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New category – interesting dreams 🙂

Ok got to get started somehow… So it’s with something completely different.

I had a fun dream a couple of nights ago about weaving jam. Yes, you read that right – weaving jam. I didn’t unfortunately remember the “how” or the “why”, but I do remember that this was a fun dream, and I woke up amused.

Just think if it were possible to weave jam. If you had strawberry warp and blackcurrant weft, to we could have jam that looked like tweed. Mixed fruits could be woven into a tartan.

Slices of jam could be sold in slices like cheese. Square ones for your toast and round ones for scones. 😋

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Happy New Year!

It’s 2023.

Long time since I’ve posted anything here.

There were gigs I wanted to catch up writing about in 2019 and early 2020. There have been some fabulous gigs since we started to attempt normality again.

I’ve been thinking.

I’m not doing a catch up of the last three years. I want to move on from it and leave it firmly in the past. I might mention the odd caper in future blogs, but I’m not going to catch up.

The future starts today. It should be full of canny capers to share here. Happy New Year!

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Gig Time. The Sounds of Simon at Bury Met on 20th June 2019

The Sounds of Simon

Had a cracking evening out with my other half and the in-laws, watching a Simon and Garfunkel tribute band all the way from Leicester.

They covered a lot of time with songs from right through Paul Simon’s songwriting career, including a fair bit of his solo stuff. I really enjoyed myself, and particularly enjoyed the trivia and stories from the band.

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Gig Time. Kilnsey Green at Salt’s Brewery on 6th June 2019.

Kilnsey Green

I’ve been looking out for the opportunity to see this new band live. I’d heard good things about them through social media, and listened to the few tracks they’ve put out.

Salt’s Brewery is in Saltaire on the far side of Bradford, and a venue we’ve not been to before. I was pleasantly impressed.

The performance space is in the back of the converted tram shed. Brewery hardware is in the same space, which gives it a unique vibe. The feeling is airy and bright. The acoustics are good too.

I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. The music was excellent – better live than recorded, like the best bands usually are. They soon had the crowd dancing. The beer was also good – I’m glad I wasn’t driving 🙂

The beer and the venue will be explored again some time when we can get there on the train. The band will be worth looking out for again in future.

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Gig Time. The Waterboys at the Bridgewater Hall on the 28th May 2019

The Waterboys

One of my favourite live bands at one of my favorite venues. The acoustics at the Bridgewater Hall are sublime, and the perfect setting to some of my favourite violin riffs.

No support band, just two sets from the headliners. They played a good number of my favourite numbers, along with some newer stuff.

The violin riffs in ‘Girl Called Johnny’ and ‘Whole of the Moon’ were personal high points. An exceptionally good evening.

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Gig Time. Samantha Fish at the Band on the Wall on the 14th May 2019.

Samantha Fish

Samantha Fish is another female guitarist I discovered in a streaming radio/playlist, that also had other talented ladies like Joanne Shaw Taylor and Ana Popovic.

That was enough reason for me to want to go to the Band on the Wall, but the support band was definitely another. The Curse of Lono was a fine choice to open up the evening’s entertainment.

The sound was as good as I expect at this venue, and the evening rocked. Samantha Fish has some bluesy numbers, but is definitely more rocky when she gets going.

Curse of Lono
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Gig Time. Artmagic at SORM Studios in Bradford on 11th May 2019

Artmagic

Possibly the smallest venue I’ve been to a gig in. In the Little Germany part of central Bradford, near the Cathedral, there is a studio that improvised a performance space for the concert. The photo is the best I got, because lighting seemed to be a bit of an afterthought. The sound was good though.

Artmagic is a duo of musicians. On the left, playing keyboards is Shaun McGhee, who we’ve seen on stage in Alison Moyet’s band. On the right, playing guitar is Richard Oakes of Suede fame.

I admit I wasn’t overly familiar with their album, although I had heard it before the concert. It went down rather well with the small crowd, and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

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Gig Time. Ana Popovic at the Deaf Institute on 5th May 2019

Ana Popovic

Ana Popovic turned up on a streaming radio or playlist (can’t remember which) which featured a number of very good female guitarists.

When she was due to play the Deaf Institute, we couldn’t resist seeing her and her band in the flesh.

Not actually knowing how popular she is generally, it was good to see an almost full crowd. I enjoyed the bluesy sound, and could definitely detect the inspiration of Stevie Ray Vaughan. The rest of the band were very good too. Definitely recommend if they’re touring near you.

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Gig Time. Wildhearts at Manchester Academy 2 on 3rd May 2019

Saw these chaps at the Sounds of the City last year at Castlefield Bowl in Manchester. Enjoyed them in the sunshine so we decided to see them when they toured this year.

The Wildhearts
Massive Waggons
Towers of London

There were two support bands on the night. Massive Waggons and Towers of London.

Everything was predictably LOUD, and there was a definite bouncy atmosphere. One of those gigs I’m really glad I had my accoustic ear plugs with me. That’s not a criticism of the band(s) by the way, they are loud, and their fans know it. I’m just rather fond of my hearing 😉

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Catch up time :-/

I’ve been most tardy with recording my canny capers this month. Been to five gigs, which need writing up… oops. Might not mention all the support bands, which is regrettable, and is definitely not a comment on their quality.

I’ve also been enjoying lots of music I’ve streamed, along with some very good audio books.