Guy Garvey at the Shepherds Bush

I have been going to gigs for more than thirty years and finally I made it to a guest list! My Firm got a pair of tickets from the Firm's charity to be sold in a raffle to raise funds for them. The winner couldn't make it so asked if I could make use of them. You bet. I have seen Elbow loads of times - plenty of reviews on this blog to prove it - so I was really keen to see Guy Garvey on his first solo venture. I had even dashed out to buy the album and give it a few listens in preparation.

Support came from a blues trio, one of whom, Mark Potter, does play in Elbow.I am sure this was all very good, but I don't like Blues. Not at all. The lead singer may be a legend in Blues, but meant nothing to me at all. Great hat though. And not many people still play harmonica. Fortunately.

Guy Garvey just played his debut album, Courting the Squall, straight through. Strongest track by far is the opener, Angela's Eyes, but there is a lot of good stuff on it. To eek out the show they even played an old Inkspots number, and there were some songs from Peter Jobson of I Am Kloot.

But what makes any evening with Guy Garvey a great experience is his genial personality and quick wit. He must just be one of the most delightful entertainers out there. Maybe he beats his wife and molests his kids in private (I am sure he doesn't!), but to the outer world, he just comes across as the nicest bloke in the world to go down the pub with. Add to that a superb voice and interesting, complicated songs and you are away. Brilliant evening.

And finished on a second rendition of Angela's Eyes. If you only have the one album, you are lacking in material. Unless he were to pick out of the vast Elbow back catalogue which, with one exception, was a temptation he resisted, perhaps to our disappointment.

The Waterboys at Hammersmith Apollo

I hadn't intended to see the Waterboys. I had put them down as rather folky, although like everyone who has heard a bit of music over the last quarter century, I do like "The Whole of the Moon", their one big hit when reissued in the Nineties. But one of my colleagues had a spare ticket and I am always up for a gig, so I headed down to Hammersmith and got the drinks him for him and his wife and youngest son, just waiting for their arrival. I am the perfect guest!

Of course, one should try to avoid preconceptions. Far from the Celtic folky stuff I was expecting, this was really a rock concert and a very good one. Obviously the average age of the audience was rather higher than I normally encounter, and some were ridiculously devoted fans, but this was a very lively performance. The guy on keyboards, although a pensioner, was giving it some wellie, reminding me rather of a character from the muppets, his long grey hair flying around as he vigorously shook to the music. Mike Scott (lead singer) is starting to show his age too, but it didn't detract in the slightest from the show. An unexpected hit!

Hangmen

One isn't going to find a much less expected subject for farce as the end of capital punishment. But this play has rightly become one of the hottest tickets in the West End. the second half is rather more of a hoot than the first, but then again that is how farce tends to work - you need to spend a while setting up the big scene.

It starts, in a very clever bit of set design, in a prisoners cell as the criminal, still pleading his innocence, is duly dispatched by David Morrissey in one of the last hangings in Britain. The cell then lifts up above the stage and we find ourselves in the Lancashire pub of one of the last two hangmen in the country the day after hanging is abolished. The catalyst for the fun is the menacing, not creepy Johnny Flynn who plays a young Southerner wide boy who, we are led to believe, has kidnapped the hangman/publican's obese daughter. It all gets suitably complicated, too complicated to properly explain, but trust me there is a hanging, and its very funny. Honestly.

Waste

I hadn't enjoyed a play at the National for a while. And this could have been a tough one - the theme being the attempt to pass a bill to disestablish the Church of England in the 19th century. But actually while certainly not a light play, it wasn't too heavy going either. it was interesting both from a historic viewpoint and for the characters involved.

The main protagonist, Trebell, has only one real aim in life, to carry this bill through Parliament. His failure is because he had an adulterous fling with the wife of an Irish Republican MP and she got pregnant. The scandal was his downfall. The political machinations and sheer hypocrisy surrounding it are what makes the play so entertaining.

Public Service Broadcasting at Brixton Academy

I have seen this lot several times now, and even on my own, they didn't disappoint. Far from it this was their biggest (they didn't sell out, at least not quite) and best.

As I was on my own, I chose a seat on the balcony. More comfy for a long evening.

Support act seemed a nice enough bunch of lads but you wouldn't want to see them headlining.

PSB were mostly showcasing their most recent album, the Race for Space. One nice thing about them given they aren't well-known, is they have a a very diverse audience - truly all ages from some kids with parents to the quite elderly.

With the space theme, they brought up the Sputnik, a nice touch. They are a very visual band.

 You get a lot with PSB. Including a guest appearance from a brass section.

And a better class of MC..

 

The Vaccines at Brixton

 I wasn't really sure that I was up for this gig, not least as I was going on my own. And I found myself surrounded by young girls. It later became clear this wasn't because the Vaccines are especially boy band material, just that all the young blokes were in the middle and later formed a surprisingly voracious mosh pit, while I was at the edge with the women and children, or because of the demographic, women who virtually were children.

First support were ok although the bloke did seem to model himself on Bob Dylan (and I hate Dylan)

Second support came from the rather good Palma Violets. Had seen them before so knew what to expect. Quite raucous but a good energetic sound and stage presence.

But then the Vaccines. Their new album English Graffiti is really pretty good ( I had done my homework before coming so was familiar with it) although not as good as their first. And better than their second. We were served a mixture from all their albums. Best was actually the opening track from their second album, No Hope, played just by lead singer Justin Young on his own, at the beginning of the encore. More poignant for being solo. But overall a fine gig and the Vaccines are definitely worth catching live.

  
And with the encore, the confetti. Was still pulling bits out of my jacket the following day.