A sort of review of last Saturday’s gig at Leeds College of Music, by Susan Williamson …
“You need to get out more” @philkirby told me last week. “You can’t spend all of your time freezing at Temple.Works.Leeds, dealing with punks, pension funds and Portaloos. How about we go to “… mumbles …? ” I replied off-handedly “Sounds great, sweetie!” hearing “Alternative Music in a relaxed Café Environment, with possible wine”.
So I found us at the Leeds College of Music Saturday night seeing, uh … Swedes. “Swedes” was what @philkirby had told me to expect when I pinned him down in the foyer that evening. I was too polite in my Canadian way to inquire further before going in, although I had obviously misread the entertainment-situation. (We’re brought up not to inquire too closely about our Swedish brothers-in-denim in Canada, but was it gonna be folk dance? UH-OH, bigtime! Even we Canadians have our limits. And Swedish folk dancing has gotta be one of them).
@philkirby looked mildly bemused when we slunk in, 3 rows from the front, seeing what appeared to be a classic jazz trio setup in waiting. I poked @philkirby and said “Looks like JAZZ!” and he replied, vaguely but winningly, “Uhhh, they do Elton John’s birthday!” while Tweeting to his 93 million followers that he wasn’t too sure what to expect either. One responded, “a piano concert, maybe?”
Next thing, two nattily dressed men sauntered on stage to make LUURVE to the double bass and drum set as a sexy fanfare for … a lizard-smooth charmer in Correspondent Shoes. I poked @philkirby again and said “Those are NOT Swedes!” @philkirby: defiant: “Swing! I said SWING!! SWING!!”
Well, I guess to me “Swedish” and “Swingers” – in spite of the Canadian atavistic fear of denim folk – must be related, which says a lot about my generation, and about my ability to fast forward to utter randomness when not listening carefully to @philkirby when he is a-Tweet, a-wine or a-queue … and vice versa.
The Charmer, Joe Stilgoe, was in fact impossibly English, with a stiff Northern quiff and Southern Correspondent Footwear with – a -fringe – on-top. Or was it the other way around? Anyway “Surrey with the Fringe on Top” was one of the extraordinary melee of swing-styled numbers he and the trio got through – including “Abracadabra”, “Making Whoopee”, “Wonderful World”, “Waterloo Sunset”, “I Like This One”, “We Should Kiss”, “All I Do Is Dream of You”, “Price Tag” and any number of others I had forgotten how much I liked. I usually have a little pre-emptive doze during most performances – even Punk – just to even out the odds against my lifelong fear of boredom, but my doze quotient the other night was down to ( I clocked it) 5%. I had a grin on my face all evening – as did the wholly responsive audience.
Joe is a solo artist of some repute, classically born and trained: son of lyricist, songwriter and entertainer Sir Richard Stilgoe ( known for Cats, Phantom of the Opera ) and opera singer Annabel Hunt (famous for L’Umana Fragilta in Peter Hall’s memorable production of Ulisse by Monteverdi) and having himself played impressive gigs and venues from Southbank and the Purcell Rooms to Ronnie Scott’s and Dubai, but we’ll forgive him the latter. Who wasn’t working out there during the boom? I was. Yes, he also does famous peoples’ birthdays, including – is this right – the Queen? Or WAS it Elton John? Fact check alert @philkirby! (Don’t do facts: ED)
The main thing is that he is a wonderful performer, a witty crowd engager, a flash pianist and a heart-breaking charmer-next-door singer, complemented by the rest of his trio … read on.
Chris Hill, the double bassist and vocalist, was a joy both to watch and hear – playing with such abandoned glee I wanted to run on stage and grab another string instrument.
The drummer (and also vocalist) Ben Reynolds – whom @philkirby claimed sotto voce several times “closely resembles one of our favourite bar managers at @MidnightBellLds” (hmm not totally sure about that @philkirby, I think he looked more like @RichardMichie of @bettakultcha ) was so laid back he seemed to be doing the washing up, albeit with rhythm. Incidentally, Ben was recently seen doing pretty much that, drumming up a storm at the draining board , ”Kitchen Drums, with the Horne Section”… love it. Mind the grater at the end though.
Bottle of wine later, @philkirby and I were trying to work out how we could get the Joe Stilgoe Trio to my gaff, Temple.Works.Leeds. Perfect for us. I pointed out that they would fit beautifully into the subterranean, Yorkshire-stone Painters’ Bar as it has ramped access, café-style seating, fantastic acoustics and fits 70-80 people – PLUS ( unique selling proposition ) it has its own toilet for those taken short during the set! For I am the logistical queen. @philkirby thought this idea had merit, but pointed out we have no piano, nor any current sniff of a piano, nor any money for a piano … and that Joe would need a piano. “Piano, schmano”, I said, “life will provide”. “But what about piano tuning in the sub-zero TWL interior cold?” he enquired sensibly, for once. “Ha – it would only be there for a day – no time to get cold!” I replied.
@philkirby and I ended the evening debating whether Joe had interpreted “Waterloo Sunset” correctly. @philkirby’s take was that the Ray Davies classic was meant to be light, musically subversive, and focused on the Terry and Julie story rather than on the full sunset-ness of Waterloo. I completely agree. But as for me – a homesick London resident of 27 years – Joe’s Technicolor rendition saw me ready to grab the next train home and hang round the station, in Correspondent Shoes, trying to entice them North.
Itinerant Canadian, Susan Williamson works & travels widely from Durham to Dhofar, London to Leeds & currently includes directing @templeworks in Leeds amongst other projects. Come on by. Dress warmly. templeworksleeds.com.