Rachel told me she’s having a contest over the
course of this year; will I take her out more times than I go and see Gaz
Brookfield? This being the third time I’ve seen The West Country’s finest
potty-mouthed, have-guitar-will-travel, punk rock attitude acoustic troubadour
in the year of 2013, this draws Gaz level with nights out with Rach; but as I’m
taking her along tonight to see Gaz, does this count as No. 4 with her? As
Captain Redbeard Rum once said, “opinion is divided, m’lud!”
Well, enough babble. Rach’s mum babysat and we
headed off up the hill, hitting the obscenely deserted venue about 8.15.
Dammit, Swindon, it’s Thursday night and early in the month; get out and
support one of your own! Particularly when he’s as profusely talented as Mr.
Brookfield is! Ran into Gaz in the bar early doors for a quick chat on this
issue, to which he magnanimously remarked, “it’s quality that counts, not
quantity!” Damn right, we’re here, after all!
Took a wander down to the back room venue to see
opener Benji Clement. Accompanied by a low-key band this time, with bass and
percussion to flesh out his sparse, bluesy-jazz sound, he again highlighted an
eclectic selection of covers (a melange of “Moondance” and “Summertime”, some
Hendrix, a challenging Al Green number and some Jungle Book!), an impressively
smooth, occasionally scat-rap-improv vocal style and a positive attitude despite
the tiny crowd. Nice work, young man. Back to the bar for a sit-down, but only
briefly, as the between-act turnaround was impressively swift, allaying a tired
Rachel’s concerns that this would be a late one. So Joshua Caole, a more
unkempt, bearded young chap with the looks of an “LA Woman”-era Jim Morrison, a
very American-sounding voice somewhere between Hobotalk and a nasal Michael
Stipe, and an engagingly vacant line in between-song patter, entertained with
some more Americana-tinged acoustic tomfoolery. I liked the idea of a murder
suicide ballad set in the Forest Of Dean, and his stories of living in his car
and needing to borrow cables from his mother-in-law (!) for this gig brought
chuckles from the finally-growing crowd.
Again, the turnaround was quick, so Gaz took the
stage a shade after 10, accompanied by his violinist partner-in-crime Ben Wain.
This being only the second gig back for Gaz after a nasty bout of laryngitis
which sidelined him awhile, he was allegedly taking it easy, but this certainly
didn’t show with as committed and energetic a performance as ever, lapped up by
this small but equally tuned-in and very knowledgeable hometown crowd.
“Limelight”, second number in, was dismissed as, “a lie,” by Gaz, “as I’m on
last, and also because this next number is about going on the road with my
favourite band,” introducing the increasingly familiar Men They Couldn’t
Hang-like travelogue of “Land Pirate’s Life”. The loud “arrrr”s at the end of
“SN1” were met with an, “every time!” from an impressed Gaz, and I appreciated
the way he tuned a lovely “Glass Half Empty” right back to a hushed whisper, to
expose – and shut up! – a couple of noisy punters. Style.
“Towns”, a newie relating Gaz’ origins, revealed
much of the man lyrically, with a passionate performance and the announcement
that this might be the next album’s title track, underlining how important his
heritage is to him. Live faves “Diet Of Banality” (which saw a breakdancing
session from a punter, Gaz remarking, “that’s not going to be the dance
routine!”) a rousing singalong “Under The Table” and an always brilliant “Be
The Bigger Man” were a marvellous one-two-three punch, before another rousing
singalong “West Country Song” rounded off another splendid evening. Taking it
easy? Easing his way back? No way, tonight’s performance was as passionate,
committed and thoroughly entertaining as ever, Gaz seamlessly returning to the
stage like a true performer born.
And, given how much Rach enjoyed the gig as well,
I’m counting this as 2013 night out No. 4 with her!
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