GIG - Bert Jansch, Bernard Butler and Beth Orton at Somerset House
Posted by Adrian | Posted in bernard butler , bert jansch , beth orton , concert , london , somerset house | Posted on 23:30
Summertime rolls on, and tonight was another outdoor gig infusion, but this time with a difference. We'd never heard of the main act... we paid to get in based on his support band.
And the venue. More on the venue later. First the band:
Beth Orton was I admit the primary reason for going in the first place. Ethereal vocals, a good grasp on the fundamentals of great songwriting and an adept acoustic artist. And hey, if the Chemical Brothers choose you to be their voice... you got something going on.
Bernard Butler played guitar for Suede. Remember them? I had their first album because of the song "Animal Nitrate". I used to love that tune when I was growing up, and I could vaguely remember the guitars being not too shabby. Luckily I remembered right. They were pretty cool then, and they're pretty solid now. Nice bluesy tones.
and then there was Bert Jansch. Turns out for a Scottish dude with 25 (yes 25) albums under his belt spanning 4 decades and having influenced everyone from Bob Dylan to Neil Young, he can kinda play! Classical, fingerpicking, blues, country - if it gets played on an acoustic guitar, this guy helped write the book. I had never heard of him before, but after a stellar performance in a great venue with brilliant support musicians - I have to say - much respect Mr Jansch.
Here's a sneaky pic of Beth Orton doing what she orta [sorry! :-)]
(One of the things I like best about music is you can take this sort of gamble - music is a kind of meritocracy - because X and Y are good, and they rate Z, thus Z must rock! and in this case it were never more true)