Ably but perhaps un-necessarily supported by Bernard Cromarty, Last Night's Fun played 2 short sets in a room which, despite Stuart's emergency air-conditioning, was so hot and airless that one rather wished that the gig had been held in the car park! Bernard Cromarty is one of Lymm's stalwarts and he managed to prove his billing as a multi-instrumentalist by playing a different instrument for nearly every piece - starting with "Dark Island" which he had talked up for us before hand because it showed off the full range of his piano accordion. Sure enough it built from a few quiet notes to a fearsome roar before dying down again, and the last note was beautifully controlled. Bernard went on to cover "Put up a parking lot", and Cyril Tawney's "Sally, free and easy" amongst others, his voice adding it's own particular colour to the performance.
I mentioned earlier that the support was probably unnecessary, and certainly, without taking anything from Bernard, who has his own night later in the week during the Lymm Festival, we could have done with allowing as much time as possible for Last Night's Fun, a band who, as we were soon to find out, need a lot of time to tune and regroup - and a tell a few jokes, and ask a few questions, and pass the time of day, and all of this between each song or tune. Indeed, when Mal was suggesting we made the trip to this gig, I was a bit worried that the "banter" might be a mask for some otherwise dodgy performing. A listen to their album "Dubh" seemed to dispel this thought though, and whilst I have opened my notes with the words "much fun", I would soon be listening to a collective of musicians who have overcome their geographical differences to gel into a marvelous performance unit.
The three piece band have a way of playing that is conventionally built around the rhythm section, but convention ends there because the rhythm section is Chris Sherburn's left leg and Denny Bartley's guitar, with verbal instructions being issued in short bursts by Chris Sherburn which might have been intrusive but for his sensitivity to the mood. Gilly even whispered to me that she thought the way he controlled the music, urging it on, and sometimes emitted soft sighs, was quite sensual. My less feminine thoughts were more of listening to the Red Arrows commander Red 1 giving his split-second cues - "round again - GO!" Denny Bartley, the other half of this section, plays his guitar in so many different ways it's hard to single anything out - certainly his bass strings are used to great effect at certain times, whilst at others he'll be tapping gently on the body to simulate a bodrhan, and then he'll strum hard and fast and then he'll be sounding like Juan Martin for a minute - and that's just the rhythm section folks....
They opened with a tune: "Downham Market?" which was great, then Denny opened his mouth and sang Ewan McColl's "Move Along" and it felt like a storm blowing in across the room - Denny is slight but his voice is something else all together, it's a powerful force with a major emotional crack in it that is not at all sentimental, but sounds like its been hard won from a difficult seam.
So you will appreciate already that this was a good night and I was really "digging" this band. I havn't even mentioned Chris' concertina either. Denny's voice is put to great effect in "Next Market Day", which starts with just his guitar, then Chris adds some very subtle concertina sounds in the background which turn sublime at the end, and then they change gear again, directed by one of Chris' soft commands, Nick Scott powers up his nuclear pipes and Denny starts hammering away at his strings, capo on somewhere around the seventh fret, fingers down around the twelth and strumming it for all he is worth.
The final song of the first half, "The Roseville Fair" sounded to me like a Bruce Spingsteen lyric:
"You were dressed in blue, and you looked so lovely
Just a gentle flower of a small-town girl
You took my hand, and we stepped to the music
With a single smile, you became my world." from "The Roseville Fair" - Bill Staines
Brilliant.
For the second half we decided to stand up - we were sat at the back anyway, so it wouldn't harm, and the better view seemed to improve the sound too! We got "Sammy's Bar", another of Cyril Tawney's songs, then a self penned tune "Doxford Hall" in which we witnessed the band's total immersion in what they are playing - often all 3 have their eye's closed as they play, and certainly the effort they put into their playing is tangible in the sound they produce.
One piece of deft work saw Denny whip his capo off the frets mid tune, place it on the end of the neck and carry on playing without it affecting the flow at all - you wonder how often it ends up on the floor, but I suspect it's one of those things that you can just do after a while when you can play so intently.
The last song - yes they only managed to fit 3 in - was "The Autumn Child", but before this Chris continued to rib Nick and his pipes in his dry, cutting way, ending with an almost whispered, "Play that funky music pipe boy!" This humour is a staple part of the LNF act, it's all well meant and seems to be accepted without any rancour from Nick, who seems to take the butt of most of it. Chris certainly has the quick wit and keen eye that you need to produce the kind of hilarious off-the-cuff quips he deals out, and his long drawn out tale of eating an Opal Fruit was funny enough, before he delivered the coup-de-gras and said that this story was included because they had received a complaint that they didn't give out enough detail between songs!
The all too short set was completed with 2 encores - "30 foot trailer" and a tune called "Akward" I think - "more?" said Chris - "you can tell they've paid ten quid to get in!"
Did I mention Nick's pipes? Well, apart from being the target for much lighthearted abuse from Chris, they are a wonder to behold. Just sat on the floor you would swear that somebody had left a heap of old recorders and bits of trombone laying around. Closer examination would allow you to suspect that a fishing rod might have been included, and that maybe a snake charmer had left his pipe there too. In Nick's hands (and elbows too) though, they turn into a thing of great beauty, the drones working with the chanter, the sound erie and yet melodious. I'm told these things are hard enough to play in tune, never mind play well and in tune. Nick manages to play VERY well and in tune and, despite the fun, he is an equal talent in this rich lineup.
Just one final illustration, the tune "The Autumn Child" starts with a complex and exciting section featuring Nick on the pipes, it drew a round of applause much like a jazz solo, which almost drowned out the silky smooth transition from pipes to concertina - a real highlight for me in a night that felt like one long highlight, and a performance that left Gilly overcome with emotion, so intense was the experience.
There are a some acts that we enjoy, others that we look out for playing locally, and some that we feel we would travel a long way to see again. Last night's fun are very firmly in the latter category and I hope it won't be too long either.
- Addendum - I don't normally do this, but today we listened to "Tempered" - the most recent studio album from the boys and we was robbed not hearing them play this! - "Whiskey in the Jar" on the CD is such a fine rendition - far and away removed from the hurtling fevered version put out by Thin Lizzie, this is a sensative and moving ballad that would have been fantastic to hear live - catch them if you can, and insist that they sing this song when you do!
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