyne world philosophy. True, once you’ve seen the confetti cannons, the dancing girls, the Zorb ball and lasers, they perhaps can never have the same impact as the first time you saw them.

But even so, is there anything more uplifting than the sky-soaring refrain of Race for the prize? I don’t think so. The Flaming Lips should be available on prescription to treat world depression, because I haven’t stopped smiling since.

This was my second live Lips experience and it was typically psychedelic, visually stunning, and Wayne’s “too-tight pants” were a spectacle in themselves. No Zorbing or dancing girls this time, but the light-show was outstanding.

However, he did start the night on a somber note before it even got started. During the sound check he acknowledged the cancellation of Monday night’s show (owing to him having a cold), but went on to talk about the tornado tragedy in the band’s native Oklahoma. About imagining knowing that your child was trapped in the rubble. About being aware that everything we were doing by being there last night was a bit ridiculous by comparison. But then, it was important too, these little bits of joy and music being the medium that can carry people through tragedy and troubled times. Ominously, the cannons, when they erupted, shot out not the glittery rainbow we’ve come to expect, but a black confetti instead (still cool).

Because of his cold, it was a raspy, coughing Wayne that took to the stage (and he is generally accepted to be a pretty bad singer anyway). They played quite a lot from the new album, The Terror, including ‘You lust’ and ‘Look…the sun is rising’. With a 30-year back catalogue to draw on, some old favourites included ‘The W.A.N.D’, a de-constructed ‘Race for the prize’, ‘Do you realize??’ ‘All we have is now’ and ‘One more robot/Sympathy’. They’ve also taken to performing Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ live recently, and it was a truly worthy rendition.

There was a nice moment during ‘Do you realize??’ when a coughing, faltering Wayne saw the audience taking over at the top of their lungs, sending the lyrics through the Roundhouse’s rafters. Wayne seemed genuinely touched, and declared that when the time came for the Spielberg-directed biopic, the moment would be recreated and exaggerated for the screen, but we will always be able to say ‘We were there, man!’. Maybe.  We were also to tell everyone that it was the “most important show we’ve ever been to”. Probably not.

That said, I’m a fan and The Flaming Lips never disappoint. Even when Wayne’s is cuddling and kissing a slightly creepy baby doll on stage, I still want to live in a Flaming Lips world where being weird is the goal, the pursuit of happiness is a daily ambition, and everyone deserves a little joy.

Words and pictures Patrica Turk

Day three starts in the Komedia downstairs into the unnecessarily dark concert space to watch Mary Epworth play. I am immediately struck by the incongruous nature of the band, two young women, with beautiful harmonious voices backed by a hairy bunch who could easily double as bikers in a remake of Easy Rider. Odd they may look, but they play things pretty well and the prog-folk-rock songs are enjoyable, if let down a bit by some poor sound in the venue with a slightly irritating rattle throughout. This is a minor quibble on what was a strong set by a very promising artist.

Mary Epworth

Heading upstairs to the smaller studio venue I manage to get front of stage to catch Husky Rescue a Finnish act that prove to be one of the finds of the day.  Sounding like Efterklang  at their more minimal with impressive vocals by a singer that recalls a less histrionic Bjork it is an engaging set. Johanna Kalén is a calm and ethereal presence on the stage whilst the two ban members quietly and unassumingly produce some really lovely music. One of the bands from the weekend that go down in my notes to check out after the festival is over.

Husky Rescue

Outside at the Hub it is Jake Isaac who has the unenviable job of telling the crowd that Deap Vally have cancelled their set and he will be filling in. His voice is nice enough and his acoustic guitar based songs are fine, but it doesn’t make up for missing out on one of the bands I’d been looking forward to (more on whom later).

After a break from bands and a few convention activities I start the evening at Sticky Mikes Frog Bar for some full on classic rock from The Upskirts.  Fronted by a couple of bare foot guitarists they make an enjoyable noise, it is loud and high energy but falls short of doing anything special. I can’t remember a single note of any song they play even as I’m leaving the venue.

The Upskirts

Superfood are another band that sound pretty good without managing to serve up anything particularly memorable or groundbreaking . They do have some nice hooks, evoking the sound of Blur’s noisier songs and, less favourably, some of the second string Brit-pop acts that history has forgotten.   They are a very young act though and I hear enough promise in their sound and playing to think that they might turn into something more interesting over time.

Superfood

Cheatahs are an act that wear their influences on their sleeve, and given that their influences are largely bands I love I can live with that. Fey vocals, echoing guitars and lilting melodies which recall Ride, The Posies and Superchunk across an entertaining set. They are a band I’d heard a lot about prior to the festival, and on the strength of this performance I can see why. If you are going to be derivative then you need to do it well.

Cheetahs

The schedule is out the window at The Haunt, with Deap Vally make a surprise appearance on the bill with the promised Jagwar Ma nowhere to be seen. To be honest I’m not disappointed by the substitution,  the all girl version of The White Stripes sounds like a lot of fun on paper. Imagine Bette Midler belting out AC/DC tunes in the back of a sleazy dive bar off the Sunset Strip and you’re somewhere close to understanding their strange charm.

Deap Vally

Parquet Courts are the band that I’d been looking forward to most all weekend, they got great reviews at SXSW and I’ve enjoyed the little of them that I’ve heard on record to date.  The perfect modern New York art rock band, effortlessly blending Jonathan Richman, Sonic Youth and Big Black into a sound that’s uniquely their own. Their ability to take other band’s sounds, like their opening track sounding like Pavement doing the Fall, is one of the keys to their success. There is a level of familiarity mixed with enough individuality to make for a truly excellent show. It is also the best crowd reaction I saw all weekend, with frantic dancing, crowd surfing and a small stage invasion taking place during their frenetically paced set.

Parquet Courts

I’ve enjoyed lots of acts each day, and been lucky enough to see one truly great set towards the end of each night. But whereas Phosphorescent are an established band, one who I’ve seen over three years earlier, and Billy Bragg a true veteran it is Parquet Courts who are the best new act at a festival that is really all about new music.

This was Neon Filler’s third year covering the Great Escape and each year offers up something new and exciting. I look forward to another excellent festival next year and urge you to buy a ticket as soon as they go on sale.

Words and pictures by Dorian Rogers and Alex Reeve

Day two at the Great Escape is really all about one man, Billy Bragg and I could spend the who review talking about him and his excellent show. However, there was plenty of other great stuff to see through the day, so I’ll cover off some of that first and come back to the bard of Barking later.

Eamon McGrath

My first act, albeit a brief stop, is singer songwriter Eamon McGrath whose gravel voiced songs play to a Hub crowd that is noticeably smaller than day one. The downturn in the weather meaning that outdoor and seaside based venues are not quite as busy as the day before.

Cousins

My first planned stop of the day is at the Blind Tiger for another act in the Canadian showcase, this time Cousins from Nova Scotia. As always the venue is a hot ticket and I only just beat the queue to get inside the pub-venue sweatbox. Canadian acts in this venue have always been pretty reliable and Cousins don’t disappointing  They are another guitar and drums duo, this time with the classic girl drummer, boy guitarist line-up, but definitely not aping the White Stripes sound. The guitar sound is rough and the drums always one step away from falling apart, with some really nice extended repetition in the songs. Definitely an act I’ll check out on record when the festival is over.

Fletcher

Moving to the slightly odd Brighthelm Centre, a kind of mix between a church and a community centre, we decide to give Fletcher a go. The programme description of bands playing is often a little misleading, but in this case it seems that the organisers may have booked the wring act. Where we are promised a three piece new-age British rock band we actually get a rather earnest singer songwriter accompanied by a harp player. The tunes are very pretty and well played, but it is a much more low key experience than we were expecting.

Wandering into the Komedia we are greeted by the extreme contrast of Lady Chann startling a small crowd with some pretty full on dancehall stylings. Sadly she finishes minutes after we arrive and her compatriots, The Heatwave, start to treat the crowd to a reggae karaoke sing-a-long that is a lot less fun or interesting.

Popstrangers

Coalition seems to be the venue where slightly sullen acts are booked to play, yesterday Girls Names were the petulant schoolchildren and today Popstangers are the ones staring at their shoes. To be fair they don’t complain, and it is easy to mistake nervousness for lack of audience communication, but more effort is needed to win over a crowd. Better songs than played here would also be a bonus, nothing really catches fire during a middling set and it is a hook free half hour. There are some nice instrumental moments amongst their 90s slacker indie set, and enough interesting sounds to show some promise, but the band isn’t quite the real deal yet.

In Digital

On route to get some food we pop into Digital and catch a few tracks by the rap act performing to the smallest crowd we’ve seen at the festival so far. They are pretty good and put everything into their show, something that Popstrangers could learn a little bit from. In a festival dominated by white guitar players an act like this is going to struggle to get an early evening audience. I couldn’t tell you who they were as they don’t seem to match anything in the programme for the time slot.

Billy Bragg

Fed and watered we head for the main event, a true veteran of British music who is loved and loathed in equal measure for his straight talking and good old fashioned political songwriting. Although truth be told it is the many love songs that Billy Bragg pens that show his skills and, although there is plenty of politics between songs, make up the bulk of his set.

A mixture of old favourites, pop classics, new songs and Woody Guthrie numbers are all played beautifully by Billy and his band. The experienced performer that he is, he knows exactly how to command a crowd and there is hardly a moment that isn’t top quality in the time that he is on stage.

His band are excellence, and the pedal steel country style suits his back catalogue pretty well (his first dabbling with country music dating back 20 years). In the middle of the set he takes the stage alone and plays some old favourites to a partisan crowd. When he plays ‘The Milkmen of Human Kindness’ there is no need to ask the crowd to sing the chorus for him, they do it unprompted  and it is quite a touching moment.

It is the first time I’ve seen him play since one of my first festival attendances nearly a quarter if a century ago. Hearing him tonight I wonder why I’ve let myself miss out on some great performances in the intervening years.

Siblings

After a failed attempt to get in to The Warren to see Iggy Azalea (clearly one of the hottest tickets in town) we heard up to the Green Door Store where Siblings (an unscheduled act) are taking the stage. The appearance of a banjo makes me worry that we have another Mumford and sons on our hands, but an energetic performance gradually wins me over. The songs are pretty good and, if anything, Vampire Weekend are a more accurate reference point. All told it is a pleasant enough end to another enjoyable day.

Words and pictures by Dorian Rogers and Alex Reeve

The Great Escape got off to a literally bright start, with sunshine make a rare 2013 appearance. Good weather always brings out the best in people and the massed crowds in the many venues around town seemed in good spirits. I doubt that cheerful Canadians The Elwins need much brightening up though, their bouncy pop coming from a naturally happy place. It is always hard to get the audience participation going during an early afternoon gig, but in a packed Blind Tiger they made a pretty good fist of it.

The Elwins

Scottish singer Lauren St Jude, in a dark Dome Theatre, was a radical change in pace slowing things right down. Her voice was pitch perfect and the performance was good, but it was late night music and seemed better suited to a smaller venue.

In further stark contrast was rock trio Velvet Two Stripes playing to an overflowing Komedia basement, with a singer looking like a young bottle blonde Chrissey Hynde, with Joan Jett’s voice after chuffing down a bottle of Whisky and 200 fags. Like a Swiss take on The Kills’ drum machine-backed blues rock this trio of strutting rock vixens proved that Switzerland has more to offer the world than the cuckoo clock and a hideaway for Nazi gold.

Velvet Two Stripe

After a strong start the afternoon hit a bit of a lull with the underwhelming Young Husband playing to an overflowing Prince Albert. Their retro indie sound is nice enough but really fails to engage and this is the first set that we abandon to enjoy the sunshine.

Girls Names prove to be another disappointment, their surly performance failing to win me over to their surf guitar influenced sound. They seemed annoyed at having their set cut short, but surely giving the huge Coalition audience a good time for 20 minutes would have been a better approach? Thankfully the vocal mic was so quite that it was hard to hear the singers grumbles between songs, and the shorted set was a blessing in disguise.

Staying at the same venue it was up to Wolf Alice to show them how to do it. Engaging, cheerful, noisy and showing a mix of swagger and indie-pop hooks ready to reach a mass audience. They prove that enthusiasm and good tunes is the (not-so-secret) recipe to a good show and set us up nicely for the evening.

Drenge

The Corn Exchange can be a bit of a soulless venue, the sheer length of the room means that bands can get a little lost, but the NME stage there each year always presents some interesting acts to catch. Drenge are a guitar and drums duo, which is a line-up that will always see a band compared to The White Stripes. In practice if you play bluesy rock in this set-up it is going to have similarities, but Drenge have a style and sound that just about sets them apart from Jack and Meg. The set takes a while to get going, but for most of the performance it is very enjoyable, and the drumming is excellent. They make a poor choice of final tune, a turgid affair, which brings a promising performance to a rather flat conclusion.

Merchandise are up next, and one of the bands playing today with the most hype around them. A Smithsy single getting play on 6 Music suggests that they could be a big thing in the future. The performance tonight doesn’t rule that out, but it wasn’t to my tastes at all. Elements of Simple Minds and even Big Country show they know their 80s stadium pop, but it feels mannered and I don’t hear enough classic tunes. Maybe they’ll prove to the new Killers, another bland throwback act, but I’ll not be keeping an ear open.

Merchandise

Taking some time before the evening’s main event we manage to catch the end of two sets in the various Komedia venues. Boats, with a mountain man lead singer, are hard to categorise but seem like a lot of fun and I’m tempted to catch the whole of their Saturday performance. The Skints are also a welcome find, a band I enjoyed last year, and another act I may try and catch again today. Their skinny unassuming singer having one of the biggest and best voices of the festival so far.

Boats

Phosphorescent prove that they are one of the best live acts around, as well as having a catalogue of excellent songs to play. Tracks from their excellent last two albums, along with a a stunning version of Merle Haggard & Willie Nelson’s sobriety-yearning hit from 1983, Reasons to Quit, sound big and bold in the Dome Studio with electric piano and organ high in the instrumental mix. Matthew Houck’s mumbled vocals take a while to adjust to, but it is an assured headliners set and a closing version of Los Angeles is as wonderful as when I first heard it several years ago at End of the Road.

Phosphorescent

There are still many shows left to play when we head home, but with two full days and dozens more bands to see a good night’s rest is in order. This year’s festival is has more names that are unfamiliar to make than ever before, and as a result it is proving to be the most interesting Great Escape to date and I can’t wait to see what today has to offer.

Words and pictures Dorian Rogers and Alex Reeve

John Grant’s beautifully realized debut ‘Queen of Denmark’ was an undisputed landmark album, heralding the arrival of a major new singer songwriter.

Word of mouth and a huge touring schedule subsequently won him a devoted fanbase, and three years later his much anticipated follow up album Pale Green Ghosts is with us. Produced by  Birgir Þórarinsson, a.k.a. Biggi Veira, of Iceland’s electronic pioneers Gus Gus, it’s a radical departure from its Midlake produced folk rock predecessor, discarding the skeletal arrangements of old and dipping its toes in the waters we call disco. It was a brave move and one that could have possibly backfired; I mean, how can you be sensitive without a very large shiny grand piano?

Somewhat surprisingly, John is now using a five piece band, gone apparently are just his vocals and keyboards, so when he launches into Queen of Denmark tracks such as You don’t have to and Marz the songs are fully fleshed out.

It’s a little disconcerting to hear the fragility of these Queen of Denmark originals revamped and rewired, it works on some such as Dreams and Sigourney Weaver but is slightly overbearing on others. Caramel for example takes quite a battering, the only old track that benefitted hugely from the overblown rock action is Queen of Denmark. This is always a stunning tune and really hits you in the face with its supplemented guitar, bass and  drums.

Finally the new material arrives amid a polite light show, and much bleepage, Pale Green Ghosts, Sensitive New Age Guy, Vietnam and best of all the fantastic Blackbelt  (with the greatest use of the word ‘supercilious’ in a rock song ever ). They all sound tremendous, and whilst heading off into Giorgio Moroder/New Order territory, the resulting aural melee provides John the opportunity to throw some shapes, not something I ever expected to see! But these new tunes are so funky you have to have a little dance.

The new album proves to be more enjoyable than the older tunes, proving effortlessly that you can be sensitive and not have a grand piano. GMF is greeted with the same audience reaction as the winning Wigan goal one hour previously (in the FA Cup Final), we sing, we laugh, we cry and  Glacier takes our breath away.

Three encores later he leaves us with love, sore feet, and grovelling to the security to pass us the set list. Job done. Pale green ghosts better than QOD? You better believe it.

*Support was from a nervous new kid on the block, an Icelandic artist called Asgeir Trausti who is blessed with a trembling and distinctive voice pitched somewhere between Jeff Buckley and Jónsi Birgisson from Sigur Ros.

He’s evidently self conscious and kind of shy, only playing a handful of tunes but going down really well, although the presence of his band seemed slightly superfluous. They tended to drown out the subtleties inherent in the music and I got the feeling he may be better served playing solo. Enigmatic and engaging, though, here’s somebody we might be hearing lots of in the future.

Words by John Haylock, pictures by Arthur Hughes

There was a list of words I was going to try to avoid when writing about the Still Corners gig at XOYO on Thursday night. Words such as ‘dreamy’ ‘psychedelic’ and ‘ethereal’. But I’m going to concede defeat upfront.

Because it’s hard to describe this dreampop act any other way. It’s all so very dreamy and ethereal, helped along by barely-there, lilting vocals. It’s hazy and fuzzy-edged, and can make the unsuspecting listener feel just a little bit light-headed.

Still Corners

Still Corners is songwriter and producer Greg Hughes and singer Tessa Murray. My introduction to the band was with their 2010 7-inch that included the wistful ‘Wish’ and the heady, breathy ‘Don’t fall in love’ (which I promptly fell in love with). I loved their 1960s sound, their psychedelic twanginess.

That doesn’t come through quite as strong in their new album Strange Pleasures, which sounds a bit more produced, more worked on, with lots of layers and electronics. At times it comes close to the excellent soundtrack to the Ryan Gosling film, Drive, which includes College ft. Electric Youth’s awesome song A Real Hero (Further reading has revealed that quite a few people have drawn parallels between Still Corners and the Drive soundtrack, so it’s clearly struck a chord).

Thursday night’s gig was dark and atmospheric and got underway with a rising sun visual projected on to the screen backdrop. Oh dear.  But the audience soon had its sway on, and gave over to the shadowy, pseudo-mysteriousness of the frontwoman in the sparkly, sequinned jacket and the preppy American at her side.

Highlights for me were Wish, Endless Summer, and Cuckoo. Lovely songs. Beatcity was also a standout. There is a danger that the songs can start to sound a wee bit the same, but then every time I felt that they were tending towards the monotonous, they ramped the reverb up to 11, to an overwhelming wall of sound and distortion to finish on. They pulled focus. I liked it.

A small bias I have – I saw Beach House at Primavera Sound last year, and for me, they’ve got dreampop covered. Bloom was one of my favourite albums of 2012. Victoria Legrand is a more commanding presence on stage too, her voice darker and more intense, focussed. Murray is breathier, prettier and a bit – chilly. They also come across a bit distant and emotionless, but then maybe that’s the point.

In all, a really good gig. Still Corners are hugely listenable, and just as much so live. Their music is something to be enjoyed through a haze of intoxication – or, at any rate, it will make you feel intoxicated, so you might as well meet them there.

It should be noted that support act, Woman’s Hour, were brilliant. They dished out a haunting, stripped-back version of Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark that was a real spinetingler.

by Patricia Turk

Alan Sparhawk, the lead singer with US slowcore veterans Low, is a walking, singing, strumming masterclass in controlled aggression.

Packed to its former church rafters, Bristol’s Trinity Arts Centre was at times in awe, others in fear of Sparhawk as the mean, moody Minnesotan’s beautiful guitar playing and vocals threatened constantly to turn to screams and smashed wood and wires at any moment.

Low’s Alan Sparhawk

Of course, that rarely happens these days, and this is the unique talent of Low; to be utterly in control of their emotions. While over their 20 or so years together their emotional slow core has gathered a steady cult following, it was the release of 2011’s C’mon that escalated their appeal. With its added vintage twang it was the perfect American album that year. This year that remarkable album was followed by the just as magnificent Invisible Way, which stripped back their sound further into the mists of Americana thanks to Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy on production duties.

While their set was dominated by Invisible Way tracks such as Holy Ghost and Plastic Cup it was the sound of C’mon’s vintage instruments that they adopt live these days, with Sparkhawk’s stunning white Gibson and gold Ephiphone guitars conjuring up many a ghost of America’s musical past.

Sparhawk and his beautiful Gibson

Invisible Way also saw Sparkhawk’s wife, the band’s drummer Mimi Parker take more vocal duties and it was these tracks, in particular Holy Ghost, that really shone through tonight during a captivating set. Her voice was pitch perfect especially on Especially Me, which along with Witches, was one of the standout C’mon songs played tonight.

But their set wasn’t just for those new to the band, with older tracks such as Monkey, which featured in the Mickey Rourke 2008 movie Killshot, and I Hear..Goodnight, which featured on the 2001 joint Dirty Three/Low EP In the Fishtank 7, among a handful of pre-C’mon era Low tracks to get an airing tonight.

Sparhawk is not known for his banter but at least he can make light of this, admitting that he lacks “dazzling repartee” on stage. It matters not with Low, who are completed by keyboardist and bassist Steve Garrington. In fact it would be downright odd for Sparkhawk or Parker to launch into witty touring anecdotes in the midst of their emotionally charged set.

The unofficial fourth member of the band on this tour is film maker  and artist Peter Liversidge, whose grainy, black and white images of birds in flight and boats were projected throughout and add to Low’s enduring appeal and enigmatic stage presence.

Hebronix

Support was from ATP  Recording act Hebronix, the slowcore solo project of former Yuck man Daniel Blumberg. To the delight of the crowd he was joined by his “backing band” for most of his set – no less than Sparkhawk and Garrington. It was a canny move although Sparkhawk’s sumptuous Gibson made Blumberg’s Fender playing seem puny by comparison. Sparkhawk’s later vocal delivery during Low’s set also put Blumberg’s weak vocals to shame.

Blumberg’s not there yet as a credible solo artist and lacks emotion and song writing abilities, but perhaps in 20 years time he’ll be a quality act, especially keeping such fine company as he is during 2013.

By Joe Lepper

Californian underground legend  Chuck sure has paid his dues and his autobiography, should he ever write one, would be a riveting read; after three decades on the road he could give even Keef  Richards a run for his money.

He first  came to prominence in the 1980s when together with Dan Stuart they were the heartbeat of Green On Red, a hard drinking, hard rockin’ blues based boogie band. They were a magnificently ragged vision of rock n roll excess, kind of like The Rolling Stones but on a Primark budget  as they cut a healthy legacy of eight albums  before going their separate ways in the early 1990s.

Chuck Prophet (left)

Since that time Chuck has raised hell with a who’s who of contemporary music. He released the first of his at least twelve solo records in 1990, since which time he has worked as a sideman or session musician with many artists, including Kelly Willis, Aimee Mann, the late, great Warren Zevon, Jonathan Richman, Lucinda Williams and Cake. His compositions have been recorded by musicians like Alejandro Escovedo, Solomon Burke, Heart, Kim Carnes, Peter Wolf, Kim Richey, Chris Knight and Kelly Willis.

His latest band for his latest tour of the UK are The Mission Express, an ultra impressive  bunch of killer musicians  who expertly flesh out his songs with instinctive muscle and aplomb.

With a new(ish) album out on Yep Roc, Temple beautiful, the band fire up first time and Chuck and the gang proceed to give us a set of Springsteenesque proportions. He didn’t have a set list, more like a small novel.

Highlights included, Doubter Out Of Jesus, an absolutely riotous You Did (Bomp Shooby Dooby Bomp),  The Left Hand And The Right Hand (dedicated he said ‘to brothers everywhere, especially Liam and Noel’) and magnificent versions of White Night Big City and Who Shot John. All were glorious, and boy can he play the guitar, punctuating these bluesy tunes with economically violent solos pitched somewhere between Neil Young and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Man, he was grinning like a Cheshire cat; he was so in the zone it was contagious.

Stephanie Finch and Chuck Prophet

His current band are so hot you get radiation burns. On additional guitar there’s the young, skinny cool as fuck, James De Prato, on bass there’s Kevin White, a big guy with rock solid written through his body, on drums, Todd Roper, a rhythmic man machine and on Chucks right we have his wife,  Stephanie Finch who plays keyboards, acoustic guitar  and sings mighty fine country gurl vocals.

Not content with playing two  hours of primal rock ‘n’ roll, Chuck throws in some utterly brilliant covers. ‘Sorrow’, the old Mcoys tune and the one that Bowie is so associated with from ‘Pin ups’ gets a good kicking as does the classic mid seventies powerpop equivalent  of the Mona Lisa ‘Shake Some Action’ by The Flamin Groovies. The encore includes Chuck Berry’s ‘Tulane’ and most movingly and surprisingly he rips up Dr Feelgood’s She Does It Right.

What a night, and there’s still some UK dates left on the current tour, go to Chuck church, raise up thine eyes and praise him …..Hallelujah brothers and sisters ! Hallelujah !

By John Haylock, pics by Arthur Hughes.