Recent Concerts

The talk at the Horse Hospital went well I thought and I hope to organise one or two more events before the end of the year.

I have been devoting so much of my free time to writing my next book that blogging and other activities have had to take a back seat.

The Yes gig in a previous post never happened, so I probably won't bother again in future. Some interesting concerts in the space of one week recently:

Hatfield and the Health Wednesday 5 July The Piper St Leonards. A group of great musicians playing a selection of the Canterbury Scene repertoire by Hatfield and the North, Caravan, National Health and Matching Mole. While reading the transcriptions there was room for improvisation and it was lovely to hear Tenemos Roads, Oh Caroline, Nine Feet Underground, Binoculars, Share It and others. More here.

On Saturday 8 July I caught the second half of the Seaview Festival outside the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill. Fortunately the rain held off and I really enjoyed this well-organised event. Local supergroup Aircooled's mix of krautrock and disco is a surefire hit and I hope they do well. I knew nothing about BC Camplight but was very impressed by the unusual structure of the songs and the fact that he was playing for the first time with a very young band who performed brilliantly. Topping off the evening Warmduscher were very entertaining, echoes of The Fall and The Birthday Party at times, relentless for over an hour. You can find other reviews here and here.    

Sunday 9 July Off to London to the Hammersmith Apollo to see Daryl Hall, only because his special guest was Todd Rundgren. I arrived at 7.30 and Todd had already started, so I missed 'Real Man.' It was very much a crowd-pleasing set - not something he always does - heavy on the blue-eyed Philly soul side of his oeuvre - understandable in the circumstances. Three out of thirteen songs were covers, set list here. I hung around for Daryl Hall although I've never really been a fan of Hall & Oates. I'm old enough to respect his music these days - I didn't realise he had written Every Time You Go Away.  I thought his voice was reedier and not as strong as Rundgren's which still sounds remarkable for a man in his seventies. 

Tonight I hope to get to Anthony Moore (from Slapp Happy and Henry Cow amongst others) playing at The Beacon in Hastings. See here.