It's Standing Room Only for Cara Dillon at Norwich Arts Centre

Checking back through my ticket stubs, I notice that it is eleven years since I last heard Cara Dillon sing at Norwich Arts Centre. That was back in March 2006, and was one of the last gigs that I ever went to before La Maman was diagnosed with her cancer, and consequently one of the last that the two of us would go to together. Looking back, I remember her mentioning something during the evening about feeling tired - it was a standing gig, and she went out and sat in the bar for the last couple of songs, blaming it on a long day at work. Four months later came the news that shook us to the core, and set us on the path that left two teenage children to finish their adolescence and their education without the benefit of the mothership to guide them.

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then, and next month sees the tenth anniversary of Jan's passing. Both children have since gained university degrees, and are both in gainful employment. I myself have regressed into early retirement, having allowed my pharmacist registration lapsed, but now volunteer at Norwich Arts Centre as part of the evening front-of-house team. It therefore seemed appropriate that I should spend yesterday evening at the Arts Centre, taking advantage of their generous policy of offering guest-list passes to volunteers, to attend Cara Dillon's show, part of a short tour of five dates as a trio with husband Sam Lakeman and Uillean pipe and whistle player Barry Kerr.

This was a seated show, although all tickets had been quickly snapped up by loyal fans. The rear of the auditorium, and the ramps at either side, were filled by those prepared to stand, and so I took my place behind the sound desk for what was obviously a much anticipated performance, and would be a potentially emotional evening for myself as well.

Cara Dillon was born in County Londonderry, although now lives in Somerset with husband Sam Lakeman, brother of Seth and Sean. Whilst her songs are hugely influenced by Celtic culture and folk music, she and Sam have never been afraid of stepping outside of the box. In between songs tonight, we learn that only last week Sam almost risked losing his hearing attending a Foo Fighters concert in Frome, staged to coincide with the announcement of the band's headlining slot at this year's Glastonbury Festival. We learn of their two children's excitement at visiting Euro Disney following Dillon's recording of 'Come Fly With Me', featured in the closing credits of Disney's 'Tinker Bell and The Great Fairy Rescue', and of  'Come Dream a Dream', the song now used in the closing ceremony each evening at Disneyland Paris. In between, Cara has sung on Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells III, and on a Judge Jules trance single.

It also appears that Cara and Sam recently agreed to sing at a small Somerset wedding, only to find Cillian Murphy, Jamie Dornan and members of The Corrs in the congregation. Yes, Cara Dillon may seem a modest and demure mother of two, but she and Sam are nowadays, in reality, almost folk royalty.

But what makes Cara Dillon so special is her voice. Lauded by everyone from The Guardian to Mojo magazine, and praised by contemporary singers like Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith, Cara's unique voice has a steely precision that is able to cut through an audience like a knife, yet is at the same time is as beautiful and sensitive as a summer breeze. Comparisons with a young Dolly Parton or with Eva Cassidy are merely an attempt to describe what is almost indescribable.

Many of the songs in tonight's double set are traditional in origin, others have been co-written by Dillon and Lakeman, or arranged by them. There are a couple of covers included - Shawn Colvin's 'Riding Shotgun Down The Avalanche' (which appears on Dillon's 'A Thousand Hearts' album), and Van Morrison's 'Crazy Love' and Beth Sorrentino's 'River Run', but in between 'The Maid of Culmore' and 'The Parting Glass' we are treated to the whole panorama of the Cara Dillon songbook, together with insights into Celtic cultural history, such as the Parting Wakes held for those leaving to seek a better life in America. Sam is allowed access to the microphone to share some genuine facts - did you know that the average American garage is larger than the average Japanese house, or that there are more saunas than motor cars in Finland? No, neither did I. Thanks Sam. Barry Kerr is subjected to gentle teasing from Dillon, but rewarded with a lovely solo spot during the second half where he treats us to a sad lament on the pipes as well as a reel.

We may not be able to dance tonight, but we all join in with the choruses on 'Never in a Million Years' and the chokingly moving 'There Were Roses'. All in all, this was a beautiful and memorable performance, and one that I will not forget in a hurry.

Nightingales in St Benedicts Street, Violet Kicks and Graceland, and not forgetting the FA Cup

The lure of the FA Cup reaches a peak of interest not when two giants of the game square up for 90 minutes of gladiatorial embattlement, but often when a large club is drawn against one of the smaller, lesser known outfits. Whilst the time-honoured tradition of warming up a music headliner audience with one or more 'support' acts is not a direct analogy, it is often the way in which gig-goers are introduced to new bands or performers.

But it works both ways. Tonight, whilst the mighty Arsenal FC are being entertained by South London minnows Sutton United, with the prize being a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, I am at Norwich Arts Centre mostly to see two of my favourite local bands play. The main attraction, though, is The Nightingales, a band formed in 1979 by four members of Birmingham's founding punk band The Prefects. Much loved by the late John Peel, and still championed by Marc Riley, I have to admit that I have never seen seen them live before. Yet the fact that no less than four other reviewer colleagues, whose opinions and musical knowledge I respect hugely, are here tells me that this must indeed be an essential band.

Fronted still by the imposing, and slightly intimidating, figure of vocalist Robert Lloyd, the line-up is completed tonight by James Smith on guitar, Andreas Schmid on bass, and Fliss Kitson on drums. Many on the Norwich scene will remember Fliss as a member of Violet Violet, a band that started as a four-piece, then became three, and ended up, with Cheri Percy, as a ferocious guitar and drums duo whose energetic style is still fondly missed.

Unlike so many of the still-touring punk pioneers of the late seventies, Lloyd makes no pretence of the passage of time by clinging to the safety pins, leather jackets or spiky hair stereotypical of those turbulent few years. Instead, he chooses a smart shirt and suit combination, his hair is neatly clipped on a low setting, and if he needs to wear spectacles then fuck it, he bloody well will. The resultant style package is a potent mix of performance poet, club doorman and local councillor. Apart from the occasional scowl there is little audience interaction, certainly no chummy anecdotes and not even an  introduction before, or thank you after, any of the songs. Instead, what you get is a growling stream of lyricism that is worthy of a John Cooper-Clarke but delivered in a vocal style that lies somewhere between Iggy Pop and Grindermen Nick Cave. Smith and Schmid, on guitar and bass, know exactly how to complement to maximum effect, whilst Kitson thrashes at her kit with dark hair flailing like Animal from The Muppets. It may be intense, and there are moments that are almost krautrock-like in their hypnotic and industrial  but the whole performance sucks you in, grabs you by the throat, and simply refuses to relax its grip. There is no encore, but perhaps that is just as well. I feel as though I have already done fifteen rounds with the musical equivalent of Mike Tyson.

But let us not forget those two support acts of whom I spoke earlier. I reviewed Violet Kicks only a few weeks ago for Outline Magazine, so would point you towards that for a deeper insight, but needless to say Jessie, Matty, Melissa and Conor nailed it again with strong stage presence, and songs such as the almost-hallucinogenic Scenes Distorted. And this is still only gig number four for this talented quartet.

Violet Kicks

Earlier Outline review of Odd Box Promotions gig including Violet Kicks

Although I quoted Graceland as being one of my favourite Norwich bands, tonight was actually the first time I have seen their complete set. Previously I have only caught snatched moments whilst volunteering on the NAC box office, or when dashing from one venue to another during Norwich Sound and Vision. Yet I feel as though I know this band so well. Stevie and Maxie Gedge played in The Brownies, an earlier band that also featured Sophie Little (of BBC Introducing and Radio 1 fame) on vocals, and whose album Our Knife, Your Back got rave reviews in both Q magazine and the NME. Stevie still plays bass, Maxie has switched to drums, and the Graceland line-up is now completed by Ellie Jones on guitar and Rosie Arnold on guitar, keys and vocals.

Rosie Arnold - Graceland

Tonight's set did not disappoint, although being on home turf with plenty of friends in the audience might have allowed a casual air to infuse the stage - their were a couple of brief intermissions between numbers, and Rosie's sardonic thanks to Norwich Arts Centre for booking them captured her wry sense of humour perfectly. However, the pedigree of all four members truly shone through tonight - Ellie is cool and detached, Stevie side-steps neatly from one foot to another as she propels each song forward with her inimitable bass playing, Maxie is thumping the skins to within a whisker of their lives, and Rosie's vocals are given just the right amount of reverb to bring it all together and deliver an auditory explosion on a par with sampling the finest sushi selection. Highlight for me was the single Fleetwood, a track that, ironically, contains one of the most addictive and memorable bass lines since The Chain. So, so good.

Music is nothing like football - the pleasure of a gig is in being able to savour and enjoy every act without partisanism or prejudice, to be able to appreciate talent in whatever form it presents itself, and be open and receptive to new experiences as well as enjoy the familiar. This gig tonight did that for me, and was in every way so much more enjoyable than watching eleven multi-millionaires struggling to kick the shit out of a team of part-timers in Surrey.

www.facebook.com/thenightingalesuk
http://thenightingales.org.uk/

www.facebook.com/GRACELANDtheband

Graceland - Video for 'Fleetwood'

Sofar Sounds in a Nuclear Bunker - Norwich Does it the Old School Way.

Josh Savage, Laura Goldthorp and Max Taylor provided the three musical courses last night as Sofar Sounds Norwich hosted their soirée at a secret location just up the road from the city's main railway station. Armed with wine glasses, cushions and our own refreshments we presented ourselves at the entrance to a genuine former cold-war nuclear bunker, where a bearded man check our names off against a clipboard before allowing us to step inside. If Trump loses the last of his marbles tonight, and it all kicks off, then as the missiles start to fly above our heads we will all be safely entombed, and listening to some lovely live music.

I love the concept of Sofar Sounds, otherwise known as 'Songs From A Room'. Starting in London in 2009, and since then spreading to over 200 cities across the world, Sofar Sounds now puts on over 100 private concerts every month. Audiences apply for tickets in advance, unaware of whom they will hear perform until they actually arrive. In the UK acts like James Bay, Bastille and Wolf Alice have all been known to show up and play Sofar Sound sessions. The exact location is also kept secret until a day before the gig. It may be a room in a private house or flat, or may be an office or back room of a shop. Either way, space will be small, and audience size will be restricted to just a few dozen. The gig will be intimate, and always rather special. No wonder, therefore, that most Sofar Sound sessions are over subscribed.

Josh Savage

Opening tonight in the retro opulence of Jason Baldock's recording studio housed within this bunker is Josh Savage, a Sofar Sounds veteran playing the final UK date of this tour before heading off to Paris. Armed simply with an acoustic guitar Josh casts a spell that bewitches his audience with gentle songs of love and unfulfilled dreams. With the likes of Bella, Whisper In The Snow and Lost In Paris, we are transported like butterfly souls, helpless to resist even the gentlest of lyrical breezes, although the jars of honey available from his merchandise selection provide suitably sweet distraction.

Laura Goldthorp

Local singer-songwriter Laura Goldthorp follows. Currently a student at the UEA, Laura's appearances are always something special, and tonight is no different. Whether it is the attentiveness of the audience, the acoustics of the studio, or Jason's legendary RCA ribbon microphone being used, her voice tonight seems even sweeter and more beautiful than usual. It combines the lightness of Lucy Rose with the emotional sensitivity of Laura Marling to devastating effect. In fact, it is a Marling cover, New Romantic, along with Leonard Cohen's Chelsea Hotel #2, that Laura chooses with which to intersperse her own compositions. Look out for future Laura Goldthorp gigs via local listing pages whilst she remains with us within this fine city.

Max Taylor

Tonight's three piece suite of Sofar serenaders was completed by Max Taylor, another singer-songwriter, who appears to play quite regularly in the London and Brighton area. Perhaps slightly more of an acquired taste, with a voice that reaches into the higher ranges usually inhabited by the likes of Morten Harket and Stephen Bishop, Taylor has an appearance that initially reminds me of Ralph Malph from Happy Days, and once that image is in my head there is seemingly nothing that will shift it. Taylor sings three numbers accompanying himself on Fender Mustang bass, and switches to keys for the other two. The bass guitar notes seem to generate occasional sympathetic vibration from what sound like cymbals elsewhere in the studio, and the keyboard is not his own, but one borrowed from Jason, but it is the strength of the songs that carries the performance.

So this was my second experience of Sofar Sounds, and one that I hope to repeat in the near future. For those interested in attending a future event, or even fancy hosting a session in your own home, head to Sofar Sounds' website and register. You may not know who or what you are going to hear, but it will certainly be an experience that you will not forget.

Thanks to Jason for hosting, Chad for compering, Georgie for organising, and all three acts for performing.

www.sofarsounds.com

www.facebook.com/SofarSoundsNorwich

http://www.joshsavagemusic.com/

www.facebook.com/joshsavagemusic

https://soundcloud.com/laura-goldthorp

www.facebook.com/Laura-Goldthorp-Music

www.facebook.com/maxtaylortaylormusic

Jolie Holland and Samantha Parton - Back Together Alone Again For The Very First Time?

Unlike a fellow music writer friend of mine, who claims to have been playing a Be Good Tanyas album whilst his wife was giving birth to their eldest child (I cannot claim anything quite so eclectic - my son was born to the accompaniment of Celebrity Bullseye showing on the delivery room television at the old Norfolk and Norwich Hospital), my prior knowledge of this highly revered alt-country trio was somewhat limited - they did not feature in my album collection, and I had not ever seen them live. Not that that was going to stop me wanting to see founder members Jolie Holland and Samantha Parton playing together again for a gig at Norwich Arts Centre. Anyone who knows me understands that, since 'retiring', I have become something of a cultural sponge, absorbing all types of new music and artists.

Another point of intrigue, for me, was the name of the support act on seven UK dates of this tour - one Reuben Hollebon, from Stalham in Norfolk. Reuben tentatively admitted that, despite playing throughout the UK and having been on two European tours, he had never ever played Norwich before, despite living a mere 15 miles up the road.

Reuben Hollebon

Barefooted and unaccompanied, it was just Hollebon and his mini guitar that opened to a crowded mix of seated and standing audience tonight. Seeming slightly nervous, and perhaps naturally a man of few words, it was left largely to his songs to do the talking. With a voice that had the combined quality of flint and slate - edgy and sharp but with a fine contrast in  texture, we were rapt by the intensity of the performance to the point of almost being afraid to breathe. Quite an extraordinary performance from someone who, until now, has perhaps been better known for his work as a sound engineer with the likes of Basement Jaxx and Courtney Barnett. Faces was perhaps the strongest song from his set, but check also out his stunning video filmed at Dungeness for On and On (which has also been re-mixed by the likes of Mystery Jets and Submotion Orchestra). Hopefully he will be back, schedule permitting, with his band sometime soon.

Jolie Holland and Samantha Parton take the stage after a short interval, and also present is guitarist Stevie Weinstein-Foner. It is his vintage guitar that Holland needs to finish tuning before the trio are able to start their opening song, the traditional ballad The Lakes of Pontchartrain. Whilst beautiful in tone, this 1959 customised instrument proves temperamental, requiring frequent re-tuning throughout the evening as it is passed between Holland and Parton during the set. In between, Holland plays an interesting looking box fiddle and whistles beautifully on a couple of numbers, whilst Parton picks up acoustic guitar and mandolin duties. Weinstein-Foner ties the whole thing together beautifully, not only with his guitar work and occasional vocal contribution, but with a laconic line in back-seat banter between songs.

Jolie Holland

In fact, the whole performance style is so laid back as to be almost perpendicular - no wonder Norfolk audiences love these guys so much. There appears to be no rush to introduce or start each number. Comments are more often than not asides to each other that the audience is allowed in on. We are at one point asked whether it is true that The Beatles once played here. Replies are offered from the floor, but things get complicated when Harry Nilsson becomes confused with Lord Nelson, and we move on.

Samantha Parton

There are two covers of Townes van Zandt songs - You Are Not Needed Now and Waiting Around to Die, and a version of Dylan's 'uncompleted' Minstrel Boy, as well as Tanyas originals and three new songs from the yet-to-be-released collaboration album from Holland and Parton. During the introduction to one of these, titled Make It Up To Me, Parton lets slip that the release date is still undecided (possibly sometime during 'the second half of 2017') and that she has suggested Back Together Alone Again For The Very First Time as a working title.

The final number is a stirring version of the traditional Oh Susannah and then a single-song encore of Jolie Holland's Mexican Blue concludes the evening. As we leave the venue someone comments that the set had lasted just short of an hour and a half. It hardly seems possible - the evening seems to have simply flown by. Perhaps that laid-back combination of West Coast Americas and Norfolk has contrived to somehow slow down time itself. Either way, it was a magical combination.

http://www.reubenhollebon.com/
www.facebook.com/reubenhollebon

http://joliehollandmusic.com/

www.facebook.com/jolieholland

www.facebook.com/thebegoodtanyas

Outside 'The Box'. Looking In.

I saw a show last night. Well, when I say a show, I mean a performance. I experienced a performance. A disturbing performance. One man. In a cage. Slowly losing his mind. I stood on the outside of the cage. Not allowed to sit. Had to stand. For an hour. We all did.

The man was disturbed. He was angry. He had been bad. He needed to be punished. Alone. Solitary confinement, I think they call it.

Over the course of sixty minutes we watched. Some of us sipped uncomfortably at our drinks. But we did not speak. He did. He shouted. And swore. A lot. He hit himself. A lot.

At the end we did not know what to do. The lights came on. We left. The man was still in the cage. 

I did not know that I was going to experience 'The Box', an extreme piece of drama by extreme political artists Badac Theate. I thought I was just going be front-of-house, checking in the audience. But Norwich Arts Centre director Pasco-Q Kevlin had other ideas. 'David', he said, 'You need to see this. Go in. I will watch the front desk'.

And I am pleased that I did. I'm not sure that I fully understood the ending. I'm not sure anyone did for sure. And I think that was the point. But we all came out with questions. Questions burning in our minds. It had made us think. Through an intense and disturbing experience we not only questioned what we had seen and heard, but questioned ourselves.

And I think that was the point.

9/10

 'The Box', by Steve Lambert, contains strong language, and may be disturbing to some people. And expect to stand for the duration of the performance.

http://www.badactheatre.com/home.htm

KlangHaus Four Storeys at St George's Works, Norwich - To Which I Add My Own, the Volunteer Usher's Tale

The Neutrinos, having achieved local acclaim working with visual artist Sal Pittman (that's in addition to being applauded as ground-breakers, boundary-pushers and genre-defiers), are now receiving national recognition as a must-see collaboration since developing the KlangHaus concept in a disused Berlin radio station several years ago. The idea was to conceive a show that blurred the boundaries between audience and performer, and also involved the performance venue as an additional instrument and voice. What followed was a combination of rock gig, art installation, and site-specific audience experience that brought disused spaces back to life with resonance, music and light.

After a triumphant run of performances in a disused veterinary hospital during the 2014 Edinburgh Festival the show, now called On Air, was taken into the roof spaces above London's Royal Festival Hall in the summer of 2016. I became involved with Klanghaus for the first time when I volunteered as an usher last September for two performances of Alight Here, performed in a disused bus depot in Colchester. I was immediately blown away by the sheer energy, sensory immersion and site-specific aesthetics of the show. Although I had seen earlier prototype performances at venues like Norwich Arts Centre, this was now something completely different. Reviving songs from The Neutrinos' 2007 album One Way Kiss, adding especially written new material, and using the building itself as a blank canvas for Sal Pittman's visuals, the show was a revelation. I was hooked. As soon as it was announced that KlangHaus would be re-worked as Four Storeys for a December home-coming at a former shoe factory in Norwich I immediately re-offered my services.

Those who live in Norwich already know of the city's historic importance as a centre of shoe making in the UK - household names like Bally, Start-Rite, Van-Dal and Norvic all made footwear in our fine city. By 1936, St. George's Works in Muspole Street was part of the extensive Howlett & White site and was used as a warehouse for the storage of over 250,000 pairs of shoes. Later it was used a furniture storage facility for local removals firm Hadley & Ottaway. Now, large parts of it stand empty as the site awaits redevelopment to provide 57 new residential dwellings.

My first sight of St Georges Works came on the Sunday before our scheduled health and safety briefing on the Monday. I decided to check it out, as I had been labouring under the misapprehension that the shows would be performed at the nearby St Mary's Works in Oak Street - another redundant shoe factory currently being granted a temporary lease of life as a performance venue for the Shoe Factory Social Club. St Georges, however, is tucked away in Muspole Street, a narrow one-way thoroughfare that is accessed via Duke Street, and runs down to join up with Colegate opposite the new Jane Austen College. One end of the building has been renovated into office space and includes the studios of Heart FM. The separate bulding at the far end is used as workshops and studios by various artists. The large derelict bit in the middle is where Four Storeys was to be performed.

During the briefing on Monday afternoon it became apparent just how thorough the production team had been in ensuring that the building was safe for both performers and audience. Broken window panes had been masked off, roof leaks had been identified and minimised, trip hazards highlighted appropriately (and zoned off completely wherever possible), and low overhead obstacles wrapped in protective foam sleeves. The top floor of the building had been declared off limits, leaving the ground floor, mezzanine and 1st and 2nd floors to provide the Four Storeys responsible for giving the show its name. Fire extinguishers had been positioned throughout the whole route of the show.

As well as being briefed on keeping the audience safe, we were given a walk-through of the building and show. Rosie, Alex and Lucy, three members of the production team would escort the audience around the building, aided by Annie and myself as volunteer ushers. Between us we needed to ensure that the audience of fifty were safely in the right place at the right time for each of the band's six separate locations, but also ensure that they were given both space and time to explore Sal Pittman's projections and installations along the route. To highlight trip hazards and overhead obstacles we were provided with torches, but encouraged to use them only when necessary. With shows scheduled for 6.30 and 8.30pm starts, the building would not have the benefit of any natural daylight.

Our first experience of the show came with the 4.30pm dress rehearsal, and a real live audience of invited guests, press and Norwich Arts Centre staff. These were our guinea pigs, if you like, to test out the timings, and to see if an audience behaved as expected when following the route. It also gave us a better idea of where and how to deploy ourselves and how to guide our audience smoothly and seamlessly through the show. A further show at 6.30pm for invited art and music students gave us a second chance to fine tune things before the first performance proper on the Tuesday evening.

Over the next four nights there were a total of seven sold out shows for ticket-holders, plus a further two shows on the Friday night for the artists' friends and families. A portable bar in a converted horsebox was provided by the The Bicycle Shop Café for the benefit of arriving audiences, but announcements warning of the absence of toilets once the shows started were required (We were, however, able to escort groups across to the adjacent building where their first floor washroom facilities had been made available to us). We were lucky with the weather. Although it was cold (and the building was completely unheated), it remained dry for the benefit of checking off ticket-holders, and for the enjoyment of those pre-show drinks.

By and large, audiences behaved as anticipated and followed the performers around the building without any accidents or mishap. Only occasionally were we caught out by the herding instinct, when a small number at the front would peel off in unexpected directions only to be followed by the remaining fifty. Our main aim as ushers was to make sure that the audiences could see and hear the whole show, and sometimes this did mean having to firmly but politely keep them from straying beyond certain key markers. By the end of the final show, I believe that we almost had it cracked. A good indicator of the success of the journey taken through the building came at the end of the final song, after which everyone was provided with a tot of hot rum. Audience had been returned to exactly the same point where they had entered the building fifty minutes earlier, but many had become disorientated en route to the point that they still needed to ask us the way out. And that was not just the strength of the rum.

I deliberately have not tried to review the Four Storeys show itself. There are many fine reviews available online, and I would possibly suggest that from Outline Magazine to give a feel of what to expect from Klanghaus. Similarly, it would not have been appropriate for me to try and take photographs of the show itself whilst working as an usher. Richard Shashamane has posted some excellent images on his norwich blog site.  However, I would still pick out a number of moments from the show that will stay with me for long after those chilly December evenings have passed -

1) Just after entering the ground floor an outstretched arm reaches from a hole in the ceiling. A spotlight picks out a broken guitar neck being offered up to it as percussion resonates from several different corners of the room. Dramatic and intriguing.

2) The audience is led into a smokey low-ceiling room representing a misty woodland. Karen Reilly plays a saw and sings, whilst Jon Baker plays keyboard. Elements of the Norfolk legend of 'Babes in The Wood'. Beautiful.

3) From within the first floor offices the band plays a ferocious number whilst Karen sings silhouetted behind a projection screen as Sal Pittman's imagery augments. Visually exciting. And loud.

4) From the darkness at the back of the cavernous first floor emptiness Karen walks towards the audience, her unamplified voice carrying through the vastness and stillness of the space, her breath visible against the coldness of the air as she delivers a spine-tingling version of Reverse Heaven. This is followed by drummer Jeron Gundersen creating a percussive cacophany whilst being propelled the entire length of the building. Stunning.

5) The atmospheric soundscapes and installations of the second floor - images of old furniture and memories melting and disappearing into the walls and floor itself. Eerie.

6) Back on the ground floor the audience form a circle around the band for the uptempo but emotionally charged final song, Donkey Work, whilst projections rain down on both band and audience. Uplifting and glorious.

7) And finally. After passing through the fur coats and into the 'Christmas' room, Karen and Jon lead the audience in a beautiful and poignant rendition of new song Unsung. A moment that choked me up on each and every show. Holding back the tears.

So that was my KlangHaus Christmas - five days spent with a wonderful team of artists, and rewarded with an unforgettable experience. Thanks to Rosie and Alex for inviting me to usher, and to Karen, Jon, Mark and Jeron of The Neutrinos for making me feel so welcome, and part of the show. Your gifts at the end of the final show were greatly appreciated, and the framed print will be treasured.

The following day would be Christmas Eve. How on earth could Baby Jesus be expected to top that?

http://www.outlineonline.co.uk/content/klanghaus-four-storeys/live-reviews-/111978/2486

https://norwichblog.com/2017/01/04/klanghaus-four-storeys-st-georges-works-23-december-2016/

http://www.neutrinos.co.uk/

Kula Shaker's Back, so put the freshness back... (Crispian Mills' magic carpet cleans up a treat 20 years later)

For the last twenty years 'K' has remained a guilty pleasure of mine. Crispian Mills' concoction of Eastern mysticism and prog rock influences may have been dismissed by the critics as the self-indulgent project of a posh-kid with showbiz connections, but I loved it in 1996, and I still loves it now. Mills has grown up and is now a father to two children, has held true to his Krishna beliefs, and survived the badly-handled early press reaction to his comments about swastikas (the symbol was originally used as a Sanskrit symbol for 'good luck' or 'good fortune', but mischievous journalists tried to imply that Kula Shaker were somehow guilty of right-wing Fascist alliance through their adoption of it). When the '20th Anniversary of K' tour dates were announced back in June I immediately bought a ticket for the Norwich show. 

Six months on, and the novelty of these 'classic album' shows is beginning to wear off. In the last few weeks I have seen no less than five other bands performing 'anniversary' revival shows, and whilst I have enjoyed them all there is a danger that the old adage 'Nostalgia isn't what it used to be' could begin to ring true. And, besides, I am gutted that I am missing Kate Tempest's return to Norwich for her show at The Waterfront. But is there not some meditation technique (or failing that, hallucinogenic drug) that would provide an out-of-body opportunity to attend both gigs simultaneously?

Support for the entire Kula Shaker tour comes from three musicians from Folkestone, plucked from obscurity by Mills and given the chance to impress with their stampy blend of swampy blues-rock. Unfortunately, Rudy Warman & The Heavy Weather, use the opportunity to alienate me, not by their music (which is great), or their appearance (crusty eco-warrior), but by their arrogant between-song comments. Now, I have the utmost respect for those who hold strong beliefs and choose to follow an alternative lifestyle, but I feel slightly condescended to when it is assumed that, simply by being part of tonight's audience, I do not understand the issues at Standing Rock, or wish to continue to be carnivorous. And if I want to dance to your music, I will. I don't need Smart-Alec comments like 'There seems to be a lot of mud out there, 'cos your feet all seem to be stuck to the floor' any more than I need you to take your shirt off as some kind of evidence of the benefits of a vegan diet. You wouldn't like it if I took my shirt off to counter-demonstrate the effects of my pie and Adnams diet.

Rudy Warman & The Heavy Weather

Crispian Mills, by contrast, is as genial and as welcoming as one could hope for. After opening with a cheekily hi-jacked 'Kula Shaker's Crazy Hearts Club Band' (borrowed from a certain Fab Four) they give us Let Love B (With You) the new K.2.0 album, before getting on with the business in hand. Mills asks us to think of tonight's show not so much as a journey back in time, but as opening a door in time and bringing the past to the present. He reminds us of the ticket's promise to hear the 1996 'K' album played in its entirety, then playfully produces a vinyl copy of the album and a portable turntable. 'So, we will all listen to it together', he playfully teases, 'and then discuss it at the end'.

The atmosphere has already been prepared. Incense sticks have been burning atop Mills' ring of monitors, full length drapes featuring the 'K' logo and album artwork hang from either side of the stage, and above the drum-kit three projection screens synchronise kaleidoscopic imagery of Hindu deities. A lighting rig that reminds of the front half of a Louise Bourgeois sculpture straddles the back of the stage, whilst spotlight banks look on from the sides. Crispian Mills sense of the theatrical is certainly well-tuned after his directorial experiences.

The sound is joyously familiar as we work through the first half of the album. Bassist Alonza Bevan remains from the original line-up, as does drummer Paul Winterhart. Together with relatively new recruit Harry Broadbent on Hammond organ and keyboards, the re-creation is as perfect as one could hope for. Mills is suitably energetic in his performance, striking the obligatory poses but looking at times rather too much like Gareth Keenan from 'The Office' for comfort and total credibility.

There is a brief interlude between sides one and two, during which two B-sides are performed - Under The Hammer and the George Harrison tribute Gokula (containing a sampled riff from the Harrison song Skiing) as well as the single from Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts, Shower Your Love.

Side two features a further two singles, Tattva and Grateful When You're Dead, and the set ends with the Joe South cover, and hit single, Hush. By now we realise that one huge track from the album, the mighty Govinda, has been omitted from the album running order. Fear not. With the theatrical expertise of old pros Kula Shaker have kept the audience baying for more, and kept the best back for last. After an encore run through of two new tracks from K.2.0 we are duly given our chance to join in with the chanting of 'Govinda, Jaya, Jaya' until we are ready to leave for a higher plane. Or, in this case, the cold and foggy campus of the UEA.