BBC One - Live at Edinburgh Castle

Saturday July 19th - Edinburgh Castle - Various Artists. 

Back in May 2014 I heard that BBC One were doing a live gig in July at Edinburgh Castle.

Presented by The One Show’s Alex Jones, the line-up included some acts I was keen to see, namely Paloma Faith, Smokey Robinson, Rizzle Kicks and OneRepublic. 

The line-up also included plenty of popular classical performers - Il Divo, Katherine Jenkins, Alfie Boe and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

The music was to be interspersed with comedy on the night: "as Bill Bailey performs his unique brand of musical humour and Fred MacAulay makes a special guest appearance."

"Sounds like it might be a good night out" I thought to myself and shelled out for the tickets.

As the date approached - other acts were added: Jessie J (who made some fatuous reference to "deep fried mars bars" when asked about playing in Scotland), Culture Club (newly reformed - this was to be the first time the 80s group had performed together in 15 years), Kaiser Chiefs (no introduction necessary), Ella Henderson (X-Factor finalist 2012) and Pumeza Matshikiza (S. African soprano).

The night of the concert was a wet one. Thick mist, heavy intermittent rain, but not too cold. Armed with waterproofs, hats and a strange assortment of plastic ponchos, the crowd filled the seats. The mist was so dense that you couldn't tell there was a castle behind the stage, and it was tough to see one end of the Castle Esplanade from the other, but the crowd seemed up for some fun.

Pillars in the mist

Caped crusaders

So, before everything kicked off, before cheery Alex Jones appeared, before any band took to the stage, we got the "warm-up comedian". He gave instructions to the audience about how we should react when one of the many hand-held cameras panned past our happy faces (hands in the air, scream as loud as you can) and generally warmed up the wet and cold crowd. 

Then, still before the BBC cameras started rolling, the Kaiser Chiefs came on to much applause. They explained that they were going to do one number before filming began, so that we could all practise being excited, and launched into "I Predict A Riot" (the link is amateur dodgy footage). 
Despite being slightly unimpressed with the constant instruction on how happy we should all try to appear, I actually enjoyed this kick-off number by the Chiefs. Ricky Wilson (smaller than I imagined for some reason) bouncing all over the stage and kicking over his mike stand - so rock n roll! 

Kaiser Chiefs

Then, with the crowd suitably warmed up, just as the cameras started filming live, the bottom half of the right-hand impressive video pillar gave up the ghost and stopped working. The crowd didn't care as the Kaisers launched into "Ruby Ruby Ruby" and then "Coming Home" but I'll bet the myriads of stage crew probably had the voice of Live Event Production Manager, Steve Nolan, in their ears as they battled to get the damn thing working - which they eventually did, just after the Kaisers finished. 

Jessie J was up next. Dressed appropriately for the weather, she performed Price Tag and Keep Us Together 

Jessie J

The crowd sang along to the extended version of Price Tag, but the "brand new track from my new album" Keep Us Together lost the momentum thus far. Jessie seemed to enjoy it though :-)

I was quite looking forward to Rizzle Kicks and when they started their set with Down With The Trumpets backed by the full brass section of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, things were sounding pretty good. 

Rizzle Kicks

Unfortunately their second number Tell Her was a fine example of harmonies gone wrong. No auto-tune out there lads... I had to admit, this was dire!

Bill Bailey was up next, doing his unique style of comedy laced with music, this time based on the Match of the Day theme tune.... the lounge version, Polish cartoon version, Jewish folk song version and so on. Bill definitely raised a smile or three with the audience.

Paloma Faith was the next act on stage. I like Paloma - always slightly off the wall, but what a voice. Given that Rizzle Kicks were not as good as I'd hoped, my fingers were crossed for Paloma.

Paloma Faith

She came on (during a particularly misty weather moment) with her three backing vocalists and some very high shoes, said "Hello beautiful people" to the crowd and gave us Only Love Can Hurt Like This and Trouble With My Baby

No disappointment here - I loved her performance, just wished there had been more than two songs.

"Local boy made good" Ronnie Corbett was on next, in his dinner jacket and dodgy tartan trousers.

Ronnie Corbett

He started with an a cappella  version of Westering Home (with lyrics related to his lack of height) which wasn't even slightly funny. He then started to tell a joke about him and his wife travelling up to Edinburgh by train, but completely lost the plot, forgot what he was going to say and stuttered on for a few seconds. I'm not sure if it was too much hospitality before coming on, or if he is actually ill, but it was pretty embarrassing. Fortunately he cut to his introduction of the next act...

Katherine Jenkins and Alfie Boe came on and performed Barcelona. It was ok, but not great. 

Kathy and Alfie

Alex Jones thought it was "Brill-ee-ant" so maybe I was just being over critical.

Previously unannounced, we then got Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott (Beautiful South) who didn't waste time with pleasantries but quickly gave us DIY and Happy Hour.

Beautiful South

This was cheerful singalong stuff, and the crowd seemed to enjoy.

Ella Henderson was introduced next and she came on confidently to perform a couple of songs - Ghost and Believe.

Ella Henderson

Her cover of Cher's Believe was pretty good and definitely the better of the two songs. The crowd joined in and accompanied her on the last chorus.

Fred MacAulay was up next - he did a short stand-up routine which was slow to start, but did get some laughs as he talked about his December Kilimanjaro trip and the Band Aid song "There won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time". 

One Republic were next and once again, I had reasonable expectations having heard some of their live recordings before. They performed Counting Stars and Love Runs Out. Counting Stars sounded a little pedestrian and by the numbers, but Love Runs Out was pretty good.

One Republic

However, I have to admit to being very slightly disappointed - I think they'd be much better in a smaller more intimate venue.

Alex Jones then introduced Boy George but it was just a quick chat about how long it was since he'd performed live before Il Divo came on and murdered Amazing Grace. 

Il Divo

This was muzak at its most mediocre, despite the efforts of the massed pipes and drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. 

Bill Bailey came on again to provide some comedy relief 

After the earlier faux classical offerings it was a refreshing change to hear Pumeza Matshikiza the S. African soprano. 

Pumeza Matshikiza

She sang  Thula Baba/O Mio Babbino from the Castle entrance just behind the stage. Her performance was such a stark contrast to the mediocre tunes from Katherine Jenkins, Alfie Boe and Il Divo. This was one of the highlights of the concert for me.

Culture Club looked pretty good as they trouped on and they sounded good too. George's voice seems to have improved with age.

Culture Club

They did Do You Really Want To Hurt Me and Karma Chameleon great saxophone on the latter. Unexpectedly good performance from Culture Club - old material, but still sounding good.

Bill Bailey was back to cheer us up with his "car-horn-o-phone" medley, the highlight of which was the 1812 Overture with Castle cannon backing.

Bill Bailey

Alex Jones then introduced Smokey Robinson - great set, but unfortunately all the individual video footage has been removed from YouTube with the exception of his duet with Jessie J on Cruisin'

Smokey Robinson

Unless of course you can find the whole concert footage and sit through it until about 1:45:00 to hear Tears Of A Clown, Cruisin', Tracks Of My Tears in that order. Tracks of my Tears was the stand-out song, with audience participation. Smokey's voice was good, and he looked quite fit for his age, but his face did look a little bit stretched :-)

Smokey left the stage and from the back of the Castle esplanade former swimmer Gregor Tait and former track athlete Lee McConnell jogged in to a burst of The Proclaimers’ 500 Miles from the pipes of the Royal Dragoon Guards. This was the final leg of the Queen’s Baton Relay, before it went to Glasgow for the Games opening ceremony. The baton was handed over to Fred MacAulay to transport it to Glasgow. Alex Jones had to take charge of Ronnie Corbett who was wandering aimlessly on the stage, but as she shepherded him on stage, he stepped on the hem of her dress and ripped it big-time! 

Ripped!

Alex coped admirably and while keeping Ronnie out of harms way, she introduced the final and previously unannounced act...Incongruously enough it was John Miles with his one big hit Music which was performed in rousing (if slightly overblown) fashion, by Miles himself at an all white grand piano, the full Scottish Symphony Orchestra and London Community Choir, while the castle was lit up in the misty background by an impressive closing firework display.

John Miles

All in all it was an interesting evening. Less of a concert, more of a TV spectacle I think, but there were some memorable moments - sometimes for all the wrong reasons!

The Full Live BBC broadcast was available here (2hr 10min), but sadly no longer and I can't find an alternative.

Cherry Ghost

Òran Mór, Glasgow - 17th June 2014

It was a happen-chance hearing of "Kissing Strangers" on the This Is My Jam website on June 2010 that drew me into Cherry Ghost's world of songs filled with hope and light, but often with a dark background.

Biog stuff: Taking his name from a line in a tune by Wilco (Theologians), Cherry Ghost is the stage name for Simon Aldred, a British singer songwriter who decided to strike out on his own as a solo act in 2005 after several years of playing in a succession of not-so-successful bands. Aldred quickly earned a reputation as a "band" to watch (Later with Jools Nov 2006), and Aldred began performing live under the Cherry Ghost name. The debut Cherry Ghost single, "Mathematics," was released in April 2007. A second single, "People Help The People," arrived the following June. The debut Cherry Ghost album, Thirst for Romance, was released in July 2007. The "Kissing Strangers" track which originally caught my ear was from the follow-up album "Beneath This Burning Shoreline" - July 2010. Well worth a listen. As Cherry Ghost's performing schedule increased, Aldred turned Cherry Ghost into a "real" band with a stable lineup: Jim Rhodes, Ben Parson, Grenville Harrop, and Phil Anderson. Herd Runners, the latest album, was released May 19th 2014. 

This was their mini tour kick-off gig and the Oran Mor venue was pretty hot - it was about 25 degrees Celcius outside and hotter still indoors. Cherry Ghost strolled onto stage, trying unsuccessfully not to break into a sweat.

They were a scaled down band with just Simon Aldred (vocals, guitar), Christian Madden (keyboards) and Grenville Harrop (drums). Madden sat at his keyboard and immediately took off his boots and played the whole gig in his bright red socks.
Aldred kicked things off with "Hello Glasgow" and launched into the heartfelt "Drinking For Two". The crowd cheered and sang along enthusiastically, finally whooping and shouting encouragement at the end. 

Aldred was obviously pleasantly surprised and said "Cheers everyone. We've been supporting Paul Heaton recently" someone in the audience whooped and Aldred continued "oh ok, a supporter, well we won't slag them off then" and smiled. He continued "we've done a whole string of gigs and all we ever get is a polite clap clap, so this is really nice".

The title track from the new album, Herd Runners, was next. The crowd re-doubled their singalong efforts and joined in for "4 a.m.", "Clear Skies Ever Closer" and almost every track.
On "Thirst For Romance" from the first album, Cherry Ghost performed a great up-tempo dancealong version and the audience responded noisily. 
When they finished the song, Aldred said "Not sure we deserve such applause - we screwed up a couple of time there!" but the crowd didn't seem to notice or care.

I particularly liked the subtle darkness of "My God Betrays" and the heart-wrenching, organ filled beauty of "Please Come Home".

Curfew time was approaching when they finished "Mathematics" with a lot more crowd singalong, word perfect. Aldred looked embarrassed and said "Cheers, but full marks to everyone who noticed I fucked up the 2nd verse". He looked at his watch and said "OK, we've got about 10 minutes left, but we're not going to bother going off and you cheer and shout, then we come back on for an encore - waste of time. We'll play another couple for tracks, then we're off!" 

Smiles and cheers from the audience, as they played the intro to "Four Eyes". They followed that with "People Help The People" and it was over. The house lights came up and we went to peruse the merchandise stand.

It was really good to see Aldred obviously moved by the support of the Glasgow crowd, and for their first headline gig on this mini-tour, albeit with a scaled down band, it was a really good night.

Set-list was:
Drinking For Two
Herd Runners
(It's) 4am
Clear Skies Ever Closer
A Month Of Mornings
Sacramento 
False Alarm
Thirst For Romance 
All I Want
My God Betrays
Please Come Home
Mathematics
Four Eyes
People Help The People 

The Rails

The support act were a complete unknown to me before the gig, so it was a really pleasant surprise to see and hear The Rails who are singer-songwriter duo Kami Thompson and James Walbourne. 

James has played with Ray Davies, become part of the touring line up for The Pogues and joined The Pretenders as lead guitarist in 2008. In 2011, he made his first solo album, The Hill, for Heavenly records. 

Kami is the youngest daughter of Richard and Linda Thompson, the first couple of Seventies folk rock. She has been a backing singer with Linda, performed with members of the Wainwright family, toured with Sean Lennon and Bonnie Prince Billy and released her own solo album, Love Lies, on Warner Music in 2011. 

Co-produced by Blue Boy himself,  Edwyn Collins, The Rails debut album Fair Warning is packed with traditional and original songs. Recognising class when they hear it, Island records have revived their famous vintage Pink Label for the duo.

Their songs were all performed to twin acoustic guitar backing, beautifully performed. Kami has such a good voice, and James has amazing guitar skills (I would love to have heard him more electrified) and together their harmonies were spot on. Some of the songs were straight up country (e.g. Habit and William Taylor), but where I think they really shone was on their slightly darker, more edgy or up-tempo songs - Send Her To Holloway, Fair Warning and Breakneck Speed. They also do a lovely cover of Edwyn Collins' Low Expectations

Go and hear them live if you can before they break big - you won't regret it

Edwyn Collins

Edwyn Collins (With support Colorama) 

@ Òran Mór Glasgow 15th June 2014

14th December 2013 was the last time I saw Edwyn (at the Kid Canaveral Xmas Baubles event in Portobello, Edinburgh) so this was an opportunity to see him back performing in his old stomping ground in Glasgow. 

Òran Mór was packed with a real mix of ages - from the grey haired crumblies in their 1970s Postcard T-shirts (that were now too small) to the skinny-jeans teenagers that bagged the front-of-stage spot from the start. 

The band took the stage to much applause, but as Edwyn wasn't with them, there was a slighty muted response. Someone in the band said "Quiet in here tonight" and the obligatory wag in the audience shouted back "Give us a tune!" and they did - launching into a quite a funky jam with plenty of chucka-chucka guitar and fine bass and drums. 

From the back left hand corner, we could see Grace, Edwyn's wife, helping him up the small set of stairs to the stage. He made his way slowly, amidst rapturous applause, to the centre of the stage and parked his bum on the monitor speaker. 

"Hello nice Glasgow people" he said as the crowd cheered.

Carefully he said "Falling", "And", Laughing" and we were off on a wonderful trip through old Orange Juice classics, post-Orange Juice numbers from Gorgeous George, Texas Fever and Hope and Despair and a lot of more recent tracks from his later albums Home Again, Losing Sleep and the wonderful Understated (which is currently still in the running for the Scottish Album of the Year)

Next they moved quickly into "What Presence" with a lovely saxophone backing from Sean Read and some nice controlled guitar from Dave Page. We'd already had some impressive guitar from Dave Page as part of Colorama, the support act, but he really shone in Edwyn's band. 

Dave Page and Edwyn

Edwyn introduced the band slowly and with a few mistakes "It's called aphasia" he said explaining his halting speech. The crowd didn't care - it was just great to see the smile on his face as he was obviously enjoying being there with an adoring audience.

The band were: Paul Cook ex Sex Pistols (drums), Andy Hackett (guitar), Sean Read (saxophone, keyboards, backing vocals), Carwyn Ellis (bass), David Page (guitar) - Ellis and Page had previously strutted their stuff as one half of the support act Colorama.

Andy Hackett

Highlights for me were Make Me Feel Again from Gorgeous George, Wheels of Love from Hope and Despair and Forsooth from Understated. Edwyn introduce Forsooth as "Very Velvet Underground" paying homage to his early influences. 

Forsooth - Velvety Underground

They rattled through some more excellent old and new numbers, before Edwyn said "And now our first, no... second single -  Blue Boy". The band were firing on all cylinders as they launched into Blue Boy, followed by Rip It Up and of course A Girl Like You - everyone was jigging, even the crumblies. Edwyn was standing for the latter two numbers, and looking happy as I've ever seen him.

That was the end of the first set, and Edwyn slowly left the stage while the band jammed on for an up-tempo extended finish to A Girl Like You. Then they too left the stage. It was pretty close to 10pm, the Oran Mor shut-off time, but the crowd wanted more.... and kept on cheering and clapping. The stage manager ran on with two chairs and plonked them either side of Edwyn's monitor-cum-seat. Then on came Carwyn Ellis and David Page with acoustic guitars, closely followed by the man himself. Big cheers!

They got themselves settled and performed two really beautiful acoustic numbers - Low Expectations and Home Again.  The stripped back nature of the performance really showed the quality of the songs - possibly my favourite part of the whole gig.
That must be the end we thought. It's past 10pm, but the rest of the band came on, Carwyn and Dave swapped back to their electric instruments, the chairs were removed.... and Edwin said "Felicity" 

Felicity

Off they went - a real driving version of Felicity followed by Don't Shilly Shally - the small Oran Mor venue was jumping.

Finally it was time to finish. Edwyn raised his cane to wave goodbye, but the low ceiling over the Oran Mor stage stopped him making his farewell gesture properly. The band drove on with Shilly Shally - finally Paul Cook brought it to a drum crash finale and the house lights came up. Edwyn said "Goodbye Glasgow, see you again....sometime.... soon" 

Really look forward to it Mr Collins!

Set-list was:  

Falling and Laughing

What Presence

Make Me Feel Again

Bridge

Poor Old Soul

Understated

Wheels of Love

Dying Day

Forsooth

Dilemma

Losing Sleep

Blue Boy

Rip It Up

Girl Like You

---------

Acoustic encore with Ellis and Page:

Low Expectations

Home Again

---------

Full band encore:

Felicity

Don't Shilly Shally

The support was...

Colorama

Colorama are currently on Edwyn's AED Record label and are led by Carwyn Ellis (Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar and Bass) with Luca Guernieri (Drums)  David Page (Guitar) and Andrea Garbo (Bass) - Ellis and Page were to return as part of Edwyn's band.

Colorama

Recent releases - "Good Music" LP 2013 and "Heaven’s Hotel" EP 2014 on AED Records

I didn't know any of their tracks in advance of the gig, but really liked the first couple of songs. The level of musicianship (is that a word?) was obvious, and they were a fine warm up for the main man. I think I need to review some of their material online.

The Kelpies

The Kelpies @ The Helix, Grangemouth/Falkirk 17th May 2014

Andy Scott is the artist who designed and organised the build of the stunning equine heads by the side of the Forth and Clyde canal providing a glorious view from the passing M90 motorway. Although I had seen them thus (from the car), this was my first up close and personal visit to the monumental sculptures  - with even an opportunity to walk inside the broad necks and view the Kelpies from within.

Photo courtesy of © andy scott public art ltd. 2014

 (By the way, if you have ever travelled along the M8 from Glasgow to Edinburgh you may have seen Andy's first ever public art installation "The Heavy Horse" ).

Photo courtesy of © andy scott public art ltd. 2014

There are also many other examples of his work all over the UK here - The Works 

However "The Kelpies" is/are his most recent, and largest work. They are the largest equine sculpture in the world, standing 30 metres (100 feet) tall.  (There is another horsey statue in Mongolia which is taller, but only because there is a Genghis Khan on the horse's back - so this is the largest purely equine statue in the world.)

The Myth:  Kelpie, or water-kelpie, is the Lowland Scottish name given to a water-spirit or demon inhabiting the lochs and waterways of Scotland. It has most often been described as appearing as a horse, but is supposedly able to adopt other forms, including those of beautiful women and handsome men.

From Andy Scott's web page - "Falkirk was my father’s home town and that inherited link to the town has been one of my driving inspirations.  The mythological associations behind the original brief have been absorbed by other sources of inspiration in the creative processes, and the ancient ethereal water spirits have been forged into engineered monuments. The Kelpies are modelled on heavy horses and it is this theme of working horses which captured my imagination and drove the project. They are the embodiment of the industrial history of Scotland and the Falkirk / Grangemouth area. Heavy horses would once have been the powerhouse of the area, working in the foundries, the fields, farms and of course the canal itself, pulling boats along the Forth & Clyde from coast to coast." 

Photo courtesy of © andy scott public art ltd. 2014

Originally, the Kelpies had been intended to be functional as well as aesthetic, operating a "displacement lock system" to provide boat access to the canal from the River Carron and ultimately the Forth and the North Sea. One of the massive horse heads was to have rocked forward 5m (16ft) and the other was to have raised backwards by the same distance. The water displaced by this movement was supposed to fill a central lock to lift the boats into the Forth and Clyde canal. But, as the project dragged on, safety concerns were raised and in June 2011 the boat lift plan was scrapped due to "very complex and fluctuating engineering challenges". Despite its initial function being dropped, the plan for the sculptures went ahead and the canal still passes directly between the Kelpie heads.

Aerial view showing canal through the site

The Kelpies themselves are awe inspiring close-up and the guided tour (£4.95) provides all kinds of background information (no two of the 475 steel plates on the outside of the Kelpies are identical) and also allows a stroll inside the neck of the "Head Down" Kelpie.
The equine structures were based on two local heavy horses - Duke and Baron, and the guide often used these names when describing the structures - however they are officially "Head Up" and "Head Down" in the official signs and literature.

Quite beautiful either when viewed close-up, or at a distance framed against the Ochil Hills, anyone who tell you that this is not "art" (e.g. Jon Jones - Guardian art "critic") is talking out of their hindquarters.

Here you can view a time-lapse video of the Kelpies build. 

Martin Stephenson and The Daintees

Òran Mór, Glasgow 2nd May 2014

Martin Stephenson and the Daintees

I've been a fan of Martin George Stephenson since the Boat to Bolivia album but for some reason, until recently I only owned two of his fairly extensive repertoire of Daintees albums. Namely: Boat To Bolivia (1986) and Gladsome, Humour & Blue (1988), and none of his many solo contributions. There are many tracks from these albums that you'll no doubt recognise, even if you aren't sure who they are by: Crocodile Cryer, Slow Lovin', Boat to Bolivia, Little Red Bottle, Coleen and Wholly Humble Heart.

Martin is a Durham native, who now lives in Invergordon in the Scottish Highlands, where he also runs his own small label for up and coming artists, Barbaraville.

I heard that Martin was on an extensive tour of the UK this year and promised to make good my lack of fan support - and anyway, I had also read that the new album ‘California Star’ (Nov 2013) was already being heralded as the Daintees’ finest work since ‘Boat To Bolivia,’ and on first listening I had to agree. 

The Òran Mór venue is a relatively recent (2004) refurbishment of the  Kelvinside Parish Church which was built in 1862. This was my first visit, and I was quite impressed. 

It was great to see such a good turn out, and it was also good to see the mix of ages - plenty of youngsters among the first-time-around fans. Martin and the band bound onto the stage and were greeted with the same enthusiasm that they received when I last saw them in 1990-something. The band were: John Steel (guitar), Kate Stephenson [no relation] (drums), Chris Mordey (bass) & Finn Macardle (percussion & bongos) - some details about the Daintees band here.
"This is our 3rd gig on the Gladsome Humour & Blues Tour" announced Martin, "and it's great to back in Glasgow where they appreciate the jokes and don't get upset when I swear". "I love the faces they pulled when I used the C-word in Windsor" he pulls a not-very-happy face "They do this neighbourhood-watch-face thing" he says with a huge grin.

The first song was the sing-along There Comes A Time, then Slaughter Man. The sound was good, the band were great (Steel's guitar and Stephenson's drums in particular). He dedicated The Wait to Anne Stephenson, the violinist who played on the Gladsome, Humour & Blues album and whose haunting violin made this track so memorable. 
I Can See and The Old Church Is Still Standing followed. He dedicated Wholly Humble Heart to Billy Mackenzie. The version of Me & Matthew (In the greenhouse my Grandfather and me) was beautiful. When they launched into an up-tempo version of Nancy with some lovely duelling guitar, the crowd could restrain themselves no more and the first bout of dancing began. 
Goodbye John (July was a fruitless month) was introduced as a "Stream of consciousness that ended with a tent in the duvet erection". 
I Pray lacked the saxophone of the original, but they made up for it with some restrained but beautiful guitar playing and vocal harmonies. The reflective and melodic Even The Night (has turned it's back on me) was in the same vein with understated beautiful guitar arrangement and the whole crowd sang along. ("Great singing Glasgow - that was really nice")
Interlaced between the timeless songs of love, sadness, happiness and memories, Martin's anecdotes about his time supporting various acts in the 70s and 80s were laugh out loud funny (The Smiths came in for a few choice swearwords; Roddy Frame was a talented wee kid, but a good lad). Stephenson's love for the music is obvious and he never stops grinning.
Get Get Gone and Running Water were signals for the second bout of unrestrained dancing and this time everyone joined in. But Martin had been enjoying the playing and chatting so much that the 10pm curfew had been and gone - the band waved and left the stage. Despite repeated calls for an encore, the house lights went up and it was over. 
I know at least one Daintees non-fan who was there and really enjoyed the outing. Throughout, the music was top notch and Stephenson's songwriting is timeless.

Setlist:
There Comes A Time
Slaughter Man
The Wait
I Can See
The Old Church Is Still Standing
Wholly Humble Heart
Me & Matthew 
Nancy
Goodbye John
I Pray
Get Get Gone
Even The Night
Running Water

Nice touch - you can download the new single from the California Star album here for free - in return for some free publicity i.e. Twitter, Facebook, canvassing of your local radio station, etc.

---()---

The support acts were:
Scott Macdonald
Scott was first up, and while the crowd milled about, buying beers, choosing the best vantage points, and browsing the merchandise stand, he performed some lovely songs. "This is my first time on such a big stage, and with such a small guitar" he joked between songs. His lyrics were particularly good and his acoustic 2/3 size guitar and harmonica soon drew the crowd closer, and appreciative applause. Definitely worth some more investigation, and a great opener for the night.  Lots more info here.

Helen McCookerybook
Helen was next on the stage, backed by Martin Stephenson and the Daintees! Helen was the bass guitar player and lead singer with Brighton-based punk rock band The Chefs during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Her most recent album is Take One, released on the Martin's Barbaraville label in October 2010. Gone are the punk influences these days. Now it's definitely more country and western. Her songs were pleasant, but it was a cover of a Daintees tune that stood out in her set. She finished up with "This is Anarchy Skiffle - 1,2,3 4". More info on Helen here.