GIGS IN DECEMBER 2008

THE HALL FOR CORNWALL, TRURO (3RD DECEMBER)

THE LEVELLERS

The Cornish crowd consisted of a cornucopia of crusties back from the beanfields, in search of fiddle-led folk music, and they were not disappointed by The Levellers performance.

Old tracks and crowd pleasers from their thirty year career mixed seamlessly with new material from their latest critically acclaimed album `Tales From The Underground`.

Harking back to the early Clash in politics and sentiment, if not style, the band`s new material lends itself well to the live situation and tonight proved the point to perfection.

There is of course, no show without Punch, and many a flailing arm was indeed seen in the audience as in unison they joined with the band in the anthemic `One Way of Life` choruses, without a trace of irony in their voices.

`Joyful abandon` are two words to describe the evening, as the world was put to rights by a bunch of alcohol fuelled, soap dodging herberts in Truro.

No change there then.

GIGS IN OCTOBER 2008

THE HALL FOR CORNWALL, (11TH OCTOBER)

WISHBONE ASH


The seventies are still alive in Cornwall, so bands like Wishbone Ash can always rustle up a crowd when they visit and tonight was no exception.

Like many of their fans, original members have fallen by the wayside over the years, but the spirit lives on in last surviving man standing, Andy Powell and his trusty Gibson Flying V guitar.

Surrounded by a younger band, Andy brought those damp student bedsit days back with note perfect versions of the classics, `Blowing Free` and `The King Will Come` to the delight of the hairy, and the not so hairy alike on this chilly autumnal evening.

Memories topped up, ancient tour shirts aired, and youth slightly recaptured, the crowd left happy in the knowledge that classic rock will endure as long as Wishbone Ash exist.

THE HALL FOR CORNWALL, TRURO (8TH OCTOBER)

ELBOW

Mercury prize not withstanding, Elbow has had a long journey that seems to have been well below the radar for many in the audience tonight as early material is given muted applause whilst recent chart friendly and Glasto anthems get the sing-a-long treatment of the relieved ticket buyer. For the sensitive souls in the house tonight, the big, beardy bloke called Garvey pulled at the heartstrings with his silky smooth vocals on tracks such as `One Day Like This` and `The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver`.

This is the band that clearly has Coldplay and Radiohead in their sights and so perfection is the keyword of this unusual underdog still waiting for it`s day. They have the songs, they have the staying power and they certainly create an uplifting live experience.

Thom and Christopher had better up their game, its dog eat dog out here.