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Posted by Mike Jessop
on April 20, 2009, 10:00 am
217.206.230.2
A Review of “Billy Mitchell & Friends” at Seaton Delaval Arts Centre ,
Saturday 18th April 2009
Seated and Delightful
Another wonderful committed night from Billy and friends, tonight accompanied by our friend Edwina and I met Bob Otley too at last !
From arrival we sensed this was quite a family and popular occasion, both Susie and Lesley were spotted scoffing in the adjoining chipshop whilst Rachel was seen opposite drifting out of the Co-op !
“Friends” proved to be both son Tom ( played wonderfully all night with some fun quips on his CD ! ) , old Lindisfarne mate Ray Laidlaw on drums ( tonight without those feature City Hall shorts – in a bankers suit ! ) and on bass, Michael Bailey ( now bearded and both looking and sounding more like Springsteen c 1975 Born to Run everyday ).
Jiva and Jim Wigfield introduced us to this lovely c 120 seated venue which is ran with friendly devotion by a handful of brave community volunteers, a delightful intimate venue which provided nice acoustics in this electric line up.
Set wise , we had the same songs as the recent Davy Lamp gig , in two halves each of precisely one hour , re-arranged a little but all sounding so much fuller and better with the deep and bouncing rhythm section – Michael plays in awe of hero Ray all night long giving great depth and enthusiasm to some lovely songs.
Rockin Chair as ever set us off with a great double rhythm section build up , followed by a slowed down Devils Ground , but first half highlights were Toms blistering solo lead of Louisiana on piano, the Seghill in Primrose Hill ice breaker, the almost reggae version of sequenced As I Watched …. Collier Laddies Wife exquisitely delivered in that yet most hated of keys – F#, , and a superb guitar ending again on Dublin Take Me. I bet the second lady rudely walking off to the toilets midsong now regrets it !
After the break , a much more relaxed crowd were treated real well – extra special moments were the grins exchanged between old mates all round as they finished the last chords in Ghost In Blue Suede Shoes , the Stannah explanation around the wonderful Mr Bojangles ( always a classic played by Billy , please never leave this one out ) , Toms lead again on Hulls Tynemouth Song , the story of Billys better educated medical brother David , and the closer , Dirty Life and Times.
For the encore , which was very heavily and noisily demanded by a delighted audience , we got Billy solo , before continued and probably unexpected calls brought them all four back again for a final bow .
Billy promised to get back to Seaton Delaval in the Autumn “with Foxxy if I can sort it” ( ie Bob Fox) – something tells me that despite the quips at Seaton Delaval lifestyles which pervaded the humour all night , that many more will return to see him , ……………………….they were seated and delighted on Saturday in Seaton Delaval!
Mike Jessop.
For The Anoraks ::
1 = Rockin Chair / Devils Ground / Walking Back To Blueberry Hill / Louisiana / Primrose Hill / Happy Birthday Dad / As I Watched the Tyne Go By ……….. Collier Laddies Wife / Dublin Take Me / Together Forever.
2 = Pitman & Blackin’ / Northern Sky / Ghost In Blue Suede Shoes / Mr Bojangles / Tynemouth Song / Log On Your Fire / She Belongs To Me / Where My Heart Lives / Dirty Life and Times /// Cant’ Do Wrong for Doing Right.
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