Sep 14 2021

Lauren Housley

Sunday 12th September 2021

Photos and setlist by Keith Belcher

LAUREN HOUSLEY BAND
TLR,Saltaire
12th September 2021

Lauren Housley on Vox and acoustic guitar
Thomas Dibb on electric Guitar/BVs
Mark Lewis on Bass/BVs
Xavier Winton on Drums
Chris Larcombe on acoustic & electric guitar
Clive Mellor on Harmonica

Set 1
The Song I Sing – (A)
Guaranteed Sunshine – (A)
What’s Troubling You Child – (E)
Stay Awake To Dream – (D)
Sing To Me – (F)
Bless His Soul – (E)
Willin- (E)
This Ain’t The Life – (C)
The Beauty Of This Life – Acoustic w/ Clive (C)

Set 2
My Sleeping Heart – (Ab)
Sweet Surrender – (A)
The Waiting Game – (Bb)
Why Are We Making It So Hard – (C#)
Breakdown (C#m)
Jolene – Acoustic (C#m)
Ghost Town Blues – (E)
We’re Not Backing Down – (D)
To Love Somebody – (A-solos G/A/C)

Sep 7 2021

The Magpies

Sunday 5th September 2021

This show was originally set for the end of March 2020, but we all know what happened there! After several abortive reschedules, we finally managed to get the band, albeit with a revised line-up, onto our stage. We needn’t have worried that the long gap may have blunted their edge, as they delivered a brilliant set for us, full of terrific musicianship, harmonies and a genuine sense of fun. Bella, Holly and Kate are now working on a follow up album and we’re sure that they are going to build a huge reputation on the folk scene.

Sep 7 2021

Serious Child & Andy Ruddy feat. Kirsty McGee

Thursday 2nd September 2021

We were intrigued and excited about this collaborative project with two very different singer songwriters combining their talents on a new album, ‘Talk About The Weather’. Throw in the huge bonus of Kirsty McGee as both support act and part of the band and the whole night just came to life. Wonderful harmonies, brilliant songs and witty banter made the evening a joy from start to finish.

Aug 22 2021

Sam Carter

Friday 20th August 2021

Photos by Keith Belcher

The fifth visit altogether for Sam here to TLR, the third under his own name, the other two being with his friend Jim Moray in False Lights. A beautiful evening showcasing his crystal voice, clever and moving songwriting, and of course his brilliant guitar work on both acoustic and electric. Here are some comments from our visitor’s book:

And some of Keith Belcher’s brilliant shots from the night…

Aug 2 2021

Blue Rose Code

Friday 30 July 2021

Photos by Keith Belcher

What a return to larger capacity shows we were treated to on Friday! Ross, deprived of part of his band owing to a family illness, but with his phenomenal guitar player and long time sidekick, Lyle Watt, nevertheless gave the gig-hungry audience a blistering show. The energy generated by these two fabulous musicians really set the crowd afire and at times the performance was right out on the ragged edge, just as live music should be. For the first time in well over a year, it felt like The Live Room of pre-pandemic days.

There are some lovely comments from our visitor’s book at the bottom of this post. More of this please!

Jul 21 2021

Covid Restrictions and TLR

We, along with many other people involved in live events, are thrilled that we can once again hold shows without restrictions, it has been a desperately hard year and a half and there were times when we feared for our future. However, the virus has not gone away and will continue to present a threat to health, so with the dropping of all restrictions comes responsibility. The government has effectively handed that responsibility to us and we have to recognise that, while there are many people who can’t wait to get back to normal, there are many that are doubtful and even fearful. So, we are going to take things a little more gradually.

As we stated in a previous newsletter, we are going to continue with limits on capacity for the remaining two shows of our summer, on 30th July and 20th August, which will enable many more people to get double vaccinated, reducing the chance of transmission. We are also asking people to observe some simple mitigation measures to show consideration to other gig goers and club staff just for the time being.

Six ways to enjoy a safe visit to The Live Room at Caroline Street Social Club…

1. Under no circumstances, if you are showing any Covid symptoms should you be even thinking of going to a show, similarly if you believe you have been in close contact with someone with Covid. If you are suffering from Covid symptoms or fear you may be an infection risk and therefore shouldn’t attend, we will offer you a refund or exchange on your ticket.

2. Before coming to one of our events, we recommend that you do everything you can to make sure that you personally are not infectious. You can do this by:
-Getting vaccinated
-Taking a lateral flow test
To be clear, we don’t believe that we should operate a policy of excluding you from our venue because you haven’t done those things and we will not be operating a certification or passport model to enter our shows. There are lots of reasons for this, not least the large numbers of people who have not had the opportunity for both vaccines and vulnerable people who cannot be vaccinated. But you, personally, can make sure you aren’t adding to anyone’s risk by keeping your record of immunity up to date, getting vaccinated when you are able and/or taking a free lateral flow test before you come.

3. We are going to continue to wear masks when we are moving about during our events. We also encourage our audience to continue to wear a mask on entry and when moving around if you are able to do so, however we will not be enforcing this or making it a term of entry. We know that wearing a mask is not a pleasant experience and we hate wearing them ourselves, but the scientific evidence shows that masks work to help stop transmission, so please try to be considerate of others.

4. Anyone who has visited us since we got up and running again, knows that we have been cleaning and sanitising all contact surfaces between performances and we will continue to do this. Sanitising units remain around the building, and we ask you to please play your part in keeping the building clean from contact risk by regularly washing your hands and using the sanitiser.

5. We will be keeping doors open before, after and between performances to enable the air in the room to circulate and we will also be opening doors at the end of performances to minimise any queueing to leave. We will encourage people to leave in as orderly a manner as possible.

6. Screens will remain at the customer contact areas, to help protect staff as the club moves back to bar service. We strongly encourage you to use contactless/cards if you are able to do so and limit cash payments as much as possible. Again, we won’t be enforcing this, but would like to keep as few contacts as we can.

7. The club has installed Virus Killer (TM) technology to both purify the air and deactivate any viruses and pathogens in the concert room

Finally, please remember other people may hold different views to you so please be kind to one another. We hope you will support us and the club in our efforts to run safe and enjoyable events.

Jul 20 2021

Martin Harley

Sunday 18th July 2021

The second visit to TLR by Martin and a hastily rearranged show to avoid clashing with the final of the Euros the previous week. Martin was sensational, as ever, his guitar playing really is transcendent, and his voice soulful. Looking to bring him back soon with his full band. Been playing his latest record here at TLR Towers and it’s a thing of beauty.

Photos by Keith Belcher

Jul 20 2021

Joe Martin Band

Sunday 4th July 2021

Photos by Keith Belcher

It was Joe’s third visit to TLR, but the first as a headliner and also with his full band. It’s great when you see an artist develop and you’re part of that journey. It was a fabulous night with a great young artist and a brilliant band. We’ve already booked a return visit for them in 2022, so watch out for that!

Jul 6 2021

Sean Taylor & Katie Spencer

Friday 2nd July 2021

Photos by Keith Belcher

Many thanks to Sean & Katie for a wonderful 250th show here at TLR, it was a fabulous double bill, as we knew it would be when we booked them!

Jun 16 2021

Jon Boden

Sunday 13th June 2021

Photos, set list and review by Keith Belcher

Jon Boden, The Live Room, Caroline Street Social Club, Saltaire 13th June 2021

Late Show (21: 00) of a socially distanced, two-house gig

Set List

Intro -Hilary

Rigs Of The Time (Trad)

We Do What We Can

Old Straight Track

Walking Song

Rose In June (trad)

Cinnamon Water

All Hang Down

Dancing In The Ruins

Come Out Wherever You Are

One Night As I Lay On My Bed (trad)

Roll Alabama

Jordan

Last Mile Home

New York Girls

This was meant to be the last of the socially distanced gigs at TLR but it was obvious to all even without the systematic leaking that it was likely to be late July before venues might be fully open (fingers crossed on that). Hilary sadly confirmed that before the show.

What can you say about Jon Boden? The dates for the original shows sold out very, very quickly. One of the very best voices and front men in roots music. Anyone who has seen the phenomenal Bellowhead will attest to that. Combine him and Eliza Carthy on either side of the stage and you would have Vinegar Joe/Jefferson Airplane – yes, that really dates my musical tastes!

Jon opened the second of the two shows with the very appropriate “Rigs Of Our Times”, a nineteenth century song about maintenance of good and honest trading mechanisms. Rigs meaning “a trick or way of swindling someone”. He quipped that no way was the song appropriate to current times….Perhaps it was a planned theme but that song was followed by one of Jon’s own compositions, “We Do What We Can”, again very appropriate. Songs featured during the evening were a mixture of traditionals that may have been more familiar as Bellowhead recordings and songs from Jon’s recent trilogy of post-apocalyptic, climate change themed albums. The latest of those albums mainly composed and recorded during lockdown and only recently released. Not surprisingly many songs from the latest album Last Mile Home were featured in possibly one of Jon’s first “real” shows since the album release. I for one am very happy at anyone returning to albums that follow a theme rather than numerous, non-related, singles.

Jon came equipped with 3 guitars, violin, concertina and an array of foot pedals and stomp box. All of which were played superbly. “One Night As I Lay In My Bed” ignored most of that and was performed with accompanying clapping and stomp box. Who noticed Bellowhead weren’t on stage? I find a solo performance of songs like “Rigs of Time” and “Jordan” really bring the very meaningful lyrics to the fore when not distracted by the heavy instrumentation of a large band, personal opinion as I find it difficult to concentrate on too many things at once!

Post-apocalyptic Morris dancing was predicted during the show, many of the songs having enough drive and beat to tempt the dancers in the crowd if there weren’t Covid restraints in force. Finishing the show with the powerhouse song “Jordan” and a double encore of “Last Mile Home”, the title track and last song on the new album and then the magnificent upbeat “New York Girls” just made you want more. I am sure that I wasn’t the only one pretending not to sing along. A great gig, thoroughly enjoyed by all present, audience, promoter and artist.

TLR’s summer shows will be socially distanced until policies and opinions change. Check the website/blog for all dates, join the mailing list for updates.