Love, Poetry and Revolution - Wednesday 18th December 2024

This post is going to be dominated by music.  I have yet to post it on Substack or my music-only blog, for reasons that may become apparent. 

I've been to the last concert I'll be attending this year, though I have at least two to look forward to next year - one with Q and one without.

My three standout gigs were, The High Llamas, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds and Michael Head and the Red Elastic Band.

Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets were excellent too, but I mark them down a little because Nick's the only original member of the band the songs were first recorded by.  This is probably a bit snooty of me, given the gig was so good and they have almost made those songs their own.  I just can't help thinking of Syd, who they were also honouring.

I'm going to see The High Llamas in 2025, so I'll save my thoughts until I've see them again.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. What an amazing performance.  One of the top five gigs I've ever attended and Nick is an incredibly charismatic frontman.  The set covered a wide range tracks from their albums including the obligatory, but equally visceral and consuming, 'From Her To Eternity', 'Tupelo', as well as 'Red Right Hand', which has to be played in Birmingham, where I saw them. 'From Her To Eternity' is wonderful live still, even though it's more a young Nick song than an old Nick song (or should that be the other way around!)

On balance, I still prefer the earlier Bad Seeds material, but hearing the songs from the latest album, Wild God, performed live made me realise just how good the album is.  I have returned to 'Wild God' again and again with renewed appreciation.  Several of the songs on 'Wild God' have buried themselves in my psyche because they tap into aspects of my own situation and how I feel about it.


As I looked over the setlist, there were so many great songs and a moving final encore that I really appreciated how great a gig this was.

Frogs
Wild God
Song of the Lake
O Children
Jubilee Street
From Her to Eternity
Long Dark Night
Cinnamon Horses
Tupelo
Conversion
Bright Horses
Joy
I Need You  (Nick solo on piano)
Carnage (Nick Cave & Warren Ellis cover)
Final Rescue Attempt
Red Right Hand (Dedicated to Birmingham "This is your song")
The Mercy Seat
White Elephant (Nick Cave & Warren Ellis cover)

Encore:
Papa Won't Leave You, Henry
The Weeping Song
Into My Arms (Nick solo on piano)

Here's the full setlist on Tidal:



Most recently Q and I went to see Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band at the Philharmonic in Liverpool.  Michael is a bit of an unknown local hero in Liverpool and I was really pleased to see the gig was sold out.  I got chatting to a bloke who'd flown in from Ottawa with his brother just to be at this gig.  Neither of them had seen Michael live (nor had I) but said they reckoned the best place to see him would be in Liverpool. They sure were right. 


[The photo above also feature Will Sergeant of Echo and The Bunnymen fame on guitar to Mick's right]

The crowd were totally up for it and showed their appreciation very loudly as Michael and a huge band went through two and a half hours of songs (with a brief interlude) covering songs he'd written whilst a member of The Pale Fountains, Shack, The Strands and under his own name with The Red Elastic Band.

The full setlist goes like this:

(There's Always) Something on my Mind (The Pale Fountains cover)
Bicycle Thieves (The Pale Fountains cover)
Reach (The Pale Fountains cover)
Jean's Not Happening (The Pale Fountains cover)
I Know You Well (Shack cover)
Dragonfly (Shack cover)
Sgt. Major (Shack cover)
Mr. Appointment (Shack cover)
Daniella (Shack cover)
Girl with the Long Brown Hair (Shack cover)
The Prize (Michael Head & The Strands cover)
Somethin' Like You (Michael Head & The Strands cover)
Streets of Kenny (Shack cover) (Featuring Will Sergeant)
Byrds Turn to Stone (Shack cover)
Kismet
Gino and Rico
Broken Beauty
Tout Suite!
Shirl's Ghost
Connemara
Merry-Go-Round
A Ricochet Moment
Ciao Ciao Bambino
Newby Street
Fluke
The Human Race
Soldier Man (Shack cover)
Meant to Be (Shack cover)
Comedy (Shack cover)
Coda

It looks and sounds like this on Tidal:



As we left the gig and returned to the car, there were blokes in the street singing one of the melodies from 'Meant to Be'.  Crazy. Reminded me of being at university. Another incredible gig and well-deserved adulation for Mick.

Another gig that will stay with me.

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