Live Review
Jon Gomm – The Telegraph, Moulton
I went along to The Telegraph in Moulton, just outside of Northampton, on Monday 23 February, mainly to see Rachel Furner for the first time after hearing her tracks on her MySpace profile, and ended up enjoying a musical cornucopia of delights.
I got there a little late, thanks to work, so the first set I got in full was from Shades Of Blue. This is a new direction for Louis Hanshaw, and the band is just in the process of getting set up properly, as a 3-piece, featuring Louis on guitar, together with drums and bass. Not surprisingly, going by their name, they specialise in the blues, but in its widest form. Their first track is The Race, a guitar driven instrumental blues rocker – very much got a Led Zep feel, though not as heavy, and reminded me of the instrumental passages in Moby Dick. There are some nice changes of tempo, very clever drumming, and a jazz feel towards the end. Then there is deep, mellow blues to start off Trapped In Love, plaintive vocals, a very soulful guitar solo which reminded me of Gary Moore, and they go straight into a more jaunty ending to the track, very jazzy, a great beat coming through from the bass as the drums fly out. Their final track is Take A Taxi, an upbeat start really racing along. It’s a lighter number, still with that wonderful blues feel, and some really lovely guitar sounds. This sounds like a promising band to look out for.
Next up are Maia, from Huddersfield, who are another band who are relatively new to the circuit. I say Huddersfield, but they have all met while studying music at Huddersfield Uni, so they could really come from anywhere – their sound certainly does not sound like it comes from Huddersfield ! So what do they sound like ? A breath of fresh air. At this performance we have Tom on vocals, guitar and ukulele, Simon on banjo, mandolin and backing vocals, Joe on trumpet, and Will on various wierd and wacky percussion including a beat box, bongos, a banana shaker and one other particular percussion instrument, more of which later. So now you have an idea of the capabilities of their sound, so let’s see if I can describe it. They open with Sidelines, an upbeat number with the guitar starting us off and the beat box backing, mandolin and trumpet over the top, plaintive but subdued vocals, the trumpet swirling round with an air of whistful melancholy. Their is a folk feel, something indie, a definite Mexican feel with the trumpet.
Dead Centre sees a switch to ukulele, banjo and bongos, and is a light, breezy track, the trumpet having more of a summery feel this time, the song floating away, the bongos giving it a good feel, and the vocals are still understated, before we reach a sudden, sharp ending. Windowsill Smoke begins with the banjo, high, wistful vocals, brushes on cymbals, the trumpet really giving a Mexican feel, and a big guitar part leading us into a contemplative finish. Samba is their newest song, featuring guitar and mandolin, another breezy opening, plucking on the guitar, sharp swirls from the trumpet, it’s edgy, leaving you off-balance, the feeling of being in a deserted town with the wind gusting through, then faster guitar cuts in, a feeling of hope, of light, though the trumpet still sounds out despair, and the mandolin sounds like morse code crackling over the airwaves before reaching out into a brighter soundscape. It’s an epic sound.
Springtime lives up to its name – after an opening featuring that other instrument of percussion, which produces a metallic sound reminsicent of the opening of the musical box at the beginning of Trumpton, we are into a lovely melody which takes you off to thoughts of a lazy day on the river in the Spring, the light, airy feel drifts along with the ukulele and banjo and the soft vocals, before the bongos slightly lift the tempo and trumpet sounds float over the top, and there is a wonderful mandolin part to finish.
They end their set with Fossil Minds, featuring guitar and banjo to begin with, and its an upbeat start on the guitar before the trumpet cuts in, causing an unsettled feeling, the song is racing, then the mandolin comes in, adding a lighter edge, then its back to the banjo, but the trumpet sound is still unsettling, everything is whirling about, there is flamenco clapping percussion and it closes out on a very powerful dramatic feeling. You can see them next at St Paul’s Hall in Huddersfield on 4 March, and I would recommend that you do.
Rachel Furner is already signed to Mercury/Universal and is currently writing tracks for her debut album, and it is easy to see and hear why this is the case. She is the complete package, with a wonderful voice, very strong material, and the looks which put her alongside the likes of Katie Melua. She now has a band around her, with Bo Morgan on drums and Orlando Sheppard on bass, while she plays the piano for this live performance – both Bo and Orlando are very accomplished and provide Rachel with excellent backing. She opens with Sticks And Stones, which has her low in her vocal range, and this is where I think the sound best suits her. It’s a lively number, has a staccato feel to it, the melody coming more from her lovely voice than the piano, and there is emotion in her voice as her passion builds, but she holds it in control. Breathe In sees a slower start into a ballad, a sense of despair in her voice, occasional higher flourishes, a lovely melody to the track. She goes solo for Unravel, with ‘just’ her voice and the piano, and the structure of the song most definitely has a Kate Bush feel to it, although it would be wrong to suggest that is the sound she is aiming for with her voice – as I have said, I believe her voice is at its strongest in the lower end of her range, which gives a particular warmth and depth to it.
Heads Held High has another staccato opening, its an uptempo number which races along, and sees Rachel moving higher with her voice, to some effect. Toss And Turn also sees Orlando on backing vocals, a particular warmth to Rachel’s voice, a pulsing beat, something of a dramatic sound as she really pushes for that last ounce of emotion. She closes with the already very popular Toy Soldiers, a great song to close the set with its jaunty feel and bright melody – the sound itself reminds me at times of Mike Post or Supertramp – and its got a catchy hook, a really good chorus, and it goes down very well with this audience. I suspect Rachel Furner is going to be one to look out for very soon, and in a very big way. You have an opportunity to catch her live at The Stables in Milton Keynes on 28 March.
The headline act tonight is Jon Gomm, not a performing chimp. He goes under the tagline ‘Don’t let Jon Gomm play your guitar’ and after you have had the pleasure of witnessing his performance you can see why. He makes every sound in his set, using his voice, his acoustic guitar, his fingers and a series of effect pedals. It is something to behold – this is by no means only an aural treat, it is as much a visual performance and needs to be taken in that way to be fully appreciated. So I will write some words about it, but I cannot do it justice and you DO need to go and see him live to get the full effect of his act. “I’m from the North” and he opens with Temporary, ripples on the guitar, his fingers moving over all parts of the strings and changing the tuning as he goes as part of the song, little explosions of sound from the strings and the body of the guitar, there is a gentle sound to the number, but it is also unnerving at times, his voice has despair all the way through it – and then he tells us that the next track is “a little bit different, a little bit strange” and “by the way, the second verse is in Urdu, so sing along” (and it actually was, but we didn’t).
Waterfall has a rapid start, playing with the strings and the guitar as if he were playing a bongo, creating a wonderful sound, a feel of India, there is a great melody, lots of rhythm, interesting sounds created by the echo effect, and he really does ‘play’ the whole of the guitar. It comes as no surprise afterwards to find out just how far his formal training has taken him, with classical, flamenco, blues and rock training, and he uses every bit of his knowledge in his performance.
Gloria is a country waltz about forbidden love in Blackpool – she was a chav, he was an emo. it has an off-balance sound to start with, the melody builds, his voice is pleading, longing, angry, and everything else he is doing builds around this. Then he feels the need to do an instrumental to give his voice a rest, and we have Stupid Blues, the first track of the evening from his cd. It does exactly what it says on the tin and is a brilliant rendition of a blues sound, in his own style, including wandering out into the audience as he plays. Being an instrumental, it actually comes across as being even more of a visual feast. He is “going to do a really scary one now”, again from his cd, and Hey Child opens with a blues solo…but only to warm up his fingers.
He begins properly with lots of echo effects from the body of his guitar, then brings in a melody and it sounds like a mellow John Wesley (the guitarist who guests with Porcupine Tree, not the churchman) if he was writing through his worst nightmare – and then we get the most wonderful electric guitar solo. Yes, an electric guitar solo. From his acoustic guitar (her name is Wilma, by the way, and she does have her own MySpace site, but he did not set it up, and even he finds that a bit creepy). Rescue Song was written as a Valentine’s present because he found that writing songs was a cheap way of giving presents, and while the song itself is breezy and has a rippling melody with whistful vocals, the trouble is you cannot be sure if he was being serious with the song, or if you have just been taken in by a marvellous pastiche. “Have I played a cover version yet ? Have I played anything you recognise ?” and he says he is going to play something from “my favourite album when I was 5 – so I hope you like Wham”…thank goodness we get Paul Simon’s Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes instead ! Now, remember that song was from his album Graceland, and think back to one of the many reasons why that album received such prominence at the time, and now try to imagine how Jon Gomm manages to recreate all those African rhythms by himself up on stage with his acoustic guitar. It’s a stunning performance. And not one to rest on his laurels, he then takes on Radiohead’s High & Dry (which he has had to pay royalties on, to have it on his album…still, he got his own back by downloading their last album and then not listening to it). It’s very mellow and again very well performed. He has reached the end of his set, “thanks for coming. Thanks for staying.”
The final track is The Weather Machine and is dedicated to George Bush, because it will always be his song, even if he is now out of office. It’s a spaghetti western opening into some uptempo strumming, more rock than anything else, but with that country feel, the western edge, and a sound which is very much Spanish guitar as it progresses and builds to a powerful ending. This was very much an experience, more than simply a musical gig, very enjoyable and almost certainly a unique performance every time you see Jon Gomm. He appears to tour almost constantly, and you can experience him at the Banbury Blues Festival on 7 March.