9am online Freeze-Out?

Quick reminder: if you're still drying your eyes after failing to get hold of a ticket for Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band's Belfast show in December, fear not! Tickets for a May 22 2008 outdoor show at Dublin's RDS go on sale tomorrow morning at 9am (Wednesday November 28). If past experiences are anything to go by, tickets will last barely a minute. So, let the dirty dog fight begin. Good luck. We'll all need it!

Camille O'Sullivan - a Devil in Disguise

I'm a huge fan a Camille O'Sullivan. Sadly, for some reason, she always seems to be performing near me when I'm DJing somewhere. This Friday night she will be at the Island Arts Centre in Lisburn.

The Scotsman called her 'a cross between Sally Bowles, Patti Smith and PJ Harvey'. I'd go along with that! The Irish/French vocalist specialises in unique readings of the music of such iconic figures as Nina Simone, Tom Waits, David Bowie, Jacques Brel and Nick Cave. Her stage presence is cinematic and vampish, like a classic femme fatale from the silver screen mixed with the physical drama of the characters in each song. She becomes every song, every character, every line. If you're anywhere near Lisburn on Friday, do not miss her!

Here's something to expect - Camille's take on Nina Simone's 'Devil's Workshop'.

Frances Black for Strabane. November 30.

Irish singer Frances Black makes her first visit to the Alley Theatre in Strabane this Friday night. The show is part of the celebration of ten years since the set-up of the Gaelscoil Ui Dhocartaigh, an Irish-speaking school in the Ballycolman area of Strabane.

Frances hails from a family steeped in music. Her parents, brothers and, of course, older sister Mary have all treaded the concert halls of the country. Her seven solo albums have all been big sellers in Ireland. She possesses one of the most distinctive voices in Irish folk, never faltering from authenticity and passion. It has been a great coup for the local Gaelscoil and the people of Strabane as a whole. I can't wait!

Here is some rare footage of Irish traditional supergroup Arcady featuring Frances performing Down By The Glenside (The Bold Fenian Men)at Scraggs Alley in Carlow, Ireland in 1991.

Favourite track of the week. Rilo Kiley - 'Breakin Up'

I can't get enough of of this track. Rilo Kiley's 'Breakin' Up'. The cold weather and dark nights, are they getting to you? This track will put all that out of your mind! Is it just me, or does it remind anyone else of 'Christmas Wrapping' by The Waitresses? Not that there's anything wrong with that, especially this time of the year!

http://rapidshare.com/files/71936996/Rilo_Kiley_-__04__Breakin__Up.mp3

Remembering Uaneen

Today marks the 7th anniversary of the tragic death of Uaneen Fitzsimons. Not only was she a great host of the much missed RTE late night 'No Disco' programme but she was also a top DJ on late night 2FM. She showed great support for a few Strabane bands in her time, my own included, giving us all airplay and she always had an interest in what was going on here - being a nordie herself! She was always a friendly soul every time I ran into her at gigs. And every gig and festival I go since is still lacking that little something - her. She'll always be remembered.

Pete O'Hanlon: Return of a Northern Man

"I was ridin' with O' Hanlon in those wild and heady days - when he fell off the wagon onto his pagan ways. We rambled up and down the street to where we'd come to be. We sang our song and beat our drum in the State of Tennessee. I was ridin' with O'Hanlon..."

Those are lyrics by American singer-songwriter RB Morris from a track on his 1997 album 'Take That Ride'. 'Ridin' With O' Hanlon' recounted his experiences in Nashville and beyond as he collaborated with Strabane musician Peter O' Hanlon. The need to immortalise those 'heady days' into verse and song merely encourages the mind's eye to attempt to visualise those days in Tennessee. Yet, they are just one chapter of the many in the life of Strabane's very own Peter O'Hanlon.

Originally from the St. Colman's Drive area of Strabane, Peter cites the late great Rory Gallagher as a major influence on him as a musician. At the age of 13 he saw Gallagher perform in the Guildhall in Derry. It was that gig, Peter believes, that set him off on his own journey into the world of rock n' roll.

A year later, Peter found himself playing guitar for local dancehall act Double Vision. Reflecting on those days he says, "It was a great experience. Those were early days for me but not so much for the dancehall era. The showband era was dying and the dancehall nights grew less frequent as more and more lounge bars began to open. Yet I still loved those days playing with the likes of Double Vision, Frankie McBride and Pat McGeehan."

As the Showband era came to a close, Irish music was to be taken in a new direction and led by the musicians who 'cut their teeth' on the Showband circuit. Rory Gallagher was one such musician leading the charge. In 1978, Peter found himself on the road with the legendary guitarist as a support act on his Christmas tour. Around this period Peter was also forging a friendship with Thin Lizzy front man Phil Lynott. In 1980, Peter along with Phil and Terry Woods, who would later become a member of The Pogues, recorded a single called "Tennessee Stud".

Peter has some great memories of Phil. One incident he looks back on with great humour was the night Phil and he went to the Baggott Inn in Dublin to watch Brush Shiels perform. "Brush was just starting into 'Whiskey In The Jar'," Peter recalls, "and Phil leaped up off the chair, sneaked his way onto the stage and crept up behind Brush. Brush had his eyes closed and when he heard the screams of the crowd he assumed they were aimed at him. It made him 'feel' the song even more. Then, just as he was about to sing, Phil ran to the mic and started singing himself. Brush opened his eyes to realise that the crowd were indeed going mad for a guy on the stage…but not necessarily him!"

As a lead guitarist, Peter has continually found himself in major demand. Along with working with the likes of Irish folk group De Dannan, Shana Morrison (daughter of Van), Dolores Keane and her brother Sean Keane and touring heavily in Canada and Nashville, he has both recorded and performed with 'Van the Man' himself. Peter played on Morrison's 1997 album 'The Healing Game', which many regard as Morrison's finest album of that decade. He also performed with Morrison at the City Hall in Belfast in 1995 as part of the events celebrating President Clinton's visit to the City.

In 1999, Peter released a solo album called 'Trick of Time'. Yet having the opportunity to invest his time on solo projects has been difficult down through the years. "I've been writing my own songs since I was 13," he stresses, "but playing guitar has continually side-tracked me into working for other people. There just hasn't been the time to focus on my own stuff. Perhaps I say 'yes' too much," he jokes.

Yet it seems that Peter has finally found a balance between working with other people and working on his own material. "I've been taking my own stuff out live and seeing how it works with a live audience," he enthuses. "It always helps to see the reaction from the crowd." He has also been collaborating and playing live with ex-Energy Orchard frontman Bap Kennedy.

Peter is very optimistic about the music scene in Strabane at the moment. "One of the things that is really positive in at the minute", he states, "is that young people are writing and performing their own material and having a blast doing it. Even though I've been writing my own stuff since I was 13, I can recall in the early days getting strange looks if you even suggested that you were going to play something you wrote yourself. It's almost the opposite now."

One of our most well travelled musical sons returns to the local stage on Monday November 5 at the All Stars Bar, Strabane, for what promises to be an unforgettable night.

http://www.strabaneunplugged.co.uk/

Classic Album Revisited: Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball

The early ’90’s could not have been a better time for Country music. It was a global industry, perhaps bigger than it ever was, and with acts like Garth Brooks and Billy Ray Cyrus, millions of records were shifting quicker than ever before. Brooks himself would fill stadiums all around the world. His songs were unavoidable. Urbanites everywhere had no shame in making pricks of themselves at Karaoke parties, bus trips and weddings, as they would grasp a belt-buckle, do that irritating nod at the start of each line and get incredibly excited because the song had the word ‘ass’ in it. Yep, Country music was everywhere, in all its 1950s conservative white right-wing glory. It was hell on earth, although that’s probably an insult to the devil - ‘At least he fucking jams’, as the Bill Hicks reminded us, right?

Adding insult to injury, the global industry that Country Music was becoming saw a greater focus on younger acts and less attention directed towards the established names such as Johnny Cash, George Jones and Emmylou Harris. Harris parted company with her record label Reprise after the release of a live album in 1992. After this she signed to Electra Records, home of an array of artists with a more specialised leaning such as Natalie Merchant, Jackson Browne and, in the past, influential figures such as Phil Ochs and Tim Buckley. Such a label could accommodate the ambitiousness of an artist like Harris in a way that her previous bosses couldn’t or wouldn’t.

Around this time Harris spoke out at the staid environment that was engulfing Nashville: “It seemed like everything had a sameness to it. There's always some good stuff out there, but overall, the more popular country music has become, the more constricting and narrow it's become.”

It was vital for Harris that her latest project at this time was to be everything that the mainstream Country fare populating the charts was not. ‘Wrecking Ball’, released in 1995 was just that, and much more with it. Harris collaborated with influential producer Daniel Lanois for the project. This was a big step for a start, as Lanois’ experimental approach alone was on a different planet from the safe regimental production of Nashville.

Lanois was perhaps most noted for his work with U2. Along with Brian Eno, Lanois was instrumental in developing the Dublin band’s sound with the seminal ‘Unforgettable Fire’ album in 1984, ‘The Joshua Tree’ in 1987 and again with ‘Achtung Baby’ in 1991. He was also responsible for revitalising Bob Dylan. Dylan’s 1989 collaboration with Lanois, ‘Oh Mercy’, was Dylan’s best-received album of what was previously a very uneven decade.

For ‘Wrecking Ball’ Lanois recruited many of his regular studio colleagues, such as Larry Mullen Jnr, Malcolm Burn, Brian Blade and Daryl Johnston. Neil Young also appeared, adding vocals to a number of tracks, including the title track which he penned himself.

Lanois’ atmospheric guitar sound, which coloured ‘Oh Mercy’ so beautifully, makes its mark instantly on the opening track ‘Where Will I Be?’ It’s immediately evident when we hear Harris’ lucid vocals merge with the Lanois sound that this is going to be a perfect marriage of varying layers and textures, all appropriate and serving a purpose. So packed with sound and activity is the track that it’s almost two minutes before any trace of a bass guitar is introduced.

Renowned as a great song interpreter, Harris literally breathes new life into material written by the likes of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Lucinda Williams, Jimi Hendrix and Steve Earle. On the title-track her emotive whisper backed by a minimal arrangement and a Neil Young guest vocal has a haunting quality that is even superior to the original; Young would surely conceded this too. Her reading of Dylan’s ‘Every Grain of Sand’ also possesses a passion that studio production perhaps diminished slightly on Dylan’s original.*

Of the original material that Harris and Lanois collaborated on, ‘Deeper Well’ has a dusty Southern mystical quality. Simplistic and tribal in rhythm, it’s a stand out track on an album mostly jammed with songs written by the cream of American songwriters – perhaps the ultimate compliment to Harris.

Lanois’ greatest success on ‘Wrecking Ball’ was to maintain the quality of Harris’ vocals amid the new environment in which he had placed it. It was a formula that worked and worked well. So impressed was Harris with ‘Wrecking Ball’ that she worked with Lanois yet again for the follow up, 1999’s ‘Red Dirt Girl’. The focus this time was to be on material penned by Harris, including a moving personal ode to her father on ‘Bang The Drum Slowly’. It was another well-received collaboration, and another vindication of Harris’ decision to play by her own rules.

Naturally the straight-laced Country set did not take to ‘Wrecking Ball’ very well. Harris had already foreseen the lack of airplay it would receive on the mainstream Country stations now populated by a younger blander breed of performer. But it wasn’t about airplay. It was about following an artistic instinct without the constraints laid down but the suits and Stetsons. Harris continues to play by her own rules with a dignity and self-determination that is to be admired and taken note of. As Nashville becomes an increasingly corporate enterprise, it’s good to know that there are still a few real outlaws out there.

*for the best version of Dylan's 'Every Grain of Sand', check the Dylan Bootleg Series Volume 3. It's rough, ready, not always in tune, and basically a demo, and there's even what appears to be a dog barking in the background, but it possesses an emotion that is slightly lost in the eventual and still impressive studio version in my humble opinion.

Cosmic Dancers - The Glam Icons

“Then comes pancake factor number one. Eyeliner rose hips and lips gloss are such fun”

So sang Lou Reed on ‘Make Up’ from his 1972 album ‘Transformer’. It was a record that heralded Reed’s cross-over from the Warhol Factory to an underbelly of glamour, transgender politics and experimentation. The record is laced with seedy, curious, impulsive characters who subscribe to a new found hedonism and desire to ‘take a walk on the wild side’.

The flower-power culture of the sixties may arguably have been painted black by Charles Manson and his ‘Family’ in the summer of 1969. That same summer saw the premier of Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda’s counter-culture opus ‘Easy Rider’. As half a million hippies descended on Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethal, New York for ‘three days of peace and music’, Peter Fonda’s “Billy, we blew it” line in the film’s penultimate scene belied the optimism of the smoke-hazed Woodstock air.

The start of a new decade seemed to accentuate such growing cynicism. It’s perhaps inevitable that there would be a desire to bring some colour to the fore again. A year before Reed’s ‘Transformer’ record, Marc Bolan and T. Rex topped the British charts with ‘Hot Love’. The song created a template for what became known as Glam Rock: rock ‘n’ roll riffs with themes of gold, mythology, literature, classic hollywood and science-fiction, a hand-clapping drum beat and a sense of self-importance, with an emphasis on the ‘Pop Star’ as icon, idol, visitor from another planet. ‘Glitter’, ‘make-up’, ‘platform shoes’, ‘cross-dressing’ and ‘glamour’ all became key words and key factors. The modesty of the folk-hero was replaced by a candid bowing before the superior being that now was the ‘Pop Star’.

After a number of transformations and gender bending characters, David Bowie created Ziggy Stardust, an intergalactic rock-star with a penchant for excess who ‘took it all too far, but boy, could he play guitar’. With a dynamic partnership with guitarist Mick Ronson (with whom Bowie co-produced Reed’s ‘Transformer’ record) Bowie’s not-of-this earth appearance, helped greatly by having two different coloured eyes (the result of a school fight with a friend), allowed him the opportunity to create a persona to project the sci-fi fantasies of ‘Starman’, ‘Life on Mars’ and even the pre-apocalyptic ‘Five Years’.

This alter-ego even gave Bowie the scope to journey into varying places, even death in his signature track ‘Ziggy Stardust’. Bowie took this to further extremes at a live show in London’s Hammersmith Odeon in 1973. When coming out for the encore, Bowie announced out of the blue:

“not only is this the last show of the tour. But it’s the last show that we’ll ever do!”.
True to his word the audience were witnessing the death of Ziggy Stardust. Bowie soon took himself to LA to re-make re-model, and in white blizzard of milk and cocaine ventured into what he liked to call ‘plastic soul’.

Out of the art school came Roxy Music, fronted by Bryan Ferry, who merged the glam template with his Hollywood leading man looks to create an glamourous hybrid. Brian Eno created the cosmic soundscapes that gave Roxy their initial signature sound. Lyrically post-modern, Roxy took the sexual revolution and subverted it with shadowy loners and global jetsetters stuck in-between the extended sax solos of Andrew Mackay and the sonic ambience of Eno’s synth.

NME Journalist Mick Bell reflected in 1979 on the colour injected by Roxy Music into a dreary suburban no-mans land:

“It was special, fine art English rock: the ’50’s, ’60’s and the deadened ’70’s all rolled up into one immediate wham. Suddenly Roxy Music proved that fashion was fun – we were all dressed up with somewhere to go. Until they arrived 1972 was an extremely dull time. Roxy were the arbiters of taste, the first break of a new wave, encapsulated for posterity.”

Glam Rock had infiltrated mainstream pop by 1972 and soon many of its art school traits were diluted into something that could be sold to the masses. Brummie rockers Slade stripped the music of its pretention and created a fine body of stomping schoolyard good time rock anthems. They also made the foray into film in 1974 with the critically well-received ‘Slade in Flame’, a story of the rise and fall of a fictional rock ‘n’ roll band, played by the band themselves.

‘Slade in Flame’ surprised and confused as it was quite dark and belied the good-time rock ‘n’ roll persona of the band. Far from a celebratory affair, it delved into the more unglamourous aspects of being in a rock band, and its conclusion is quite bleak. The critics applauded. Many fans scratched their heads.

The album that came with the movie is regarded by many critics as Slade’s best. Much more diverse than what they were known for, ‘Slade in Flame’ showed a band with a finer scope than many of the contemporaries they were lumbered in with. Highlights included the anthemic ‘How Does It Feel’ and ‘Far Far Away’.

The Sweet, Alvin Stardust, Gary Glitter and The Rubettes all benefited with chart-topping pastiches of Bowie, Bolan et al. Despite this, the fact that these, admittedly good toe-tappers, had such a grip on mainstream Britain was something to take note of because it appeared that the USA was not as accepting of the Glam movement.

Much more conservative (still to this day!) about sexual ambiguity in music, even the mildest hint of androgyny was never going to make a positive dent American market. Their own glam exponents fared poorly. The New York Dolls, despite the obvious impact they were to have with the emerging punk scene, were cast as industry outsiders marrying the rock ‘n’ roll excess and looseness of The Rolling Stones with the cross-dressing flamboyence of Bowie.

While Lou Reed had chart success with ‘Walk on the Wild Side’, the adult subject matter was edited on mainstream radio. Success was to elude Philidelphia songwriter Jobriath completely. Hopes were high that he would become the US Bowie. Electra Records signed him reportedly for $500,000, and a huge promotional campaign began. Despite his obvious talent and ability to create rousing mini-musical ballads such as ‘Be Still’ and ‘Heartbeat’, it was never going to be for Jobriath. Openly gay and with an alien androgyny to rival Bowie, it was clear that commercial success was never going to be a reality. He soon faded into obscurity, making a living performing at parties and diners right up to his death with an AIDS related illness in 1983.

In the sphere of Glam Icons Jobriath deserves to be more than a footnote. Over 30 years since his two solo records were released, his influence is now just beginning to be realised as those who have been influenced by his work tip their hats his way – namely iconic figures in their own right: Morrissey, Gary Numan, Elton John and The Pet Shop Boys.

By 1975 the Glam Icon was in decline. Its main players had all moved on to other fields and genres. There was also a changing of the guard which demanded that things came back down to earth a little bit. Despite the obvious influence of Bowie, Bolan and The New York Dolls on the emerging Punk of The Sex Pistols and Siouxsie and the Banshees, the DIY approach leaned more towards a chaotic dissaffection rather than glamour. The ghosts of the Glam Icons could be heard yes, but it was important that they were not to be seen.

This was not the case in the late ’70’s as experimental post-punk band Japan displayed many elements from the Glam period, none more so than singer David Sylvian, whose vocal style and penchant for make-up echoed David Bowie. The band were out of the step with the post-punk New Wave sound that was in vogue at the time, and were dismissed as Bowie copyists by the music press. Yet in truth, tracks like ‘Ghosts’ and ‘Quiet Life’ had a scope and ambition that saw them as honourable heirs to their heroes as opposed to a mere tribute act.

The same could not be said for the vapid New Romantic scene of Culture Club, Visage, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet, which was to follow in the early ‘80’s with global chart success. Taking just the surface factors of the Glam Icons and even Japan, whose sound was lifted by Duran Duran for their hit single ‘Planet Earth’, the New Romantics were bereft of the soul and substance which made the Glam era such a seminal period in popular music.

Does it have a significance in today’s musical circles? Guitar music is so steeped in a desire to be ‘real’ that any sense of theatre or dramatics is almost frowned upon. Ironically, the country where Glam’s legacy is most visable now is the US: in Marilyn Manson’s cartoon devil and the mascara emo of My Chemical Romance – both of questionable substance and merit. Still, the music of Bolan, Bowie and Roxy Music lives on and new generations are constantly being introduced to those records. As long as we dance ourselves out of the womb, there will always be room for a bit of glamour in popular music and forever an anticipation of another alien coming to visit us soon.

Some selected personal favourites:

T-Rex – Cosmic Dancer, Hot Love, Metal Guru, Children of the Revolution

David Bowie – Life on Mars, Moonage Daydream, Quicksand, Five Years, Ziggy Stardust, Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide

Roxy Music – Re-make Re-model, Virginia Plain, In Every Dream Home A Heartache, Street Life

Slade – Cum on Feel The Noise, Far Far Away, Mama Weer All Crazy Now

New York Dolls – Personality Crisis, Jetboy, Trash

Jobriath – Be Still, Heartbeat, I’m A Man

Sweet - Blockbuster

(for Greg Rogers: the best Boss North of New Jersey!)

Turn On, Tune in, Download!

So, did you all go online for your Radiohead album yesterday? Many within the music industry now believe that this ‘honour system’ approach of offering the public the opportunity to download an album for whatever price they feel like is the future. It could well be, but it’s worth stressing that such a thing has been going on prior to Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’ album. Juliana Hatfield, for one, took a similar approach last year. But Radiohead are certainly the first global band to adopt the approach. Of course, it’s hardly a risk after millions of records already sold. Such a system would not serve a new up and coming act well.

So, enough of the exterior nonsense! Is the album actually any good? In my opinion – yes and it improves with each listen.

Lets just say something here and now. Radiohead already did ‘The Bends’. Radiohead already did ‘OK Computer’. These records are perfect. Why would they want to make them again? It just gets to the point when things become formulaic. A band or artist worth a damn should always be in the process of ‘becoming’, of ‘creating’, not recreating. Radiohead are not Def Leppard. I’ve always applauded the band’s desire to strive for something new, even if it meant falling on their arses. What better way to do it than publicly! I loved ‘Kid A’, hated ‘Amnesiac’ and liked ‘Hail To The Thief’. I’ve lived with ‘In Rainbows’ since yesterday and it just gets better.

Along with Aphex Twin, it’s obvious that Thom and the boys are fans of Boards of Canada and Broken Social Scene – ‘All You Need’ and ‘Jigsaw Falling Into Place’ reflects that respectively. Drummer Phil Selway is in fine form once again throughout, coming up with jaunty up-tempo rhythms and beats, particularly on ‘Reckoner’ and ‘Arpeggi’. ‘House of Cards’ is classic Radiohead, and could be up there as one of their finest tracks. Yorke’s soulful vocal delivery is given a chance to breathe in a manner that being just one part of a mass experiment has, in the past, limited. This too can be said for the track ‘Nude’ – just beautiful. A lot of these tracks have been played live over the past year or so. I, for one, cannot wait to hear them seer into the night air at the live venue sometime soon.

So forget about the talk of downloads etc. Do what you must to get the album, but do get it. It’s worth the complete lack of hassle!!

There are worse dilemmas

(Jack L) (Damien Dempsey)

If you’re not sitting in your room dissecting the new Radiohead album that you downloaded for free, then there a couple of gigs around Derry and Donegal tomorrow, October 11, that may be of interest.

Dublin singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey returns to the Balor Theatre in Ballybofey, Donegal to perform an intimate set. Having already seen Damo previously in this venue I can assure you that you will not be let down, even if his latest album, ‘To Hell or Barbados’, is a bit of a damp squib, give or take a few tracks. There’s already enough juice in the Damo canon to keep the Donegal crowd stomping tomorrow.

Irish crooner Jack L returns to Derry tomorrow night and performs at the Playhouse, now in its temporary quarters – St Columb’s Hall, while refurbishments take place at the Artillery Street venue. Jack is quite the extravagant performer, with a style that leans strongly on Scott Walker, with echoes of Bowie, Nick Cave and (am I the only one who hears this?) Cathal Coughlan. Expect to hear various selections from Jack’s back catalogue, including original material from albums such as ‘Wax’, ‘Metropolis Blue’, latest album ‘Broken Stones’ and also he may venture into the Jacques Brel tribute territory once again too.

Between the two I stumped. I’m a nosey bastard, so I may just venture down to ‘muckerville’ to see how the Playhouse crew are getting on down below at St Columb’s.

Rufus is a Hit Man!

I had the good fortune to be able to catch Rufus Wainwright at Belfast’s Waterfront last night. It’s the second time I’ve seen him perform at this venue and the third time in total that I’ve seen him – his acoustic set at last years Electric Picnic festival was one of the highlights of the weekend.

The extravagant gentleman and his fine array of backing musicians did not let us down. Together they projected a sound that, you’d like to think, the Waterfront Hall was exclusively designed to accommodate. His voice is a priceless instrument of which he has total control. A three-piece horn section alongside guitars, bass and drums backed him. Rufus himself shifted between piano and acoustic guitar throughout and also indulged in the occasional old-style crooner moment.

The set focused heavily on his recent ‘Release The Stars’ album, with ventures into the ‘Poses’ and ‘Want’ albums. There was also the occasional hat-tip to his Irish heritage. This was most vividly realised during a show-stopping version of ‘Macushla’ (Irish for ‘Heartthrob’), which he dedicated to one of his favourite singers, legendary Irish vocalist John McCormack. Rufus stepped away from the mic and let the fine acoustics of the room work their magic.

The most jaw-dropping highlight of the night was undoubtedly the Judy Garland sections. Last year Rufus re-created in its entirety Judy Garland’s 1961 Carnegie Hall concert. The self-proclaimed ‘Gay Messiah’ covering such an iconic figure within a faction of the gay community may sound a bit too predictable. But to see it before your very eyes is to see something that will live long in the memory. His rendition of ‘A Foggy Day’ was flawless. I don’t think the audience breathed throughout the song.

Rufus took it to the other extreme for the encore. Dressed in a white robe, he seated himself, put his lippy on (as you do). The lights dimmed in the room. When they came on again Judy Garland greeted us circa 1961, suited in a dinner jacket, top hat, tights and heels! It was Rufus at his most camp and self-indulgent. I honestly didn’t think his encore in Belfast two years ago would be topped – ‘Oh What a World’ in red stilettos and angel wings – but I was wrong. Here he was, with legs many women would kill for, strutting around to ‘Get Happy’, with his band suited and booted as backing dancers. It truly was one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen at a concert, and I’ve seen Bob Dylan dance!!

Where next for Rufus? Do we dare even try to imagine? It’ll be fun finding out, that’s for sure!

Where were you?

A constant gripe about Strabane that I’ve noticed down through the years is that nothing ever happens here. Often I’ve, quite rightly, had to agree with this notion. For too long we were by-passed for nearby sprawling metropolis that is Derry City. It wasn’t always like this.

There was a time when Strabane was a commercial epicentre where business and entertainment walked hand in hand and sat right on the border with the Republic of Ireland. There was the Commodore Cinema and The Palladrome Ballroom where all the major entertainers in the country came to perform. In a reverse of the trend that exists today people CAME to Strabane. It was the place to be in the fifties and early sixties. My old man and young muckers just like him used to hitchhike from Derry to Strabane on a Saturday night, suited and old-spiced up with Rock Hudson hair-do’s (remember, this was the late 50s!!) ready to seduce the local girls with an apparent charm that the local lads were seemingly bereft of.

It was a golden time for the town. Of course things were to change dramatically as the sixties drew to a close when all that was golden was literally blown to pieces. Entertainment since then has been scant. But perhaps there could be a change in the air if we could but notice it. Part of me thinks that we are so conditioned into thinking that there is nothing to do or see in Strabane that we fail to see the reality of things, which is that Strabane can be quite thriving with activity.

For instance, last Friday was a night that, in my opinion, had a little something for everyone out there. While the usual bemoaners were probably sitting in their local, supping on the same pint, in the same chair and again cursing the lack of events in Strabane, the town was rife with activity.

Admittedly he’s not my thing at all but Dominic Kirwan was keeping the blue-rinsed Highland Radio listeners entertained in the town’s new Alley Theatre. There were discos galore. The Farmers can be quite good on a Friday and Saturday night – 2 DJs both called Mickey as it happens. OK, wee plug there lol! Dicey Rileys had English singer-songwriter Frank Turner on Friday night and a great gig it was for anyone with more alternative leanings. The gig was poorly attended and those who missed it missed out big in my opinion. I’ll be reminding them of that gig when they next bring up the lack of things going on in Strabane. There’s plenty going on. Stop whinging, get out there and cheer the fuck up! As a famous Strabane-man once sang: paradise is here......although he probably meant Donegal!!

www.myspace.com/frankturner

The Shins: A Label Caring is Creepy!!

After ten years of being relatively underground would you Adam and Eve it that The Shins are now global? And rightly so! They may have waited almost three years to release their follow-up to 2003's wonderful Chutes Too Narrow record but latest release Wincing The Night Away has made the wait worthwhile. Infectuous, clever, well crafted pop music at its best!

After their music was used to great effect in Zach Braff's wonderfully off-beat Garden State movie, the gateway to the world seemed to be opened to the band. That they now owned the keys was merely confirmed when the simply gorgeous 'New Slang' featured in a Guinness ad! haha!

All at the Sub-Pop label must be well pleased and are now reaping the benefits of sticking with The Shins all this time. Wincing The Night Away has reached number two in the American Billboard chart - the highest chart position for any album released solely on the Sub-Pop label.

Like I touched on before, it's great to see a label investing time on their bands. Sadly it doesn't work that way on this side of the pond. It's difficult to expect morons who struggle to give you the time of day when you enthusiastically try to pass them your magnum opus of a demo to invest time on you when the world doesn't come knocking the minute your first release is out. The UK and Ireland is over-populated with Band road-kill, all cut down before they had time to develop and make a record like The Shins has just done. Frontman James Mercer is lucky he got out of England when he did!

Here's their latest single 'Phantom Limb', and also from 2003 the gorgeous 'New Slang'.

The Buck Stopped Here....(sorry, couldn't resist that one!)

Last week I was in Belfast to see Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 play live at the Empire. Hitchcock's backing band consisted of Scott McCaughey on bass, Bill Rieflin on drums and Peter Buck on guitar. It was basically REM post-1997 excluding Mike Mills and Michael Stipe.

It was a great show. Hitchcock was in hilarious form, musing over the flexibility and limitations of salad and enthusing about the conclusion to Dirty Harry movie Magnum Force - hence the title of one song he played - 'A Man's Got to Know His Limitations, Briggs'. He played a lot of new material, including his tribute to New York Doll Arthur 'Killer' Kane, simply titled 'NY Doll'. Here's a short piece featuring both Hitchcock and Buck talking about the song:



As a fan of REM for many years - I'll not say how long on account of there possibly being younger readers, lets just say Michael Stipe had hair(!) - it was an honour to meet Peter Buck. He was really approachable and friendly. Everything I'm not!! He seems to simply love being on the road with a band, be it REM, Robyn Hitchcock, Mark Eitzel, The Hindu Love Gods (remember them?) or The Minus 5's. He's as comfortable playing in a small bar setting as he is in that stadium arena setting. I guess it comes from experience, as REM played every toilet cubicle going before they had any degree of success. It created a discipline that has served them well.

Sadly today, I think, bands do not get the opportunity to develop in quite the same way. The spotlight is thrust upon them overnight and just as quickly taken away from them. REM came from a time when a band could be bubbling under for years making record after record, and what great records they were! The IRS label was a credit to the band. We need more labels like IRS today. There are a few, like Matador, but not enough, especially in Britain and Ireland.

Anyway, here's 2 classic REM tracks performed live at Ardgillan Castle, Ireland, June 19 2005. 'Find The River' from 1992's Automatic For The People and the classic 'World Leader Pretend' from 1989's Green - my copy of which now has the mighty Peter Buck's signature on it!!

That was the year that was!

It has been a while since I updated things here, so I thought it best to get kicking right into 2007 while January is still with us and freezing our peculiars off whilst here.

I'd love to list all the stuff I'm looking forward to this year but instead I'm just looking forward to being surprised. That is something I learned after 2006. My favourite moments last year were from bands I never even knew existed, who just sprung up out of nowhere and hit me in the face, my brain, my heart, my pelvis and my feet! And so I salute Beirut for a great record called Gulag Orkestar. Here's a live version of the track 'Postcards From Italy':



I salute Canadian electro-duo Junior Boys for the amazing So This Is Goodbye record, which featured 'In The Morning', a video for which is here:



I salute all concerned with the organising and attending of The Electric Picnic for yet another unforgettable weekend at the fag-end of the summer.

I salute Cat Power - a reason to obsess over music today, if just one reason is needed! I've posted stuff from her most recent record earlier in this blog, so here's something a bit older. From 1998's Moonpix record, this is 'Cross Bones Style':



It was great to see the return to form of David Kitt this year with the solid Not Fade Away record. Here's 'Don't Fuck With Me' from his set at the Electric Picnic. I apologise for the poor quality but it brings back good memories - I'm one of the dodgy hat wearing dancers in the dark midst there! Letterkenny next month...bring it on!



Joanna Newsom - You're mad. You're mad! You're mad! You're madder than Mad Jack McMad, the winner of this year's Mr Madman competition. But I still love you, even if some people can't get their heads around you! This is just amazing stuff from the 2004 album Milk-eyed Mender. 'Peach, Plum, Pear':



Sure, there was more that hit home, but lets move on. So, here's to 2007 and all it will bring. I look forward to the surprises in store. See ya out in the field!

Yesterday's Men have enough fuel for today

I was in Dublin on Sunday night to see Madness play at The Point Depot. I've been to loads of gigs at The Point and always make it my point to check the back of the hall to see if it's as bouncing there as it is at the front. Normally it isn't, on account of the fans occupying the front rows and the back being populated with those just out for the night. This was not the case for Madness. All 8,000 people were on their feet from the very moment the band started their set with a rousing 'One Step Beyond'. All the hits were there - 'Baggy Trousers', 'Our House', 'Embarrasment', 'House of Fun', 'My Girl', 'Night Boat to Cairo' and loads more. A few dodgy covers aside, the night was stomping and Suggs has not aged a day since his '80s heyday. Unfortunately they didn't play two of my favourites - 'Michael Caine' and 'One Better Day'. So to make up for it here's the video for the latter:

It Was 20 Years Ago Today

On December 12 1986 The Smiths played their final live concert at Brixton Academy in London. Although no-one could've predicted the future, few would've believed that 9 months after this show the band would officially split up. It was the end of arguably the most influencial British band of the period. The Ins and Outs of the split have been done to death ever since. The band would eventually re-unite but only in a courtroom over a well documented financial dispute.

Books have been written, pockets lined and wicked whispers echoed down the corridors for the 20 years since it all ended. Despite this, the band's intrigue has endured and shows no sign of faltering. Morrissey and Johnny Marr have moved on. Whatever they have done or continue to do as artists, the short 5 years they spent as Smiths has followed them, setting a standard they have understandably struggled with for 20 years.

The further away December 12 1986 gets, the more The Smiths legend grows. Like all legends, there is a possibilty of over-indulging, letting the myth dominate the reality. Perhaps in reality the achievements of The Smiths are as over-observed as the achievements of post-Smiths Morrissey and Marr are under-observed.

It's easy and lazy to say they never again touched the standard they set as Smiths. It could well be the case but I think such an opinion colours how one engages with what they presently do. This is not just the case for Morrissey and Marr but for anyone who was once part of something special but who has since moved on. Regardless of where they are now, it's worth remembering The Smiths today for how they were. Here's a wicked medley from that final show 20 years ago today:

Kill 'Auntie'

The BBC are currently getting very excited about their Greatest Living British Icon poll. After a top ten that included the likes of Vivienne Westwood, David Bowie, Alan Bennett, Kate Moss and Stephen Fry, the voting public has now voted their top three. They now have to vote between David Attenborough, Paul McCartney and Morrissey as to who is number one British living icon.

Personally as a Morrissey fan since my early teens, and given the fact that I probably couldn’t put a sentence together without the influence of his music, I know where my loyalties lie. Yet therein lies the problem. Debates are now raging up and down the country as to who should get the number one spot. Ultimately what you’ll find is someone (myself included) airing opinions as to why ‘so and so’ should be number one. Yet we do this with a minimal or non-existent knowledge of the other two candidates. What’s even more absurd is that all three cannot be compared. It’s basically about comparing the impact of popular music to that of television. It cannot be that simple.

Morrissey, for instance, has never and will never compete with the broadcasting and wildlife expertise of David Attenborough, whose programming for over 40 years has been an inspiration. Yet Attenborough has never and could never write ‘The Queen Is Dead’, ‘I Know It’s Over’, ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’, ‘How Soon Is Now’, ‘Everyday Is Like Sunday’ or ‘November Spawned A Monster’ or devise a lyrical style of universal impact which combines cinema, literature and wet Friday nights outside a chip shop in Stretford.

Morrissey’s early appearances on Top of The Pops in 1983/84 were a revelation for many young viewers – a life changing moment. So perhaps it can be argued that Morrissey has used the medium of television to inspire. Many of his biggest fans who are now in the public eye such as writer Mark Simpson and Noel Gallagher will cite those early TV appearances as a revelation. But only a fool would argue that Morrissey has used the medium successfully to the same degree as Attenborough. Attenborough still broadcasts stunning documentaries. Morrissey pulls out of Jonathon Ross’s show at the last minute. Attenborough gets close to the blue whale. Morrissey sinks behind the cushion during another awkward interview – hard to believe at times that this was the same young man who was so inspiringly articulate on TV in the 1980s.

But never mind the bollocks. TV is not what Morrissey is about. Yet it is what Attenborough is about. So can they be compared? No they can’t. So why does this poll even exist? I haven’t a clue. It’s like saying which is better – gum or Fridays. It makes as little sense as that. Morrissey’s impact as a lyricist and as a striking multi-faceted persona in an industry that thrives on vacuity cannot be measured against 40 years of innovative documenting of wildlife. Both deserve addressing. Both deserve celebrating. But both exist in separate columns making them impossible to compare.

Ultimately it doesn’t really matter anyway because Paul McCartney will probably win. Why does the prospect bore me?

Since it’s a stupid concept to start with I think we should have some fun with it. Vote for Morrissey. Not because I’m a fan and would like to see it. In fact I think the prospect of topping the poll would horrify Morrissey. Vote for him because it will shock the Sunday roast out of middle England. Attenborough and McCartney are establishment figures. Morrissey is still despised in establishment circles for being an anti-Thatcherite anti-Royal sexually ambiguous Northerner. He won’t whistle to the preferred tune. So the prospect of him topping this silly poll would be a nice little ‘up yours’ to the incestuous horse-faced bed wetting etonians that still block up the corridors and the phone-lines of the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/livingicons/vote/

Gram Parsons - Fallen Angel

I spent last night watching Grand Theft Parsons again as it was on late on RTE. If you’re not familiar with the film, it is based on the true events that followed the death of country-rock icon Gram Parsons in 1973.

Prior to his death Parsons made a pact with his road manager and best friend Phil Kaufman (played by Strabane Lidl shopper Johnny Knoxville). They both agreed that if one of them was to die, the other was to take the body to Joshua Tree and cremate it and then spread the ashes over Cap Rock. After Parson’s death at the age of 26, that’s just what Kaufman did. He managed to burn most of Parson’s remains. What was left when police got there was then buried in New Orleans in keeping with the initial wishes of Parson’s step-father.

Parsons remains a mysterious figure in rock mythology. Yet away from the exteriors addressed in Grand Theft Parsons, he was also a great musical talent cut down in his prime by the self-inflicted excessive living that has claimed so many. The film does not focus on the talent of the man; a BBC documentary called Fallen Angel does that brilliantly, and it's worth keeping an eye out for as it tends to be repeated now and then on BBC4.

In the meantime, here’s Gram with The Flying Burrito Brothers with a track about the pleasures and perils of life in the west coast – ‘Sin City’.

Sites to see, places to go

A few quality Strabane bands and webpages that are worth checking out:

Runningforcover - http://www.myspace.com/runningforcover

God Talking Soul - http://www.myspace.com/godtalkingsoulband

King Coma - http://www.myspace.com/kingcoma

The Avari - http://www.myspace.com/theavarimusic

Kharma 45 - http://www.myspace.com/kharma45

Then of course there is the Strabane venue where it's all been happening musically for the last ten years...Dicey Rileys and its upstairs venue The Waiting Room ...long may you run!

http://www.myspace.com/thewaitingroomvenue Look out for Musky D and Stic Vibes and their Alternative Disco on December 2 kicking off the mad festivities for the rest of the month.

Something that I am personally involved in is Strabane Unplugged. We've been running for two years now, taking place on the first Monday of the month at the All Stars Bar on Main Street. We basically do what it says on the tin! Each night about an average of 6 or so acts play a short acoustic set and a great night is had by all. It's £2 admission and all money goes to a charity highlighted each night.

On Monday December 4 we celebrate our 2nd anniversary and are planning an 'open mic' session. If anybody feels the need they can grace the stage and bellow out a diamond or a turd, it makes no difference - it's a night of fun.

http://www.myspace.com/strabaneunplugged

Another blog really worth taking a look at is Daithi Ramsay's. You'll find Daithi pretty much where anything of note is happening in and around Letterkenny and beyond, except when he goes to Finn Park (only joking D! haha). With Donegal buzzing like never before, Daithi is there to document it all at http://andparts.blogspot.com

A Jack of all Trades, Daithi also DJ's on a Friday and Saturday night at Fubar downstairs in the Orchard in Letterkenny. It's the coolest room in Donegal at the weekend, with the best in funk, rock, soul, ska, hip-hop, old skool, new skool and loads more. If soul and spirit sapping weekend clubbing is not for you, find redemption at Fubar!