Arcticterntalk.org

The blog of a travelling psychiatrist and football lover. Who happens to be a halfway decent photographer. Takes a cynical view of the world

Archive for the tag “music”

04 Nov 2012
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Scott Perham – Musician


Last week was spent on a cruise boat Navigator of the Seas. A nice way to spend 6 days travelling, mostly at night from Rome to Barcelona. One of the singers deserves a mention, Scott Perham. Each night he had what can be described as a 4 hour residency in the bar on the boat that could most be likened to an English pub. So whilst sipping Amstel or Bud Light , we had plenty of opportunity to listen. This man can play well. He played mostly music in the genre of Eagles, country rock and the suchlike. One song caught my ear that I did not recognise, ” Against the Wind” sung originally by Bob Seger. Sadly spotify does not seem to know this song. But this guy is good. If he were local I would visit regularly. Just saying.

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12 Jul 2012

Robin Mae and the Impressionists


Last night this band played in bar area of the Rose Theatre in kingston and were fantastically recieved. Encore was demanded. Nothing new about this sequence of events until one takes a closer look and you see that the two youngest band members are 11 and 12 years old. No need to make any excuse for age as they are a quality act. Great songs and surprisingly good stage presence for a singer so young. They have talent in abundance and I really think that we saw a star in the making last night. Here are a few photos to give you an idea but the full album sits on my facebook page

facebook.com/chris.bushe.3

Enjoy and when you can go and see them

 

Robin Mae and the impressionists

Robin Mae and the Impressionists

Robin Mae and the Impressionists

Robin Mae

Robin Mae

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14 Jun 2012
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Lucinda Belle Orchestra. Magical evening and magical music


Occasionally one gets lucky with music. About a year ago my eldest daughter told me ( as she usually does) to listen to a CD by a band that I had not heard of. The drive home was about an hour and I listened, and listened and have not really stopped listening. Her presence on the social media front has been sporadic and the occcasional tweet sometimes informed that a gig was imminent. A month ago we were lucky to see her at the TurnerSims concert hall at Southampton university and there we learned that she was playing a 3-night residency at Jazz Club Pizza Express in Soho. Last night for a mere 15£ we went along. Just to be clear that this is the downstairs of a Pizza Express that has a club that unsurprisingly sells pizzas. The furthest table away is maybe 15 metres and the nearest literally less than a few inches. Acoustics are great, atmosphere is buzzy and prices not at all exhorbitant, bottlw of wine 17£ ( central london prices are often far more).

The music. Magical. She played a lot of songs from her album and a couple from her new EP, and a few new songs as the band are currently hovering in a studio somewhere and after the concert Lucinda told us that towards the end of this year we can expect more gigs. This girl is not just good but special. Her music is original and enchanting and varies sometimes to the pop end and then back down to what she called something like ” gypsy rock”. I am not sure why we have not heard more of her. She is 38years. Are her concerts and albums well marketed? In my humble opinion, no. When I compare the plethora of tweets from artistes like Tim Minchin and Kyla La Grange, who flog their concerts easily and then of course get the online social media feedback, her presence is minimal, but can be corrected.

All I can say is go and buy her album and follow this band online. Although Lucinda Belle fronts the band, and plays harp on most songs, she does relax and do vocals only on a few. Her band line up does seem to change but last night they totalled 7 members including Bass, guitar, keyboards ( a Matt Smith look alike), drummer etc.

Photos all taken without flash using ISO speeds of 12500-25000 so grainy shots as you expect.

 

http://www.thelbo.com/

 

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16 May 2012

Lucinda Belle Orchestra . Another priviledge to have been at Southampton


I first heard the music from the Lucinda Belle Orchestra about a year ago and was impressed. During this last year I had never seen any concerts advertised and very little in the media generally about LBO. The very occasional tweet but that was it. The album is fairly unique featuring harp music that can best be described as replacing the guitar. So when about a month ago I was told that they were playing at Southampton the chance to get tickets was an easy one to agree to.

The venue is the theatre TurnerSims that is part of the main campus at Southampton University, this means easy parking and a nice venue. The band were amazing. Lucinda Belle held the stage for the whole set with comfort and the only criticism might be that the set was not long enough. She mostly sang and ” harped” but for a few songs took to the microphone to sing. Her outfit was interesting. Striped tights that caught the eye and heels that placed her 6 inches off the floor. The band also were good to watch and listen to. A Serbian double-bass player was making his debut and looked like he would take off with excitement at times. The hall sadly was not anywhere near full and I may be imagining it but was Lucinda Belle a little glum? She deserved that place to be full. Afterwards the band members came out and they were selling CDs etc, which in a funny sort of way seemed a little desperate. For me people should be queueing to buy the CDs.

The band are in the studio for the next few months working on their next album but they are playing some gigs at Pizza Express in London. If you go onto the website you can download a free couple of tracks. This band is good and it will be a shame if they eventually call it a day.

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09 May 2012
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Tim Minchin and Band. A priviledge to have been there.


Sometime last week a tweet from Tim Minchin advertised a concert at 100 Club in London for which there were 42 tickets remaining. Two were purchased. The gig was advertised as a humourless affair just music. The venue was a quaint throwback maybe 30 years. A basement under Oxford street with few chairs and two bars, but most importantly a stage. A curious entry procedure which led to a wait of 30 minutes in a slow moving queue due to each person being ticked off a paper list. Beer was 4£ pint, very reasonable. The venue is constructed like a rectangle meaning that it is impossible to be far from the stage.

Tim Minchin came on and announced that this gig was more of an experiment and that they only had 7 songs, he then confessed that he had written one more this afternoon, so eight songs. The music began. The music was simply amazing, enjoyable, whatever…..I felt privileged to have been there at the start of what might become big. No ego’s present. The band and Tim drinking afterwards with the few crowd members remaining and happy to shake my hand and briefly chat, with no eyes-rolled-to-heaven kind of look. Humourless ? I don’t think so. No humour intended but he is just a really funny man. Lots of humour but none that overshadowed the music.

My photos are rubbish taken with the I phone but no-one minded those who brought proper cameras along. I shall spend tomorrow looking to see when he is playing again . This might be big and we were there at the start. That I like.

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10 Feb 2012

Why do Marriott hotels not give Wi-fi free? Selena Gomez


After 2 hours of an unspeakingly dreadful junior Disco, well for me not the children who shrieked their way through 2 hours of songs that bore no relationship to the term that I call music.  A cold walk home. Whatever they say the temperature is it feels like minus 10. Most lower league football has been called off tomorrow so no Brentford and yet another game to re-arrange. All kind of dull really.

So todays rant must be against hotels and in particular the Marriott hotel in Leicester. This place is not cheap. In fact bed and breakfast is 149£/night. The pleasures of wi-fi are only available in the ” bar and restaurant” areas. Otherwise broadband costs 15£/night. This is roughly what virginMedia charge me for a whole month of excellent connection. They then charge 5£ for parking and there is no other option so really the overnight cost becomes £154. There finally is the option to eat in the bar area and a sandwich will cost around 8£ and a burger around 14£. These are disgraceful prices. No room was also available for me when I arrived past the check-in time to compound matters. The hotel is also souless and the staff look like a dose of ECT ar around 4000 volts might be needed. End of rant. But there again, things might get worse and they did. Do not ever be tempted to eat or stop at Newport Pagnell services. They are well beyond awful. Sausages and mash, served to me who eats football ground fare , were appalling, served on a cold plate, the food looked like it might have been cooked this week, possibly. A dreadful waste of 7£. I make all these points and for me the cost is borne by my employer, but I would never spend my own money at either of these two establishmnets again. No camera with me so an old photo to keep you going today. So to finish the evening some music from one of my more unexpected artists, Selena Gomez. Very underated.

Even the heat of a candle is welcome tonight

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