Written by Jonathan Aird | 25 November 2010

Midlake may have been trying to undermine themselves by slating their latest album in a recent issue of Mojo, but it hasn't worked, The Junction is heading towards full even as the first support act came on. This was Jason Lytle, late of Grandaddy. Performing a solo set, accompanying himself on electric guitar, this was pretty engaging considering it was completely new material to me. Good enough to have proven worthy of subsequent investigation.

The starting of the second support summoned me back to the hall from a fruitless trip to the bar, and The Junction was so packed that it was only possible to find a space at the back. Fortunately it's a fairly small room. John Grant staked his place at the stage front, and at first with only a piano accompaniment, later with a violin as well, launched into a majestic set. Occasionally taking the piano, often adding weird electronic "twiddly bits", and always singing in that dramatic, rich and attention grabbing baritone. It is a mystery to me as to why there was constant chatter from the edges of the crowd. Quite simply, had they given him another fifteen minutes then John Grant would have snatched the evening's crown from Midlake's hands.

Gorgeous, lush, '70s singer songwriter style songs, whose easy lyric and surreal touches made me think of Nilsson as much as anyone. The set opens with what could be called Grant's Science Fiction Trilogy - starting with 'Outer Space', which recognises one person's perfection as being so rare it is unearthly. 'Sigourney Weaver' offers the insights that Grant feels both out of step with the world - like Weaver not believing that the company wants to take an Alien back to Earth - and also doesn't fit in properly - like when Winona Ryder can't quite get the voice right in Dracula.  I had thought 'Marz' was something special on the album, was stunned by the stripped down version Grant performed on the BBC's "Later", but tonight with the accompaniment of piano and eerily blended violin, it was perhaps the definitive version, revealing an even more beautiful aspect. The recent album's title track - 'Queen of Denmark' - was devastatingly good, a series of perfect put downs. And, like the rest of the set, didn't suffer a jot from not having a full band.

Midlake have come on dramatically over the last few years, growing in live confidence and their set was evenly balanced between the albums Van Occupanther and The Courage of Others. Those holding out lingering hopes of hearing early minor gems from 'Bamnnan and Silvercork" really should accept that it's just not going to happen.  Oh, and they've added full beardage to the already present plaid shirts.

Weaving the two albums together gives the opportunity to see the similarities as well as the more obvious differences. Van Occupanther has a thread running through it which, it's true, includes one man's striving for immortality, but also has a very American pastoral feel of conquering wide open spaces and the isolation of pioneers. The Courage Of Others shares the deep connection to nature, even if it's greater dependency on minutia and dream like intensity has a far more wyrd English folk feel to it. If they were films then Van Occupanther would be some Hammer mad Victorian scientist movie, whilst The Courage Of Others would be The Wickerman. 

True crowd pleasers such as 'Roscoe' and 'Head Home' are now joined by the incredible soft folk guitar introduced 'Children of the Grounds' which bursts into flame as the heavy chorus explodes.  And there are spider web songs of tenuous lyric which somehow hang together in the air - 'Young Bride' with it's now customary searing  guitar solo, 'Core of Nature' which overwhelms with it's loamy intensity.  And maybe 'Gathered in Springtime' saw Tim Smith hit by a blank mind, and after the second false start, declaim in mock anger that it's not usually this hard to remember.  But with thanks to an audience member for giving him a prompt he made it into the song on the third try, and the spell wasn't broken.  It's a strange tale of sights seen from a hillside covering a lifetime of 300 years which weaves an image of altered perspectives that could have been lifted from a Wellsian Scientific Romance (this is too mannered a tale to be sullied with anything as demeaning and everyday as the label "SF").

Closing out with a fine and generous set of encores showcasing John Grant on 'Paint The Moon', Jason Lytle on Granddaddy's 'A.M.180', and finally an extended and exhilarating 'Branches'.  Midlake are truly now the benchmark for English Folk-tinged Americana.


Midlake Set List
Fairest Way
Children of the grounds
Winter dies
Acts of man
Young Bride
Van Occupanther
Courage of others
Rulers ruling all things
Bandits
Roscoe
Bring Down
Gathered in Spring
Fortune
Core of Nature
Dawn has arrived
Head Home

Encore
Paint the moon (with John Grant)
A.M. 180 (with Jason Lytle)
Branches

Written by Jonathan Aird | 17 November 2010

A really packed out Stables - even the overflow car park had needed an additional overflow area - for Tom Paxton’s return to the Stables - he mentioned how much he'd like The Stables when it was a Stables, but graciously added that he loves the new theatre as well.  And I have to note that it's been a while since I've been able to say that I was without doubt one of the youngest present.  Perhaps not surprisingly this relic (and I mean that in the nicest way) of the early 1960's Folk explosion has retained his peer group as his core audience, although from his lively stage presence you'd never guess he was 73.  The evening was just Tom Paxton, trademark denim cap well in place, and a guitar, accompanied by Robin Bullock on guitars and mandolins and who also opened the show with a couple of nice acoustic guitar pieces.   

Tom Paxton has an enviable 60 plus albums and over 600 songs to choose from.  With this well to draw on it's not surprising that he's able to put together a near flawless set.  He opened with a new song - "How Beautiful Upon The Mountain" - and teaches the chorus straight off.  Then a ditty about Sarah Palin and an old song recycled to fit current affairs - now it's "I'm going to change my name to Fanny Mae", thirty years ago it was Chrysler.  Always a political singer, he's also long advocated environmental issues which is represented here by "Who’s Garden Was This", about a world denuded of flora and fauna, and is a song he contributed to the first Earth Day, and "There Goes The Mountain" about strip mining for coal.  There's also time for the whimsy of "The Marvellous Toy", which, we are informed, is "now available as a book and also as an iphone app”.  And a stone classic - "Last Thing On My Mind", recorded by, well, everyone, but written by Tom Paxton.  He also took the chance to poke fun at himself with this by playing a short parody he'd been sent about a man who meets a girl at the folk club, gets invited back to her place for the night and then "she played me every album by Tom Paxton, and you know that was the last thing on my mind".

Interspersed along the way were anecdotes about friends and family, and there was perhaps just a little too much family at once halfway through the second half - "Jennifer's Rabbit" followed by "Kate", songs inspired by his young children, then "Jennifer and Kate" inspired by his now mid-40's children.  And a song for his wife.  Compensations there were in plenty though - reminiscing about Greenwich Village in the '60s led to "Did you hear John Hurt", also the light hearted sing-along "Bottle of Wine" ("in France they tell me it's an ancient traditional folk song") and, closing out the encores, "Ramblin' Boy" which gets a full throated audience participation to end the evening on a high note.

This was a low impact evening - congenial, relaxed, and strangely like an old fashioned folk club where everyone gets to join in on the chorus.  Paxton always had more of an ironic edge to his political songs, and his comments on the news are often throwaway one minute broadsides.  He also has his more lyrical side, shown by new songs such as "Bravest of the Brave" about New York's fire-fighters.  It's always good, though, to see a Greenwich Village survivor, and even better in a small venue.   Unsurprisingly he's mellowed with age but with his playing (and Bullock's backup) still good and with a strong voice it was indeed a fine way to spend an evening.  Tom Paxton is less the man Bob Dylan could have been if he'd never gone electric, but more a younger Pete Seeger.  So, the question is who's the younger Tom Paxton?