Reviews

Event: Strawbs 40th Anniversary
Venue: The Live Room, Rugby Stadium
Town: Twickenham
Date: 12th and 13th September 2009
Website: http://www.strawbsweb.co.uk/

On paper, the weekend was meant to be a commemoration of the fact that it was forty years since the release of the Strawbs first album, "Strawbs" but it turned out to be not just a commemoration, but a celebration of the huge diversity and talent of Strawbs, both past and present.

Dave Cousins was born to be a showman. Ever since the early days, when he hosted the White Bear Club, he has surrounded himself with extraordinary musicians and has excelled in bringing this talent to the foreground. The two day event could so easily have become a Dave Cousins ego-trip, but every musician was allowed to bask in the limelight.

Don't think that there are many acts that could fill two full days of live music and still leave you wanting more. The fact that there were so many songs that weren't covered, and the fact that there are so many other musicians/ acts that could have been included (e.g. Tony Hooper, Claire Deniz, Lambert and Cronk as a duo, Ming Hat, Miller Anderson, Connie Conrad, Richard Hudson, etc.) is evidence of just how good and varied the Strawbs are. So many truly wonderful songs and so many musicians that you just can't fit them all in to two full days.

The theatre itself has to be one of the nicest I've been to. There's a large area in front of the stage, with tables and chairs, (large enough to also accommodate an orchestra, more of which later). The main seats though are on a decent slope, so no matter how tall the person in front, you still get a good view of the stage. There's also plenty of leg room, so people can get through without you having to leave your seat.

The main stage was beautifully lit, with mood lighting round the walls of the theatre. There were also lights mounted on the floor pointing at the wooden stage front, so that the whole visual thing encompassed more than just the stage. The acts varied from solo artists, through duos and trios up to full electric bands. At no time did the stage seem so big that solo artists looked small or lonely, or seem so small that bands looked squashed. No idea how it was done, but guess it was down to the skill of the lighting technicians.

Great to meet and chat in the bar with so many of the musicians as well. Really chuffed that so many people have now seen and heard so many of the musicians, like Cry No More, Fire, the Blue Angel Orchestra, Brian and Cathryn, who we've seen before in the UK, but who haven't been seen abroad (yet).

Every one who played looked as if they were having so much fun, and there was so much humour. Fred Wedlock, who compered, was hilarious. When Rick Wakeman and Dave Cousins played their set together their banter was side-slitting, and I really hope that some of that gets included on the DVD when it is released, though some of it may need Parental Guidance (particularly Rick's comments about spotted Dick). Biggest laughs, though, came from Roy Hill in his set with Cry No More. He launched into a mock tirade of insults against Tony Fernandez (Strawbs drummer at the time of the Heartbreak Hill album). Talked to Brian Willoughby (ex Strawbs guitarist) afterwards and he confirmed that it was all true.

Saw Tony and Roy happily joking together afterwards, so I can confirm that none of it was true.

For the finale on the second day, the Strawbs were accompanied by an orchestra made up from members of the Royal Artillery Band. Conducting and Orchestration was by Richard Kirby, one time keyboard player with the Strawbs. The Royal Artillery Band had agreed to play for a donation to the charity Help For Heroes and they too looked as if they really enjoyed themselves too. A wonderful end to a wonderful weekend.

Far too many musical highlights to list them all. So many songs I hadn't heard live before. How could they possibly have had time to rehearse so many? Such massive variation in subject matter, from Fire's "Treacle Toffee World" to Cry No More's "Don't Leave Me Here". So many new experiences such as hearing "Copenhagen" and "Where Silent Shadow's Fall" from the new album, seeing Zeus, Dave Lambert's new band play live for the first time ever (especially their cover of Peter Green's Oh Well), and hearing Sonja Kristina singing the songs that Sandy Denny once sang. The power of the almost stadium rock versions of Heartbreak Hill and "Where Is This Dream Of Your Youth" were stunning and in such contrast to some of the more gentler acoustic songs, such as John Ford's "Kissed By The Sun", Brian and Cathryn's "I Will", or Rick Wakeman's "Temperance of Mind". To hear songs like "Heavy Disguise" and "Evergreen" accompanied by an orchestra is an experience that will live with me for ever.

Day One
Dave Cousins and Ian Cutler
On a Night Like This
Grace Darling
Song Of A Sad Young Girl
Ways And Means
We'll Meet Again Sometime

Zeus
Morning Dew
Solway Dawn
Anji
True Love
Oh Well Pt 2
Oh Well Pt 1
Road to Maribor
Going Down

Strawbs - Heartbreak Hill Line Up
We Can Make It Together
Heartbreak Hill
The Desert Song
Let It Rain
Starting Over

Cry No More
I Love The Seaside (monologue)
Landslide
Barber Jim (monologue)
Cry No More
Marion Jones
Sheep (monologue)
Sleep
Tinkerbell (monologue)
Jenny Takes A First Look At Life
Joan (monologue)
I Love Roxy
Don't Leave Me Here

Strawbs - Blue Angel Line Up
Benedictus
Further Down The Road
New World
Cry No More
Blue Angel
070809 (Blue Weaver solo)

John Ford
Strange Universe
Kissed By The Sun
Love Is A Highway
Floating In The Wind
Burn Baby Burn/I Don't Understand/Pick Up the Pieces
Together Apart
Big Hit In India
Nice Legs
Part Of The Union (with Cathryn Craig, Blue Weaver and Tony Fernandez)

Dave Cousins and Rick Wakeman
The Hangman And The Papist
October To May
Martin Luther King's Dream
Witchwood
Temperance Of Mind
Can You Believe
A Glimpse Of Heaven
The Shepherd's Song

Day Two
Fred Wedlock
Testing
How To Blue
The British Barbecue
Send In The Clowns
Sunkissed
The Oldest Swinger In Town

Cathryn Craig and Brian Willoughby
That Ol' Guitar
Alice's Song
I Will
Mr Jefferson
Accanoe
(River Deep/Mountain High)
Cotton Fields/My Window Faces South

Blue Angel Orchestra
Never Take Sweets From A Stranger
Mellow Moon
The Young Pretender
Orange Blossom Special
Hellfire Blues
Skip To My Lou

Acoustic Strawbs
Simple Visions
Josephine (For Better Or For Worse)
Copenhagen
Cold Steel
Sail Away To The Sea (with Sonja Kristina)
On My Way (with Sonja Kristina)
All I Need Is You (with Sonja Kristina)
Tell Me What You See In Me (with Sonja Kristina)

Fire
Just Love (Dave Lambert solo)
Treacle Toffee World
Only A Dream
Flies Like A Bird
Reason For Everything
Like To Help You If I Can
I Can See For Miles
Father's Name Is Dad

Electric Strawbs
Sheep
The Winter And The Summer
Hero And Heroine
Autumn
Where Is This Dream Of Your Youth
Lay Down

Orchestrated Strawbs (accompanied by Royal Artillery Band)
Evergreen
John Ford and Dave Lambert (+ Orchestra)
Heavy Disguise
The River/Down By The Sea
Where Silent Shadows Fall

Pete Bradley

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