Chris Brain/Porterhouse

CHRIS BRAIN/PORTERHOUSE

Musician Pub 31st October 2023

A definite change of pace at The Musician Pub tonight for a real delight of a gig.

Opening the proceedings were PORTERHOUSE, making what i believe was a first performance as a 3-piece. The instrumentation of the band was i think unique... finger picked acoustic guitar, cello & upright bass... and the overall style was americana, and the sound clean, clear and absolutely beautiful. The band play a mixture of original material and covers... and what fabulous covers!!... including pieces by Guy Clarke (LA Freeway) Lyle Lovett (if i has a boat) and Justin Townes Earl (mamas eyes)... absolute classics!!

Throughout the set the standard of musicianship was outstanding and the vocals assured, warm and perfect for the band.

They soon developed a real rapport with the audience, to a large extent through easy going nature of the vocalist, whose between the songs patter struck exactly the right level...

Loved this band and performance...

After the short break on came the headliner, Chris Brain. A new name to me and what a delight he was... simply an unadorned acoustic guitar and voice delivering a truly outstanding set.

Chris's finger picking was absolutely brilliant, and his fine voice both warm and gentle, delivering predominantly his own excellent songs... his earlier work very pastoral and reflecting his love of the natural world, the later pieces in similar vein but with a more personal emphasis. He included one folk song in the set, a setting of the Burns poem, "Westlin Winds" made famous by Dick Gaughan... and ended with an encore of an accappela performance of "I'm a Rover". During the set Chris explained he has been invited to play 2 songs in a Bert Jansch memorial at the Royal Festival Hall... which points to the esteem he commands, and performed both of the Jansch song he will be playing then in tonights show and I am sure he will excel!

In common with many a folk musician Chris uses a variety of tunings for his work so did retune between most songs, but his patter was always so warm, delivered in a soft yorkshire accent, that he had no problem keeping the attention of the very appreciative audience...

One of those very pure, musical and beautiful evenings... two acts relying solely on the great musicianship, vocals and warmth of personality

A memorable lovely gig

Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venue

Union Square

UNION SQUARE

The Donkey 29th October 2023

I fancied an afternoon of music so went to The Donkey Venue to catch UNION SQUARE

I cant say this is amongst the greatest bands i've seen, but i did enjoy the afternoon.

At the beginning they set out their intention of playing a relatively laid back set, with a Van Morrison sort of vibe, and heavier rocky music in the second set...

Union Square are a covers band and distinguish themselves by going for a number of well know but not that often played pieces, many of which are very well known.

Second piece was the Doors "Light my fire" before going on to Bill Withers (Aint no sunshine) and a couple of Van Morrison songs (into the mystic/moondance). As the set continued i felt it needed a spark.. and that came with some pretty nifty guitar work in Fleetwood Mac's "Need you love so bad" before going onto Ray Charles' "Unchain my heart" which was delivered no little spirit.

The first half did lack some spirit... no problem with the musicianship or song choice of the band, but for me they lacked a sparkle... there was no real attempt to engage the audience and they left what at times were interminable gaps between numbers, where they could have talked to the audience, this lack of rapport i thought made it difficult to stay with them.

The second half started with far more energy with the Stones "Dead Flowers" but the issue of lack of communication persisted though the music this half had a lot more zip and " ooomph" about it... and featured some more fine guitar work on another Fleetwood Mac piece (Black Magic Woman) and a couple of Jimi's songs... (Little Wing/Red House).

Sadly I felt both sets lacked real joy and energy, though as I said the musicianship was good... but it was only in the last three pieces... Route 66, 20 Flight Rock and Rockin' in the Free World that they found the spirit and pazzazz needed... and delivered pretty fine versions of all three.

All things considered... i think a bit more stage craft and communication could make this band a pretty good covers band... but i did enjoy the set and am glad i went

Keep music live... keep music real... support you local venues

Chantel McGregor/Blue Nation

CHANTEL McGREGOR/BLUE NATION

Musician Pub 27th October 2023

Friday night finally saw a long awaited and much anticipated gig at The Musician Pub... and i am sometimes nervous that when looking forward so much the event can be a bit of an anticlimax... no way this one... this was an absolutely phenomenal gig from start to finish

At the appointed hour Blue Nation took the stage... after a brief spell of organising themselves they were good to go... i'd seen this band before and they were superb... and tonight they topped that performance... the crashed into the first number with some relish and no little power... the opening to a Blue Nation set can come as shock!! They are a force to be reckoned with! As it says on their website "this powerhouse 3-piece band unleashes a seismic fusion of Riff based Melodic Blues Rock"

Nick (Drums) and Luke (Bass) create a solid powerful rhythm thats rocks like crazy and never falters. above it guitarist Neil hammers out the riffs and delivers the vocals in a crisp clear way.

The whole band thrive on the banter between themselves and with the audience and generate a warmth that makes it impossible to not love them.

This was a powerful glorious set...

Aside from the brilliant music, the band spoke with compassion, intelligence and understanding of those suffering mental illness of any kind and take a collection for the Samatitans at their gigs.LCFC i didnt love them as a band anyway i would love them for that alone

How do you follow a scorching set like that.. it seems the answer is to bring on the phenomenal Chantel McGregor and her band.

The band comprises Thom on Bass and Jake on Drums along with Chantel on guitar and vocals.

I was thinking how i would describe Chantel... when my friend Richard came up with the answer... imagine a mixture of Bonnie Raitt and Rory Gallagher... yep... that seems right.

Chantel can start a piece melodically, almost quietly, the take off on a mesmerizing exciting guitar breaks... her playing is simply outstanding... the band is superb and the guitar breaks take it to another level and quite simply take the breath away... glorious.

Somewhere mid-set Chantel picked up an acoustic guitasr and delivered a beautiful song, " I cant make you love me" with emotion and great feeling. Her acoustic playing is every bit as brilliant as her electric work, and this song gave her the chance to show just what a fine voice she has, and what a fine singer she is.

I admit i was a bit alarmed when she announced a long prog piece... needn't have worried, though it lasted around 15 minutes the guitar work was sublime... full of both power and delicacy, light and shade.

On top of this Chantel comes over as a remarkably lovely woman... full of fun and a ready quip... and had an easy delightful rapport with the band and audience alike.

Two absolutely awesome sets..and an absolutely fabulous night

Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues

Chris Conway & Dan Britton/Andy Griffiths

CHRIS CONWAY & DAN BRITTON/ANDY GRIFFITHS

Musician Pub 25th October 2023

A delight of a gig at The Musician Pub Wednesday night... Chris Conway and Dan Britton supported by Andy Griffiths

ANDY was up first, and to be honest I didnt realise it was him...first time i had seen him clean shaven and wearing glasses... however... once he started to sing there was no doubt.. he kicked off with the fabulous "Kingfisher"... a beautiful song about a the historical loss of a fishing boat and crew... a beautifully lyrical and dramatic piece. Then into a song about "Mix Tapes" which really struck a chord or two with me and ended with another absolute gem... "Last Orders" which in these troubled times was especially poignant.

Andy plays fluent melodic finger picked guitar and has a gentle warm voice which works perfectly, and again, played a really great set

Headlining were Chris Conway and Dan Britton ably assisted on percussion and backing vocals by Neil Rabjohn

I have reviewed Chris a few times lately, so i guess most people know how much i love his work... but this was the first time I had seen Chris and Dan working together... and they work together so incredibly well...

Chris opened their set with "Carousel" and Dan's first song was "The Storm", another song about the loss of a trawler, very different to Andy's song but equally powerful and impressive. The pair continued to alternate taking a song each through the set..

Chris demonstrated his multi instrument talents by playing guitar, piano and whistle among others, at one point playing a different parts on two whistles simultaneously while Dan played Bodhran on a piece from their collaboration with Govannen.

The highlights for me came with Dan's song about the trawler, and his "Crazy Horse".... the irish jig with Chris playing whistles, and Chris's classic and joyful "Alien Jellyfish"... the perfect way to end a simply lovely gig.

The musicians are clearly all good friends, and the whole performance was warm and hugely enjoyable... no histrionics, no dramas, no unecessary showmanship... just great songs, fine musicianship and singing, and terrific entertainment

Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues