First up, well done to the Abbey on all their recent innovative Twitter marketing, including their generous giveaways, of which yours truly was a recipient, getting a nice pair of free 4th row seats for one of the previews.
So, off we trundled to Abbey Street last Friday, myself and herself, with no particular expectations. I'm an admirer of George Bernard Shaw's life, wit, writings and much of his philosophy, but I think I've only ever seen one of his plays before (Pygmalion). I know the Gate theatre did Mrs Warren's Profession earlier this year, but generally his plays haven't really been performed that much here in Shaw's home country over the years. Is that because his worldview didn't chime with that of independent Ireland, or because his work had an Anglo hue to it? I don't really know. What I do know though, is that some of the themes of Major Barbara are still very relevant today, and this was an entertaining thought provoking play from start to finish, expertly produced by the national theatre.
Where to start? There is so much in it! It's a long, complicated play, in 3 Acts (almost 4). A huge amount of dialogue for the cast, and for a preview there were surprisingly few slip-ups, just a few words here and there. And not only is there a lot of dialogue, but the sentences are long and the language ornate, beautiful and slightly old-fashioned, with the wit of Oscar Wilde yet the seriousness of the deeper thinker that was Shaw. So, an impressive performance from the cast. Strongest was probably Eleanor Methven as Lady Britomart, closely followed by impressive newcomer (at this level) Clare Dunne in the title role and bringing a bit of TV and big screen glamour to the Dublin stage, Paul McGann as Mr Undershaft. He's technically very good, but like most of the cast, we could see he was possibly still finding his way in to the role at preview stage, not surprising for what is a fairly difficult play.
The cast, direction and production cleverly brought out both the humour and the themes of the play. What came through most was the theme of charity and how it can be corrupted by big money, particularly big money of dubious origin. We saw the title character wrestle with this time and time again, and the contrasting attitude of her father. I won't spoil the plot of the play, but suffice to say this wrestling for Barbara becomes more and more pronounced as Shaw explores the complicated nature of family, money, inheritance, guilt and the various moralities of war and charity. Much of the humour came from the Lady Britomart character, and the actresses' perfect delivery had a lot to do with this.
Final word goes to the really excellent production. The three different stage set-ups all worked prefectly, especially the classic drawing room set-up and the nice device they use when it switches to the factory.
So, kudos to the Abbey for reviving this thought-provoking play, and even bigger kudos for giving away so many free tickets to the previews. They were much appreciated!
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Glastonbury 2013 - brief TV review
Seeing as Glastonbury on the Beeb is as close as I seem to be getting to any live music action this summer, here’s a few thoughts on this year’s return to action, after Michael Eavis giving the field a break in 2012.
The coverage was the usual matey affair, with the same main 3 presenters doing pieces-to-camera, introducing the acts, interviews and a selection of pre-recorded pieces about artists, the event, the site etc.
Basically I just dipped in and out of the main BBC2 coverage catching bits and pieces of the acts I wanted to see, plus the occasional longer set on BBCs 3 and 4, and caught a few extra songs on YouTube.
Obvious highlight? Well, I do quite like the Rolling Stones so like most people I was eager to see would they deliver.
And they did! I have one or two quibbles with the modern-day Stones, but I can put these quibbles all aside as far as this performance went. It was a very well judged setlist and effort by the whole band. Firstly I like the fact that this tour has slightly less backing musicians than previous tours, it has 2 actually quite decent new songs in the set, AND they didn’t bother with any bells/whistles/fireworks at the Glastonbury show – just focusing on the music, plus of course with Mick Taylor guesting on 2 or 3 songs, as he has done on the whole tour. And he really shows his chops! He’s certainly a somewhat more naturally gifted player than Ronnie Wood or Keith Richards, notwithstanding Wood/Richards on a good night do gel well together themselves. Anyway, really great to finally see him back in the band and at his best playing on 2 or 3 very strong songs (would be good to see more of him tho) in a proper televised setting (rather than the audience YouTubes from the US tour)
And ok, so the Stones are maybe not as dangerous, relevant or cutting edge as 40 years ago, but really these days, who is?
This was entertainment, but entertainment of the highest quality. Jagger in particular, owned the stage and had a superb night. Set highlight for me (out of the televised part) was ‘Midnight Rambler’ but it was all good really.
The first night’s headliners Arctic Monkeys were quite good. I’ve seen them live before myself, but that was back in the earlier days, they seem to have turned in to a different band altogether now, but still very good. Alex Turner still has the arrogance and presence to command a big crowd and they went down pretty well.
Mumford and Sons on the final night were also ok. Perhaps these days people expect a big ‘Rock’ type headliner, but Glastonbury does have folk-rock roots and these guys definitely have their particular (big) audience. I saw them at Hop Farm a few years ago, and thousands of people were singing along to every word. Personally I find their songs a bit repetitive, but each to their own, and hey, it was a passable Beatles sing-a-long at the end!
Some other artists I enjoyed – Elvis Costello is as good as ever, Chic and Nile Rogers gave us some pop/funk/r’n'b, The Strypes showed us why they’re the future (or possibly the past?!) with a classic twist on the sound and look of all those London bands from 50 years ago, and Kenny Rogers sounding (if not looking?!) just like he always has, ie very mainstream country music but with a good stage presence for the traditional Sunday oldies-slot, and who can deny he has some catchy and familiar songs for a cheery sunny Glastonbury afternoon!
Anyway, a good festival it seems again, and well done to the BBC on their competent and exhaustive coverage – but I’ll end with a short rant – how about showing more of the Download Festival next year guys?! Metal is almost as popular as any other genre, and Download draws huge crowds, but BBC4 only showed a measly 2 songs of Iron Maiden’s storming headlining slot. Ah well..
The coverage was the usual matey affair, with the same main 3 presenters doing pieces-to-camera, introducing the acts, interviews and a selection of pre-recorded pieces about artists, the event, the site etc.
Basically I just dipped in and out of the main BBC2 coverage catching bits and pieces of the acts I wanted to see, plus the occasional longer set on BBCs 3 and 4, and caught a few extra songs on YouTube.
Obvious highlight? Well, I do quite like the Rolling Stones so like most people I was eager to see would they deliver.
And they did! I have one or two quibbles with the modern-day Stones, but I can put these quibbles all aside as far as this performance went. It was a very well judged setlist and effort by the whole band. Firstly I like the fact that this tour has slightly less backing musicians than previous tours, it has 2 actually quite decent new songs in the set, AND they didn’t bother with any bells/whistles/fireworks at the Glastonbury show – just focusing on the music, plus of course with Mick Taylor guesting on 2 or 3 songs, as he has done on the whole tour. And he really shows his chops! He’s certainly a somewhat more naturally gifted player than Ronnie Wood or Keith Richards, notwithstanding Wood/Richards on a good night do gel well together themselves. Anyway, really great to finally see him back in the band and at his best playing on 2 or 3 very strong songs (would be good to see more of him tho) in a proper televised setting (rather than the audience YouTubes from the US tour)
And ok, so the Stones are maybe not as dangerous, relevant or cutting edge as 40 years ago, but really these days, who is?
This was entertainment, but entertainment of the highest quality. Jagger in particular, owned the stage and had a superb night. Set highlight for me (out of the televised part) was ‘Midnight Rambler’ but it was all good really.
The first night’s headliners Arctic Monkeys were quite good. I’ve seen them live before myself, but that was back in the earlier days, they seem to have turned in to a different band altogether now, but still very good. Alex Turner still has the arrogance and presence to command a big crowd and they went down pretty well.
Mumford and Sons on the final night were also ok. Perhaps these days people expect a big ‘Rock’ type headliner, but Glastonbury does have folk-rock roots and these guys definitely have their particular (big) audience. I saw them at Hop Farm a few years ago, and thousands of people were singing along to every word. Personally I find their songs a bit repetitive, but each to their own, and hey, it was a passable Beatles sing-a-long at the end!
Some other artists I enjoyed – Elvis Costello is as good as ever, Chic and Nile Rogers gave us some pop/funk/r’n'b, The Strypes showed us why they’re the future (or possibly the past?!) with a classic twist on the sound and look of all those London bands from 50 years ago, and Kenny Rogers sounding (if not looking?!) just like he always has, ie very mainstream country music but with a good stage presence for the traditional Sunday oldies-slot, and who can deny he has some catchy and familiar songs for a cheery sunny Glastonbury afternoon!
Anyway, a good festival it seems again, and well done to the BBC on their competent and exhaustive coverage – but I’ll end with a short rant – how about showing more of the Download Festival next year guys?! Metal is almost as popular as any other genre, and Download draws huge crowds, but BBC4 only showed a measly 2 songs of Iron Maiden’s storming headlining slot. Ah well..
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Eric Clapton review, 02 Arena, Dublin 9 May 2013
I was delighted to receive a complimentary ticket to Eric Clapton's Dublin show (a big thanks to the person who gave it to me!), and perched in excellent seats just behind the short flat part of the floor,settled in to watch Eric and his band stroll on to stage promptly at 8.30pm on this, the opening night of their European tour.
I'm not an out-and-out Clapton fanatic, but have always liked his fluid perfect blues style as well as his songs, voice and bands, so was really looking forward to this gig, which was pretty much the first major concert I've been to in nearly a year.
For the first two songs Eric was on acoustic and allowing the band to kick out and find it's feet, starting with a gentle 'Hello Old Friend' sweetened by some country pedal-steel guitar from Greg Leisz. Next up was 'My Father's Eyes' not a great song, but given a nice reggae tinge in this arrangement and a catchy number for Eric to build up the concert a little before finally strapping on his electric guitar (a black Strat) for 3rd song 'Tell the Truth'. Even now, Eric seemed content to let his 2nd guitar player Doyle Bramhell take the early leads, but in the latter part of the song he finally peeled off a classic solo of his own. Now we really knew we were at an Eric Clapton concert!
I should say that the sound in the room was absolutely perfect, incredibly well mixed, and Eric's band really deserve all their plaudits, including the 2 female backing vocalists who added a lot but were never intrusive. Eric seems in excellent shape as he approaches 70, and his voice is as good as his guitar chops (I've always felt Clapton's voice is very underrated, as is the case with two other guitar heroes of his era, Hendrix and Rory Gallagher).
The 4th song I wasn't familiar with, 'Gotta Get Over' according to the EC fan sites, and had some lovely complicated riffing going on in it. Then we had 'Black Cat Bone' a snappy blues with wonderful playing from the pedal-steel guy, now switched to lap-steel. 'Got to Get Better' was a great funky work-out with Eric and Steve Jordan on drums both very prominent. 'Come Rain or Come Shine' was the closest we'd had yet to a mid tempo tune, gorgeous song, with Eric and Paul Carrack (piano and vocals, and a good singer he is too, a bit like Dr John) trading verses.
Then we had the biggest 'hit' played so far, 'Badge' getting a big roar of recognition from the capacity crowd, and very well played it was too. This closed the first electric set, a quick change of set up, and Eric sets to a few songs seated, and with a stripped down band, playing what looked like a gorgeous enormous red Grelsch. The first song was 'Drifting' with nice fingerpicking from the main man and organ solo from Carrack, followed by a song from the new album I think, preceding a gentle 'Layla', done a la the Unplugged album but with a bit more swing. Chris Stainton got to play a nice keyboard solo on it.
Next up was the first of a few Robert Johnson related songs which Eric has been featuring in recent legs of his tour. And perhaps there was some extra significance to the Johnson songs, as yesterday would have been his 102nd birthday! 'Stones in my Passway' has a Crossroads-esque riff, with some stunning tempo-switches, something I always like in a blues song. Then Paul Carrack got to sing one, prior to Eric taking up the mic again with a somewhat throwaway shuffle-tpye arrangement of 'Lay Down Sally'. The stripped-down set then draws to a close with one of Eric's biggest hits, a faithful rendition of 'Wonderful Tonight' nicely done, and with Doyle Bramhall playing the famous guitar solo.
Back to electric, kicking off with a song called 'Blues Power', a kind of old fashioned R'n'B song, prior to 'Love in Vain' bringing the ghost of Robert Johnson nicely to life again on this chilly Dublin summer's evening. Excellently done, in a more brisk arrangement than the famous Rolling Stones version, and then kicking straight in to 'Crossroads' a major highlight of the night, finishing up as it does these days with Clapton and Bramhall tossing solos at each other almost casually, but always solos of stunning quality.
Coming close now to the end of the show, they played 'Queen of Spades' probably the most long slow traditional blues of the night, and again of the highest quality. Truly wonderful band playing. I think I've mentioned most of them by now, but a quick mention of the rhythm section wouldn't go astray, with Willie Weeks on bass and Steve Jordan on drums having a huge impact on how this 'big-ish but tight' band gels, rocks and moves, providing the ultimate platform for Mr Clapton to do his thing. Last but not least then, the closing song of the night was a superb 'Cocaine', bringing the crowd to it's feet and a big ovation for all the musicians as they leave the stage after two hours of classic blues based music.
Eric wasn't done though, and back out they came for a 2 song 15-minute encore, first a true-to-life rendition of the Cream classic 'Sunshine of your Love' again with Paul Carrack getting to share vocal verses, before closing with 'High Time we Went', not a song I know well, but a decent closing number.
So, off we went in to the night, truly sated with a show that had virtually everything that music can offer, exemplary musicianship/songs/singing, great sound in what is a very good venue for such a big room, and of course for anyone who likes guitar, it has never ever gotten much better than this, Eric Clapton himself - still very close to the top of his game after 50 years on the road. If he's playing your town, go! 9/10.
I'm not an out-and-out Clapton fanatic, but have always liked his fluid perfect blues style as well as his songs, voice and bands, so was really looking forward to this gig, which was pretty much the first major concert I've been to in nearly a year.
For the first two songs Eric was on acoustic and allowing the band to kick out and find it's feet, starting with a gentle 'Hello Old Friend' sweetened by some country pedal-steel guitar from Greg Leisz. Next up was 'My Father's Eyes' not a great song, but given a nice reggae tinge in this arrangement and a catchy number for Eric to build up the concert a little before finally strapping on his electric guitar (a black Strat) for 3rd song 'Tell the Truth'. Even now, Eric seemed content to let his 2nd guitar player Doyle Bramhell take the early leads, but in the latter part of the song he finally peeled off a classic solo of his own. Now we really knew we were at an Eric Clapton concert!
I should say that the sound in the room was absolutely perfect, incredibly well mixed, and Eric's band really deserve all their plaudits, including the 2 female backing vocalists who added a lot but were never intrusive. Eric seems in excellent shape as he approaches 70, and his voice is as good as his guitar chops (I've always felt Clapton's voice is very underrated, as is the case with two other guitar heroes of his era, Hendrix and Rory Gallagher).
The 4th song I wasn't familiar with, 'Gotta Get Over' according to the EC fan sites, and had some lovely complicated riffing going on in it. Then we had 'Black Cat Bone' a snappy blues with wonderful playing from the pedal-steel guy, now switched to lap-steel. 'Got to Get Better' was a great funky work-out with Eric and Steve Jordan on drums both very prominent. 'Come Rain or Come Shine' was the closest we'd had yet to a mid tempo tune, gorgeous song, with Eric and Paul Carrack (piano and vocals, and a good singer he is too, a bit like Dr John) trading verses.
Then we had the biggest 'hit' played so far, 'Badge' getting a big roar of recognition from the capacity crowd, and very well played it was too. This closed the first electric set, a quick change of set up, and Eric sets to a few songs seated, and with a stripped down band, playing what looked like a gorgeous enormous red Grelsch. The first song was 'Drifting' with nice fingerpicking from the main man and organ solo from Carrack, followed by a song from the new album I think, preceding a gentle 'Layla', done a la the Unplugged album but with a bit more swing. Chris Stainton got to play a nice keyboard solo on it.
Next up was the first of a few Robert Johnson related songs which Eric has been featuring in recent legs of his tour. And perhaps there was some extra significance to the Johnson songs, as yesterday would have been his 102nd birthday! 'Stones in my Passway' has a Crossroads-esque riff, with some stunning tempo-switches, something I always like in a blues song. Then Paul Carrack got to sing one, prior to Eric taking up the mic again with a somewhat throwaway shuffle-tpye arrangement of 'Lay Down Sally'. The stripped-down set then draws to a close with one of Eric's biggest hits, a faithful rendition of 'Wonderful Tonight' nicely done, and with Doyle Bramhall playing the famous guitar solo.
Back to electric, kicking off with a song called 'Blues Power', a kind of old fashioned R'n'B song, prior to 'Love in Vain' bringing the ghost of Robert Johnson nicely to life again on this chilly Dublin summer's evening. Excellently done, in a more brisk arrangement than the famous Rolling Stones version, and then kicking straight in to 'Crossroads' a major highlight of the night, finishing up as it does these days with Clapton and Bramhall tossing solos at each other almost casually, but always solos of stunning quality.
Coming close now to the end of the show, they played 'Queen of Spades' probably the most long slow traditional blues of the night, and again of the highest quality. Truly wonderful band playing. I think I've mentioned most of them by now, but a quick mention of the rhythm section wouldn't go astray, with Willie Weeks on bass and Steve Jordan on drums having a huge impact on how this 'big-ish but tight' band gels, rocks and moves, providing the ultimate platform for Mr Clapton to do his thing. Last but not least then, the closing song of the night was a superb 'Cocaine', bringing the crowd to it's feet and a big ovation for all the musicians as they leave the stage after two hours of classic blues based music.
Eric wasn't done though, and back out they came for a 2 song 15-minute encore, first a true-to-life rendition of the Cream classic 'Sunshine of your Love' again with Paul Carrack getting to share vocal verses, before closing with 'High Time we Went', not a song I know well, but a decent closing number.
So, off we went in to the night, truly sated with a show that had virtually everything that music can offer, exemplary musicianship/songs/singing, great sound in what is a very good venue for such a big room, and of course for anyone who likes guitar, it has never ever gotten much better than this, Eric Clapton himself - still very close to the top of his game after 50 years on the road. If he's playing your town, go! 9/10.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Review of 2012
2012 was a ropey old year really in many ways! So let’s get the negatives out of the way quickly, in a couple of sentences! Ireland is still in bad shape. But it’s still not Haiti. I still have mortgage issues, financial issues and negative equity, but I’m still eating well! I’ve covered Ireland’s economic woes and some of my suggestions re same (plus content re my mortgage campaign) in my e-book, (www.notrunningaway.com) and in a recent blog about the Budget (http://www.notrunningaway.com/the-budget-and-beyond-a-view/ ), so I won’t rehash any of that here. However suffice to say that in this bankrupt little country (where we pay our leader considerably more than Barack Obama) we have not in any significant way challenged the inequalities, injustices and mounting poverty issues which face the country. We have a long way to to, green shoots or no..
But it IS great to see any green shoots (of recovery), and I am genuinely feeling positive for myself and for others about 2013. We’ll have to do most of it ourselves though. I’ve given up on governments (or banks, or any other branches of Official Ireland) to show much wit or innovation, or even any basic human consideration.
So, moving on from that, instead of my usual list-based review of the year (films, concerts, albums) I’m going to do it a little differently this year, and just touch (briefly!) on things I enjoyed and some (!) of the things I got up to during the year. The main reason being, in 2012 I went to very few films, plays and concerts, and bought very few albums.
But, there was lots of good stuff..
Firstly, I did quite a bit of running. Lots of regular IMRA mountain races and some longer distance races such as the Art O’Neill Challenge and the Mournes 7-7s, both of which went quite well, arm injury in the Mournes notwithstanding. The Art O’Neill is an incredible event (I reviewed it thoroughly on my blog at the time) and I must have forgotten all about the pain of the closing 10-20km last year (it’s a 55km overnight winter-time mountain ultra-marathon), as I seem to have entered it again! It’s on next week (11&12 Jan) and hopefully I’ve done enough training to get through it again. Aiming to beat last year’s 9.5 hours!
One other activity I’ve been trying recently is Bikram Yoga down at the Harold’s Cross studio (http://bikramyoga.ie/Welcome.html ), I’ve just done one month of it (introductory offer) and am already finding the benefits to be quite significant. It’s early days though, so I won’t go in to too much detail yet, but here’s a sample of benefits I’m feeling already – quicker recovery from long training runs, legs and knees considerably less creaky, better flexibility, better sleep, lower blood pressure, a little bit of weight loss and improved muscle tone, improved headaches and some quite remarkable overall post-class relaxation and general well-being! I’ll report back further on this in future blog entries.
Career wise, it’s been an interesting year. I won’t go in to much detail on this, but things are going in a good direction and I have some plans already in place for 2013 which I can’t wait to get stuck in to. Like many people in Ireland I’m working on making my way out of the mess of the economic collapse and my bad (!) timing in buying my first home (2006), but even more importantly, I’ve made a lot of progress at coping with the stress. Solutions have included – the support of friends and family, meditation/yoga, running, talking to people, and of course the support of one person in particular. She wouldn’t want me to name her, but 2012 would have meant very little without her!
Anyway, to the nuts and bolts of some of the things I enjoyed this year.
Sports wise, I very much enjoyed the Olympics – the sport, the tv coverage, and also the excellent opening ceremony. Nice to see our neighbours put on a good event, and lets not begrudge them all their medals (!), plus it was nice to see a few Irish medals as well. Earlier in the year Leinster won another big one in rugby and later Andy Murray got the major monkey off his back, Fionnuala Britton (who did an IMRA race this year!) winning cross country titles was great to see, but most of all I enjoyed seeing Rory McIlroy step up to the plate and become the greatest golfer in the world.
Of my few concerts this year, they were all contenders for my favourite. Topping the bill as joint winners though would be Bruce Springsteen and Leonard Cohen, both in Dublin. I chose well, going to just one night of each artist’s run, getting a particularly excellent setlist at Bruce’s show on the Wednesday. (I have already reviewed these shows in detail earlier in the year, if you want to delve back). Leonard’s shows are as special as ever - there’ll come a day when we’ll look back very fondly at this short golden on-stage period for the aging bard, but for now we should just savour it. Bruce tours all the time of course and 2012 was just about the best form I’ve ever seen him in, him and the expanded E-Street Band. With more to come in 2013! I saw one excellent Dylan show in 2013 in the summer (thanks Jim!), but it was a pity he ignored his new album so much in the Fall. But news of a band shake-up may lead to more sprightly setlists (we hope!) in 2013. I also saw at least one very good Waterboys show and a solid Wilco set (both outdoors). Oh, and Tom Petty was great too, in the o2. Hidden gem of the year was a great little blues gig in JJs pub in Dublin just last Saturday night with unbelievably good quality musicianship by a band called the Gerry Hendrick Band featuring PJ Salmon. And only a tenner in! Surreal moment of the year was standing halfway back at the Waterboys (was too bloody loud up the front) and realising none other than Bruce Springsteen was standing a little bit to my right, in the middle of the crowd!
I saw hardly anything in the cinema, and most of what I did see was mainstream. I’m not a big one for New Year’s resolutions, but I’m definitely going to see more films in 2013, LESS blockbusters, plus catch up on the good 'uns I missed last year, both on dvd AND on my ever-overflowing digital tv box! The Hobbit was much better than the reviews suggested – it was lovely to be plunged back in to Middle Earth again, with nice leisurely story-telling, excellent casting and special effects which are a notch-up from the Lord of the Rings. But, forget about this 54 frame rate lark (it made it look like a documentary) and forget 3D, this film looks WAY better in regular old 2D. Skyfall was the best Bond movie since, well the one before the last one, but Batman and Marvel’s Avengers were both a bit disappointing. John Carter was quite good, underrated. Shame was grim, The Help was excellent and A Dangerous Method was an interesting piece which didn't quite work. I saw one film in the French film festival, a great little nugget called Fermatt’s Room, which I think was not a 2012 release, though. I can only remember one other film this year, Woody Allen's To Rome With Love, which continues his slight return to form. So, a bad year for going to the cinema (I urgently want to catch up with highly recommended films like Amour and The Master), so I’m going to cheat slightly and name The Artist as my film of the year, given that in Ireland it was released in 2012 and I saw it sometime that January. Best film I saw all year, by a mile.
I only saw, jeez, one play?! Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance at the Gate theatre. Good fun. But not enough – next year I’d like to see more.
I didn’t buy a lot of albums either, but dipped in to many. And it was quite a good year. Not surprisingly, Bob Dylan’s Tempest tops my list. One of his best latter-day albums, and a delight for the ears if you like pre-Rock American music played by experts and sung by what is still one of the most expressive voices (despite the ever increasing rasp) in the business. Other artists/albums I’ve enjoyed listening to this year included (and this is NOT a definitive list); Wrecking Ball (a career highlight from The Boss), Old Ideas (a grower of a late-addition to the Leonard canon), Neil Young (Americana was a dud, but the Crazy Horse album was a stormer), Natalie Duncan (it’s a good era for female singers, she’s the one who springs to mind the most, great voice and piano!), The Strypes, Alt-J, Hudson Taylor, Jack White, Dexys, Black Keys and Bill Fay. Paul McCartney had quite a good year, with some good live shows apparently, a great re-issue of his ‘Ram’ album, a surprisingly good and understated standards album, then veering dangerously in to ‘over-exposure territory’ at all those ‘big-moment’ summer concerts in London, but rescuing things in fine style with his ‘Nirvana-moment’ last month – check out the YouTube of him and Dave and Krist doing their new song, Cut me Some Slack, at the Concert for Sandy event. And speaking of the Fabs (weren’t we?!), I’m still reeling from (and enjoying) the mono and stereo CD box-sets of the entire Beatles catalogue back in 2009, plus funds were tight so I didn’t shell out 300 quid for the deluxe box of re-issued 2012 LP editions. I would be interested to hear them though, and see how they compare to my original Beatles vinyls and the remastered CDs.
It was a disappointing year for Art in Dublin, with nothing really happening in the National Gallery (half of it is still closed) other than a mindless attack by a lunatic on one of our Monets! And because I travelled so little, I saw very few exhibitions.
Some books I read included Keith Richard’s Life, The Mitfords – a Biography, more of PD James’ back catalogue and other crime/period novels, re-reads, plus other books about music, running, motivation etc. I’m working on curbing my addiction to newspapers and running/music magazine (!), AND I got a nice present of an e-reader for Christmas, so way more reading to come in 2013!
The art-form (?!) I partook of the most this year however was probably, ahem, TV. BUT, if you took the time to look, there was lots of quality and/or entertaining programmes to check out. I saw season one of Game of Thrones (incredible standard of TV fantasy drama), season two of Homeland (disappointing), season three of Downton Abbey (a slight improvement on season two, it’s still fun but not to be taken very seriously), lots of good music docs (and history docs etc) on the likes of Sky Arts and BBC4, Parades End (a bit ponderous, but overall a thought-provoking and enjoyable adaptation), Bletchley Circle, the Late Late Show (well, the episode I was on, that is..!) and Gran Hotel (lush, melodramatic but enjoyable Spanish period drama). Comedy wise, I’ve been checking out things like The Big Bang Theory (quite good), Modern Family, Happy Endings, and the preponderance of stand-up comedy now on TV. But, for my programme of the year, here it is - in the nick of time (note - given that I’ve not seen the 2012 season two of Game of Thrones yet, THAT programme doesn’t qualify) I’m plumping for a Victorian London cop drama which only started two days ago (first of 8 episodes) called Ripper Street. It's very good so far (be warned, it’s quite violent), and given that it was shot in Ireland, over here we have the extra pleasure of trying to spot the locations! I’ve also watched quite a bit of current affairs and news this year, and given the scandals at the BBC and even RTE, am taking what I see/hear with a bigger pinch of salt than usual – it’s been a tough year for people in Ireland, UK, US and Europe, and even worse elsewhere, so now more than ever we need good journalists, good reporting and good analysis. Let’s hope we get it in 2013.
My own main priorities for 2013 are career, health and making time to relax a bit more. Sports wise I need to firstly get through the Art O’Neill ultra, and then consider other challenges, perhaps the Wicklow Way Ultra in the Spring, with an adventure race or two (and/or a triathlon) in the summer, and more running, golf and yoga.
I’d like to thank everyone for their support this year, especially anyone who bought the book (!) and wish everyone the best for a better year to come. My sympathies to those who lost people last year, or who have bad health, traumas or recession-related problems, and congratulations to lots of people close to me who had happy events – it was a great year for weddings etc! Feel free to keep an eye on my websites and blogs for new developments and writing in 2013, and keep in touch.
Happy New Year!
www.notrunningaway.com (my book)
www.kencowley.com
www.heartdiseasemiracle.com
www.irishmortgagedebtforgiveness.blogspot.com
www.samsonsdiner.blogspot.com
email cowleyken@gmail.com
copyright Ken Cowley 2012
But it IS great to see any green shoots (of recovery), and I am genuinely feeling positive for myself and for others about 2013. We’ll have to do most of it ourselves though. I’ve given up on governments (or banks, or any other branches of Official Ireland) to show much wit or innovation, or even any basic human consideration.
So, moving on from that, instead of my usual list-based review of the year (films, concerts, albums) I’m going to do it a little differently this year, and just touch (briefly!) on things I enjoyed and some (!) of the things I got up to during the year. The main reason being, in 2012 I went to very few films, plays and concerts, and bought very few albums.
But, there was lots of good stuff..
Firstly, I did quite a bit of running. Lots of regular IMRA mountain races and some longer distance races such as the Art O’Neill Challenge and the Mournes 7-7s, both of which went quite well, arm injury in the Mournes notwithstanding. The Art O’Neill is an incredible event (I reviewed it thoroughly on my blog at the time) and I must have forgotten all about the pain of the closing 10-20km last year (it’s a 55km overnight winter-time mountain ultra-marathon), as I seem to have entered it again! It’s on next week (11&12 Jan) and hopefully I’ve done enough training to get through it again. Aiming to beat last year’s 9.5 hours!
One other activity I’ve been trying recently is Bikram Yoga down at the Harold’s Cross studio (http://bikramyoga.ie/Welcome.html ), I’ve just done one month of it (introductory offer) and am already finding the benefits to be quite significant. It’s early days though, so I won’t go in to too much detail yet, but here’s a sample of benefits I’m feeling already – quicker recovery from long training runs, legs and knees considerably less creaky, better flexibility, better sleep, lower blood pressure, a little bit of weight loss and improved muscle tone, improved headaches and some quite remarkable overall post-class relaxation and general well-being! I’ll report back further on this in future blog entries.
Career wise, it’s been an interesting year. I won’t go in to much detail on this, but things are going in a good direction and I have some plans already in place for 2013 which I can’t wait to get stuck in to. Like many people in Ireland I’m working on making my way out of the mess of the economic collapse and my bad (!) timing in buying my first home (2006), but even more importantly, I’ve made a lot of progress at coping with the stress. Solutions have included – the support of friends and family, meditation/yoga, running, talking to people, and of course the support of one person in particular. She wouldn’t want me to name her, but 2012 would have meant very little without her!
Anyway, to the nuts and bolts of some of the things I enjoyed this year.
Sports wise, I very much enjoyed the Olympics – the sport, the tv coverage, and also the excellent opening ceremony. Nice to see our neighbours put on a good event, and lets not begrudge them all their medals (!), plus it was nice to see a few Irish medals as well. Earlier in the year Leinster won another big one in rugby and later Andy Murray got the major monkey off his back, Fionnuala Britton (who did an IMRA race this year!) winning cross country titles was great to see, but most of all I enjoyed seeing Rory McIlroy step up to the plate and become the greatest golfer in the world.
Of my few concerts this year, they were all contenders for my favourite. Topping the bill as joint winners though would be Bruce Springsteen and Leonard Cohen, both in Dublin. I chose well, going to just one night of each artist’s run, getting a particularly excellent setlist at Bruce’s show on the Wednesday. (I have already reviewed these shows in detail earlier in the year, if you want to delve back). Leonard’s shows are as special as ever - there’ll come a day when we’ll look back very fondly at this short golden on-stage period for the aging bard, but for now we should just savour it. Bruce tours all the time of course and 2012 was just about the best form I’ve ever seen him in, him and the expanded E-Street Band. With more to come in 2013! I saw one excellent Dylan show in 2013 in the summer (thanks Jim!), but it was a pity he ignored his new album so much in the Fall. But news of a band shake-up may lead to more sprightly setlists (we hope!) in 2013. I also saw at least one very good Waterboys show and a solid Wilco set (both outdoors). Oh, and Tom Petty was great too, in the o2. Hidden gem of the year was a great little blues gig in JJs pub in Dublin just last Saturday night with unbelievably good quality musicianship by a band called the Gerry Hendrick Band featuring PJ Salmon. And only a tenner in! Surreal moment of the year was standing halfway back at the Waterboys (was too bloody loud up the front) and realising none other than Bruce Springsteen was standing a little bit to my right, in the middle of the crowd!
I saw hardly anything in the cinema, and most of what I did see was mainstream. I’m not a big one for New Year’s resolutions, but I’m definitely going to see more films in 2013, LESS blockbusters, plus catch up on the good 'uns I missed last year, both on dvd AND on my ever-overflowing digital tv box! The Hobbit was much better than the reviews suggested – it was lovely to be plunged back in to Middle Earth again, with nice leisurely story-telling, excellent casting and special effects which are a notch-up from the Lord of the Rings. But, forget about this 54 frame rate lark (it made it look like a documentary) and forget 3D, this film looks WAY better in regular old 2D. Skyfall was the best Bond movie since, well the one before the last one, but Batman and Marvel’s Avengers were both a bit disappointing. John Carter was quite good, underrated. Shame was grim, The Help was excellent and A Dangerous Method was an interesting piece which didn't quite work. I saw one film in the French film festival, a great little nugget called Fermatt’s Room, which I think was not a 2012 release, though. I can only remember one other film this year, Woody Allen's To Rome With Love, which continues his slight return to form. So, a bad year for going to the cinema (I urgently want to catch up with highly recommended films like Amour and The Master), so I’m going to cheat slightly and name The Artist as my film of the year, given that in Ireland it was released in 2012 and I saw it sometime that January. Best film I saw all year, by a mile.
I only saw, jeez, one play?! Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance at the Gate theatre. Good fun. But not enough – next year I’d like to see more.
I didn’t buy a lot of albums either, but dipped in to many. And it was quite a good year. Not surprisingly, Bob Dylan’s Tempest tops my list. One of his best latter-day albums, and a delight for the ears if you like pre-Rock American music played by experts and sung by what is still one of the most expressive voices (despite the ever increasing rasp) in the business. Other artists/albums I’ve enjoyed listening to this year included (and this is NOT a definitive list); Wrecking Ball (a career highlight from The Boss), Old Ideas (a grower of a late-addition to the Leonard canon), Neil Young (Americana was a dud, but the Crazy Horse album was a stormer), Natalie Duncan (it’s a good era for female singers, she’s the one who springs to mind the most, great voice and piano!), The Strypes, Alt-J, Hudson Taylor, Jack White, Dexys, Black Keys and Bill Fay. Paul McCartney had quite a good year, with some good live shows apparently, a great re-issue of his ‘Ram’ album, a surprisingly good and understated standards album, then veering dangerously in to ‘over-exposure territory’ at all those ‘big-moment’ summer concerts in London, but rescuing things in fine style with his ‘Nirvana-moment’ last month – check out the YouTube of him and Dave and Krist doing their new song, Cut me Some Slack, at the Concert for Sandy event. And speaking of the Fabs (weren’t we?!), I’m still reeling from (and enjoying) the mono and stereo CD box-sets of the entire Beatles catalogue back in 2009, plus funds were tight so I didn’t shell out 300 quid for the deluxe box of re-issued 2012 LP editions. I would be interested to hear them though, and see how they compare to my original Beatles vinyls and the remastered CDs.
It was a disappointing year for Art in Dublin, with nothing really happening in the National Gallery (half of it is still closed) other than a mindless attack by a lunatic on one of our Monets! And because I travelled so little, I saw very few exhibitions.
Some books I read included Keith Richard’s Life, The Mitfords – a Biography, more of PD James’ back catalogue and other crime/period novels, re-reads, plus other books about music, running, motivation etc. I’m working on curbing my addiction to newspapers and running/music magazine (!), AND I got a nice present of an e-reader for Christmas, so way more reading to come in 2013!
The art-form (?!) I partook of the most this year however was probably, ahem, TV. BUT, if you took the time to look, there was lots of quality and/or entertaining programmes to check out. I saw season one of Game of Thrones (incredible standard of TV fantasy drama), season two of Homeland (disappointing), season three of Downton Abbey (a slight improvement on season two, it’s still fun but not to be taken very seriously), lots of good music docs (and history docs etc) on the likes of Sky Arts and BBC4, Parades End (a bit ponderous, but overall a thought-provoking and enjoyable adaptation), Bletchley Circle, the Late Late Show (well, the episode I was on, that is..!) and Gran Hotel (lush, melodramatic but enjoyable Spanish period drama). Comedy wise, I’ve been checking out things like The Big Bang Theory (quite good), Modern Family, Happy Endings, and the preponderance of stand-up comedy now on TV. But, for my programme of the year, here it is - in the nick of time (note - given that I’ve not seen the 2012 season two of Game of Thrones yet, THAT programme doesn’t qualify) I’m plumping for a Victorian London cop drama which only started two days ago (first of 8 episodes) called Ripper Street. It's very good so far (be warned, it’s quite violent), and given that it was shot in Ireland, over here we have the extra pleasure of trying to spot the locations! I’ve also watched quite a bit of current affairs and news this year, and given the scandals at the BBC and even RTE, am taking what I see/hear with a bigger pinch of salt than usual – it’s been a tough year for people in Ireland, UK, US and Europe, and even worse elsewhere, so now more than ever we need good journalists, good reporting and good analysis. Let’s hope we get it in 2013.
My own main priorities for 2013 are career, health and making time to relax a bit more. Sports wise I need to firstly get through the Art O’Neill ultra, and then consider other challenges, perhaps the Wicklow Way Ultra in the Spring, with an adventure race or two (and/or a triathlon) in the summer, and more running, golf and yoga.
I’d like to thank everyone for their support this year, especially anyone who bought the book (!) and wish everyone the best for a better year to come. My sympathies to those who lost people last year, or who have bad health, traumas or recession-related problems, and congratulations to lots of people close to me who had happy events – it was a great year for weddings etc! Feel free to keep an eye on my websites and blogs for new developments and writing in 2013, and keep in touch.
Happy New Year!
www.notrunningaway.com (my book)
www.kencowley.com
www.heartdiseasemiracle.com
www.irishmortgagedebtforgiveness.blogspot.com
www.samsonsdiner.blogspot.com
email cowleyken@gmail.com
copyright Ken Cowley 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Review of Bob Dylan 2012 studio album 'Tempest'
The big question mulling around the heads of Dylan fans for the last few months was - would ‘Tempest’ live up to the hype? Well, now that the album has been released, does it?
For me, yes of course it does (did you expect anything else?!) I’ve listened to it maybe 5 or 6 times in the last 3 days, in many locations and on many devices – vinyl, headphones, in the car, iPod etc, and the album works amazingly well in all of those settings.
Firstly, it’s just a great listen and is a surprisingly complex and luxurious album, sound wise making 2009’s ‘Together Through Life’ seem a bit rushed and insubstantial by comparison. For me, it’s at least as good as ‘Modern Times’ (2006), Love & Theft (2001) and even ‘Time out of Mind’ (1997) – his three critically acclaimed albums since his so called ‘beginning in the late ‘90s’ comeback.
One critic ‘complained’ about how rootsy the album is and how far he has strayed from his ‘60s template – the period where he played a major part in creating modern rock music. My thought’s would be that pretty much ALL his albums since 1992’s ‘Good as I Been To You’ have been rootsy in one way or another, and that’s been 20 years, hence -nearly half his career. It’s just what he does now. And he’s never stopped very long in one exact genre now has he? - as soon as he’s done with something or mastered something (be it folk, rock, singer-songwriter, country, gospel etc) he’s done with it, keeps it in his arsenal and moves on. Albeit his best work is usually informed by his past experiences as a musician, as well as being informed by the artists who influenced him originally, many of whom are from the decades BEFORE the 60s. As he said himself, he is much more of a 1950s creature than a 1960s creature, and he’s got to play what he’s feeling, and this is what he’s been feeling in recent years.
And this album has the pre-rock era written all over it. Like Love & Theft (and Modern Times to a lesser extent) it is an exercise in pre’60s genres. But with (arguably) stronger songs than those albums (‘Mississippi’, ‘Workingman’s Blues’ and ‘Nettie Moore’ excepted). Also, the album is beautifully recorded and is very subtle for a Dylan album, superb musicianship - including exquisite guitar, organ, piano, accordion, fiddles, pedal-steel – all nicely sitting around the ever-versatile drumming of George Recile.
Plus, they really sound like a band, despite the studio setting. This is something Dylan (or Jack Frost, as he calls himself as Producer) and his band first really mastered on Modern Times. Since then the only changes have been swapping Denny Freeman for Charlie Sexton and adding in David Hidalgo (studio only) for some accordion sweetening. Plus, I really think these songs and these arrangements are very much informed by the NET (Never Ending Tour). You can almost picture Bob going in to the studio with these songs and all 7 men working on the arrangements much like they would when rehearsing for tours. I can already see how several of these songs will be just killer live songs.
And, even more importantly, Bob has taken considerable care with his vocals. We all know his voice has not gotten any stronger since the NET heyday (which in my opinion was approximately 1995-2001), but he still makes good use of what is now effectively a ‘growl’ in concert, and on this album it sounds just perfect for the music and songs he has created. You can tell he’s comfortable with this voice now, proof of which is evident in how up-front the vocals are in the mix.
Some other first impressions – no harmonica, no guitar solos really (just lovely ‘fills’ all over the place, and very few choruses (if any?).
As to the lyrics, in my opinion he has written some of his strongest in years for this album, and much less the ‘Dylan-by-rote’ lyrics which have appeared from time to time on his albums since the 80s. He seems to be engaging with the English language in a more innovative (and playful) way than he has in a long time. Themes of death, religion, anger (lots of the songs are very angry sounding!), loss and love abound – but all are interweaved with devilish couplets and black humour, lots of black humour. There are stories that wouldn’t be out of place in Westerns, gangster movies, even horror movies - alongside ballads and love-songs. I don’t know what his overall aim/theme (if any) was with the album, all that springs to mind is perhaps his bemusement/anger at the mess us humans have always made of things along with the general chaos and violence of life and nature. At the end of the review I will list a selection of the lines that stood out to me most on my first listenings.
But before I go in to a song-by –song analysis, can I urge neutral (or nay-sayer) readers to give this album a chance? It is a real ‘full-meal’ of an album and can be enjoyed on many levels, eg just allowing it to wash over you as a gorgeous exercise in pre-rock music, with great production, enjoyable lyrics, classic rasping Dylan vocals, danceable uptempo numbers, pleasant ballads and a few epics thrown in as well. It really sounds like Bob and band were having fun recording it, and it is definitely fun to listen to. Is it a masterpiece, on the level of, say, ‘Blonde on Blonde’ (1966)? No, of course not, but it’s an album I will personally enjoy just as much as any of those earlier masterpieces, and if I was forced to rate it as a piece of work, well let’s just say it’s knocking on the door of my Top 10 Dylan albums.
‘Duquesne Whistle’. Excellent little opening train number. Should work well live. As with quite a few songs on the album there are all sorts of types of music in here – country, jazz, western swing, rockabilly. Interestingly Bob is playing organ on it (not piano, like he mainly plays on stage now, since this summer). Very reminiscent of the ‘Love and Theft’ album.
‘Soon After Midnight’. Gorgeous old-fashioned 1950s country-pop ballad with nice Sun records style guitar licks over a loping rhythm. It’s this album’s ‘When the Deal Goes Down’ and that’s no bad thing.
‘Narrow Way’. Along with ‘Duquesne Whistle’ it is this album’s ‘Summer Days/Thunder on Mountain/Levee Gonna Break’ etc. This is a classic blues-rock or jump-blues number with a great slicing riff which really really swings and should be a highly energetic live number.
‘Long & Wasted Years’. A lovely talk/sing number. Reminds me slightly of ‘Brownsville Girl’ even though it’s a highly original number in its own right. It’s short too, but makes its point. Great vocal on this one.
‘Pay In Blood’. Bob doing the Rolling Stones and doing it very well. Excellent rock song, excellent vocals. Possibly could have done with a chorus, but I can see him playing nice harmonica fills in between the verses if he does it live.
‘Scarlet Town’. The most folky song on the album. Reminiscent of ‘Ain’t Talkin’ and as with that number is a song I admire more than enjoy. Gillian Welch comes to mind.
‘Early Roman Kings’. Well, it wouldn’t be a Dylan album without at least one electric blues song, this time a Muddy Waters inspired 12 bar romp through some strong lyrics about gangsters (possibly!). Interesting to see the accordion so prominent and effective in a song like this.
‘Tin Angel’. Maybe my 2nd favourite song on the album. Very strong mid-paced declamatory story-style son. Musically it is perhaps influenced by his recent live arrangements for ‘Blind Willie McTell’ and ‘Man in the Long Black Coat’. Very good lyrics, which you can just see him spitting out in a live context, centre stage. It’s a fabulous old-timey yarn, all sorts of things going on and a very nasty ending! Other songs it reminds me of are ‘Isis’ and ‘Arthur McBride’. One review I read also mentioned ‘Black Jack Davey’ – which supports my vague (!) theory that all this really began with ‘Good as I Been to You’
‘Tempest’. Well, what can I say about this number. A 14 minute 45-verse sea-shanty song about the Titanic?! Played in a slightly sentimental and over-the-top style! Is it original? Is it any good? Do I like it? Well, yes, actually – it’s probably my favourite song on the album. There is something extremely charming, warm and likeable about this song. It’s stately, but very catchy, his phrasing is exquisite – over the backing of guitars, piano, fiddle and pedal steel. Based apparently to some extent on a Carter Family song, it’s a bit like the old fashioned (pre TV news) method of writing a song about a recent event, almost like journalism – albeit in this case from an exact 100 year distance! The melody and phrasing remind me of ‘Cross the Green Mountain’ an overlooked masterpiece from a few years ago which wasn’t on any official album until it got a release on the ‘Tell Tale Signs’ collection. 3 days in, and I can’t stop playing it. Would love to see it live!
‘Roll on John’. Well, this was a song I badly wanted to like. I mean, Bob writing a tribute song to my first musical hero (John Lennon) and also it’s the closing song on one of his strongest albums for years. Well, I do like it, but just not quite as much as I expected to. But like so much about this album - it’s heartfelt and enjoyable and is quite a nice way to close the album, albeit I think ‘Tempest’ would have been a better closing song.
Final thoughts – the album is a wonderful addition to the canon and what better way to mark Bob’s (un-hyped) 50th anniversary year (it’s 50 years since his first album) than with a fine new studio album (and more endless touring – good shows this year, so far), as compared to the over-hyped way the Rolling Stones are celebrating theirs (with a flabby cash-in greatest hits album and rumoured 4-show high-ticket priced tour). Ok, so the album doesn’t quite have a ‘Visions of Johanna’ or even a ‘Not Dark Yet’, but it’s highly accomplished, extremely consistent and will stand up to years of repeated listening. No weak tracks at all. So, and not wishing to end with any sort of negativity - my advice is - listen to your old Rolling Stones albums, listen to all the old roots music which influenced Bob and led to this extraordinary career and to ‘Tempest’ (and check out his radio shows for a fascinating glimpse in to those influences), but most of all – buy ‘Tempest’ and listen the hell out of it! I’m giving it 9/10 and most likely it will be my album of the year.
As promised, and because I’m impressed with the lyrics so far, I’m going to finish with some of my favourite lines.
‘Two-timing Slim
Who’s ever heard of him?’
‘I wear dark glasses to cover my eyes
There are secrets in them I can’t disguise’
‘Man can’t live by bread alone
I pay in blood, but not my own’
‘If love is a sin, then beauty’s a crime
All things are beautiful in their time,
The black and white, the yellow and brown
It’s all right in front of you in Scarlet town’
‘All the early Roman Kings in their shark-skin suits
Bow-ties and buttons, high-top boots
Driving the spikes in, blazing the rails
Nailed in their coffins in top-hats and tails’
‘Ding-dong Daddy, you’re coming up short
Gonna put you on trial in a Sicilian court’
‘I’ll have no more of this insulting chat
The devil can have you, I’ll see to that
Look sharp or step aside
Or in the cradle you’ll wish you had died’
By Ken Cowley (2012)
Please visit my website www.notrunningaway.com and consider buying my autobiographical e-book on my experience of the Irish financial crisis, and my response to it, with plenty of coverage of things I am passionate about, such as music and running.
For me, yes of course it does (did you expect anything else?!) I’ve listened to it maybe 5 or 6 times in the last 3 days, in many locations and on many devices – vinyl, headphones, in the car, iPod etc, and the album works amazingly well in all of those settings.
Firstly, it’s just a great listen and is a surprisingly complex and luxurious album, sound wise making 2009’s ‘Together Through Life’ seem a bit rushed and insubstantial by comparison. For me, it’s at least as good as ‘Modern Times’ (2006), Love & Theft (2001) and even ‘Time out of Mind’ (1997) – his three critically acclaimed albums since his so called ‘beginning in the late ‘90s’ comeback.
One critic ‘complained’ about how rootsy the album is and how far he has strayed from his ‘60s template – the period where he played a major part in creating modern rock music. My thought’s would be that pretty much ALL his albums since 1992’s ‘Good as I Been To You’ have been rootsy in one way or another, and that’s been 20 years, hence -nearly half his career. It’s just what he does now. And he’s never stopped very long in one exact genre now has he? - as soon as he’s done with something or mastered something (be it folk, rock, singer-songwriter, country, gospel etc) he’s done with it, keeps it in his arsenal and moves on. Albeit his best work is usually informed by his past experiences as a musician, as well as being informed by the artists who influenced him originally, many of whom are from the decades BEFORE the 60s. As he said himself, he is much more of a 1950s creature than a 1960s creature, and he’s got to play what he’s feeling, and this is what he’s been feeling in recent years.
And this album has the pre-rock era written all over it. Like Love & Theft (and Modern Times to a lesser extent) it is an exercise in pre’60s genres. But with (arguably) stronger songs than those albums (‘Mississippi’, ‘Workingman’s Blues’ and ‘Nettie Moore’ excepted). Also, the album is beautifully recorded and is very subtle for a Dylan album, superb musicianship - including exquisite guitar, organ, piano, accordion, fiddles, pedal-steel – all nicely sitting around the ever-versatile drumming of George Recile.
Plus, they really sound like a band, despite the studio setting. This is something Dylan (or Jack Frost, as he calls himself as Producer) and his band first really mastered on Modern Times. Since then the only changes have been swapping Denny Freeman for Charlie Sexton and adding in David Hidalgo (studio only) for some accordion sweetening. Plus, I really think these songs and these arrangements are very much informed by the NET (Never Ending Tour). You can almost picture Bob going in to the studio with these songs and all 7 men working on the arrangements much like they would when rehearsing for tours. I can already see how several of these songs will be just killer live songs.
And, even more importantly, Bob has taken considerable care with his vocals. We all know his voice has not gotten any stronger since the NET heyday (which in my opinion was approximately 1995-2001), but he still makes good use of what is now effectively a ‘growl’ in concert, and on this album it sounds just perfect for the music and songs he has created. You can tell he’s comfortable with this voice now, proof of which is evident in how up-front the vocals are in the mix.
Some other first impressions – no harmonica, no guitar solos really (just lovely ‘fills’ all over the place, and very few choruses (if any?).
As to the lyrics, in my opinion he has written some of his strongest in years for this album, and much less the ‘Dylan-by-rote’ lyrics which have appeared from time to time on his albums since the 80s. He seems to be engaging with the English language in a more innovative (and playful) way than he has in a long time. Themes of death, religion, anger (lots of the songs are very angry sounding!), loss and love abound – but all are interweaved with devilish couplets and black humour, lots of black humour. There are stories that wouldn’t be out of place in Westerns, gangster movies, even horror movies - alongside ballads and love-songs. I don’t know what his overall aim/theme (if any) was with the album, all that springs to mind is perhaps his bemusement/anger at the mess us humans have always made of things along with the general chaos and violence of life and nature. At the end of the review I will list a selection of the lines that stood out to me most on my first listenings.
But before I go in to a song-by –song analysis, can I urge neutral (or nay-sayer) readers to give this album a chance? It is a real ‘full-meal’ of an album and can be enjoyed on many levels, eg just allowing it to wash over you as a gorgeous exercise in pre-rock music, with great production, enjoyable lyrics, classic rasping Dylan vocals, danceable uptempo numbers, pleasant ballads and a few epics thrown in as well. It really sounds like Bob and band were having fun recording it, and it is definitely fun to listen to. Is it a masterpiece, on the level of, say, ‘Blonde on Blonde’ (1966)? No, of course not, but it’s an album I will personally enjoy just as much as any of those earlier masterpieces, and if I was forced to rate it as a piece of work, well let’s just say it’s knocking on the door of my Top 10 Dylan albums.
‘Duquesne Whistle’. Excellent little opening train number. Should work well live. As with quite a few songs on the album there are all sorts of types of music in here – country, jazz, western swing, rockabilly. Interestingly Bob is playing organ on it (not piano, like he mainly plays on stage now, since this summer). Very reminiscent of the ‘Love and Theft’ album.
‘Soon After Midnight’. Gorgeous old-fashioned 1950s country-pop ballad with nice Sun records style guitar licks over a loping rhythm. It’s this album’s ‘When the Deal Goes Down’ and that’s no bad thing.
‘Narrow Way’. Along with ‘Duquesne Whistle’ it is this album’s ‘Summer Days/Thunder on Mountain/Levee Gonna Break’ etc. This is a classic blues-rock or jump-blues number with a great slicing riff which really really swings and should be a highly energetic live number.
‘Long & Wasted Years’. A lovely talk/sing number. Reminds me slightly of ‘Brownsville Girl’ even though it’s a highly original number in its own right. It’s short too, but makes its point. Great vocal on this one.
‘Pay In Blood’. Bob doing the Rolling Stones and doing it very well. Excellent rock song, excellent vocals. Possibly could have done with a chorus, but I can see him playing nice harmonica fills in between the verses if he does it live.
‘Scarlet Town’. The most folky song on the album. Reminiscent of ‘Ain’t Talkin’ and as with that number is a song I admire more than enjoy. Gillian Welch comes to mind.
‘Early Roman Kings’. Well, it wouldn’t be a Dylan album without at least one electric blues song, this time a Muddy Waters inspired 12 bar romp through some strong lyrics about gangsters (possibly!). Interesting to see the accordion so prominent and effective in a song like this.
‘Tin Angel’. Maybe my 2nd favourite song on the album. Very strong mid-paced declamatory story-style son. Musically it is perhaps influenced by his recent live arrangements for ‘Blind Willie McTell’ and ‘Man in the Long Black Coat’. Very good lyrics, which you can just see him spitting out in a live context, centre stage. It’s a fabulous old-timey yarn, all sorts of things going on and a very nasty ending! Other songs it reminds me of are ‘Isis’ and ‘Arthur McBride’. One review I read also mentioned ‘Black Jack Davey’ – which supports my vague (!) theory that all this really began with ‘Good as I Been to You’
‘Tempest’. Well, what can I say about this number. A 14 minute 45-verse sea-shanty song about the Titanic?! Played in a slightly sentimental and over-the-top style! Is it original? Is it any good? Do I like it? Well, yes, actually – it’s probably my favourite song on the album. There is something extremely charming, warm and likeable about this song. It’s stately, but very catchy, his phrasing is exquisite – over the backing of guitars, piano, fiddle and pedal steel. Based apparently to some extent on a Carter Family song, it’s a bit like the old fashioned (pre TV news) method of writing a song about a recent event, almost like journalism – albeit in this case from an exact 100 year distance! The melody and phrasing remind me of ‘Cross the Green Mountain’ an overlooked masterpiece from a few years ago which wasn’t on any official album until it got a release on the ‘Tell Tale Signs’ collection. 3 days in, and I can’t stop playing it. Would love to see it live!
‘Roll on John’. Well, this was a song I badly wanted to like. I mean, Bob writing a tribute song to my first musical hero (John Lennon) and also it’s the closing song on one of his strongest albums for years. Well, I do like it, but just not quite as much as I expected to. But like so much about this album - it’s heartfelt and enjoyable and is quite a nice way to close the album, albeit I think ‘Tempest’ would have been a better closing song.
Final thoughts – the album is a wonderful addition to the canon and what better way to mark Bob’s (un-hyped) 50th anniversary year (it’s 50 years since his first album) than with a fine new studio album (and more endless touring – good shows this year, so far), as compared to the over-hyped way the Rolling Stones are celebrating theirs (with a flabby cash-in greatest hits album and rumoured 4-show high-ticket priced tour). Ok, so the album doesn’t quite have a ‘Visions of Johanna’ or even a ‘Not Dark Yet’, but it’s highly accomplished, extremely consistent and will stand up to years of repeated listening. No weak tracks at all. So, and not wishing to end with any sort of negativity - my advice is - listen to your old Rolling Stones albums, listen to all the old roots music which influenced Bob and led to this extraordinary career and to ‘Tempest’ (and check out his radio shows for a fascinating glimpse in to those influences), but most of all – buy ‘Tempest’ and listen the hell out of it! I’m giving it 9/10 and most likely it will be my album of the year.
As promised, and because I’m impressed with the lyrics so far, I’m going to finish with some of my favourite lines.
‘Two-timing Slim
Who’s ever heard of him?’
‘I wear dark glasses to cover my eyes
There are secrets in them I can’t disguise’
‘Man can’t live by bread alone
I pay in blood, but not my own’
‘If love is a sin, then beauty’s a crime
All things are beautiful in their time,
The black and white, the yellow and brown
It’s all right in front of you in Scarlet town’
‘All the early Roman Kings in their shark-skin suits
Bow-ties and buttons, high-top boots
Driving the spikes in, blazing the rails
Nailed in their coffins in top-hats and tails’
‘Ding-dong Daddy, you’re coming up short
Gonna put you on trial in a Sicilian court’
‘I’ll have no more of this insulting chat
The devil can have you, I’ll see to that
Look sharp or step aside
Or in the cradle you’ll wish you had died’
By Ken Cowley (2012)
Please visit my website www.notrunningaway.com and consider buying my autobiographical e-book on my experience of the Irish financial crisis, and my response to it, with plenty of coverage of things I am passionate about, such as music and running.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Bruce Springsteen review Dublin 2012
What a show!
I know I’m always saying how good Bruce is live, but seriously, this was the goods. He may not be in my top few artists (album/songs/voice wise), but not many put on anywhere as near as good a live show.
Faced with an austerity-led choice between the Tuesday and Wednesday shows, I opted for Tuesday, but was then forced to switch to Wednesday (for work reasons), and boy was I glad. Even though the reviews of Tuesday were excellent, it seems Wednesday just topped the first show for those who went to both, PLUS I definitely preferred Wednesday’s setlist – he played SO many of my favourite songs (switching 16 of the previous night’s 32 song setlist!), and really just a killer show, and maybe the best Springsteen show I’ve seen (having seen him about 15 times).
From the off, things looked good, we only got there at 5.30 and amazingly got a pit-wristband (the area in front of the stage limited to the first 3,000 of 30,000 fans, and settled on a nice spot about 20m from the stage in front of the right stack.
Bruce came on 45 minutes late with a nice low-key acoustic ‘This Hard Land’. The only negative tone I will strike in this review relates to all this hyperbole/moaning from Bruce/band/fans/press about curfews (further to having the plug literally pulled at the London Hyde Park festival show) – my attitude is if artists were so concerned about curfews they wouldn’t come on stage 45 minutes late! That said, I take the point that it wasn’t Bruce’s fault at the London show that earlier artists ran late, and his stunt at the 1st Dublin show with the power-switch was genuinely funny. ‘Nuff said.
Tonight’s show really kicked off though when the band trundled on for the 2nd song – a storming ‘No Surrender’. Right from the off it was clear this would be an excellent concert, as the sound was absolutely perfect – the typical big E-Street sound, now augmented with sparkling horns – quite incredible how tight and effortless and perfect (but not overly rehearsed or sterile) this band is - every instrument finds it’s space, with a never-better-sounding Bruce voice nicely riding on top of the music.
From there it was in to some early poppier numbers, a catchy one-two of ‘Two Heart’s and ‘Ties that Bind’ before playing his latest hit ‘We Take Care of Our Own’, the first of many well received songs from ‘Wrecking Ball’, then doing ‘Badlands’ and seguing from there in to a beautiful ‘Something in the Night’, a song which nicely shows off how Bruce’s voice has matured and got more expressive over the decades.
I’ll try not to mention EVERY song played – tricky due to there being absolutely NO clunkers on the night – so I’ll skip quickly by a solid bluesy ‘Adam Raised a Cain’ and on in to one of many really powerful performances of the new songs, the strong crowd reaction to this strong rendition of the title track of ‘Wrecking Ball’ quickly followed by ‘Death to My Hometown’ showing that his new album must have shifted a lot of copies in Ireland. It goes without saying that some of the themes of the album (recession, solidarity) speak loudly to an Irish audience in 2012, and the whole show struck a lovely balance between good-time rock’n’roll and a feeling of hope for better times to come for all of us.
One of several big highlights for me was ‘My City of Ruins’ with Bruce’s eloquent introduction of it as being a song that has come to have several meanings, plus it’s a song that benefits incredibly from the new horn section, with a lovely New Orleans feel to it. One of my favourite latter-day Springsteen songs and a highlight of this tour.
Next up was a swaggering ‘Spirit in the Night’, a fan-sign-inspired (rare) ‘Jackson Cage’, then ‘She’s the One’ (not a song I’m wild about), then ‘Jack of All Trades’ – again a very topical song for these times, followed by two huge crowd pleasers, ‘Atlantic City’ and ‘Because the Night’. Bruce has really re-taken this song back in recent years (not that there’s anything wrong with Patti Smith’s version!), and a lot of it has to do with the show-stopping Nils Lofgren guitar solo, which never fails to get a crowd to erupt.
The next few songs were nothing extraordinary, but fulfilled their various objectives (‘Darlington County’, ‘Easy Money’ and ‘Waitin’ on a Sunny Day’), before the band strolled off and Bruce gave us one of the top moments of the show – a gorgeous solo piano rendition of the ultra-rare (well, prior to this tour!) ‘The Promise’. Another good reason to have chosen the Wednesday show! Just beautiful.
Finally for the main set, Bruce and band gave us 3 big crowd pleasers in ‘The River’ a visceral ‘Backstreets’ (yippee, he played this instead of the over-played ‘The Rising’) and set-closing ‘Land of Hope and Dreams’ – again, a song that was just crying out for some horns, and I was glad to see that the live version harkens back more to the version he debuted back in 1999 (I think?) than the slightly experimental studio version which appears on ‘Wrecking Ball’.
Anyway, the night was of course, far from over, as Bruce slammed straight in to a rocking 8-song encore, kicking off with the two ‘Borns’ (..in the USA, and ..to Run), ‘Glory Days’,’ 7 Nights to Rock’, ‘Dancing in the Dark’,’ 10th Avenue Freeze Out’ (complete with lovely Clarence Clemons tribute), and then taking a slight gamble by slowing things down to play a gorgeous ‘Rocky Ground’ the ground-breaking gospel/rap/rock hybrid duet song from the recent album (I love the lyrics on this one), before cranking things up again to box off the show with Bruce’s ‘Irish-ised’ version of the Seeger penned ‘American Land’.
In conclusion, life might be a bit rubbish right now for many people in the countries Bruce has visited on this tour, but for 3 hours 20 minutes last night, it was anything but. Slightly expensive tickets? Maybe, but if you look at it, it really was great value for money. After all, what a performance we got from this most energetic of 62 year olds! And in my opinion, we now have the perfect E-Street Band, a full horn section (plus the extra backing singers) really makes a difference – in some ways it’s like a composite E-Street/Seeger Sessions Band, never tighter, never more in tune with each other, and with its loyal audience.
I haven’t seen that many gigs this year, and many of those I have seen were excellent, but I don’t think many 2012 shows will come close to Wed 18 July in the RDS!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
