InteriorMonologue: A few hours before the gig I’m lying on the bed with a splitting headache, feeling like I’ve been smashed over the skull with an oversized courgette. I feel sick. This isn’t good. I’m not being beaten by this though, fresh air will do me good. Failing that, beer will do me good. As it turns out, Blitzen Trapper do me good. We’ll start at the beginning though…
After some wonderful DJing and only a dozen or so technical hitches in the booth, we emerge to watch The Ash & The Oak. Last time I saw these there were only 2 of them in the band. They now number five including long time Lone Pine bassist Dan. The songs now sound fuller and that West Coast sound benefits enormously from the added oomph. Last song (Until Quad on the setlist) rocks like a bastard and is proof that this isn’t a band standing still. Expect them to be higher up bills in the near future.
Vivers: Watching The Ash And The Oak tonight is a little like being in the mind of a partially reformed homophobe: you’re coming round to their charms, even occasionally enjoying their company, but you know there’s something a little distasteful in the background. They have improved about a thousand percent since the last time I saw them: what once were dreary strumathons are now intricate, pretty, nicely rendered trips down autumnal tropes. Athons. It all could do with leaning a touch more on the harmonies, and relying less on the singer’s slightly whiny tones, but The Ash And The Oak’s set of country folkiness tickles my ears at least 80% of the time tonight. Well done The Ash And The Oak! (P.S. I’m not homophobic)
InteriorMonologue: Martin Carr has swelled the numbers in his band too. Tonight it includes members of Strange News From Another Star, Right Hand Left Hand, The Hot Puppies and Spencer McGarry Season. The girls are looking more beautiful that usual, being framed by a man with no hair, one with loads of hair and one with a very hairy face, Bernie looks relatively normal hiding at the back on drums. The last time I saw Martin Carr he was playing guitar in the Boo Radleys in Portsmouth Pyramids and I’d just watched (most of) The Supernaturals and 18 Wheeler. It’s been a while. To be honest I was a big Boo Radleys fan so Carr could’ve taken to the stage and pissed on a swan and I’d’ve given him a good review, luckily he didn’t need to (ever tried to catch one?) as his songwriting is as strong as ever and the tracks from the new album stand up well to anything he’s ever produced.
Vivers: Martin Carr has big pyramid of hair on his head. Funny how he was never allowed to sing in the Boo Radleys days: Carr’s voice is clear and sweet, if a little undistinguished. It operates in a total good vibes zone tonight, again brushing aside past blandness, Carr winning me round with his sunny, gentle, pleasant music, making me write the phrase “gentle, pleasant music” without puking hailstones. What’s going on?
InteriorMonologue: I love Blitzen Trapper. They make me smile. The have harmonies, 3 members playing keyboards, a guitarist that looks like he’s fighting his own guitar to the death and cool t-shirts. They play country tinged indie rock and they have the good grace to play it differently from the album. The guy stood next to me (not Vivers) was cheering every song and singing every word. Honestly, the made everyone happy like a big hippy rainbow. Or something. Wolfy Kraut (gotta love our silly names) thought they sounded like Maroon 5 so I hit her with my newly purchased rolled up t-shirt. And to think we’re letting her write for us. Bloody youngsters.
Vivers: Okay, now I know all these good vibes have fuzzed my brain: I’m getting into a band that sound like Lynyrd Skynyrd. This could be down to drinking way too quickly due to DJ-related nerves, or the fact that Blitzen Trapper don’t start off sounding like fucking Lynyrd Skynyrd, but either way, I wake up feeling bad in the morning. This Portland, Oregon band are cut from a particularly hairy country blues cloth, their songs oozing age and manliness, as well as a lilting tunefulness. Goodness. Decency. Alright, I’ll be honest with you, I’m writing this a few days after the event. I don’t remember much. Sorry. Don’t ever let us DJ again. Sorry.
