Updated: 31Aug 2011
ARCIPELAGHI SONORI (9TH FESTIVAL OF INTERNATIONAL ETHNIC MUSIC), SAN CESARIO SUL PANARO, ITALY, THU 18 AUG
After a long journey across northern Italy we eventually arrived in the small town of San Cesario sul Panaro. It was 8.30pm and we were all (Sue, Paul, Carol and myself) very hot as it was still 34C even at this time in the evening. As we drove through looking for a parking space and the venue we saw a few locals carrying what looked like large "cushions", a good sign I thought! Having parked, Sue, (my wife) stopped a local who quickly directed us to a large, very old looking building and told us to enter through the main arch doorway. The doorway led through to a courtyard and this through another large archway into a very big picturesque parkland type garden with trees and shrubs. Marqees were set up all around the garden serving food and drink and selling numerous products, and there was a stage set up at the far end of the garden.
I have been to very many Strawbs concerts in lots of different places over the years, but this was something special. The atmosphere was completely surreal, Sue commented that she felt that she was on the set of a an old fashioned "Romantic Comedy" film, it had the feel of a local village fair and the garden wedding in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" combined. As we entered the main garden area to find some seats, we were very fortunate to meet Dave Cousins and wished him well for the evening.
First on were Phil Holland and Dave Palmey, playing and range of traditional and modern folk songs. It was an enjoyable and relaxing start to the evening.
At approximately 10.15pm the Strawbs were introduced to the packed audience of approx a couple of thousand. All the seats were taken and there were people standing down the both sides, at the back of the main seating area and some sitting on used pizza boxes at the front. It was truly a whole "Italian" family affair, with the audience ranging from babes in arms right through to very senior citizens. We were very fortunate and had managed to get four seats together in the front row to the right of the stage.
The setlist comprised of:
Benedictus/Simple Visions The boys went straight into these songs without any introduction. There were obviously Italian Strawbs fans in the audience, as several people behind us started to sing along with Dave C from the very beginning.
Introductions to all songs was by Dave C. (in English), we had been betting on who was going to do the introductions in Italian. However the cultured audience seem to understand most if not all of what Dave was saying.
A Glimpse of Heaven Dave introduced the song with all the wonderful memories that he has of the Sidmouth area in Devon. I thought that this one of my favourite performances of the night.
Josephine For Better Or For Worse Introduced as a song written about a friend's wife, having been together for twenty years.
New World Introduced as the title track off the "Grave New World" album. Dave C seemed to get emotional and really gave everything in this song. The audience particularly appreciated Dave's emotional performance.
Oh How She Changed Dave C explained that it had now been over forty years since the release of their first record. All of us agreed that Dave L was brilliant in the song. It was at this point that we realized that all of the three beers on the stage were for Dave L as the others seemed to be on water.
Ghosts A great rendition of the song quite haunting in the very dark garden environment under the trees.
Copenhagen Dave explained how a revisit to the Tivoli Gardens in Denmark's capital a couple of years ago had prompted Chas to put a few chords together to produce this beautiful song. The first time I have heard it - great addition.
Queen Of Dreams Dave explained that this song was written as a result of their visit to the Rimini coast in Italy many years ago. A visit to a pine forest, climbing up the forest lookout tower and surveying all around them. Dave got more applause from the appreciative audience after thanking their county for inspiring this amongst other Strawbs songs.
Autumn Dave mentioned the lovely hot weather we were having in Italy and how it was hard to believe that we would soon be seeing the leaves turn yellow and brown, and we soon would be entering the Autumn. This song was performed brilliantly all around us people were commenting in praise of the boys musical skills and singing, and I have to agree with my wife and two friends that this was one of the main highlights in an evening full of highlights fantastic.
Lay Down The audience were encouraged to join in with a Stawbs very own "singalong" by Dave for this song. Many of the audience knew this classic and took Dave up on his offer in the chorus. This was a great way to end a very special evening.
Encore: We'll Meet Again Sometime - Demanded before the boys even had time to leave the stage. As Chas said when I chatted to him briefly after the concert, the Italians have their own special way of doing things. Dave C thanked the audience and promised to return again soon, to which there was much appreciative applause.
It really was a very special evening one that the four of us, and I am sure the people of San Cesario sul Panaro will remember for a very long time. I would just like to finish by saying thank you to Francesco Benozzo the organiser, who emailed me all the arrangements for the excellent evening and to the local people of San Cesario sul Panaro who were incredibly helpful and made us all feel so welcome during their festival.
David Graham Pugh (with support from Sue, Paul and Carol)
Photo by David - more photos
Benedictus/Simple Visions
Lay Down
New World
The Hangman And The Papist (with Wakeman)
A Glimpse Of Heaven (with Wakeman)
Witchwood (with Wakeman)
The Shepherd's Song (with Wakeman)
ABBEYFEST, ABBEY GARDENS, BURY ST EDMUNDS, SUN 24 JULY
(WITH RICK WAKEMAN)
My wife and I arrived early for the Abbey Festival to have a look round the lovely historic town of Bury St Edmunds. When we parked the car we could hear the Strawbs doing a sound check of "Benedictus", this made us look forward to the concert even more. The town was very busy with people, some like us going to the concert, others just shopping and no doubt visiting the spectacular floral gardens in the Abbey itself. When we walked back to the entrance for the show just after 4pm there was already a huge queue forming in two directions, a lady said to us 'It's a good job you came now as they are expecting three thousand people tonight'.
It was a lovely afternoon weatherwise, for which we were grateful for. When the show started with Roger Chapman and his band the Shortlist; it was a sign of what was to come for all the artists with at times very poor sound management. Roger kept signalling to them to turn up his microphone, but they did not seem to understand. It was left to his excellent musicians to carry off a fine musically tight performance, although Roger's voice was mostly in the background.
These problems continued with the Strawbs as the sound engineers could not get Dave Lambert's guitar to work through the sound system. It was about ten minutes before they corrected this and no doubt at least two songs were removed from the set list because of the tight programming schedule. The Strawbs then left the stage after their sound check to be introduced by their old friend Rick Wakeman. When Rick came on he did a very short but very funny stand up comedy routine before performing an excellent version of "Eleanor Rigby" in a modern classical style. But amazingly no one thought to put the stage lighting on Rick, this would have added to the look of his performance. He then gave a warm and heartfelt introduction to the Strawbs welcoming them on stage.
When Dave Cousins sat down he looked anxiously at Dave's guitar and looked amazed and relieved that it was working and went quickly into "Benedictus" and "Simple Visions". This evening Dave Cousins' voice was superb and unlike the sound for Roger Chapman; you could hear every word perfectly. The Strawbs right from the start were very well received by the huge crowd. They enjoyed Dave Cousins' humour, especially when he said 'It's sing a long with Strawbs time' when introducing what turned out to be a very good performance of "Lay Down". The crowd also appreciated his excellent impression of Jimmy Saville, recalling when he introduced the Strawbs performing "The Hangman And The Papist" on Top Of The Pops. For this song Rick Wakeman joined the band and it was a very good version. The highlight for me though was a stunning performance of "The Shepherds' Song" that kept rolling on and on, the three guitars beautifully strumming a glorious sound. Dave glanced up at Rick to close the song, but Rick brilliantly seized the moment and kept it going. Rick was clearly lost in his enjoyment of performing with the Strawbs. Dave looked up to him the second time and Rick brought to a close a short but superb Strawbs set, and Dave said 'Rick never knew when to end a song', which was also very funny. The Strawbs had very cleverly selected a song choice of classics from the seventies that many people were familiar with, because the audience were mostly fifty something's.
Then came Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings who I have wanted to see for years and they did not disappoint. They also had problems with the sound, there was no microphone link to the keyboard player's one and only singing performance of the night and Shaking Stevens a special guest of the band could not get the accordion backing for his ' Marie Marie' song. One of the highlights of their star studied set was an awesome performance by Beverley Skeete singing 'I Put A Spell On You'. I could not help notice how Georgie Fame looked at Beverley Skeete in total admiration, clearly enjoying it as well. He had insisted she did the song as Bill Wyman was worried about finishing on time and they dropped another song instead. The Rhythm Kings are a great band with an exceptional line up of performers, and that is why the Strawbs were a perfect choice to have with them as tonight was a showcase of the best of British musicians including Roger Chapman And The Shortlist as well.
Although the night had various sound and lighting problems it was still an excellent evening's entertainment and well worth the ticket price. My wife and I drove home listening to the Deja Fou album and laughing out loud recalling Rick's jokes.
I grew up in Bury St Edmunds and the town, pretty though it is, has an inherent and very English gentility that you would normally associate with chamber music and cucumber sandwiches rather than full blown rock concerts and this showed in some rather OTT security measures which resulted in long queues outside the venue. Fortunately, my companion had the good sense to suggest we waited in the adjoining pub, The Fox, for the queue to die down and we were rewarded by a cosy pre gig chat with the ever affable and unassuming Chas Cronk.
After a blistering, high octane set by Roger Chapman and his excellent band The Shortlist, our heroes took to the stage-ish!! There were a few hiccups with the sound and the stage was crammed with Motorhead look-a-likes trying to sort things out. Chas and DL were left strumming and bemused, while DC, wearing the silliest shirt I've seen on him yet!, wisely retreated to the wings until things were sorted.
After a shaky start with the vocal harmonies on "Benedictus", the lads conquered hearts with a set full of warmth and nostalgia and the Acoustics' signature sound of depth and contrast. Things took on a slightly comic element when they were joined by Rick Wakeman, a giant of a man in every sense of the word. High up in his gantry surrounded by his vast bank of keyboards, he looked like a priest in the pulpit admonishing three errant choirboys! But his playing was as stunning as ever and, naturally, songs from the Witchwood album featured prominently this evening. All too soon, the set ended and the guys left the stage to tumultous and well-deserved applause!
Oh, and the 'support act' that followed were pretty good too!!'
Excellent set from the Acoustics at Bury St Edmunds' Abbeyfest tonight. Four songs on their own and three with Rick Wakeman. Proper jamming session on "Shepherds Song" - didn't want it to end!
Special mention for Roger Chapman for making my night by playing "My Friend The Sun" (and dedicating it to Amy Winehouse).
Benedictus/Simple Visions
A Glimpse Of Heaven
Josephine For Better Or For Worse
The Hangman And The Papist
Witchwood
New World
Oh How She Changed
Ghosts
Copenhagen
Queen Of Dreams
Cold Steel
Autumn
Lay Down
Shine On Silver Sun
TIVOLI THEATRE, WIMBOURNE, FRI 10 JUNE
Just to report that Strawbs delighted yet another audience at The Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne Minster on Friday. I was quite fortunate to make it for the 7.30 p.m. start, and may not have done so without the help of my own personal Nige'll Fixit. Thank you Nige for services beyond the call of duty! Unfortunately there was "an incident" which disrupted train services and caused me, along with thousands of other travellers (many on their way to the Isle of Wight festival), severe disruption to our plans. In the end Nigel whisked me away from Poole railway station with only seconds to spare. (Ok there were quite a lot of seconds to spare but it's the thought that counts). It really is so sad to think that while some of us were looking forward immensely to the evening ahead, there was at least one poor soul deciding suicide was the only way forward.
On to Wimborne...The Tivoli is a lovely art deco theatre with very friendly and helpful staff (apart from not allowing drinks to be taken into the auditorium :( Never mind, we had had a brief chance to unwind at a pub just along the road from the theatre, and soon realised it was actually folk festival weekend in Wimborne. A crowd of women dressed as Morris dancers provided a clue to that. This was also the first time I had seen Nigel since his hedgetrimming accident and in that very pub I joined the auspicous ranks of those who have successfully guessed, first time, which of his fingers was involved.
Up the road, out of the rain and into the theatre - there was a fair sized-crowd already seated, but with the Tivoli being quite large everyone was a bit spread around for my liking. I confess my least favourite way to watch bands is seated in theatre rows, particularly if there are empty seats - I'm ok with more informal seating around tables type set-ups, but rows often seem a bit too regimented. No more grouches though, the band was excellent as usual and the lighting was superb.
There was no support act, which meant we got the full works. To me the sound, although really good, seemed to have a different balance from usual with Dave Lambert's vocals and guitars sounding louder and more dominant. I enjoyed hearing things a bit differently for a change, and really appreciated DL's guitar playing (I particularly remember being in awe in "Josephine"). That's not to take anything away from Dave Cousins' or Chas' performance though - the whole band sounded stunningly good, just with a slightly different sound mix. The audience sat quietly and sedately during the songs but made it obvious that they appreciated DC's banter (and DL's retorts), and allowed themselves a few moments of almost wild self-expression during the applause. Well almost. I believe the setlist was the same as at Grayshott, and aptly "Copenhagen" was played in the Tivoli Theatre with the accompanying tale behind the song. After the encore ("Shine On Silver Sun") every one filed out quietly and politely, looking much too well-behaved to be responsible for the wild applause and calls for an encore that had gone before.
Anyway...what with the early start the whole shebang was over by 9.30 pm! Although it was time for cocoa we decided to wander the streets of Wimborne where we saw several people the worst for wear, though I didn't recognise any of them from the Tivoli. Groups of lads and ladettes had apparently entered into the folk festival spirit with gusto, and it seemed a bit incongruous for somewhere as civilised as Wimborne to have bodies littering the pavements and a few with heads in hands sitting next to piles of you-know-what. Lovely! We decided not to join these particular pavement "artists" but instead headed for somewhere I can't remember, and then on to Poole harbour for a nightcap in one of the seafront pubs. Always a lovely place on a summer evening, such as when the band played at Mr. Kyps (even if it did feel more like January this time round!) It was a great night though and I'm very glad to have made it - grateful thanks to one and all.
On A Night Like This
Grace Darling
Song Of A Sad Little Girl
Beside The Rio Grande
Tell Me What You See In Me
Josephine
You Never Needed Water
Blue Angel
Ways And Means
Call To Action
Never Take Sweets From A Stranger
The Shepherd's Song
Well Meet Again Sometime
COUSINS & CUTLER - 3 JUNE, KENTISH HORSE FESTIVAL, EDENBRIDGE
The sat nav found the place hard to find, but we got there, me 'n' Marcy, in the end, about 20 mins before our heroes were on. It was a cool and slightly breezy night. Had a brief chat with D.C. a few mins before they came on, he spied the Twickenham T shirt. Enjoyable, a rare treat as, other than the Twickenham 40th anniversary bash, I hadn't seen Dave & Ian performing together. Thought I'd see a few familiar faces, Lindsay, Dick or one or two other of the superfans, but it was not to be. Would love to see Dave & Ian perform at Chesterfield or as near as possible, then again, I'd love even more to see an acoustics gig supported by Roy Hill, ahhh such dreams. Keep looking on website for "further gigs" to be added to the electrics tour. Flowerpot Derby would be nice. And hope to "meet again sometime, though the road is steep and very hard to climb".
Benedictus/Simple Visions
A Glimpse Of Heaven
Josephine For Better Or For Worse
The Hangman And The Papist
Witchwood
New World
Oh How She Changed
Ghosts
Copenhagen
Queen Of Dreams
Cold Steel
Autumn
Lay Down
Shine On Silver Sun
GRAYSHOTT FOLK CLUB, GRAYSHOTT VILLAGE HALL, SAT 28 MAY
My first Strawbs gig since the November electric gig in Cardiff due to a self inflicted injury, so I was really looking forward to this one. Despite the alternative TV attraction a good audience gathered to witness the Acoustic version of the band and their enthusiastic reception got the evening off to a good start.
A short acoustic slot by Jim Lee preceded the main event but what every one, including me, was waiting for was the moment the band took the stage and gave their master class in musicianship.
And a magnificent 10 I made the score, with the band performing songs from that number of albums, through the course of a very entertaining and engaging evening.
The combined opening numbers of "Benedictus" and "Simple Visions", an opening familiar from a few tours back, was enough to break the ice for me after my absence. The songs and stories flowed to a great deal of appreciation but all too soon, it was time for the mid performance break, but not before other classics came and went and had their share of the evening's event
I was particularly looking forward tonight to hearing "Queen Of Dreams" which I naturally had missed so far this year and with the introduction of the e-bow, this did not disappoint, fantastic. .
The organiser of the event extolled the virtues of "Autumn" and many a listen on his way home from college and his desire to hear this live, was achieved tonight, as this was the penultimate piece ahead of the encore.
The two set offering, and a surprise inclusion of Shine on Silver Sun as the encore.
Great to be out watching the band again and really enjoyed the venue a lovely high roofed village hall, with a great sound and a high stage giving every one a great view from wherever they sat, watched and listened.
I just wanted to let you know that Dave C, Dave L and Chas were absolutely brilliant at Grayshott Folk Club on Saturday night. They far exceeded my hopes and expectations and an audience of just over 80 went away very happy indeed.
Like gentleman troubadors they weaved their musical spells, spread some magic, filled our hearts with joy and lifted our spirits. Having sprinkled some stardust on our lives, they left to return to the Witchwood.
They made many new friends and admirers. Rarely have I met such open, warm and friendly people and we can't wait to have them back again, if they will come.
Photo by Richard Vardy - more photos from Richard
Benedictus/Simple Visions
The Golden Salamander
A Glimpse of Heaven
Josephine For Better or For Worse
The Hangman And The Papist
Witchwood
New World
Oh How She Changed
Ghosts
Copenhagen
Queen Of Dreams
Cold Steel
Autumn
Lay Down
We'll Meet Again Sometime
BROOK THEATRE, CHATHAM, THU 19 MAY
Left work early to try and get through the Blackwall Tunnel before rush hour - not too bad, though traffic in the City was crawling, and got to Chatham good and early for a change. Even remembered exactly where venue and handy car park was, despite the local streets all being dug up !
The Brook is one of my favourite places to see the band, for a number of reasons - old-fashioned proscenium arch theatre, twinkly star lights on the black backdrop, and moody but effective lighting. Not a huge crowd, but comfortably filled the table settings, and they were certainly enthusiastic and appreciative of what was on offer.
No stage monitors (interestingly) and the speakers were quite far forward, so I think a lot of what I heard in my front table vantage point for photography was the actual unadulterated Acoustic Strawbs themselves. Apart from snapping away, courtesy of the management of the Brook giving me an "authorised photographer" sticker, I joined Sue and Mike Holton and sat back to really concentrate on enjoying the set, as I'm not able to make any further dates in this summer round of gigs. (Only slight annoyance was the nearly continuous noise of digging up the road from outside the venue, but this was only audible during the intros and tuning up and didn't get in the way of the music.)
As always "Benedictus/Simple Visions" is a splendid starting point - the accapella surprise of the opening, then Lambert's intricate guitar work, then, the final Benedictus line, Cousins' voice dies away, and it's Lambert up with the shaker and Chas's driving 12-string rhythm. Without the guitar in hand, Cousins is able to punctuate the song with extraordinarily emotive hand movements, backlit with a range of colours from electric purple to yellowy green. He's in splendid voice tonight, soaring over the backing, with his usual trademark vocal edge.
"Golden Salamander" is a favourite of mine too (I have sung it with the Fools), and the new arrangement works well taking advantage of the very strong three part vocal talent in the Acoustics on the chorus. "A Glimpse Of Heaven", though a good bit more boisterous than the previous song, does the same. It's always a joy to watch the instrumental break in the middle with Cousins' fingers running up and down the fretboard (still never managed to really learn that). "Josephine" has some very tasty guitar from the start from Mr Lambert, and two laid back acoustic solos, to which the understated strings from Chas's bass pedals is a lovely backdrop.
Next, straight from Top of the Pops, "The Hangman And The Papist" is always received very well indeed. Swirly mutterings from the bass pedals, Cousins' opening guitar figure and, from Lambert, the atmospheric sound of a bell tolling. Cousins' emotive vocal picks up the pace in the first verse, Lambert joins him in the second on both vocal and guitar. Lambert's percussive style emulates the snare drum on the original perfectly, and after the first acapella "Forgive me God ...", Chas is back with a churchy organ sound on the pedals.
From the same period, "Witchwood", Cousins on banjo, Chas on 12 string and Lambert on guitar interlinking their parts - the hallmark of the Acoustic Strawbs, and particularly effective on this sinister song. "New World" is for me probably THE quintessential Strawbs song - with powerful Lambert percussive guitar work over Cousins' driving chords, and Chas's bass and pedals, providing the keyboard-style backing - "semi-Acoustic" Strawbs style. Then to finish the first set, their first single, "Oh How She Changed" - still delightful after all these years, with the soaring harmonies from Cousins and Chas over Lambert's plaintive lead vocal, and more fancy footwork on pedals from Chas with a delicious cello sound.
A short break, then "Ghosts" opens the second set - a tour de force opportunity for Lambert's guitarwork spectacular in the middle section, and again that interplay of three instruments playing different things, which weld together to make something much more than merely the sum of its parts. There's a good shot below of Lambert's sinister finger-pointing gesture ("but the angel is deceiving") where for once, he's well lit enough for a decent shot.
"Copenhagen" from the last album recalls the days with Sandy Denny when they made their first album. It's a pretty, intricate piece, Lambert and Chas splitting the low end between them, over Cousins' modal chords. "Queen Of Dreams", another track from Grave New World, is newly re-arranged for this year's shows, Lambert's e-Bow picking up the electric dulcimer solo very effectively over a delicate fingerpicking figure from Cousins and some rumbly noises from the bass pedals - a nice way of handling that middle section which on record used all sorts of "found sounds", effects and reverse recorded stuff. The outro, nicely percussive is great, though I can't help wishing for it to go on longer, and to hear that cracking stereo drum workout from Hud,
Next it's another banjo track, Lambert's "Cold Steel", which always goes down extremely well. Lambert's riff, banjo counterpoint, 12-string frills, and more fancy pedal footwork from Chas. "Autumn" is always fascinating to watch - from the opening instrumental section, complete with faux "seagull" noises from Lambert, through "Deep Summer's Sleep", with that tasty little acoustic guitar figure Cousins plays (always prefer it on 6 string with the Acoustics, to the 12-string version with the Electrics) and then all together now for the anthemic refrain of "Hold On To Me (The Winter Long)".
Then a lively "Lay Down" closes the set to great applause, before their return to the stage for a great encore, "We'll Meet Again Sometime" - great riff from Lambert, barnstorming vocals, slide guitar solo, and that wonderful abrupt accapella ending (finshing as they started).
All very satisfactory indeed. Lucky that Geraldine had had the CDs for sale out before the show and during the interval, as afterwards the bar was shut and very quickly the place was clear. Said my goodbyes, and hoped to get home within the hour, but it was not to be. Not one but TWO lots of roadworks taking the road down to one lane. The first just north of the Blackwall tunnel had the queue starting several miles south of the mouth of the tunnel and took ages to get through. The second further up the A12, again slowing traffic to a crawl. Nearly two hours to get home !
So whilst the show itself may have been a transport of delight, the travelling home definitely was not!
Photos by Dick Greener - more photos from Dick
Benedictus/Simple Visions
The Golden Salamander
Josephine For Better or For Worse
A Glimpse of Heaven
The Hangman and The Papist
Witchwood
New World
Oh How She Changed
Ghosts
Copenhagen
Queen Of Dreams
Cold Steel
Autumn
Lay Down
We'll Meet Again Sometime
THE BORDERLINE, LONDON, SAT 13 MAY
As ever the Borderline is a great place for the Strawbs to play, whether in electric or acoustic form. Friday night, the Acoustics played with no support, which meant we got the full 2-set Monty and allowed Dave Cousins to stretch out and let loose some all-new recollections by way of inter-song chat.
Highlights for me - "Queen Of Dreams" (hard to believe it's only about the third time I've heard it in this version - getting better and better), a stonking "Hangman And The Papist" and a powerful "New World". Dave amused everyone by getting the running order wrong, so unusually "Josephine" came before "A Glimpse Of Heaven". And I love the new banjo-tinged "Witchwood" with Lambert taking the last verse, it works really well.
Sound was good, the audience were appreciative and the beer flowed free - nice to catch up with a few friends (I'm sure it's my round now!). With Strawbs music on top of that, how could it get better ? Looking forward to Chatham next week ....