ELECTRIC STRAWBS - US NOVEMBER 2017

Updated: 24 Nov 2017

Sun 12 Nov - BB Kings, New York NY

Mon 13 Nov - Travel Cleveland OH

Tue 14 Nov - Music Box, Cleveland OH

Wed 15 Nov - Loving Cup, Rochester, NY

Fri 17 Nov - Centre for the Arts, Homer NY

Mon 20 Nov - Jammin Java, Vienna VA

Tue 21 Nov - Tin Pan, Richmond, VA

Fri 24 Nov - The Strand, Lakewood NJ

Sun 26 Nov - Towne Crier, Beacon NY

SELLERSVILLE THEATER, PA, 14 NOV 2017

AS POWERFUL AS EVER - Review by Matt Condon

In 1967 the Strawberry Hill Boys, a London-based bluegrass trio, shortened their name to the Strawbs. At the time, the band hadn’t released any recordings yet, and likely had no idea of what the future would hold. They made their first record that year, titled All Our Own Work, with a new, unknown singer named Sandy Denny, but the record was shelved and went unreleased for several years, and Denny left to find fame with Fairport Convention. The Strawbs, in the meantime, released their debut single (“Oh How She Changed”) in 1968 and their first, self-titled album in 1969. By then they were already showing signs of shifting from the folk rock of those early recordings with Denny to the progressive rock which was starting to gain popularity at the time, but it would still be several years until they fully embraced the sound and became one of the premiere prog rock bands of the 70s.

Fast forward to now, a full fifty years after that fateful name change, and the band is still going strong under the leadership of founder, singer, and guitarist Dave Cousins. Though they’ve come and gone from the band at various points, most of the current members are long-standing veterans as well – guitarist Dave Lambert joined in 1972 and bassist Chas Cronk followed soon after in 1973, and drummer Tony Fernandez joined in 1977. The newest addition, keyboardist Dave Bainbridge, who joined in 2015, has quickly found his place in the group. They released their latest album (and first record of new material in eight years) The Ferryman’s Curse at the beginning of this month, and followed that release immediately with an east coast US tour. For the first night of that tour, the band played two back-to-back shows at the Sellersville Theater in Sellersville, PA.

The band opened both shows with two tracks from the new album, the instrumental “In the Beginning” and the hard-rocking “The Nails from the Hands of Christ.” The new songs rank up there with some of the band’s best work, but those who came to hear the classics didn’t have long to wait, as the next song was the epic title-track to the group’s 1975 lp Ghosts. From there the sets diverged somewhat, as the early show had to be somewhat abbreviated for time. The early set got “The Promised Land” from 1975’s Nomadness, “The River/Down by the Sea” from 1973’s Bursting at the Seams, and two more new tracks, “The Ten Commandments” (featuring a lead vocal turn by Lambert) and “The Familiarity of Old Lovers” (for which Bainbridge stepped out from behind his keyboards to play an impressive dueling guitar solo with Lambert). Those fortunate enough to be at the late show also got “New World” from 1972’s Grave New World and two tracks from 1976’s Deep Cuts, “So Close and Yet So Far Away” and “Turn Me Round."

Then, there was Hero and Heroine. The band did a full-album tour last year playing the 1974 record in its enitrety, but for this tour they played an abbreviated selection, what Cousins called the “Reader’s Digest version.” A few years ago, the album was named one of the fifty greatest prog rock albums of all time by Rolling Stone (“took them long enough,” noted Cousins), and it has always been a fan favorite and the band’s top seller. For these shows, they played several of the most popular songs from the record – “Autumn,” “Hero and Heroine,” “Out in the Cold,” and “Round and Round” (the late show added “Lay A Little Light on Me”). The band returned for encores – new song “We Have the Power” for both sets, and “Lay Down” from Bursting at the Seams in the later set.

They may be five decades into their career at this point, but the Strawbs are still playing as powerfully as ever. At the end of the late show encore, Cousins passed over his usual benediction of "we'll see you all in another 25 years!" (a closing line he's been using since back in 2003 when the band played its first US shows in over two decades at the time) to end instead with an emotional "I think this is the best Strawbs you've ever seen." He certainly wasn't far from the truth.

CENTRE FOR THE ARTS, HOMER NY, 17 NOV 2017

THE STRAWBS SHOULD BE MORE FAMOUS - Review by Katrina Tulloch (from Syracuse.com)

One of the most underrated bands of the 1970s dropped by the Center for the Arts on Friday night.

The Strawbs walked onstage at 8 p.m. with no opener. Original guitarist/singer Dave Cousins still leads the prog-rock group, along with Dave Lambert on lead guitar and vocals, Dave Bainbridge on keys, Chas Cronk on bass and Tony Fernandez on drums.

The band began as a bluegrass outfit called the Strawberry Hill Boys and evolved into pure prog by the mid-1970s, but Cousins' songwriting remained firmly rooted in the land of folk.

Cousins makes an underwhelming first impression. He shuffled to the center, taking his time to move around a couple cords. He said nothing and hung his gaze upward while Bainbridge launched into his majestic piano intro. The loudest thing about Cousins, at first, was his shirt -- a wacky print of grays and blues.

Then, as Fernandez banged out the first real, rock opening notes, Cousins woke up. He pointed upward with each hurtling downbeat from Fernandez. It reminded me of Gene Wilder's slow walk to his gate in "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory," before falling into a startling somersault.

The Strawbs played selections from their new album "The Ferryman's Curse," which Cousins plugged shamelessly throughout the set. It's their first album of new material in eight years.

"I'm not trying to sell it to you or anything, but between us, we have seven grandchildren," Cousins said. "If you buy it, it would help us buy them Christmas presents."

A lesser drummer would fade into the background of this band, but Fernandez played as if a spotlight constantly shined on him. He wielded his sticks like wands, twisting his wrists and fingers to smash his drums with remarkable force.

One fan in the audience described Fernandez as one of the hardest-hitting drummers he had ever seen.

On "The River" and "Down By the Sea," the band evoked natural sounds of wind howling on the keys and waves crashing on the cymbals. Lambert's deft slide work mimicked the bends of a river.

It was an excellent end to the first set, as the slow start transitioned freely to a thunderous meditation on the power of the sea.

Although he kept his stony face, Cousins engaged the crowd with tour stories and more bone-dry jokes.

"We're going to take a little break to plug in our pacemakers so we can get through our next set," he said, at intermission. Dave Lambert sings on lead guitar. (Katrina Tulloch)

Lambert's sprawling solos and hard-rock vocals provided fresh breaks from the moodier Cousins. With his long hair and casual attitude, Lambert looked like a longtime rocker more than anyone else onstage. He took swigs from a Yuengling can between songs.

Bassist Cronk balanced out Lambert's confident guitar work, though it took more effort in the second set. After intermission, someone cranked up Lambert's guitar amp to the point that Cousins had to often cover his left ear.