Tuesday, November 26, 2002

Will Oldham was, of course, excellent. After a quirky set from the painfully shy Mark Likous (aka Sparklehorse) accompanied by video footage, drummer, tapes, laptop and bad microphones, Will Oldham ambled on stage. plugged in his guitar and just started wailing in his distinct style. Oldham spun out fragile little songs joined by brothers Paul (bass) and Ned (guitar and vocals) plus guitarist, accordionist/keyboard player and drummer (the butt of Oldham's wicked humour as the night wore on). For the uninitiated, Oldham is one part Dylan, one part Johnny Cash (who has covered Oldham's wonderful/worrying "I See a Darkness"), half part Neil Young and half part I'm not quite sure what. He is heavily influenced by the late John Fahey who almost single-handedly "invented" alt.country/americana - the bastard son of folk, country, blues and rock.

Oldham played a widely drawn set from his catalogue of alt.personas - Bonny Prince Billy, Palace, Bonny Billy, Palace Brothers et al. There were a few songs that I guess were covers, but it's hard to tell when he has such a huge oeuvre. His band kept wanting to rock out and Oldham increasingly encouraged them despite a beer shower, at one stage, for the drummer. Despite the not so intimate confines of the Barbican Hall, it was a special little night.

Meanwhile, the most important news of the weekend must be the lighting up of the Perry Como statue in Pennsylvania. Light up? Burn down?

:: Posted by pete @ 13:34