Occasionally you come across a band that defy classification, a band that straddle and merge genres to create something new, innovative and beyond description, a band that have to be literally seen to be believed, the mesmeric Arc Iris are one such band, an explosion of glitter, glam, jazz, folk, country, ethereal indie and lots more beside, fronted by the enigmatic multi-instrumentalist Josie Adams (once of personal favourites The Low Anthem), a performer that bewitches and enthralls in equal measure.

Thanks to Tyler Massey (more of whom later), Arc Iris hit Malvern and one of the most spectacular venues in the county, St Peters Church, following on from their triumphant performance at this years Moseley Folk festival, Arc Iris stunned a small yet rapt audience with a gloriously engaging set, that ranged from hushed ethereal folk to an almost jazz swing.

As soon as Josie and her band took to the stage you could tell this wasn’t going to be usual ensemble, the band were adorned in glitter and sparkles, with Josie looking captivating before uttering a word in a stunning all in one catsuit, whilst pianist Zach Tenorio-Miller complimented the look with equally flamboyant attire.

The band soon proved to be a whole lot more than mere clothes horses, with the opening number instantly drawing the listeners attention in, a stunning combination of piano, cello, drums and Josie’s evocative voice seduced the audience instantly, imagine a combination of the beauty of the Cocteau Twins colliding with the other worldly experience of Bjork or Joni Mitchell fronting The Dirty Projectors (if that’s possible) and you’re sort of in the right kind of direction. After the opening number the band proceed to produce a collage of folk, classical and jazz mixed with cabaret and theatrics topped with rich harmonies and infectious melodies.

Arc Iris drew heavily from their recent self titled album with the likes of Honour The Rainbows and the smoky jazz of Powder Train proving to be instant highlights along with Lost On Me, but in truth picking individual highlights seems to be something of a disservice as the entire intoxicated from start to finish.

Supporting Arc Iris was the always impressive duo of Tyler Massey and Vo Fletcher, who set the scene with a glorious set of folky laments and intricate guitar work, playing off one another superbly, with the likes of Pancho & Lefty (originally by Townes Van Zandt), Wheels On Fire (Dylan) and Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key (unrecorded Woody Guthrie song, released by Wilco & Billy Bragg on the Mermaid Sessions) standing out during their hugely enjoyable set.

Tyler and friends have put a few events on at St Peters Church and each one has been more than a little special, if you missed Arc Iris, more fool you, but I do highly recommend you keeping an eye out for the next one, you never know who might be performing next time round.

Now I don’t profess to be able to hold court about comedy (nor do I consider myself funny….in any way whatsoever, despite the occasional comparison to Ade Edmondson!!!), in fact most of the people I work with can often be heard to murmur “where’s your sense of humour” after some puerile act or as they call it “banter” however like the majority of folk I do like a good laugh and in recent times, Worcester and the surrounding area is the place for a good old chortle as every touring comedian (be they established or new to the circuit) seem to be gracing our fair county and so with that in mind I thought I’d bring you a brief taste of where I’ve been in an attempt to tickle the funny bone.

Raw Comedy-Evesham Arts Centre 4/9/14

Raw Comedy is a regular monthly affair featuring the best up and coming comedians, performing in the bar area of The Evesham Arts Centre, a handful of mirth makers and a merry master of ceremonies for a fiver, how can you go wrong.

On the night of the 4th we were hosted by a brilliant comedian in his own right, Chris Norton-Walker who engaged the crazier element of the audience, batting back hecklers and introducing acts with a calm that many MC’s wouldn’t manage to muster over the hollered “audience participation’. Norton-Walker shared some of the various names, he’s been called in the street due to his rotund statue to the merriment of the crowd, whilst his observational humour seemed to find favour with the majority.

Personally I’m not so much of a fan of one-liners or slapstick humour I prefer observational, political or story telling not just gag after gag, so I have to mention the brilliant, engaging and down right hilarious Dave Chawner as the nights highlight, a slight man who’s not afraid to send himself up, talk of his camp nature, previous eating disorders and his new found life as a vegetarian are all done with taste, yet also with laugh out loud humour, as his every day tales and observational commentary seemed to find the collective funny bone, with perhaps his set (is it a set or routine, you can tell I’m used to writing music reviews) receiving the biggest reaction of the night.

The other comedians were mainly spinning one-liners or attempting to raise a smile with a newspaper reading or two, with each comedian managing to raise a giggle or two, though most of them did have to compete a little with the audience who seemed bent on making their own brand of humour heard.

I’d definitely recommend Raw Comedy at Evesham Arts Centre, it’s a cheap cheerful night of merriment that should appeal to even the hardest face’s among you.

And whilst I’m on the subject of Evesham Arts Centre, checkout their website for details of forthcoming appearances from the likes of Sean Hughes, Marcus Brigstocke, Shappi Khorsandi and Seann Walsh in the auditorium in the near future.

www.eveshasmartscentre.co.uk

Lee Nelson Live @ Worcester Arena 16/9/14

If you’re a regular viewer of shows such as Live At The Apollo I’m sure you will have come across the comic creation Lee Nelson (Simon Brodkin), a hilarious take on the modern day chav and you’ll have already decided what you think of him, personally I find the Nelson routine as nothing short of comic genius, so a trip to the home of Worcester Wolves, was something of a no brainer for me.

Before the main event we were treated to something of a warm up my MC Mark Smith, who nicely set the tone of the evening with a bit of banter with the audience along with a few humorous stories (including one, on how his name is boring and his attempts to appear cooler with a different monicker), before handing the baton over to the main support of the evening Phil Wang. A Comedian who delivered funny tales of some of the petty racism he’s received due to his Chinese descendancy. Phil manages to take a serious subject matter and turn it into something that’s laugh out loud funny, whilst simultaneously showcasing the stupidity of every day people.

With the audience suitably warmed up, the main event, Lee Nelson took to stage and instantly grabbed the audience in the palm of his hand with his fast paced repertoire. The gags came thick and fast, from talking to the audience to cracking jokes about his home-life, everything that rolled from Lee seemed to be comic gold, with the enthusiastic crowd lapping up every morsel of his south London council estate banter. The performance finished up with a little audience participation in the form of a quiz show, whereby two couples were invited on stage to reveal how well they knew their partners (an off-kilter Mr & Mrs if you like), which as you can imagine descending into one great piss-take, finishing up with the two couples competing in a high spirited “how many sex positions can you act out” tie-breaker, to the hilarity of the rest of the audience. Lee then bid fairwell with his usual patter of “you’ve all been a bunch of legends” to a highly receptive audience who would have gladly watched another hour or two of the illegitimate son of Enfield and Wisdom.

There’s loads more comedy out there in the county, regular performances at the likes of Mode, Huntington Hall and beyond, so start scouring those listings!!!

Official Receivers at The Artrix 06/09

I was looking forward to a night of soulful music from one of the premier bands in the country, who not only play the part, but look the business as well. Not so fast, first we have to give consideration to an excellent support band, whom I would not have minded seeing in their own right. Not soul this time, but plenty of rock and blues, coming from Slowburner.

They have a 27 year pedigree, and have supported some influential blues and rock bands over that time. Slowburner is fronted by the charismatic vocalist Paul Bridgewater, Mike Bannister, looking serious on a mean guitar, Rob Newell, thumping out those base notes and just for the night, a drumfest performance from Dave Small stand in Denny Connolly. It must be said, Paul has an outstanding voice, purpose built for this style of electric blues, and certainly looks the part, bringing to mind Paul Rogers and Free. From ‘King Bee’ to ‘Bullfrog Blues’, via JJ Cale, Free, and Muddy Waters, this band play a smorgasbord of blues looking back across the last 50 years. That’s not to dismiss many of their own songs squeezed in to the roller-coaster rock show. Thoroughly enjoyable, those soul boys would have to work hard to better this.

Whilst not at capacity, there was a good crowd awaiting the Receivers, the cheer went up as they entered the arena. Slickly turned out and loaded with brass, the band strike up, front man Lenny enters,the open floor of the Artrix, tense with expectation, breaks into a writhing mass of born again teenagers, as ‘Soul Finger’, melds into ’25 Miles From Home’. Edwin Starr, Sam & Dave, Otis Redding and Booker T, are pitched at the auditorium. Whether your a Soul Man or not, you can’t help moving to these classics, helpless against the tide of songs washing over us, ‘How sweet It Is’, to be within the magnetic field of this dynamic, highly charged, band. They are a brass driven 8-piece, towering over the tuneful tubes is Chris on Tenor Sax, with Paul on trumpet, and a second Tenor, sitting squarely on Phil. Tucked behind are the building blocks of funk, Dave on bass, and Tony on drums. Only stalling for Lenny to mop his brow, the soul train rides on, ‘Geno’ almost enticed me to risk my well worn back, but I’m a pro, I had a job to do, sod it! ‘Mustang Sally’ caught me unawares, another week on Tramadol! Venturing up into the galleries, I found a similar picture, abandoned seats, floor space at a premium, you cannot sit still to this stuff. Rick gets carried away on a guitar solo, hinting at some serious rock demons, Simon throws in some nifty keyboard moves, Lenny needs an oxygen mask, time to Show A Bit of Tenderness. The evening is winding up, far too many wild eyed, middle-aged teenagers were about to be released into the Bromsgrove night, looking for more action. It had been a fabulous evening, intoxicating stuff, a superb Slowburner put light to the fuse, and the controlled explosion as the Official Receivers, drew us all in and released the force.

Do you like good music, yeah, yeah, oh yeah

Words & photos Graham Munn

Kent Duchaine at The Fleece, Bretfort0n 29/08

The 600 year old Inn near Evesham, hosted the young 80 year old Leadbessie, cradled in the arms of Kent Duchaine, who gave his tightly strung ward a damned good thrashing, (not to mention putting a bottle to Leadbessie’s neck too)

This was the start of the inaugural Beer & Blues Festival at the lovely old Fleece Inn, plenty of good ale, cider and blues over 3 days.

We were here to see Kent, a world renowned bluesman with his battered ‘Bessie’, a ’34 National Steel resonator. What I had not realised, was that he is also a raconteur who strings his songs together with tales of long lost friends, life on the road and broken relationships. All told with reverence, and maybe a rascally sparkle in the eye. Many have inspired the music he plays, blending anecdotes and southern blues into his show.

Many of you who glance through this, will already be familiar with his style, it was the first time I had caught up with him, so humour me! First, ‘Leadbessie’, is a bit of a legend, Kent has travelled with this scarred old warrior for over 37 years. ‘she’ is patched and taped, discoloured and barely recognisable, her proud National emblem, all but disappeared; but, given the acoustics of this old barn, she sounded OK. Kent plays her hard, and the battered body is all his own work.

The songs are tales of travel, eulogies to some of the greats he has met and performed with. Songs about Muddy Waters, Son House and Bukka White’s, ‘Aberdeen’. Robert Johnson’s ‘ Preachin Blues’, and tales spending time fishing and performing with Johnny Shines. Fishing and wives feature a lot in Kent’s stories of home, ‘The Storm’, tells all. A dedication to the late Johnny Winter, and on to a bit of Howling Wolf. It seems Kent Duchaine has met and often played alongside all the blues greats of his time, Willie Dixon helping him along, sharing reefer and champagne with Muddy on the way. Not sure who has the better voice, Kent or Leadbessie, I know which one looks more age weary, but that doesn’t seem to matter much as long as there’s plenty of gaffer tape around to bind the wounds. This is raw, passionate blues, rooted in the Mississippi Delta delivered to the UK by a master of the acoustic guitar. A wonderful version of that well trodden favourite, St. James Infirmary Blues had ended the first set. ‘Sweet Home Chicago’, opened the second, nods to Freddie King and John Lee Hooker, more home tales, a wry smile, Gershwin and ‘Summertime’. We are at the close for a bit of a sing along, a Brit anthem, ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’ sung with gusto by all, and quickly on, to marching saints. Its been a brilliant evening in this draughty old barn, the air warm from the press of bodies, here to see the legend that is Kent Duchaine.

We enjoyed it so much, were going back for a second session, only 48 hours later at another historic Inn, The Prince Of Wales at Ledbury, just what Sundays are for.

Words & Photos Graham Munn

Forty Blues Toes @ Prince Of Wales Ledbury 24/08

Did not know much about this band, apart from Tony and Stretch the base & drums, used to play with The Bluestribe. They were also performing in The Little Muggery at Upton Blues, where I grabbed a few quick frames by hanging through the window, I could not get through the door for the crowd. So it was time to see them, and it was at the Sunday eve session at The POW, which has become a favourite haunt.

The band were about ready as I arrived and Tony, (the joker in the pack) on cringingly good form. They do not appear to have their own material, but what they ‘cover’ they do very well, good solid blues classics, a bit of rock and a nod to Elvis and Chuck.

Sharing the space with Tony and Stretch, were Mal on guitar & vocals alongside Sean Griffin on guitar, and what a guitar, an unexpected pleasure. A good thumping bass as ‘Walking By Myself’ opened up, not long before some classic Cream, and teenage memories, with ‘Strange Brew’. Some great tones coming from Sean’s, Patrick Eggle, vintage guitar, T Bone’s ‘Stormy Monday’ led to a bit more Cream, can you have too much? and on to some ‘Beatles’, a superb version of ‘Come Together’, where those Liverpool boys really did get it together, and a chance for Sean to show off with Harrison’s, ‘while My Guitar Gently Weeps’, lovely, played with a true passion. The bullet mike and harp came out for some Canned heat before a bit of a curved ball at the close of the first set. Jean Genie, nothing wrong with that, we all joined in, this was becoming a very enjoyable gig.

A short break at the cask ale bar, and we were standing at the ‘Crossroads’, for another Cream decorated set. Mal was really getting into his stride on vocals, whilst trying to constrain the politically suspect drift of Tony’s one liners. Tony ‘accidentally’ kicking the ‘smoke’ release lever, the space quickly filling, with Stretch disappearing into the thick fog. More opportunity for Sean with ‘Hey Joe’, before finding their way through to an excellent ‘Bad To The Bone’ and a bit bit more harp, which morphed into ‘Stone Fox Chase’ (Old grey Whistle Test) and on into a gritty ‘Down At The Doctors’. Almost time to move on, but not before a serious look down the ‘Wishing Well’, to find a bit of rock and roll with Elvis and Chuck giving way to the final encore of Steppenwolf’s ‘Born To Be Wild’, a brilliant finish to what had been a fabulous afternoons entertainment. Forty Blues Toes may not be high flyers on the circuit, but seek them out, your guaranteed an unforgettable ride. Share the wonderful collection of songs we cannot be without, played with skill, empathy, and a dose of humour. You may even find me hanging through that window next year in Upton.

Starting a with a song I found way back in my teens listening to Cream, Crossroads, good solid stuff, and then Sean took over for his piece, superb, and so it went on, throughout the late afternoon and into the evening. That is not to demean the other band members, it takes a full band to squeeze out the best from any song. Bit more of Cream with ‘Sunshine Of My Love’, and not long before that lovely Patrick Eggle Berlin Pro cried again in ‘Hey Joe’, a distinct sound.

Words And Photos Graham Munn