The
first of a planned two-in-two weeks availing myself of the oft-eclectic choice
of The Tuppenny’s “Thursday Night Music Club”, this, in the company of
Bristol-domiciled expat Scotsman Lonely Tourist! Our claymores had first
crossed in 2014, with a couple of entertaining support slots to the ubiquitous
Gaz Brookfield (gigs 904 and 925), the erstwhile Mr. Paul Tierney delivering a
slight flip on the folky punky singer songwriter template, with some wry
melodic indie-tinged acoustica, relaxed urbane banter, and slightly offbeat
lyrical subject matter (flies and namesake footballers coming to mind). To my
shame, our paths had not crossed for nearly a decade, Lonely Tourist in the
process changing from a “he” to a “they”; no, not a declaration of non-binary
status, but an addition of fellow Bristolian
songsmith Chris Webb to the line-up as a luxury wingman. Time to catch up on
the LT two-piece up the Tupp then!
Drove up the hill with Logan and parked up behind the Hop, greeting the likes of Gaz, Ben Sydes and of course our performers for this evening. Grabbed a drink and a watching brief to the side of the stage, house left as Chris Webb kicked off a solo support spot, introducing himself as, “half of Lonely Tourist!” “Singing To The Sea” was a pacey little opener with an undulating, almost flamenco feel, underpinned by Chris’ usual understated, relaxed delivery juxtaposed with some furiously fast and intricate, almost virtuoso guitar plucking. “The Heat Is On” (no, not that one…!) featured a pacey stream of consciousness vocal delivery – a lot of words to pack in for this one, but I’m fine with that! – and Chris then regaled us with a story about his temporary ill-fitting tooth (!) before his next, jolly number was interrupted firstly by the man forgetting the words, then by a passing ambulance! Nonetheless, composure was maintained, and a fine little vignette was concluded by “Hallowed Floor”, a moodier number with an almost Doors Whisky a Go Go vibe. Nice start!
Had a drink and a chat with old mate Andy Lobb before the Lonely Tourist 2-piece took the stage, Webb backing up main man Mr. Tierney. Opener “Shoulder” was a taut, pacey strumalong with a somewhat windswept Celtic feel, before Paul advised us, “the last time I was in Swindon I was thrown out of The Glue Pot!” The subsequent “Tom And The Library” featured a fun lyric about pop star auto/ biographies, including a diss for Morrissey’s rather bitter and chewy tome; “Four Phone Calls” had a distinct Teenage Fanclub/ Byrds-ian mellow and Summery melodic vibe, with some splendid 2 part harmonies from the boys; and a well observed cover of Aztec Camera’s 80’s sparkly chart botherer “Somewhere In My Heart” nevertheless had me singing along to the smooth pop hook. I also really enjoyed the (possibly unintentionally) funny “Dead Man’s Stapler”, the Tuppenny collective joining in on the hook and prompting Paul to remark, “this pub likes a grim singalong!”
Newie “Very Bones” was another mellow
Teenage Fanclub hazy singalong, Paul then declaiming, “people keep asking for
Proclaimers and Travis; I’m being racially profiled!” Oops, hope that’s not
what I’m doing by comparing some of LT’s lazy Summery melodies to Bellshill’s
finest! Hey ho… “Watch Out For The Sharks” was a workaday story of gigging folk
(Lonely Tourist’s answer to Raze*Rebuild’s “Face For Radio” maybe), then an
entertaining, relaxed near-hour was brought to a close with the inevitable
“Ballad Of Paul Tierney”, a workaday story of lower division footballing folk
(!).
Ed twisted the boys’ arms for an encore, a faithful rendition of The Dubliners’ “The Leaving Of Liverpool” the folkiest thing on the menu tonight, and I then enjoyed a brief chat with Paul, lamenting my lack of familiarity with tonight’s nonetheless entertaining material due to the 10 year gig gap, but picking up a couple of CDs from him to hopefully make up for it. Farewells with all and sundry before Logan and I hit the road for a quick trundle down the hill and home. Good night out, this, so I’m determined not to leave it another 10 years before catching Lonely Tourist again!
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