I have a couple of stories to share of my music-based experiences from the last couple of months. True, these are definitely after the fact at this point, but it would be a shame not to -think of it as one of those 'What I Did In My Summer Holidays' excercises you had to do in primary school. Only with more gigs, worse weather and a slightly better grasp of the english language.
So, without further ado:
#1: A House Show, September 29th 2010
Flicking through the Nov 20th issue of NME (yeah, I know) I came across a picture that looked oddly familiar. Not because I recognised any of the people or the setting, but simply because it depicted about 30-odd people crammed into someone’s living room. It accompanied a piece on a collective of musicians in Oxford known as Blessing Force, and instantly took me back to a gig I went to at a friend’s house in Norwich at the end of September. I enjoy house gigs a lot, mainly because of (at the risk of sounding like your town mayor) the real sense of community spirit, and the complete lack of both physical and metaphorical barriers. Oh, and the rowdiness, I suppose (see the youtube clip below).
So, without further ado:
#1: A House Show, September 29th 2010
Flicking through the Nov 20th issue of NME (yeah, I know) I came across a picture that looked oddly familiar. Not because I recognised any of the people or the setting, but simply because it depicted about 30-odd people crammed into someone’s living room. It accompanied a piece on a collective of musicians in Oxford known as Blessing Force, and instantly took me back to a gig I went to at a friend’s house in Norwich at the end of September. I enjoy house gigs a lot, mainly because of (at the risk of sounding like your town mayor) the real sense of community spirit, and the complete lack of both physical and metaphorical barriers. Oh, and the rowdiness, I suppose (see the youtube clip below).
Now, whilst I should make it clear that Blessing Force and the group of artists, musicians and friends assembled at the Norwich gig are from totally different scenes and make very different types of music in two very different cities, the two had a couple of downright spooky things in common judging by these quotes from the article:
Indeed, banjo (and mandolin! Hooray!) playing punks were a feature of the night, as was the proverbial human pyramid (in a very, very literal sense). But really, few words blogged here could sum up the evening as well as this clip from the night, courtesy of Neil Morris, an out-of-towner and folk musician from the West Midlands.“One of the biggest punks I know plays the banjo...”“...build a human pyramid” ...!!! (-to be fair to Blessing Force, they probably only meant this in a figurative sense. Social networks etc etc)
Neil was not only an awesome addition to the line-up, but he also wrote his own account of the show at his own blog where he is keeping a tour diary, a really engaging and fun read. And I can really only echo what he's already said about the show: it was a great night filled with crazy talented (and, okay, crazy in general) people and an amazing atmophere. And all for free! What more could you ask for, really?
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