Hello peeps, long time no post, well ok some of you probably didn’t notice, oh well! Anyway I have returned to post a review of a gig I was at on Friday evening. Those of you who know me are well aware that my musical taste is seriously eclectic (everything except most opera and a lot of country). I’ve never seen myself as a folkie either, although I am a big fan of Mr Zimmerman.
Let me cut to the chase I got a ticket for the gig as a 50th birthday present from Rachel V. She and Catwoman are big fans of the band. The band are ‘Show Of Hands’ and I must admit they are excellent in a live environment. Terrific musicians, great harmonies, good songs (some superb covers too), much self deprecating humour and in great danger of giving folk a good name to non-folkies like me.
Show Of Hands with Miranda, she's the clean shaven one! Incidentally Catwoman loves your hair Miranda!
The band is made up of Steve Knightley and Phil Beer. They were ably assisted by Miranda Sykes on Saturday on double bass and beautiful vocals. There was no support act, in fact this is a band that doesn’t really need one, they’re that good, trust me! Check out the ‘Show Of Hands‘ website. Miranda also has her own website, click here to check it out
On the 'face' of it the boys were considering a more 'rock' direction 😉
The gig was at the Victoria Hall in Saltaire near Bradford in the UK, which incidentally is an excellent venue. The acoustics are supreme, the band played a couple of songs literally unplugged from their amps and the sound was incredible.
I’m very new to Show Of Hands so I don’t know much about their back catalogue. But for me there were a number of highlights on Saturday. In particular a new song called “AIG” which is based on the comments of a US senator about the finance company AIG, if I remember rightly this fabulous songs chorus included the refrain ‘Arrogance, Incompetence and Greed’ (apologies to the band if I got that wrong). I also loved their cover of Dylan’s “Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power)”, I would even go so far as to say that I preferred it to the original. The lyrics are printed at the end of the post as they are some of Dylan’s best, well I think they are! The band seem to have quite a large repertoire of their own songs and my favourite of those that they played on Saturday was “Cousin Jack”. They generated an awful lot of audience participation for that one from the fervent sell out crowd. Click here to see the band in the video for the rather excellent song “Roots” which they also played at the show
The boys were so talented they could play their instruments telepathically
They are scheduled to play a lot more UK dates between now and early July so if they are in a town near you and you haven’t seen them just do it, you will not be disappointed! If you’ve seen them before you can ignore the last sentence as you’ve already got your tickets I’m sure
Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power) – Bob Dylan
Senor, senor, can you tell me where we’re headin ?
Lincoln County Road or Armageddon ?
Seems like I been down this way before
Is there any truth in that, senor ?
Senor, senor, do you know where she is hidin’ ?
How long are we gonna be riding ?
How long must I keep my eyes glued to the door ?
Will there be any comfort there senor ?
There’s a wicked wind still blowing on that upper deck
There’s an iron cross still hanging down from around her neck
There’s a marching band still playing in that vacant lot
Where’s she held me in her arms one time and said, Forget me not.
Senor, senor, I can see that painted wagon
Smell the tail of the dragon
Can’t stand the suspense anymore
Can you tell me who to contact here, senor ?
Well, the last thing I remember before I stripped and kneeled
Was that trainload of fools bogged down in a magnetic field
A gypsy with a broken flag and a flashing ring
He said, Son, this ain’t a dream no more it’s the real thing.
Senor, senor, you know their hearts is as hard as leather
Well, give me a minute, let me get it together
I just gotta pick myself up off the floor
I’m ready when you are, senor.
Senor, senor, let’s overturn these cables
Disconnect these tables
This place don’t make sense to me no more
Can you tell me what we’re waiting for, senor ?
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 