Tag: The Live Room

Mar 22 2022

Track Dogs

Sunday 20th March 2022

Photos and review by Keith Belcher

Some nights you get really lucky and get a whole lot more than you expected. So it was on Sunday night for the second visit (in the flesh) for the 4 piece Madrid based Track Dogs.  They comprise 2 Irishmen, I Englishman and 1 American. They are Garrett Wall, vocals, guitar and ukulele; Dave Mooney, bass, mandolin, vocals; Howard Brown, trumpet, cajon, vocals; and Robbie K. Jones – cajon, banjo, percussion, vocals. Instruments were swapped regularly throughout the night.Their music reflects the nationalities as well as their Spanish base. Their first visit to TLR was 15th March 2019 and there was a virtual performance on 4th October 2020.

Tonight, we didn’t get just a quartet. For large parts of the show we had, for one night only, a sextet with the addition of cello player Adrianne Wininsky and violinist Chris Demetriou. Adrianne and Chris have featured on a couple of Track Dogs’ albums. Towards the end of the show we had a septet with old school friend Fergal Gara, who lives in the area, joining the band on stage to play some great harmonica. Their music is often described as a dynamic fusion of folk, Latino, Americana & bluegrass. What they really generate is an immense amount of fun and enjoyment, both on and off stage. Something we all really need at the moment.

A relatively quick sound check as the club had a rock n’roll afternoon until 5pm with a scheduled start for Track Dogs at 7pm. You wouldn’t know it from the great sound. A big queue outside when doors opened. They seemed to have a lot of hard core fans who weren’t going to miss out on the performance.

Taking the stage as a quartet they got such a great reception they joked about going straight to the encore while they were ahead. The show opened by jumping in with The Deep End, an upbeat Latino style song, that’s the way to start, (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun!). By the time they got to Whatever Happens the audience were buzzing, needing no persuasion or prompting to join in with the vocals with much gusto.

At some point in Set 1 the painter of their last album cover took a bow having been introduced from the stage. Eventually Chris and Adrianne joined the stage with violin and cello filling the 2 empty seats between Garrett and Howard. Garrett Wall’s vocals are really tremendous, their harmonies superb and both Howard and Robbie took turns with superb lead vocals.

Musically very flexible, Howard switching between trumpet and cajon, Robbie between cajon and banjo, Garrett and Dave swapping guitar, bass, mandolin and ukulele. Assorted tambourines littered the stage(you need to have been there to understand the relevance of that remark). Set 1 ended with a very lively All Clapped Out. Big queue at the Merch table and a lot of old friends catching up. It was a very friendly sort of night.

A far longer second set opened with the question Where To Now, the title song of the latest CD. As well as the really lively numbers they played some delicate songs such as the beautiful Broken Strings. It really showed just how good Garrett’s voice was and how well the band blend on harmonies and also just how much sensitive strings add to a song.

There were many songs in set 2 where the band played and sang bluegrass style around a single mike. A humourous few minutes as Robbie introduced Empty Tracks, a song about a tourist train that stopped running during lockdowns. The rest of the band commenting on his usual time of rising!! (not early!!). That was followed by a James Taylor cover of Carolina In My Mind, very apt as they remarked as they had been really looking forward to playing The Caroline Social Club again.

Cranking up the pace with another cover, Brandy (Looking Glass cover) with Howard on lead vocals. They really pulled out all the stops when Chris rejoined the stage and they launched into Gonna Get My Way. Very noticeable that Chris was now standing rather than sitting for this one. Some cracking bass, violin, cajon and banjo solos on this one.

They also brought on Fergal  to play harmonica, he got a solo too!!! Difficult to think it could get any livelier than that but they then launched into Donna Lola with huge audience participation, again unprompted, a lot of the song unamplified as they left the stage and walked around the venue.

A quick breather before the encore. The band giving a heartfelt thanks to Ron and Hilary for everything they have done during the last 2 years and more, especial thanks to Ron’s great sound throughout the night. The encore, sang by Robbie showing just what a strong voice he has was another tip of the hat to The Caroline Club.

A really powerful cover of Ruby (Are You Mad At Your Man?). Originally by Cousin Emmy & Her Kinfolk in 1946 then The Osborne Brothers in 1957 (apparently the first time twin banjos were used on a bluegrass recording! You learn something very day!!) but perhaps better known these days for the CAROLINA Chocolate Drops cover (2012). For this Adrianne joined Fergal and Chris on stage and they played out as a septet.

As I said at the start, sometimes you get a lot more than you expected. It was definitely one of those very superb nights.

Feb 15 2022

Paul McKenna Band

Sunday 13th February 2022

Review and photos by Keith Belcher

A debut appearance at TLR for the 5-piece Glasgow based band comprising Paul McKenna, guitar and main vocals, Conal McDonagh, pipes and whistles, Robbie Grieg, fiddle, Conor Markey guitar, tenor-banjo, bouzouki and backing vocals and Ewan Baird bodhrán and backing vocals. A fairly rare but very welcome appearance south of the Scottish border.

Last week we had Sarah Allen from Flook playing standing on one leg, out of choice. This week we had Paul limping painfully on one leg due to an injury picked up playing 5 a side football which attracted the absolute minimum of sympathy from band mates. There was certainly no limp to his voice, that was firing on all cylinders throughout the show. It was evident on the night just why he is regarded as one of the finest and most exciting Scottish voices. There was excitement all around, for the band the pleasure of actually playing in front of live audiences and as well as having the band appear, for the Live Room, the fact that for the first time there were 3 shows scheduled for this week. As well as 2 one leggers we also had 2 bodhrán players on the trot also with John Joe Kelly last week and Ewan Baird at this gig.

Introductions over the show started with The Mickey Dam a traditional Irish song about Immigrant labourers working on the Dam at Milngavie (pronounced Mil-guy) in Scotland. It’s rousing choruses got the night off to a great start. Throughout the night we had traditional Irish and Scottish songs, Paul’s own compositions, covers and also co-writes with other artists. Superb harmonious sounds coming from left of the stage with Conal and Robbie merging pipes, whistle and fiddle in a very pleasing to the ears sound. It’s not surprising that Paul’s voice has been compared favourably to the great Dick Gaughan. In Paul we have one of the most powerful and emotive voices on the musical circuits in any genre. Like Dick, Paul also writes songs with a social conscience, not yet as forthright as Dick but Dick didn’t get that outspoken overnight. There is a Dick Gaughan song called Whatever Happened which could have been the forerunner to Paul’s song The Dream, listen to both and see if you agree. Not surprising that Dick helped with the production of Paul’s album Between Two Worlds.

Conal switched between whistles and pipes throughout the night, playing both to great effect, likewise Conor switched between guitar, tenor-banjo and bouzouki as well as providing great backing vocals. A rock steady beat and great vocals from Ewan sitting mainly in the shadows at far stage right. The evening extremely well-paced, rousing songs alongside contemplative ones and 2 sets of very foot tapping tunes of jigs and reels. Lots of funny stories about Paul’s residency at Disneyworld in Florida and adventures in the States and Canada. There seemed a lot of alcohol involved with some stories. A co-write with the great Tim O’Brien, Can You See Me Sister, evoked stories of digital, transatlantic song collaboration.

Robbie weaved in and around all the other instruments superbly all night.  The audience participated enthusiastically and brilliantly on Paul’s own composition Home, which was the last “real” song of SET 2, an easy one as it didn’t involve words. They went off stage to rapturous applause, possibly a mistake for Paul to leave the stage as he had to hobble back for the encore, much to the amusement of his “sympathetic” bandmates. The encore of Walt Aldridge’s No Ash Will Burn also invited the same level of participation from the audience, this time a bit more complicated but the audience passed the memory test with flying colours. Outside it was very cold and wet but inside TLR a very entertaining and warming evening, a great debut appearance by a great band.

It was also the first of trial early starts for Sunday nights. Having started at 7pm the show was over shortly after 9pm. Those with “school” the next day were grateful. The trial worked well in my opinion.

Dec 14 2021

A Bright New Year: The Melrose Quartet

Sunday 12th December 2021

Photographs and review by Keith Belcher

A Bright New Year with The Melrose Quartet. Sheffield based Melrose Quartet are Jess & Richard Arrowsmith and Nancy Kerr and James Fagan. All dressed in festive finery and sweltering on what was a very unseasonably warm night, contributing on vocals to the glorious harmonies and between them playing violin, viola, melodeon, bazouki and guitar. The room was bedecked with Christmas lights and huge baubles as well as a Christmas tree on stage left.

Hilary and Ron welcomed everyone with what has become a traditional Live Room Christmas Show tradition with copious amounts of free sherry, mince pies and chocolates. The show was a sell out albeit restricted to all seating in deference to social distancing and audience and venue concerns.

Our “leader” was making his TV announcement midway through set 1 but the audience was, as usual, way ahead of him. Almost everyone turned up wearing face masks and I have no doubt they were also double and triple jabbed as well. Despite the precautions you really couldn’t get a more Chrismassy feel to a show than that produced by the soaring harmonies of The Melrose Quartet.

No one would deny there was a party atmosphere and there were also games and quizzes on the night. On the Christmas tree at the side of the stage were 6 red and 6 white baubles with numbers on. These were selected throughout the show by randomly picked audience members. These were for the Rudolph variations. 12 versions of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer but done to totally different tunes. A lot harder than it sounds. The audience had to identify the tune. I admit to being abysmal at said task but one group (conferring was allowed and took place , no one will deny that) scored 10 out of 12 and won a Chocolate Santa. A similar prize was given to the most memorable festive woollies.

The majority of the nights music was from the new CD THE RUDOLPH VARIATIONS , some traditional Sheffield Carols and modern classics by the likes of Si Kahn and Robb Johnson. They did stress that it wasn’t a CD full of Rudolph versions. The encore was a very rousing We Wish You A Merry Christmas. Let’s all hope for that and a Bright New Year in 2022.

It was great of the band to pay tribute to Ron and Hilary and the staff of TLR for keeping the faith and keeping the music alive during the last 2 years. I would like to also thank Ron and Hilary for continuing to do what they do so well. We are very lucky to have the club.

Nov 3 2021

Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage

Sunday 31st October 2021

Photos by Keith Belcher

The second show of the weekend was another night of beautiful music from one of our favourite duos, Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage from Cambridgeshire. Superb songs harmonies and musicianship all delivered through one microphone created a haunting soundscape. Just signed to the legendary Topic Records, keep a look out for their new album, due for release next April.

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 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.

Jan 22 2019

Sugaray Rayford Band, Friday 18th January 2019

Friday 18th January 2019. The Live Room, Caroline Street Social Club, Saltaire hosted the Sugaray Rayford Band on their first UK tour.

Sugaray had a stunning 6-piece band with him comprising Lavell Jones, drums, Alastair Greene, guitar, Drake Shining, keys, Allen Markel, bass, Giles Straw, trumpet and Aaron Liddard on sax. It was snowing lightly outside but inside, as requested by Sugaray, the floor was mainly cleared for dancing and much dancing there was. The audience coming from far and wide (even Lancashire!) to see the man on his first UK tour and I think, judging from the crowd reactions, that most thought it long overdue but well worth the wait.

What they had waited for was a night of very infectious soul, rhythm and blues, blues, rock, jazz, a touch of reggae and even a small sprinkling of country from a very tight band led by a 6 foot 5inch front man with a huge voice and even bigger personality who made serious use of the space available for his own pretty slick moves. He took some time at the start to chat to and acquaint himself with his audience before launching into “Big Legs, Short Skirt”. The show included many of his own songs and some inspired covers such as Albert King’s “Born Under A Bad Sign”.

The band were extremely tight, often improvising with extended solos, always accentuating and punctuating Sugaray’s powerful vocals. At one point, Aaron left the stage and circulated through the dance floor playing an unamplified sax solo. Spontaneous almost scat type jazz singing from the audience and a light backing from those on stage amply illustrated just what makes live music so great. You don’t get this vibe from your CDs or radio or whatever means you use to listen to recorded music. Throughout the show and especially the end of set 1, all the musicians showed just what they could do on their solo instruments, pretty impressive but not a surprise when you consider their musical pedigrees.

Sugaray stated a simple ethos of we only get one shot at life, make the absolute most of it, saying ” Music was never meant to be serious”, “It’s not a concert, it’s a party”. It certainly was and one that tonight’s party goers would have liked to go on all night long. Set 2 opened with a sing along of the Louis Armstrong classic “What A Wonderful World”. After a night of great mainly R&B they left the stage with “If I Live To Love Again”.

There was a superb, if somewhat unexpected encore of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” with Drake on lead vocals I have to say that took me by surprise. Yet another act that it’s safe to say will be very welcome back next time they tour. Even at this early part of the year this will definitely be a contender for gig of the year.

Review and photos by Keith Belcher