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Showing posts from June 5, 2005

The Review

Maybe the boys had been saving their best for the UK, or maybe that practice has helped but both the Gigs at Leicester DeMontford Hall (Fri 3rd), and London Hammersmith Apollo (Sun 5th) were pretty damn good. Sure, there were mistakes, but if I wanted to listen to perfect renditions of the songs I'd sit at home and play a CD. As in the earlier leg of the tour the role call was Ethel, Joe and then Todd. Ethel's brand of string quartet is perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, but these guys can play: - Todd Reynolds and Mary Rowell, violins; Ralph Farris, viola; and the rather sexy Dorothy Lawson, cello are a treat for real music lovers anywhere, playing a mixture of styles with equal verve and skill. I would happily pay just to see these guys in the future. Joe Jackson, who I must confess I lost interest in after his second album, delivered a well balanced set both nights between old 'classics' (stepping Out', 'Is she really going out with him', 'It'...

Tour News

The Scotsman has an interview with Joe Jackson today ahead of Todd and Joe's Edinburgh date. Explaining the get together Jackson says: "We're both very eclectic, we've both been around for a few years now and done lots of different things. And we've both sometimes been ahead of our time, or at least that's how we'd like to see it!" The Guardian 's Dave Simpson gave the York gig 3/5 but said of Todd "Britons never really 'got' his brash Americana, and those that did must be bewildered to hear long-unaired classics like I Saw the Light tossed off on guitar." I not sure why anyone would be bewildered. Maybe it was just Dave. Or perhaps it was because Todd stopped playing midway through, to hail a bitter-sweet guitar chord. He does however rightly praise just how good Todd, Joe and Ethel sounded combined "By the time they've taken the Beatles' While My Guitar Gently Weeps to places it has never visited, this unlikely coll...
Todd & and man in front's head - London 5th June 2005
Todd, Joe and Ethel - London 5th June 2005
Todd, Joe Jackson and Ethel - London 5th June 2005