Friday, November 03, 2006

John Lees Barclay James Harvest

I had a great night last night, at the JLBJH gig at the Queen's Hall in Edinburgh. The band were in brilliant form and the crowd were really bouyant and in good voice too. After the dissapointment of seeing a rather flat concert by the old BJH in 1992, to hear this rejuvinated version of the band turning in a performance of the quality that the vintage line-up managed in their 1970s heydey was quite something.

BJH founder members John Lees and Woolly Wolstenhole (guitar & keys respectively) were in especially fine form, Lees' unnasuming quietness in contrast to Wolstenholme's madcap carrying on. Last time I say the band they got bogged down in their weaker late material - but following the successful release of their retrospective box set, they turned in a flawless set of their classic material. For No One, Child of the Universe, She Said, In Search of England, Medicine Man, Poor Wages, Mockingbird, The Poet/After the Day were all especially strong. My full (and embarrasingly gushing) review can be found at www.barclayjamesharvest.com .

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

In memory of days gone by in the land of Cleghorn I downloaded some BJH tracks recently. Bet the 70s never sounded so good through 21st century technology.