Not so much a gig, this, more an event! The Royal Albert Hall, an utterly majestic setting, and entirely appropriate for a similarly majestic performance from The Cowboy Junkies, as it turned out!
I took the train on my own and got to this palatial venue in time for Steve Forbert's solo set of acoustic C&W which went down fairly well, but I could take or leave really. I spent my time people spotting as I was similarly flying solo for this one; the Cowboy Junkies crowd is a broad church, attracting all sorts from fresh faced indie kids to pensioners in their best suits. All human life was here, it seemed, and packed into this hushed auditorium, ready to receive Margo Timmins and the boys.
They took the stage at 9, and proceeded to draw us all in with their hypnotic, hushed and frankly downright beautiful set of C&W, blues, rock and balladry. "Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning" I found was dedicated to me by an understanding Margo (well, not me per se, but to everyone who's dealing with a recent break-up, like I was at this point), and I felt the hairs on my neck stand on end. The set, mainly based on the current LP, the wonderful "Black Eyed Man", highlighted the excellent musicianship of this band, but more so Margo's angelic voice, as big as The Albert Hall, yet intimate and personal at the same time.
"A night we'll never forget," according to Margo, stretched to 1 3/4 hours of set plus encores, and culminated in an extraordinary reading of the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane". Simply brilliant stuff from an extraordinary band.
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