The
last one of a late-starting 22-gig 2021 – considering my first wasn’t until 28th
July, thanks to this bloody Covid shitstorm, I’ve got to be happy with that –
and fittingly, and for the 27th time of asking, it’s “live” folk/
punk raconteur favourite Gaz Brookfield, this time accompanied by his Company,
for his annual Christmas bash! It’s back at The Fleece this time, but also
against the troubling backdrop of increasing cases of a new Covid variant
seemingly impervious to 2 vaccine doses, although less efficacious against a
booster. I’m boosted, me, so me and Logan were happy to go along, although
Matt, Ady and Rich all dipped out at the last minute due to concerns about any
subsequent quarantine period disrupting Chrimbo plans.
Anyhoo,
Logan and I tiptoed down a foggy M4, finding a parking spot a stones throw from
the Fleece entrance but enduring a bit of a phone parking payment-mare (since
when does “C” sound like “A” when I say it?), before hitting a quiet early
doors venue at ¼ to 8 and easily slotting into Logan’s preferred viewing space
– front and centre! My first time back at this much-visited venue since
lockdown, and weirdly, it appears they’ve installed what looks like urinal
troughs on the front of the stage! Didn’t have much time to ponder this before
the Acrustic Badger Band, an acoustic guitar/ violin/ ukulele trio, joined us
at 8, the vocalist immediately breaking a string which required extensive
post-song rework, the ukulele player deftly filling in with an impromptu singalong
cover of old Labi Siffre staple “It Must Be Love”! Their usual oeuvre
consisted of fiddly diddly numbers which all sounded like a cross between The
Wonder Stuff’s “Golden Green” and The Wurzels’ “Combine Harvester”! Couple that
with the vocalists very pronounced (affected?) West Country accent and
their subject matter – lots of songs about badgers! – meant that I didn’t see
them as anything more than a bad novelty act. But they got the crowd singing
along, so what the fuck do I know, eh?
Main
support Jess Silk, on at 8.45, was much more palatable. An earnest, left-wing
Grace Petrie-alike (another pretty obvious comparison, but, hey, clip-clop =
horse, and all that…), albeit darker and more serious, and actually with a
touch of the doleful yearnings of Mr. Carraba, she kicked off with a couple of
confrontational political anthems delivered in a distinctive, almost rasping
voice, then changed tack considerably with a well-received cover of The Pogues’
“Fairytale Of New York”! A haunting “If We’re Damned” (her attempt to write a
hopeful song of defiance after the dreadful December 2019 election result) and
a more plaintive road song, “Home Is Where The Heart Is”, rounded off a short
but impressive set tinged with some melancholy, as she put it, “it feels like
this is the last time for awhile that we’ll do this…”
That
being so, we were looking for Gaz to send us into an uncertain Yuletide and
potential post-Christmas/ New Year lockdown in good cheer, and he and his merry
men duly delivered. From the opener “March Of Progress” (with its telling hook,
“what is going on!?”), through an early “Logan-double” of “Gunner Haines” and a
rocking “Diabetes Blues” (which got us both unmasked and singing along down the
front), Gaz was in determined mood, giving it his all and (also a little out of
practice with this “live” malarkey at the moment) clearly putting great effort into
his performance. Newie “Pantomime” was a breathless rocker, “World Spins Round”
featured some excellent fiddle breaks courtesy of Ben Wain, and a later
“Lostfolk” (preceded by Gaz commenting, “two years on [from this album] and we
still feel pretty lost!”) was my set highlight, a brilliantly ragged anthemic
call-to-arms. Not note- or word-perfect by any means (Gaz messing up his words
in a couple of different numbers), but nobody cared, the audience (probably ¾
full tonight, with my mates not the only Covid-cautious absentees tonight) just
wanted to sing along to Gaz’ easy folk/ punk hooks and choruses, and have a
great time, make the most of it before the next inevitable lockdown…
After
a raucous singalong to “West Country Song” and “Let The East Winds Blow”, Gaz
remarked, “it’s a difficult time to be a musician or music fan [so] it means
the fucking world to us that you came along tonight!”, before one final
roof-raising “Thin”, Gaz taking a bow and handing Logan his set-list at it’s
conclusion. Quick farewells to Gaz and his uke player Nick Parker, before a 20
minute circuitous nightmare just trying to get out of the road closure-affected
city centre without traversing a bus-lane (I had to, in the end!), then home
for midnight in increasing fog. So that’s 2021 done and dusted for gigs, then,
but a great send-off provided by Gaz and his boys!
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