The Long Road Back to Live Music..

The recent positive news that two different Coronavirus vaccines have been approved for use in the UK has made many wonder if we have finally turned a corner with the virus that has blighted our lives for much of the last 12 months.

With a handful of exceptions, live music has pretty much been at a standstill since the middle of March. 

My own introduction to country music came back in the early part of 2017. Kevin, a friend and former work colleague, recommended that I listen to a live broadcast that was happening on BBC Radio 2. It was a pop-up station at a country music festival called "Country to Country" and the show was being broadcast live from the O2 Arena in London. I had never given country music all that much thought but Kevin has never steered me badly when it comes to music suggestions so, "What the heck" I thought, and switched on the show.

I was immediately greeted by the sound of a band performing an excellent cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody" - the most well known song of my favourite band Queen. After listening to the remainder of the broadcast, I found out that it was a group called Zac Brown Band. The singer had a decent voice and the band sounded excellent. Their own songs sounded great also and were more than enough to kick off my interest in country music.

Zac Brown Band - Bohemian Rhapsody - C2C London 2017

Following on from this, I became a regular listener of the Country Show with Bob Harris which broadcasts on a Thursday evening. My interest in country music grew exponentially and I have Bob to thank for introducing me to so many great artists. 

Fast forwards a few months and I found out that a friend of a friend was also a country music fan and we were introduced at a gathering we were both attending. We spent some time together reeling off the names of artists we liked and it turned out we had quite a few favourites in common. One thing led to another, and we ended up booking tickets to attend the 2018 Country to Country event in London. 

I enjoyed both the 2018 and 2019 Country to Country festivals, the latter containing my favourite live performance to date - Chris Stapleton's headline set on the Sunday evening. There was so much to see - live music for over 12 hours a day, every day - I went home at the end of the weekend happy but utterly exhausted.

Chris Stapleton - C2C London 2019

Country to Country started back in 2013 and on the back of its growing popularity in the UK, other country music festivals have sprung up in various guises all over the country. There is clearly a strong market for it now and these extra events afford a greater number of fans the chance to see some live country music by artists from all around the world.

One such event came to my attention in the Spring of 2019. The Long Road is a relatively new festival and takes place in the grounds of Stanford Hall in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. Geography being something of an interest of mine, without checking I knew roughly that this festival was less than an hour away from home. This provides an immediate advantage over C2C, which involves a three or four hour trek and all the logistical difficulties that a trip to London entails.

I didn't know much about The Long Road festival but it sounded promising enough so decided to buy a ticket for the Saturday just to see what it was like. The parking arrangements were straightforward and after a small amount of queuing I was admitted into the grounds. I attended with a friend, another country music fan and fellow first time visitor to the festival.

The Long Road is predominantly an outdoor festival and this is one of the main reasons that I enjoy it. It feels to me much more what I imagine a country music festival in America to be like. Obviously the festival being held in early September, as opposed to C2C which takes place in March, gives the event a much higher chance of being availed of decent weather. I could imagine that if the weather was rainy, the grounds could quickly be transformed into a Glastonbury-esque mud bath. If the forecast was poor, wellies should definitely be packed!

Fortunately the weather was favourable on the day I attended. Pleasantly warm, sunny spells in the afternoon although at that time of year the temperature can drop quickly in the evening. A choice of thin layers would be my recommendation. But anyway, enough talk about weather.

The festival is made up of several different stages. The main (Rhinestone) and smaller Front Porch stages are outside and completely open to the elements. The Interstate stage is a spacious covered tent area with a bar at one side which is always quite busy. The small, intimate Honky Tonk is a smaller indoor stage with very limited capacity. This stage is especially good for artists who are particularly good in a more up-close setting. The downside to this stage having a limited amount of space is that it tends to get busy early in the day and stays that way. If you're lucky enough to get a good spot, it's not something that you're going to want to give up. Quite often the less fortunate end up having to watch from the doorway. Being over six feet tall does have it's advantages in this kind of situation, however I am always conscious of not blocking the view of others!

Aside from the excellent choice of live music, there are also several stalls and various establishments dedicated to keeping you fed and watered. There were also some classic American cars on display. I didn't look too closely but they looked interesting and I would definitely have a closer look if they were there at future festivals. All of these things add to the excellent atmosphere and authenticity of the festival. 

At this point in time, I think that it is fair to say that it is extremely doubtful that Country to Country 2021 will take place in March. It's a fast-changing situation but I feel like things are going to get much worse before the benefits of the vaccines are felt and restrictions can begin to be eased. I think with the Long Road being in September (and mostly outside) that it has a decent chance of taking place in some form.

The first part of the lineup was released a little while ago and it is fantastic.  It is especially good if, like me, you are a fan of female country artists. Brandy Clark, Sunny Sweeney, Gretchen Peters, one of my personal favourites Whitney Rose, Sarah Shook, Lilly Hiatt, Roseanne Reid. It's just tick, tick, tick of artists that I want to see live. Backed up by up and coming British talent like Jess Thristan and Morganway - it really is a line up to savour. In fact, one of my friends who saw the line up described it as, "The best country festival line up I've ever seen in the UK". To think that this is only the first part of the line up, it could get a whole lot better which is incredible to think about!

As the terrible year of 2020 draws to a close, I look towards 2021 with a flicker of tentative optimism. I don't think anyone knows what form live music next year will take. Many of us are desperate for its return but we have to balance this with the overall picture of what is going on in the world. 

At the time of writing this post, it has been 290 days and counting since I saw any live music. I'm sure that it could be quite a few more before I am in the presence of it again. When that day comes, it will be an emotional one - of that I am sure.

2020 - A Year Of New Experiences!

Before the end of March this year, I'd never heard of a software programme called Zoom. I had used Skype once or twice in the past, but when a friend suggested to me that we “have a video chat on Zoom”, I could only reply “What's Zoom?”. In the last six months, I would say that I have used Zoom at least a couple of times a week. Whether it's taking part in a virtual “pub quiz” with friends, staying in touch with family, or going to a Zoom concert courtesy of CES Virtual Shows, it's all been a very steep learning curve. Just one of several new experiences for me this year.

Since it started in January, I've been a regular listener to the “Voice of a Woman” radio show which is broadcast on a Sunday evening on Claremorris Community Radio in Ireland. Not being a resident of Ireland, I've been listening to the show online. Linda, who presents the show, does a fine job of promoting female singer songwriters, focusing on country, Americana and folk music. This ties in nicely with where most of my music listening lies nowadays and I've enjoyed chatting to Linda about music and female artists on many occasions.

I was delighted when Linda asked me a while ago if I would be interested in putting together my own episode of the show. Delighted and also at the same time a little daunted. I've never liked the way that my voice sounds in recordings. I believe that this is not uncommon but, even so, it was something of a concern. What I lack in skill in many things, I feel like I make up some ground for in my preparation.

I conducted some testing to decide how I would go about recording my voice for the spoken parts of the show. I tested my webcam microphone, built in laptop microphone and also simply recording speech using my mobile phone. I was somewhat surprised when the latter provided the best quality of recording.

My next conundrum was just how I would manage to select music for a show that only lasted an hour. There are so many great female artists worthy of recognition and so it felt like a herculean task to narrow it down. From a selfish point of view, obviously I wanted to choose my favourite artists and songs. However, I also had to consider the types of music that the listeners would want to hear. I tried to play a mix of newer music and also music from further back in time, well known artists but also one or two lesser known that I wanted to introduce to others. I feel that I more or less achieved this objective and I was very happy with the end result. I've posted a link to the Spotify playlist at the bottom of this post if you want to check it out!

Towards the end of the show, I made a general comment on how tough 2020 has been for many people. Obviously this includes the artists. The live music industry has been absolutely destroyed this year as a result of the pandemic, a lot of artists have had to seek other ways of making ends meet. Creative forms of merchandise have emerged and also there has been the growth of the live stream, where fans are encouraged to tip the artists. This part of the show was the most difficult part for me to record. As I was talking about it, I don't mind saying I felt emotional about it and it took about five attempts to record this part before I was happy with it. In the grand scheme of things, I know that being unable to see live music isn't all that important but it is one of my main social outlets and something that I've not been able to do now for eight and a half months.

“Voice of a Woman” is the only radio show I listen to now and it is so important that female artists are given as much support as possible. It's a controversial topic I know, but there is no doubt in my mind when I say that in my opinion female artists don't always get fair treatment compared to their male counterparts. I've read stories of radio DJs in America being fired because they played two songs by female artists back to back. This just seems to me to be ludicrous. Good music is all about the story, the songwriting, the voice and the musicianship. Good music is good music, regardless of gender, sexuality, creed or race.

Here is the link to the playlist: Voice of a Woman - 15.11.2020

Live Music - A Look Back..

I'm going to blame it on the pandemic. Missing live music happening is really starting to get to me and as a result I've started to reminisce about some of my favourite gigs over the years.

One that sticks firmly in my mind is the Whitney Rose gig I went to back in July 2019. At this point, it feels only right and proper to thank my friend Steve for introducing me to Whitney's music. I look forward to the day when we can be at a Whitney gig together. Hopefully, it will be at the Long Road 2021 (the first drink is on me!).

Whitney Rose is one of those rare artists where, with very little effort, I like everything she's recorded. I like the way she approaches songwriting. I like her voice - traditional-sounding country but with a contemporary twist. She's most definitely one of my favourite artists.

And so as soon as the 2019 UK tour was announced, I jumped at the chance to buy a ticket. The concert was at St Lawrence's Church in Biddulph, close to where I grew up, but now some fifty or so miles north of my current location. The gig was a Friday night and, after leaving work later than I intended, I endured a fraught rush hour journey north up the M6. A very quick McDonalds en route provided me with sufficient sustenance and I made it to the gig with about ten minutes to spare. Phew.

The concert kicked off with a support set from Demi Marriner and Robbie Cavanagh. I had seen Demi previously at a different gig in Birmingham but I had not seen her parter Robbie before. They each played a couple of songs individually and also came together to play as a duo as well. It was an excellent support set and, as is usually the case in a seated Church venue, the sound was superb. I thoroughly enjoyed their music and managed a brief chat to them in the interval and was happy to buy a couple of their CDs.

Robbie Cavanagh and Demi Marriner

After a short break, it was the moment I had been waiting for. Whitney Rose took to the stage. Without delay, she effortlessly and brilliantly performed several songs from her most recent (at the time) album, Rule 62. The zenith of the evening for me came with Whitney's version of the Lesley Gore song, "You Don't Own Me". This was delivered with power and passion and even ended with Whitney climbing into the church pulpit, which seemed a very brave thing to do! At the end of the song, I really wanted to give a standing ovation but I reneged on this thought. At a seated church concert with a mostly senior audience, it didn't seem appropriate but I regret not doing it to this day. It was a performance more than worthy of adulation.

The performance ended with much of the audience wanting more, which was duly supplied with an excellent encore. After the concert had finished, I was happy to join the sizable queue to chat to the lady herself. Whitney was just as charming as I expected and was happy to chat and sign a couple of things for me.

Meeting the lady herself after the gig - a sheer delight!

I wonder to myself why, more than twelve months on, am I posting this review now?As mentioned before, I am really missing live music at the moment. The memories of this gig are quite vivid, such was how much I enjoyed it and the impact that it had on me. Coming into the gig, I had very high expectations but they were more than met and plenty more. It was a wonderful evening.

My Music Listening - An Evolution!

In this blog post, I am going to look at how my music buying and consuming has changed over the years. It will be interesting for me to look back and hopefully it might be interesting for others too. I'm sure my music listening habits aren't all that different to a lot of you out there.

For me, it all began with messing about with some of my parent's records. I assume for obvious reasons that they only ever allowed me to play with the less valuable end of their collection. Although as a 6 or 7 year old, I'm pretty sure I spent just as much time arranging small plastic toys on the turntable and changing the speed in order that the toys flew off in random directions.

I graduated shortly after this to having a Sony Walkman and I would transfer some of my parents records to blank cassette tapes that I had bought from Woolworths using my pocket money. I would combine this with attempting to record songs off the Top 40 on a Sunday, normally stopping the recording about two seconds after the DJ had started talking over the end of the songs. I had many fun hours playing music on my trusty "ghetto blaster" - it still fully works and I've had it such a long time, the independent shop I bought it from closed years ago when the owner retired.

Panasonic ghetto blaster and Roberts radio - both still in perfect working order!

 

Soon after we got a dial up internet connection at home, I discovered a programme called 

Napster where you could download music digitally from pretty much any artist or band you could imagine. Despite only having dial up, I thought at the time that it was fantastic. Normally I'd set a single song to download, get something to eat, and by the time I got back to the computer the transfer had either failed or completed. I guess that at the time I didn't consider how legal or otherwise this was.

I did always have a small music collection, firstly cassette tapes and then CDs. I would buy 

the occasional one myself and I would also ask for albums for birthdays and Christmas, and so on. The majority of my music listening was by this point digitally, listening to mp3 files 

normally while using the computer.

After a while, Napster was taken down and I went through a spell of not being all that 

interested in music. I would listen to music in the background now and again, but I didn't 

actively seek out new music.

Some time later, we were at a family gathering and I noticed that the host was playing some 

background music from their laptop. The technology enthusiast in me was curious and so I had a bit of a gander at what programme they were using. The host caught me looking, "It's called Spotify. It's great, you can find pretty much any music you want on there." This all sounded very promising. For the price of only about one album a month I could have unlimited access to all the music I wanted. 99.9% of anything I've ever searched for I have been able to find, even some music that could be considered very obscure. 

Streaming is just so convenient. For example, it saves me from having to have a bunch of CDs rolling around in the car getting damaged. That said, a few years ago I made a conscious decision to start a physical music collection again. Everyone's collection is different and is personal just to them. I like that it also directly supports the artist - the person or people responsible for producing the art form that I enjoy. I try my best to buy CDs directly from artists - whether that is at gigs (not really at the moment) or from their website. I also like to have CDs signed by the artist - it just makes it that bit more special. You just don't get that with music downloads. As a good friend said to me once, "You can't get an artist to sign an MP3 file"!

Part of my CD collection.

My OCD compels me to have it in alphabetical order!

While vinyl continues its comeback, physical CD sales are dwindling rapidly. Who knows what the future will hold? Some artists are moving more towards a more regular, download only EP approach. I'm more of a traditionalist myself - I like the build up and anticipation of a new album release. One or two songs are released ahead of time to whet the appetite and then the countdown is on until release day. I love the feeling of holding a brand new album, having it in my hand just makes it feel more special. I hope I continue to have that feeling for a long time to come. 

Concert Live Streams - Oh How Fickle I Can Be!

In these times of no live music being possible due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it has been interesting to explore the various alternatives that have emerged.

Following the very late cancellation of this year's Country2Country festival in March, my friend and I made the decision to still travel down to London as planned. It was a good chance for us to have a proper catch up and an opportunity to have a weekend away in the capital. We spent some time pottering around Greenwich and had a look at the Cutty Sark, something I'd wanted to do for a while.

We got talking and both agreed that it would be good if we could still see some live music before the weekend was out. It was fairly obvious at this point what was about to happen with regards to the country having to go into lockdown.

I spotted a gig advertised at the Kitchen Garden Café in Birmingham on the Sunday evening, so we made the decision to leave London earlier than planned and drove back up to Brum. The Magpies were a female folk group I'd heard promising things about and they did not disappoint. It was a thoroughly enjoyable gig and it turned out to be my final gig before the lockdown commenced at the end of March.

The Magpies - Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham

15th March, 2020

It became apparent to me quite quickly that live music would not be an option for quite some time. This obviously caused great concern to many artists across the world, for whom playing live music provides a massive percentage of their overall income. Alternatives had to be explored.

One such alternative that emerged was that of the internet live stream. Using various platforms including Facebook and Instagram, artists could play live in real time and fans from across the world could tune in and watch. When I first discovered these streams, I thought they were brilliant. It felt like in the absence of live music and gigs, this was the best option. I tried my best to keep up with watching all the streams that my favourite artists put on. Facebook was my stream platform of choice. The main reason for this was that most of the streams on there could be watched back at a later date. This was particularly useful as a lot of the streams from American artists were broadcast at times of the day that were not always UK-friendly.

As the popularity of these streams quickly grew, I found it increasingly difficult to keep up with all of them. Throughout the pandemic I have continued working full time and I just don't have the six or seven hours spare each day to watch internet live streams, as much as I would like to! I began to pick and choose more carefully the streams that I watched. Artists began to use virtual tip jars whereby fans watching the streams could donate money. This is something I have no issue with whatsoever - artists have a living to make in these strange times, just the same as the rest of us do. I have supported a few of the artists in this way and I have also bought some merchandise directly from artists. This was in the hope that by doing this I am maximising the amount that the artists receive, as opposed to buying from somewhere like Amazon.

After a while, I began to get a little bored with the live streams. The interaction between the fans and the artists just wasn't there. Comments could be posted on the live streams but mostly the artist wouldn't see them. Rightly, they were too busy concentrating on playing as the comments whizzed past on the screen at some speed. Obviously the performances were live but at times it didn't feel all that different from watching videos on Youtube. The sound and video quality was also very varied. With the sheer quantity of streams available, an iPhone stream just didn't cut it any more. It is probably an exaggeration, but it also felt like some artists were doing streams nearly every day. Less is definitely more. Always leave them wanting more!

I began to feel restless again - I needed something more. Something better. I was browsing a Country music group on Facebook one day and spotted an advert from a site called CES Virtual Shows for a live show featuring the group Steel Blossoms. They are a group I have liked for a while now. In fact I was looking forward to seeing them earlier this year in Birmingham before it was postponed until next year. The show was advertised as a free interactive concert on Zoom, very different to the other internet live streams out there. My interest was well and truly piqued!

Steel Blossoms - CES Virtual Shows Live Zoom Concert

12th June, 2020

Immediately these shows felt just so much more fun. Attendee numbers are kept deliberately low and it is so much fun getting to chat to the artists in between songs. There is also a chance to speak to the other music fans before the artists start to perform. This feels like a real gig! There is also the very real bonus of sitting in comfort on a sofa, having access to a clean toilet and best of all there is no queue at the bar! 

CES do a great job of finding a wide range of different artists, each gig is enjoyable in its own way. There is a chance to ask the artist questions between songs and this is very interesting and I've found out a lot more about the music industry.

Caitlin Cannon - CES Virtual Shows Live Zoom Concert

27th June, 2020

Amid the absolute glut of web streams out there, it is has been such a breath of fresh air to find something very different. It has also shown how fickle I can be. I was so happy initially to have the web streams but I quickly moved on when something better came along. I don't apologise for this, we all have to make the best of the situation. I don't really think that anyone knows how long it will be until we can get to gigs in person again. Gigs are one of my main social outlets so the web streams and now these Zoom shows have kept me going and I hope they will continue to do so!

If live streams are the gravy. CES Virtual Shows on Zoom are where the meat is. The link to their site is below, check them out!

https://www.cesvirtualshows.com/

Eva Cassidy - An Omission Rectified...

I was pleased recently to correct a glaring gap in my music collection. 

Before I get onto that, please indulge me whilst I drift off on something of a tangent.

I’m a fan of Doctor Who and in 2010 during the Matt Smith era, there was an episode where they travelled back in time and met the famous Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh. There is a beautiful scene towards the end of that episode where they bring van Gogh forward in time in the TARDIS to Paris. They take van Gogh to the Musée d'Orsay to show just how influential and important his work was and continues to be, recognition that sadly he did not receive during his troubled lifetime. It’s one of my favourite Doctor Who scenes, with the wonderful portrayal of van Gogh by Scottish actor Tony Curran. There is also a brilliant and uncredited guest appearance from Bill Nighy.

At this point you’re probably thinking, “This is all well and good, but what the heck does Doctor Who have to do with Eva Cassidy?”

I mention this as it seems to me that there are parallels with the life and career of Eva Cassidy. Outside of the north eastern states of the USA, she was largely unknown. She tragically passed away at the age of just 33, relatively unheard of in the music world.

As fine a singer as she undoubtedly was, she seemed ill at ease performing in front of a big audience. I get the impression that she just loved to sing but didn’t seek out fame and the pressure that this would have brought.

I am a big fan of Canadian country artist Whitney Rose, who summed up a similar attitude with the following message on Twitter this year:

A compilation album called “Songbird” was released in 1998, but it was two of her songs being played on BBC Radio 2 a couple of years later which really brought the music of Eva Cassidy to a much wider audience. On the recommendation of his producer Paul Walters, breakfast show presenter Terry Wogan played the music of this obscure American singer and the reaction was incredible. A video of Cassidy singing “Over The Rainbow” became the most requested video ever shown on Top of The Pops 2. On 18^th March, 2001, “Songbird” went to Number 1 in the UK Album Chart.

Eva Cassidy’s music is timeless - it is a great pity that she was not more celebrated during her lifetime.  We are so lucky, however, that we have these recordings and can celebrate the legacy that she has left behind. I would not hesitate to tell anyone that she had one of the best singing voices of all time.

My Favourite New Artists of 2020

Just to clarify from the start, these are not necessarily new artists. They are, however, new artists to me. 

I discover new artists in a variety of different ways. The excellent "Bob Harris Country" show on BBC Radio 2 has provided many of these over the years. Bob is something of a legend in the music industry and he has an encyclopedic knowledge of many different genres. He plays a fair mix of both traditional country and the more modern stuff. He is now most associated with country music and has an unerring knack of playing artists that I've never heard of, but end up really liking. He has done it time and time again.

I am also a regular user of Spotify and I've picked up several new favourites from playlists on there.

My newest source is the superb "Voice of a Woman" radio show which is on every Sunday at 6pm on Claremorris Community radio, a local community-run station in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland. The host Linda plays an hour of female artists every week, and I have found many artists that I like from listening to this show.

Several new artists have also come to my attention from reading the Saving Country Music website. This is a site that focuses more on the traditional side of country and publishes articles, album reviews and other information on country music. 

The other main source of artist recommendations is my friends. If I hear a song or an artist that I think a friend will like, I suggest that they give it a listen. My friends do the same for me. Everyone has different tastes when it comes to music and I feel like I know what my friends like to listen to. I take this seriously, only suggesting artists that I think they will really enjoy. Modern life is busy enough as it is, and I don't want to waste someone's time listening to music that they are not going to like.

One result of the Coronavirus lockdown has been that I have had more time to listen to music. Below I present (in no particular order other than being alphabetical) my favourite new artist discoveries of 2020 so far. I have also created a Spotify playlist featuring a couple of songs from each of these artists. Please see this link at the bottom of this page. I hope you enjoy it!

Caitlin Cannon

Ruthie Collins

Kree Harrison

Lauren Mascitti

Craig Morgan

Lorraine Nash

Zephaniah OHora

Katie Pruitt

Allie Sealey

Tessy Lou Williams

Of the ten artists in this list, 80% are female and all ten artists lean towards being more traditional. This merely reflects where my listening tastes sit at present. 

Please visit the below links for more information..

Bob Harris Country

Voice of a Woman

Saving Country Music

Finally, as promised here is the Spotify playlist featuring a couple of songs from each of these artists. Enjoy!

My favourite new artists of 2020

Concert Venues - Post #2 - "Sweat Box" venues

In the second of a short series of blog posts, I am going to continue to examine my thoughts on the different types of concert venues. 

Sweat Box Venues

There are several medium-sized, standing up indoor venues in the UK. A lot of these, but not all, currently come under the O2 branding - O2 Academy, O2 Institute, and so on. 

As with all the posts in this series, I am basing the opinions purely on the venues I have visited and my own experiences at these places. With just a couple of exceptions, I have found these venues to be less than ideal for taking in live music. I can't help but feel that the managers of some of these venues concentrate too much on extracting as much money as they can from their customers. This is to the detriment of actually providing a decent customer experience. 

Wildwood Kin - O2 Institute 3, Birmingham

7th November, 2019

In the depths of winter, I have been to concerts at some of these venues and it has been far too hot, even in just a t-shirt and jeans. Such is the number of people that pack into these venues, heating is rarely needed even in cold weather. The cynic in me wonders if it is just a ploy to sell more overpriced drinks - a similar tactic to pubs that provide salty peanuts on the bar. 

As someone who suffers from an undiagnosed, mild form of agoraphobia, I struggle sometimes in tightly-packed crowds of people. This doesn't result in any kind of panic attack as such, more a feeling of being distinctly uncomfortable. It's difficult to describe accurately. I'm positive that venues have capacity limits for health and safety reasons but it feels to me sometimes like not all venues abide by these rules. I remember last year at a gig at one of the O2 venues in Birmingham, I was stood right in the middle of the floor as a very large crowd anxiously awaited the arrival of the headline act. I noted the number of people in the venue, counted the number of emergency exits and concluded that it would be very difficult should the need arise to evacuate the place quickly. 

Earlier in this post I touched on the overpriced drinks. The bars inside the venues remain open throughout the entire night, including whilst the artists are performing on the stage. I'm going to write a post specifically about issues that arise from this so I don't want to go into it in too much detail here. It does cause problems though but I don't see venues changing this as it simply generates much revenue for the owners of the venues.

It's not all bad though. I have attended some splendid gigs at this type of venue. It's just that these tend to be the exception, rather than the rule. One excellent gig that comes to mind was at the Arts Club Loft in Liverpool in October 2019. I saw Striking Matches, supported by Tenille Townes, and it was superb. The crowd was really into the music of both artists and the bar was in a separate area at the back. This really cut down the extraneous noise that tends to emanate from the bar area at gigs.

Tenille Townes - Arts Club Loft, Liverpool

27th October, 2019

To sum up, these are generally not my favourite concert venues. They serve a purpose - they host live music but do not always focus on their customers. Obviously we have to go to the places where the tours visit, but I have travelled out of my way in the past to go to a nicer venue. I will continue to do this when we are able to see live music again in a safe way. Hopefully it will be soon.

Photos by myself, Chris Swinden

Concert Venues - Post #1 - Large Arenas

Concert venues come in all shapes and sizes. Here in the UK, we have several massive arenas holding many thousands of people. There are also plenty of quirky, intimate venues which provide a somewhat different concert going experience. In a short series of blog posts, I am going to explore my thoughts on the different types of settings in which we can enjoy live music.

Large arenas

The very biggest acts are able to sell out the largest arenas our country has to offer, sometimes over multiple days. These days the tickets for some of these gigs are expensive and yet it can still be so difficult getting a ticket, such is often the demand to see the most popular artists. I recall trying to get a ticket to the Queen and Adam Lambert tour back in 2017 and ended up with a ticket two rows from the back. That was achieved by doing the stereotypical frantic F5 pressing on the website ticket page as soon as they went on sale.

Almost without exception, the large arenas are multi purpose and they host a wide variety of events, only one of which might be live music. More often than not, in my experience it hasn't been great from an audio and visual point of view. Unless you're lucky enough to get a ticket close to the stage, I've quite often ended up having to squint and watch the artist on a video screen. If the arena does not have a video screen then it becomes more of a listening experience, still enjoyable but I do like to be able to see the artist performing as well as hear them.

Tedeschi Trucks Band - Wembley Arena, London

1st February, 2020

I’m no sound expert at all and I appreciate how difficult a job it must be for the engineers at a large venue, especially as each artist will have different setups, bands and equipment. It must be a very tricky job for them to get it exactly right with such a wide range of different performers. This is especially the case at a festival like County to Country at the O2 Arena in London, where there are multiple artists on the same stage in the space of a few hours. The sound quality can be very variable, but this is not just restricted to one venue. I have attended amongst others Manchester Arena, Birmingham Arena, O2 Arena and Wembley Arena and they have all had their issues.

I have made peace with the fact that if I want to see the big acts, inflated prices and less than perfect sound and sight of the artists will be something I will have to deal with. From a financial and logistical point of view, why would an artist play in a 1,000 capacity theatre when they could be performing in front of 20,000 people over several evenings?

This post may come across as somewhat negative and, as a whole, I don’t want it to come across that way. After all, my top two gigs of all time – Chris Stapleton and Ashley McBryde – were both in the O2 Arena, London.

Chris Stapleton - Country to Country Festival - O2 Arena, London

10th March, 2019

I do fear that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it may be some time before large arena gigs are possible.

Photos by myself, Chris Swinden

My Favourite Singing Voice Of All Time

I could talk about music for hours. I make no apologies for this. When I'm with like minded friends, now and again the obvious questions do come up for debate over a pint or two. Topics including best band, favourite ever concert, nicest live venue, and many more. There is one that requires very little thought on my part - favourite singing voice of all time.

As a child, my parents inexplicably allowed me to play with some of their records. One in particular that piqued my interest had a brown cover with gold writing on it. Using the hifi system in our house, I figured out a way to transfer what was on the record to a cassette tape. Playing this tape on my Sony Walkman kept me occupied during many 90 minute trips from Cheshire to West Yorkshire to see my grandparents in the early 1990s.

My parents and I don't share very many favourite artists but one very glorious exception to that rule is The Carpenters. I remember my Dad saying to me, "With all the great singers, you can hear every word". I think that it was a comment about music in general, but it very much applies to the voice of Karen Carpenter.

The majority of my music listening nowadays revolves around female artists and singer-songwriters. There are many that are amazingly talented but for me, none come close to the voice of Karen Carpenter. The purity, clarity and pained beauty in her voice is for me what sets her apart from so many others. She had a relatively soft voice, not powerful in volume but it was so strong in terms of conveying raw emotion. All this from someone who I suspect might have been happier being behind a drum kit, chipping in with some backing vocals now and again.

Sir Elton John described Karen as having, "one of the greatest voices of our lifetime”. British artist Rumer has been said to have a singing voice reminiscent of Karen and, having listened to several of her songs, I can definitely detect a likeness. I have been planning to buy a ticket to see Rumer live in Birmingham, a concert which has now been rescheduled for March 2021.

Karen's tragic passing at the age of just 32 came in the early part of 1983, roughly eighteen months before I was born. From a purely selfish point of view, this denied me the chance to ever see Karen singing live. Interestingly, I will never be able to see live any of my three favourite voices of all time. Elvis Presley died in 1977, Karen in 1983 and I was only 7 when Freddie Mercury passed away in 1991. Perhaps this is part of the allure? I can listen to albums and watch videos as much as I like, but to be in the presence of them performing is only ever going to be something that is in my imagination.

Karen Carpenter image:By Billboard Publications Inc (now owned by Eldridge Industries)(Life time: Published before 1978 without a copyright notice) - Original publication: Billboard MagazineImmediate source: Special Section page 24, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75073431