An Evening of Blues with The Simon Kennedy Band & Lins Honeyman & Band

The Souter Theatre in Perth's AK Bell Library played host to a blues extravaganza on Saturday night, courtesy of two local bands, The Simon Kennedy Band, and Lins Honeyman & Band. As Blues Bands go, they couldn't be more different, but between them they put on a fine evening's entertainment.

Lins Honeyman's band got things underway with a set of predominantly acoustic blues  (they have an electric guitar on several songs), featuring a mixture of Blues, Rock n Roll classics, and Honeyman's own compositions. Honeyman is a well known figure in the Perth music scene, having been gigging for many years in the company of an evolving line up of musicians. The current band: Honeyman: vox, guitars, harmonica, mandolin; Andrew McCully: lead guitar, double bass; Les Dalziel: keys, double bass, electric bass; Jon Assheton: drums, percussion, cahon, and Peter Oates: violin; has remained largely unchanged for a while now (Oates being the sole recent addition). Over time they have increasingly gelled as a unit and were on good form on Saturday night, presenting the bluesy-est set list they have performed in a while. Having heard this band range across a whole range of musical styles, I have always rated their blues-based performances as the pick of their output. Whether that is a fair assessment of their work, or simply a reflection of the fact that I love the blues, is hard to objectively judge!

Lins did a solo spot mid-show, which was well-received, and included a Shakespeare-inspired audience-participation singalong. It sounds improbable, but it worked! Other highlights included a bit of Blind Willie Johnson, some Chuck Berry, and a cheeky bit of blues comedy in the form of Keep Talkin', a humorous blues with a lyric that would bring a knowing smile to the likes of Champion Jack Dupree, who was apparently similarly afflicted! Two Feet Mama is another slightly tongue in cheek blues song which Lins wrote when he was quite young, but which has made a recent return to his live performances; alongside an idiosyncratic take on a certain Jungle Book number at the opposite end of the emotional spectrum to the soul searching song 'Sertraline'. The first half finale from Lins and Co, was 'Stranger Blues', which has been part of their set for some years. It has sometimes featured Les Dalziel and Lins himself, on Hammond organ solos, but with Les occupied on double-bass duties, and Lins wielding the harmonica, they were joined onstage by Mirek Hodun from the Simon Kennedy Band, who added a unique flourish to proceedings. Yesterday night, I was at one of my kids school parent's evening. One of the teachers, who had also been at the gig said to me, "I just love Lins' band... they just get better and better!"

As they combined solid musicianship, with a unique and eclectic set-list, delivered with Honeyman's trademark wit and whimsy, in a rootsy acoustic blues package, it's hard to disagree with his assessment.

After the interval, Simon Kennedy led his band onto the stage. Once a four piece band, the new SKB lineup features the eye-wateringly good drummer Brian Macleod and keyboard maestro Mirek Hodun,

who's left hand has replaced the bassist! While the first half featured lots of chat, humour, and acoustic vibes; the SKB were a complete contrast; from the outset they were full of highly charged, very loud, high-energy, funky electric blues. Led by Simon Kennedy's technically stunning, melodic guitar lines, trading licks with Mirek's very funky Hammond, built upon the foundation of Macleod's scintillating grooves; they kicked off with a Freddy King instrumental which set the tone for the second half of the evening brilliantly. Mixing blues covers, like Cannonball, and the El Media Stomp with Kennedy's own writing they showed why they are a real force to be reckoned with in the contemporary blues scene; and why they have gained national radio airplay.

Kennedy's own writing is mostly up-beat, intense, and earnest; but his lyrics are uncommonly thought-provoking and profound. If you are a fan of the the endless cliche's which fill the charts, then Kennedy's lyrics are not for you. His songs, do not feature any of the usual hackneyed phrases which rhyme such banalities as "sitting at home" with "all alone" and "waiting for the phone". Rather, he probes the human condition, and its' many sided complexities - drawing deeply on his Christian faith for answers to the many questions he airs. All this in upbeat driving, funky blues on tracks such as "Show them it's True".

The SKB then delivered a staggering version of the soul song, "The Letter", popularised (though not written by) Joe Cocker. Beginning with an eerie guitar introduction which weaved a chunk of "Stairway" into it, the band later morphed into a blast of 'Smoke On The Water"! In between that they belted out a stonking version of the song itself interspersed with an amazingly entertaining drum solo from Macleod, and a organ-solo, singalong from Hodun.

The night came to a glorious conclusion when all the musicians crowded onto the small stage for a big blues jam, under Kennedy's direction. Everyone who had taken part (with the exception of Jon Assheton - as there were two drummers, but only one kit!) traded solos and brought the evening to a rip roaring conclusion. 

I had the privilege of being asked to take some photos of the gig, which was hugely enjoyable. One day I'll own a professional standard camera which can operate at high ISOs without producing this much 'noise'.

In the Gorge de Galamus

The Gorge de Galamus in the Pyrenees is a spectacular place full of surprises, our day there was probably the highlight of our summer road trip. The drive through the narrow road, along the rocky ledges of the gorge road is quite extreme. At peak periods they operate a 'tidal' one way system, so you never meet anyone coming the other way. We arrived before this was running, and had a few interesting manoevers to make to squeeze the cars through, which thankfully we managed unscathed.

At the far end of the gorge, there is a carpark, viewpoint, a cafe and a path which descends down to "The Hermitage". At the bottom of the path a door carved into the cliff walls leads into a surprisingly beautiful underground church, in a cave.

The Gorge de Galamus has much more in store though. Walking back along the road, reveals a descent track down into the gorge itself. Slippery, and strewn with loose scree, its a tricky march down, and a chest-level wade through the narrowest and deepest section of the river to enter the most remarkable river playgound.

The river tumbles over endless waterfalls and into countless deep pools. There are some for swimming in, loads for the kids to play in, and several which are deep enough to leap into from the high rocks around them.

After many hours of fun, we got the kids to clamber back up to the cafe, and the car for the drive back to Carcassonne. Happy Days!

Hmmm......

Rock!

On Five-finger Strand

Ballintoy Harbour

Rain

Balding with Stan - Sponsored Head Shave for Cancer Research

I still can't quite believe I've agree to join in with this. If you would like to sponsor us to go bald alongside our mate Stan - who is having chemotherapy, click here.

Book Notes: An Utterly Exasperated History of Modern Britain (or 60 years of making the same stupid mistakes) by John O' Farrell

"Margaret Thatcher was a non-conformist in every sense of the word. There was Methodism in her madness", writes John O'Farrell as he reaches 1979 in his witty, wry look at British postwar history.

O'Farrell doesn't write history in the Horrible Histories school of "Ooh weren't people in the past gross, and stupid", but more like an edition of Private Eye covering six decades rather than just a fortnight. O'Farrell is really a satirist, whose acidic asides at the newsmakers of the day are most often read on his website www.newsbiscuit.com .

This "Utterly Exasperated History" contains a lot of good history, a bombardment of jokes and the humorous intermingling of the factual and the absurd. All this is mixed together with a solid dose of O'Farrell's personal left-of-centre political opinions which he lobs into the mix for good measure.

The book begins with Germany and Italy falling under the allure of the Fascist dictators with straight arm salutes, while when Oswald Moseley tried the same in England - everyone laughed at his sweaty armpits; he ends the bod saying, "And so a story that began with Britain almost crippled by war loans in 1945 ends with the country even deeper in debt six decades later..." In between, all the great events are covered, Macmillan, Suez, The NHS, Profumo, The Sixties, Ted Heath, The Oil Crisis, The Cold War, Wilson, Callaghan, Major etc etc.

Not a book to be taken to seriously (despite the vein of sensible observation running through it), but definitely one with plenty of laughs.

On Achnahaird Beach

You have been warned....!

John Shuttleworth: Out of Our Sheds, Live in Stirling

John Shuttleworth lived up to his billing as "South Yorkshire's Most Versatile Singer-Songwriter" at Stirling University on March 29th, when he brought his "Out of our Sheds" show to the Macrobert Theatre. With his trademark deadpan wit, entertaining songs, keyboard wizardry and endlessly joyous repartee, he left his audience delighted, and bewildered. Turning his with equal skill to grunge, rock, pop, ballads, and even a bit of country and western, John Shuttleworth thrilled his audience with such classics as "Two Margarines", "Pigeons in Flight", and "Can't Go Back (To Savoury Now)". John is well-known as a radio-personality, and musical entertainer with a full diary of live dates. The week before the Stirling date he told us that his agent Ken Worthington ("TV's Mr Clarinet Man"), had got him a gig in a hospice where he encouraged the residents to join in the songs and do the actions too - "which really seemed to take their minds of their problems". Less well known is that Shuttleworth is also an actor, and his acting masterclass midway through the show was a showcase for his prodigious talent.

The on-stage antics of Mr Shuttleworth were absolutely hilarious. Almost as funny was watching the reactions of the people with us. While some of the group were in hysterics, and a few others wore wry amused grins throughout the show - one member of our party sat in wide-eyed, open-mouthed incomprehension for its entire duration. This in itself was pricelessly amusing.

This was a fabulous night, of very funny comedy, through the quite brilliantly observed and performed persona of John Shuttleworth. Graham Fellows is a genius - I haven't laughed so much for ages.

Book Notes: Unchained America by Dave Gorman

Although this book was a jolly enough little read, I came away feeling a little underwhelmed by it. The English comedian Dave Gorman is a humorous fellow, and his radio shows like Genius on BBC R4 is always worth a laugh or two. On Genius, members of the public submit their less-than-serious ideas for adjudication by Gorman and a guest celeb. I once submitted an idea to the programme, and ten months later the BBC invited me to come to the programme. I had to decline however, as by that stage I had completely forgotten what my idea was, and had to write back declining their invite with the frank admission that I may be many things, but obviously not a Genius.

Somehow though this book failed to live up to my expectations.

Perhaps my expectation were too high. For a start I like the author (even when I disagree with him), and quirky humorous travel writing is a genre I enjoy. I also thought the idea behind the book sounded interesting - which was to try and drive across the USA using only independent business for food, fuel and accommodation. Having driven extensively in the States a couple of years ago and experienced some wonderfully unique family hotels, stores and business and endured the drab uniformity of the chain-stores, chain-hotels too - I thought this concept for a book was a good one. In addition to that, Gorman's actual route took him along many of the same roads we drove, and through the same towns and landscapes. What then was there not to like?

In truth, I didn't actually dislike very much of it, it was, as I said an amusing piece of writing with which to fill odd moments. It kept me reading, turning the pages and on a couple of occasions chuckling. Perhaps I thought the adventure described would be more madcap, or that Gorman would deliver more incisive social comment or more laughs. Instead, Unchained America gave me several moments of entertained knowing recognition, much wry smiling and a general sense of amusement; and the feeling that I had perhaps expected just a bit too much of the book. No doubt my over-expectation wasn't helped by the blurb writers whose cover spiel contributed to this process. The book ultimately seems to fade out, rather than end with a grand conclusion.

Entertaining but not quite what I had hoped. 

Boots

I'm amused by the way that girls seem to look at this photo and say, "your two footprints in the snow, aww how romantic!" While what guys find most noteworthy about this image is that "her feet are a lot smaller than yours".

Book Notes: Fibber in the Heat by Miles Jupp

Whether he likes it or not (he doesn't, by the way), to those of us who had children in the late 1990s/early 2000's, "Miles Jupp" will only ever be the new comic character devised by Archie the Inventor of Ballamory fame. "Fibber in the Heat", however has nothing to do with a cast of colourful characters in a Glasgow TV studio pretending to be on the Isle of Mull. Rather it is the highly amusing tale of Jupp's attempt to enter the world of cricket journalism by pretending to be a cricket journalist, and joining England's tour of India under somewhat dubious pretence and highly suspect paperwork.

This is a hugely entertaining book, in which Jupp declares open-season on his own dignity and allows himself the freedom to indulge his whimsical self-deprecation to its full extent. As the story unfolds, you can't help but want the hapless Jupp to succeed, as he bluffs his way past security guards, files his speculative copy to BBCScotland, and manages to sit in the press box, travel with the commentators and meet the sporting stars.

What is also amusing is reading his impressions of, and anecdotes about the well-known cricket commentators and former players with whom he travelled. I was interested to see if they came across in real life as they do on the TV and radio - and to a great extent they did, Atherton was polite but diffident, Gower amiable and pleasant, Boycott loud and abrasive.

The bulk of the book is about the daily struggle to integrate himself into the world of cricket journalism - coupled with funny anecdotes about his attempts to navigate his way around the complexities of India. Rickshaws, conmen, impossible road-crossings, impenetrable bureaucracy, and of course stomach-bugs which erupt within him like Mount Vesuvius. All of this is wrapped around the story of England's Test series against India, during Andrew Flintoff's brief reign as England captain. Despite Jupp's best efforts to derail the cricket journalism element of the book, the reader gets a good feel for the events on the field during that series, every bit as much as the personal dramas going on in the press-box.

This book will appeal to anyone who has appreciated Miles Jupp's various forays onto Radio4, (or anyone who just wonders what Archie the Inventor is up to these days) - although both might be a little surprised at the florid use of expletives, which is a bit much at times. Cricket lovers will enjoy this too, as it is a cricket book like no other, giving an oblique and amusing angle on a much-described subject. Cricket in Britain has developed an idiosyncratic culture around it, in which the goings-on in the various press boxes (such as BBC Radio's Test Match Special) have become intrinsic to many people's enjoyment of the game. Fibber in the Heat gives a hilarious insight into the world of these sports journalists and what happens on tour. Fibber in the Heat is Miles Jupp's invitation for you to join him as he laughs at himself in his madcap cricket adventure.  An invitation well worth accepting!

Weird Sign

I suppose it must be some kind of reminder about basic toilet hygiene......!

Cal-Mac's Shiny Ferry

Giving the ferry a nice new red funnel requires a paintbrush on a long stick, apparently!