October 13, 2012
Penny Evans
Came close to forgoing tonight's Michelle Shocked gig at Bush Hall. I was feeling a bit under the weather, and picked up a measure of vicarious sadness from an ex-colleague, and it seemed like an awfully long way and I couldn't find anyone to go with. (Last year's companion, long ago boyf and recent best man Matt, has left these shores; and Mandy's in Aberdeen; and so on.) Michelle's a bit old school for many of the people I know these days, and it was short notice -- though it turns out my old boss from APT is also keen (much the same age, see) and might have made it with a bit more warning. So perhaps that, next year.
Anyway, I was on my own and not in the mood. And she started slow and laconic, making the audience her warm-up act with a round or two of folkaoke ("It's like karaoke, but without the Jägermeister"). There was a lot of deceptively low-key meandering confessional chat, and at first I was concerned that it was all going to be a half-baked retread of her last visit -- which I would still have enjoyed a lot, of course. But I needn't have worried. She knew where she was going, weaving her sticky storyteller's web from country to doo-wop to blues. It was a barnstorming performance, wonderfully assisted by Kermit the Frog Peter O'Toole on bouzouki(?), and she played the crowd as fiercely as her guitar.
There were a couple of children in the audience, dragged along by well-meaning parents, and they seemed sort-of into it, but a bit uncertain. I wanted to rush up to them and tell them how lucky they were, that they'd appreciate having done all this when they got older; but of course I didn't. And who knows, maybe they won't. But it added to atmosphere, anyway.
I sang along and clapped and roared. Got a little teary-eyed. She encored with a searing, unaccompanied "Ballad of Penny Evans", belted out from among the audience in the middle of the hall. It was awesome.
I'm almost ready to turn up at the Stock Exchange tomorrow to bang some pots and pans.
Almost.
Posted by matt at October 13, 2012 12:44 AM