Live Reviews March 2008
Quick-links to sub-sections:
Neil Young - Continental Tour 2008, Hammersmith Apollo - 5th March 2008
Waking the Witch - Glenfarg Hotel, Glenfarg - 1st March 2008
Neil Young - The Playhouse, Edinburgh - 3rd March 2008
Nels Andrews - The Maze, Nottingham - 5th March 2008
Kim Edgar - The Musistadl. Limekilns, Fife - 8th March 2008
Alex Cornish – The Musistadl. Limekilns, Fife – 8th March 2008
Josh Ritter (full band) & Dawn Landes - Bloomsbury Ballroom - 31st March 2008
Nels Andrews – Green Note Café, London – 7th March 2008
Reviews this month for Neil Young, Waking the Witch, Nels Andrews, Kim Edgar and Josh Ritter.

Neil Young - Continental Tour 2008, Hammersmith Apollo - 5th March 2008
Review by Andy Riggs

Part 1. Pegi Young with Rick Rosas, Anthony Crawford & Ben Keith.
Part 2. Neil Young solo acoustic guitar, banjo & keyboards.
Part 3. Neil Young with band Ralph Molina, Rick Rosas, Ben Keith, Pegi Young & Anthony Crawford

In 1970 Tony Blackburn was hosting the Breakfast Show on Radio 1, and in amongst his Tamla Motown records of the week he managed to conjure up Neil Young’s ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’. This was my first introduction to Neil Young, so I can thank Tony Blackburn for my moderate worship of all that Neil has produced over the years. Which includes some of the most eclectic, unpredictable and astonishing music of the last 40 years.

If you look at Neil’s opus from 1979 ‘Rust Never Sleeps’ there is a clue of the direction where Neil was heading from the song ‘Thrasher’ where he confides his boredom of the CSNY band wagon and that CSN ‘were lost in rock formations or became park bench mutations’….’so I got bored and left them there, they were just deadweight to me’. Although Neil has from time to time reconvened the bandwagon most recently in 2006, he has spent most of his career on his own road.

That road has taken us through techno –rock, country, folk, grunge and despite some real duds Neil’s music has always been challenging and of his 30 odd records, at least 10 of them are considered essential, although that 10 can and will be, always disputed.

That brings me to tonight and Neil’s six evening stay at Hammersmith - the evening was split into three segments. Starting promptly with Pegi and her band, Pegi has just released a record, which was pretty good. Unfortunately, most of the audience decided it was not part of the show and stayed at the bar, or chatted or went to loo. A pity really.

After a short break Neil appears in his usual shambolic way, loping around the stage looking for his guitars and after a brief wave to the audience he’s off with ‘From Hank to Hendrix’. No matter how many times I’ve seen him (good & average shows) it’s always a magical moment as he stoops around and settles down for the first song, and the excitement of the first few notes. Tonight he dips into his extensive back catalogue and unreleased archives.

Acoustic set – not in order and maybe not complete

From Hank to Hendrix Sad Movies
Harvest Old Man
Journey Through the Past A Man Needs A Maid
Don’t Let It Bring You Down Cowgirl In The Sand
Love Art Blues Ambulance Blues
Mellow My Mind

A stunning set showcasing Neil’s ability to take songs 30 odd years old and making them sound timeless, this was best demonstrated on ‘Ambulance Blues’ taken from 1974s ‘On The Beach’ panned at the time, now seen as one of his truly great records.

During this rendition you could hear a pin drop and nobody decided to take a trip to the loo - hearing this live for the first time was one of those moments to treasure and the lyrics still make their mark 34 years on for a record made in the shadow of Watergate & Nixon..’I never met a man who told so many lies, a different story for every set of eyes’.

In my opinion one of his very best songs.

There was some good natured chat with the crowd, which Neil appeared to enjoy apart from someone shouting out ‘How’s Stephen Stills, Crosby & Graham’?…totally unnecessary and someone close to me retorted ‘shut up’! It might have been me come to think of it.

After a break Neil is back with ‘old black’ strapped on, and heading straight into ‘Mr Soul’. He mixed the live set with extended solos where he appeared to be taking the band with him in all directions. In amongst the extended songs were a couple of gems such as ‘Too Far Gone’ and Don Gibson’s ‘Lonesome Me’. In addition Neil played two long tracks from Chrome Dreams II ‘Spirit Road’ and a twenty-minute version of ‘No Hidden Path’, which appeared to be a signal for a visit to the loos. Hearing these live they sounded better than on the record.

Live set not in order and maybe not complete

Mr Soul Spirit Road
Hey Hey Like A Hurricane
No Hidden Path Oh Lonesome Me
Oh Lonesome Me Powderfinger
Down By The River Dirty Old Man
Believer Too Far Gone


At 62 Neil Young shows no sign of hanging up his boots or releasing his archives - never one to look back he demonstrated tonight that he stands amongst one of the most important figures of popular music from the last 40 years.

Oh by the way..encore ‘Cinnamon Girl & Like Hurricane’ - enough said. Thanks Neil.
Waking the Witch - Glenfarg Hotel, Glenfarg - 1st March 2008
Review by Graeme Scott

This second concert, held as part of the Beinstock Festival, sadly is one of a very few remaining gigs for this highly entertaining foursome. After three very varied, and increasingly tasty, albums the girls have decided to call it a day and move on to other projects. Absolutely no sign tonight that there is anything other than complete harmony and fun here as Patsy, Jools, Rachel and Becky dipped extensively into their back catalogues spread through two sets. The vocal harmonies were still working well despite the obvious difficulties Becky was having breathing. How she was able to sing and play, with her lungs so compressed, in her very heavily pregnant state is anybody's guess. Musically it is hard to keep up with the way they constantly change the focus in the band by switching lead vocals and instrumentation. From the warm rich alto tones of Jools through to the extraordinary high ranges achieved by Rachel these girls create a unique sound. It is a cross between rootsy folk, blues, rock and even a little jazz café as on 'My Conscience Keep'. Particularly enjoyable tonight were 'Rock 'n' Roll', 'Jenny Thornton', 'Me Leaving Me', 'Spring Song' and the rousing closer 'Yorkshire Boy' all from the last album. From "Hands And Bridges" the ever strong 'Always One Like Her', 'Watching The Stars', 'Change' and the heartbreaking 'Through And Through' all shone brightly. From the first album the delicious 'Poet Of Harlem' continues to be a favourite for me alongside 'Again And Again' It was especially pleasing to hear 'Colours' being dusted off and given an airing again. I feel certain that, even though WTW may soon be history, all four girls will still be making music, whether as individuals or as some permutation together, in the future. Thanks for the music ladies.
Neil Young - The Playhouse, Edinburgh - 3rd March 2008
Review by Mike Ritchie

Neil Young’s presence in rock music spanning the decades is immense and on this glorious night in Scotland’s capital he created a one-off, giant-size collector’s item of a gig. From the curious old-look studio soundstage set with its giant fan, to a painter who delivers song titles on abstract canvasses for a front-of-stage easel, typically NY posed countless (unanswerable?) questions to fans. The set added to the theatrical air of mystique without ever, ever distracting from the brilliance of his actual performance. He certainly offered no explanations. Nor did we expect any. His music is embedded in our minds for ever on this unparalleled triumph - an utterly compelling night.

A prolonged, standing ovation greeted him as he sloped on to a Scottish stage for the first time in over five years in an elegantly, cool and crumpled Our Man in Havana white suit for the night’s opener From Hank to Hendrix. If he had finished then we would have had our £65 quid’s worth – it was an astonishing way to start. The hairs on the back of my neck are standing up as I write this: gentle, plaintiff, heartfelt, moving, all in the first three and half minutes. It was the beginning of what turned out to be a towering performance from a man who’s overcome health difficulties and smart-arse critics’ put downs. No-one who was at the Playhouse will ever forget this night.

He mellowed and stuffed our minds wonderfully through a journey of intimate acoustic beauty, intensity and grace. These were songs we all knew and grew up with and these became songs we adored anew after their aching tenderness and joyous delivery here. From Hank To Hendrix 
Ambulance Blues, Sad Movies, A Man Needs a Maid, Harvest, 
After the Gold Rush, Mellow My Mind, 
Love Art Blues, 
Don't Let it Bring You Down, 
Heart Of Gold and 
Old Man – does it get any better than that? Some songs were enjoying a rare outing from the archives, some were gently re-worked with NY keeping us guessing as he noodled his way to the opening chords proper. It was a mesmerising, totally captivating selection that revealed all his desperations, trials, memories and good times, too. And, pleasingly, he steadfastly ignored the annoying yells to play this or that from folk who should stick to listening to “their” favourites at home.
Twenty-five minutes later, now in a paint-spattered (don’t ask me why) dark, two-piece suit, he was back full of mean vigour. His trusty “Old Black” was on hand for a plugged in session where he was spiritedly joined by Ben Keith (guitar and keyboards); Rick Rosas (electric bass) and Crazy Horse, Ralph Molina on drums. Mr Soul flew out from the stage in a frenzied storm like demons had been set loose from a cave with NY no longer ambling around the stage. He stalked and menaced and drove the terrific fury on. 
Dirty Old Man and Spirit Road, both from “Chrome Dreams II” powered us on to
Down By the River whose opening guitar notes made us tingle.
One of his main appeals is his ability to be both gentle and wild, gruff and gracious and this was exemplified, perfectly, in this set. A rip-roaring, Hey Hey, My My was roared by the crowd to completion before he smoothed and cruised his way into the wondrous glory of
 Too Far Gone (possibly the night’s highlight.) Next up,
Oh Lonesome Me and The Believer (from “Chrome Dreams II” which he said was about his mom) before we were storm troopered by a truncated but blistering
Powderfinger. Then, in a real NY statement, he careered almost hypnotically but with control in the apparent chaos through “Chrome Dream II’s”
No Hidden Path which lasted forever and showed that when it comes to freeform, high-blast rock, meandering in-your-face solos, there’s no-one who can live with him. Encore time brought an uproarious Fuckin' Up 
and Cinnamon Girl for an unrivalled finale. Musical legend or genius barely does this man justice. His songs, his virtuosity, his boldness and, yes, his brooding stubbornness, create an artiste with soul and a heart of musical gold with an enduring appeal buoyed by great songs. Long May You Run and a heartfelt thanks for everything, Neil, and not just the masterclass glory of this show.
Nels Andrews - The Maze, Nottingham - 5th March 2008
Review by Jeremy Searle

A lot of the time the atmosphere at the Maze can be a bit too close for comfort to a church, a joyless reverence that sucks the energy out of the air and chills the soul, but tonight reverence feels like not just the appropriate response but the only one.

Over in the UK to promote his long-awaited and acclaimed second album “Off Track Betting”, Nels Andrews reels out a set of songs whose quality is simply jaw-dropping. As if that wasn’t enough his performance skills have come on in leaps and bounds from his first visit three years ago. He now has much more attack, hits the strings of his acoustic guitar with real venom and sings like every song was his last. He’s not averse to the odd joke though, suggesting that he left “Sunday Shoes” off his first album as a teaser for his next one, which means of course that it will be 2011 before we hear “Off Track Betting.”

On the evidence of tonight 2011 can’t come soon enough, as from the opening words of “Shoot Out The Stars“ to the final notes of “Butterfly Wing” Andrews doesn’t put a foot wrong. In “Dollar And the Dream” he hymns the quiet desperation of knowing that you’re never quite going to get there but have to keep trying anyway, “Lady Of The Silver Spoon”’s desperate tale of the loss of a baby puts the audience through the wringer (and back again for good measure) while the depths of imagery and imagination in “Temple Incense” simply beggar belief. The audience hang on his every word, recognising that they’re in the presence of someone special, and he could have played encores forever. Instead he contents himself with just the one, the dark tale of inter-racial love and consequences that is “Jesse’s Mom” and heads off into the night, leaving behind awe, wonder and satisfied minds.
Kim Edgar - The Musistadl. Limekilns, Fife - 8th March 2008
Review by Brian Christie

Kim Edgar oozes a love of writing. The Edinburgh based singer/songwriter, whose new album Butterflies and Broken Glass has garnered rave reviews, is the latest addition to Graeme Scott’s Living Room Sessions at The Musistadl.

Her songs seem to be her way of communicating to the people she loves. “Scissors, Paper, Stone”, which paints a vivid picture of domestic abuse, was written as advice to a friend in this situation. “Red” paints a rosy picture of a childhood full of dreams and ambition. Whilst “Wee Dote” tells the story of a favourite child who finds it impossible to live up to his parents dreams for him.

Then there are the collaborations. Edgar was part of the Burnsong project a couple of years ago, which saw songwriters living and breathing music in a Dumfries Songhouse. There she wrote with former Delgado Emma Pollock and Squeeze legend Chris Difford. Both “House on the Hill” and “Do You Feel Loved”, co-written with the above talent, shine as brilliantly structured musical epics.

My favourite piece from a superb set, “Thaw”, is a beautiful, lilting love song. Kim asks if there is anyone from West Lothian in the room, before telling us this magical music was written at a bus stop in Winchburgh. I pretty much know exactly the bus stop she describes. Anyone who can produce this level of writing at such an uninspiring spot deserves full marks from all in the room. A star in the making.
Alex Cornish – The Musistadl. Limekilns, Fife – 8th March 2008
Brian Christie

Alex Cornish is a star on the rise. He has a critically acclaimed new album on release. Has recently been in session on both BBC Radio 2 and 6Music. And now finds himself with a song playing over the end credits of a Hollywood movie. Can it get any better?

Today he finds himself as the latest new talent to take the stage of the Living Room Sessions at Graeme Scott’s Musistadl.

His set begins with a couple of songs from the new album Until the Traffic Stops. “Looking Out” and new single “Untied” have the feel of a stripped back Coldplay. Cornish’s vocal style does remind you of Chris Martin. Between songs his personality takes over. Stories of his struggle for a record deal are followed by “My Word, What a Mess” a song which vividly describes his feeling towards the major record labels. Ironically, this song almost brought him the deal he so desired. The remainder of his set is peppered with personal stories and beautiful melodies. Cornish would normally front a full band, but the Living Room Sessions were designed to strip the sound down to its purest form. Alex music feels almost designed for this style.

It isn’t often you come across someone so confident he’ll achieve exactly what he set out to do. With Alex Cornish, I have no doubt this dream will become reality. Oh, and did I mention he’s a dead ringer for Hugh Grant? Makes you sick, really.
Josh Ritter (full band) & Dawn Landes - Bloomsbury Ballroom - 31st March 2008
Review by Jonathan Aird

This could be quite a long review, so if you're in a hurry : gush.. extol..gush...Josh Ritter..gush..gush..go and see Josh Ritter..gush..gush.

Longer version goes like this: the Bloomsbury Ballroom is a fairly recently reopened venue, and they're still working on the getting in and out thing - the line was pretty long when I arrived. I knew it was sold out, but it's still a slight surprise as a couple of days previously I'd got a flyer in the post trying to drum up trade for Saturday's gig at St. Albans (all of 18 minutes away from London by train).

Seemed like they weren't letting people straight into the ballroom for some reason, fortunately the helpful security lady was keeping the crowd informed: "you'll be put into a holding area, you can check your coat go to the toilet and get a drink". Sounded somewhat like a primary school trip.

Having been on a guided tour of the stairways, bar, cloakroom I eventually got to the ballroom - a nice high space, already filling up to it's 800 capacity. There was then quite a long wait for Dawn Landes who hit the stage with her drummer Ray Rizzo (also played harmonica and music box), who is large and bearded like a prophet. More beards later. She started out on acoustic guitar giving renditions mainly of songs from her Fireproof album. I particularly liked "I don't need no man" and "dig me a hole". She switched to electric guitar for her last 3 songs, thrashing out very different from the album versions of Picture Show (which used a tape loop which I found irritating - also seemed weak lyrically), Kids in a play (superb) and Bodyguard on which they were joined by the keyboard player from Ritter's band, but he was playing bass - result was marvellous, sounded like a 1978 New Wave band.

Josh Ritter and band bounded on stage around 9.30, and, well, I don't usually like to dump the "new Dylan" thing onto anyone, but my first thought was of Dylan and the Hawks. Ritter was smartly besuited, the bass player bewaistcoated and bemoustachioed, the drummer bebearded, the guitarist bepork pie hatted and the keyboard player betied and slightly bebearded. Straight into Mind's Eye and it's as clear as a die that this is a powerful band ready to give us a good night. The bass player occasionally doubled as the cymbal hitter, for when one drummer just isn't enough.

The set continues with more tunes from "Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter" - To the dogs or whoever, right moves, The temptation of Adam, Open Doors, Empty Hearts, Real Long Distance - were all in there. Also several from The Animal Years - Wolves, Idaho, One More Mouth and Thin Blue Flame, as well as older stuff like Kathleen and Wings.

And when they played "When I paint my masterpiece" it really was the closest I'll ever get to seeing the young Dylan, and I don't mean that it was a lame pastiche or like some sort of clunky tribute band - no, it was a band on top form with a singer just right for that song. It was also nice to be in the 10% of the audience who recognised it; a lot of the crowd went blank at this point.

Unlike Dylan, Josh Ritter is quite talkative given the chance. As the evening went on and he became more and more bathed in sweat he had to pause occasionally to unbutton his jacket, lose the jacket, lose the tie and loosen the shirt. During these pauses we heard about his adventures in Southampton - sliding on his back down a water slide ('cos he'd previously broken a rib) he'd then chipped tooth. He seemed quite relieved that there was a nurse in the audience.

He has a great band, and so good humoured - during Real Long Distance they all changed instruments which was both amusing and effective. They also did some jokey guitar posturing and were obviously having a fantastic time. Josh was clearly impressed with the ballroom's four mirror balls, and when they were lit up the band started an impromptu slow dance tune, whilst we were exhorted to take a chance to fight against loneliness and temptation - grab someone at random and dance, who know's you might get lucky. Predictably everyone failed to take advantage of this offer, excpet Josh who pulled a girl out of the crowd. Even this worked. But not as well as Thin Blue Flame, which is a good album track, but on this night performed solo by Josh and with the stage lights turned off was a really powerful performance.

First encore was Josh alone for Wings. The rest of the band plus Dawn Landes and Ray Rizzo came out to assist on the rest of the encores. On Rank Strangers To Me (a traditional song, but I'm pretty sure Dylan has done it as well) - beautifully done, with great backing vocals from the band (the bass player sang bass, naturally). Closed out the night with a very extended Empty Hearts, in which the whole of the mirror ball technology was once more deployed.

What can I say but : go and see Josh Ritter if you can, he mentioned being back in the UK this summer. And now it's only a few days to Josh Ritter at St. Albans - and my tickets are booked, well, I'm not going to ignore my own advice, am I?
Nels Andrews – Green Note Café, London – 7th March 2008
Review by Phil Edwards

Firstly a huge apology. Only two months have passed and I’ve just got around to writing the review. Very tardy of me and I promise I shall pull my socks up in the future. So my apologies Nels and Immy.

The Green Note café in Camden is a small but very intimate space. Primarily operating as an organic vegetarian café with a music room in the back, it’s an extremely well run place. Immy did her apprenticeship at a variety of places, including The Borderline and then decided she was ready to go it alone and own a place where she’d choose to hang out. Well she’s got it right. The place is warm, inviting and serves excellent food at reasonable prices, complete with smiling waitresses and a host who obviously feels passionate about what she’s doing. As a restaurant critic I’m not easily impressed, but I was here. They’ve got it spot on, and seeing Andrews here was pure joy.

The music room holds about 50 or so people and if you want a seat get there at opening time. Lots of room for people standing but having food and wine bought to you whilst you relax sitting on a seat with optional comfy cushion, watching the band is the only way to go! This place caters for all sorts of people; all ages, all shapes and all sizes welcome. An appreciative audience made up of couples, single guys, parties of women and people on first dates. Very eclectic and the perfect place to watch a band on a wet Friday night.

Americana UK darling Andrews has released a couple of albums and as expected he played a variety of songs from both ‘Sunday Shoes’ and the recently released ‘Off Track Betting’. Sitting in the corner armed only with a guitar – the flower was a nice touch – he kicked off with ‘Jesse’s Mom’ as he laid his stall out for the rest of the evening. If the rest of the show is going to be as good as this, then we’re in for a treat I thought. He did all the ‘right’ songs tonight; one fabulous song after another. ‘Temple Incense’, ‘Shoot Out The Stars’, ‘Fever Dream’, ‘Lady of the Silver Spoon’ and the John Dee Graham song ‘Butterfly Wing’ all made a welcome appearance.

The man mesmerised the audience with his tales of small town America, lost loves, inter-racial relationships, big cities and wandering the back roads of America hanging out with local drunks, fly by nights and the occasional taxi driver.

Not having seen Andrews with a full band I can only imagine what they’d sound like, but if they’re half as good as he is solo, then they’d be simply awesome.

And to prove he can do it everywhere he goes, and this night wasn’t simply a one off, have a read of his later gig at The Maze in Nottingham.

Superb. Simple as that.