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My Darling Clementine

Venue: The Atkinson
Town: Southport
Date: 14/12/13
Website: http://mydarlingclementinemusic.co.uk/

One of the best live bands I have ever seen was Emmylou Harris's original Hot Band, which featured a hand-picked line-up of the very best musicians around, including several former members of Elvis Presley's TCB [Taking Care of Business] Band. Live, the Hot Band were superb. Now, Michael Weston King and Lou Dalgleish of the much-acclaimed Brit-Country duo My Darling Clementine have formed their own "hot band" with whom they rolled into Southport, where Michael grew up.

The suggestion that the MDC band is the British equivalent of The Hot Band is not an unreasonable one. Just as Emmylou had one of America's greatest guitarists in James Burton, MDC have one of Britain's best in Martin Belmont [who has played with Ducks Deluxe, Graham Parker and The Rumour, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Carlene Carter and Johnny Cash, to name but a few]. The rest of the MDC band are no slouches either, with Alan Cook [one of Europe's most imaginative and creative pedal steel guitarists], Liam Grundy [piano -who has played with the aforesaid James Burton, as well as Scotty Moore, Billy Swan and Dave Edmunds amongst many others], Al Gare [bass player with Imelda May and Richard Hawley]and Neil Bullock [drums- who has played with just about everyone who is anyone in British Jazz]. This band are as tight as the proverbial whatever and provide the perfect setting for Michael and Lou's brilliant songs about such archetypal country music subjects as love, infidelity, loss and retribution.

The band were clad in matching shirts [ someone said they looked like a darts team!], whist Lou [head-to-toe in polyester] and Michael [sporting his father's 1970's tie ] looked suitably retro, in keeping with the vintage country styling of the music from their two superb albums "How Do You Plead ?" and "The Reconciliation".

The show commenced with a set of performances of songs from the first album "How Do You Plead?".I used the word "performances" advisedly, as Lou and Michael do not just sing their songs, they also act them out with more than a touch of theatre, which echoes the classic country duets of the past- George and Tammy, Johnny and June and Dolly and Porter. Songs such as "I Bought Some Roses", "Going Back To Memphis", "Reserved For Me And You"and "Put Your Hair Back" came to life as the on-stage interaction between Lou and Michael was matched by the interplay between Martin's twangy guitar and Alan's plangent pedal steel.

"The Reconciliation" is definitely one of my albums of the year and MDC performed virtually the whole of the album and it was a real treat to hear it played live by such an accomplished band. It is really difficult to pick out highlights, as it was all hugely enjoyable but if I had to I would nominate "No Heart In This Heartache", a rocking "Leave The Good Book On The Shelf", the Penn-Oldham-inspired "Our Race Is Run" and, best of all, Lou's vocal tour de force on her riposte to "Stand By Your Man", "No Matter What Tammy Said". Then again, one of my favourite songs on "The Reconciliation" is the desperately sad "I No Longer Take Pride" in which a once-elegant man lets himself go, following the death of his partner. Lou made a dramatic entrance as the deceased who reassures him that she is "looking down watching him".

Whilst most of Lou and Michael's songs are [hopefully] fictional, they do also write some very personal songs, none more so than "Ashes, Flowers And Dust", which refers to the passing of Lou's father and Michael's mother. This was sung with real feeling, especially as family members were present in the audience. Another personal song is "Miracle Mabel", written about the birth of the couple's daughter. Again, the emotion was tangible as Lou sang the "this is not a song for Christmas" song.

As an extra treat, we had an interlude during which a solo Lou sang a sensational version of Elvis Costello's "Indoor Fireworks", after which Michael joined her for Jerry Chestnut's "Good Year For The Roses" [famously recorded by both George Jones and Elvis Costello].The duo then sang another song associated with George Jones, "That's All It Took", which was also covered by Gram Parsons on his classic "GP" album.

Further reference to George Jones came with a storming honky tonk rendition of Michael's tribute to the late singer "The Gospel According To George", which Michael wrote after reading George's frighteningly frank autobiography "I Lived To Tell It All".

In conclusion, this was an absolutely superb concert which I would rate as my "Equal Best Gig Of The Year". [In case you are wondering what the other "Equal Best Gig Of The Year" was, it was the aforementioned Emmylou Harris's tour with Rodney Crowell ].

Peter Cowley