Other Reviews

01/12/2009

Dick Gaughan live

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Bath Folk Club 27.11.09

Tonight's opening act, Sally In The Wood (named after a stretch of road between Batheaston and Bradford upon Avon fact fans!) bring a lyrical stillness to the room with stylish arrangements of 'The Cuckoo Song', 'Waiting For The Lark', and 'Three Drunken Maidens'.

This all-female trio of unaccompanied voices also have self-penned numbers and lashings of good natured humour that forms an ideal springboard for this evening's proceedings and another resounding result for The Bath Folk Club.

Dick Gaughan's mighty stage presence and gravitational pull on an audience has never wavered. Nor has his ablility to plant a moral question in a listener's mind, as he does with his regular opener since the mid - 80's, 'What You Do With What You've Got' (It's not how big your share is, but how much you can share).
 
With his Martin guitar looking vulnerable in his hands he pumps out the choppy rhythmns more forcefully than on record, however, nothing could over shadow that cavernous voice, conveying pride and hope in equal measures.

Capitalism wasn't going to get away without a mauling tonight and 'Lemmings' is the a wry observation on our ability to walk blindly into disaster ('we all say hallelujah as we jumped off the edge'). It seems it isn't just Wood and Bragg who hold all the trump cards when it comes to lyrical stealth.

Pete Seeger's 'Waist Deep In The Big Muddy', although written in '67, remains as relevant as ever and 'The Devil & Pastor Jack' shows of Dick's skills as an engaging raconteur with his brilliant preamble: Apparently, even Ian Paisley thought the song's pratagonist was 'a wee bit of an extremist.'

A captivating version of the 'Lament For Owen Roe McNeil' was just head and shoulders above numerous seated displays of his six string dexterity and a reminder that his ancestral roots are partly Irish.

After being approached with requests in the break Dick took us back to his 'album of the 80's', 'Handful Of Earth', for 'Now Westlin Winds' and the title track. Here, in contrast to the belting socialist commentaries, Dick leans into the mic and caresses the familiar words, reawakening our ears to their melodic timelessness.

Then, we hear about his dilemma with one of his most popular moments: finding himself in a tiny cafe in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Dick saw an Audrey Lorde quotation on the wall - “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences” - it was this that inspired him to return the majestic 'Both Sides The Tweed' to his set after a ten year absence: a song that many hold close to their hearts.

For a performer who quipped at the start that the Scots 'don't do passion, don't do emotion' this was a stirring evening and a reminder of his continuing influence.

David Kushar

http://www.dickgaughan.co.uk