The first of two consecutive nights at Snape, Wednesday saw us taking a chance on the progressive of the Québecois roots band Le Vent Du Nord. A chance in the sense that we’d heard little of their recorded work, although I’m convinced that we did previously catch a portion of their set at one of our early sojourns to the Cambridge Folk Festival.
Music
Rosanne Cash at Snape – 21st August 2016
Been a fan of Rosanne Cash ever since I picked up her “Retrospective” Best Of many, many years ago. Followed that up with the “Interiors” and “The Wheel” albums but then didn’t pick up on anything further until the superlative “The List” in 2009. Had never seen her live, so it was too good an opportunity to miss when we saw she was appearing at the Snape Proms – oddly, another Sunday night performance!
A Swingin’ Affair At Snape (August 2016)
Another Sunday, another night a Snape. No idea why the gigs we chose to attend are frequently on a Sunday night but there you go. This was supposed to the second of two jazz events we had booked to see, but unfortunately we had to cry off the Clare Teal gig because of a health related incident that I won’t expand on here….
Jon Boden at Snape (August 2016)
Our second visit to the Snape proms last night, this time to see and hear Jon Boden, whom we’ve seen many times before but only as part of the folk collective Bellowhead who, after 12 glorious years, finally decided to call it a day earlier this year. Boden has become one of the outstanding performers of traditional music of his generation and we were intrigued to see how his one man show would compare to a Bellowhead extravaganza.
Tommy Emmanuel at Snape (July 2016)
Last night was the first in a series of gigs we’ve booked as part of this season’s Snape Proms. Although we knew of him, we hadn’t heard any of his recorded work or seen him live before, so this one was a bit of a punt, spurred on by the musical company he keeps and the reverence other guitar players have for him.
Eric Bibb at the Apex (09/05/2016)
It’s been a while since we’ve seen the wonderful Eric Bibb live (last time was the Leadbelly Fest at the Albert Hall when he was sharing the stage with many others) and so it was timely that as part of his current UK tour he was appearing at the Apex in Bury St. Edmunds, fast becoming one of our favourite small scale venues. Denise was definitely showing signs of withdrawal symptoms.
Mavis!
A rare foray yesterday, especially for Denise, into Ipswich town centre – I think she’s even less inclined to visit every time she goes. On this occasion, it was to the excellent film theatre to see the documentary of the wonderful Mavis Staples. The film itself was a fairly orthodox biopic, but none the worse for that as it allowed the subject to shine without the distraction of unnecessary gimmicks.
Mirth, Mathematics and Music
Have you heard the one about a Sril Lankan British stand-up comedian called Jonathan, an Indian who forever changed the course of mathematics thinking and two guitarists called Martin, all of whom could be found in Bury St. Edmunds on a Friday and Saturday night? No, well read on…..
James Hunter (5th February 2016)
A rare foray (for me) to the Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich last night to see the James Hunter Six. Nearly a year since I was last at the Wolsey and a mere twenty years since we saw James Hunter at the now defunct Lion’s Den shortly after we moved down to Ipswich from the North East. This one was a somewhat less sweaty, more genteel environment but still an excellent gig nonetheless.
Oysters 3 – 2lst January, 2016
The first of quite a few shows we’ve got lined up at the Apex in Bury St. Edmunds, Oysters 3 is an offshoot of the Oysterband and consists of John Jones, Ian Telfer and Alan Prosser. All founder members of the group, this was billed as a chance to hear some of the best known material in a stripped back, acoustic environment.
Two Nights in Colchester (28-29 October, 2015)
Two consecutive evenings at the Mercury Theatre in Colchester, so we decided to stay over for a couple of nights at a Wivenhoe hotel that we had previously visited for an evening meal with friends. We go to all the exotic places for a break!
Robert Cray, Norwich Theatre Royal: 10th October 2015
Just back from two nights in Norwich, a trip based around the Robert Cray Band gig at the Theatre Royal in Norwich. One of the giants of modern day blues and R&B, we’ve only seen him once before and that was as support to Clapton at the latter’s annual Albert Hall residence.