In which there is more Rock!

I only realised a couple of weeks ago that Thea Gilmore would be playing in Bristol as part of her Wintertide tour, so I was happy to find that there were still tickets available, so last night found me heading over to Bristol (second time in two weeks - whereas normally I go very rarely,as I hate the traffic!)

When I arrived it was to an apologetic note on the door at the venue to say the doors wouldn't be opening until 8p.m. (The tickets said 7) - happily however I bumped into a coupe who were also arriving for the gig, and the three of us went off to a nearby pub for a quick drink while we were waiting - (of course, there are those who would say one shouldn't go off for drinks with strangers, but hey, you've got to live a little!

When we came back a little after 8 the doors were open, and when I went in, I bumped into a friend of mine & her husband. I hadn't known she was a fan of Thea's, so it came as a (nice) surprise.

The show was in a hall at the Bristol Folk House - it felt a little like a school hall, to start with, however, once the music started that was all forgotten.

The show was opened by Rod Clements (late of Lindisfarne), which was fun, then Thea herself came on after the interval.

She was accompanied by Nigel Stonier (gutiar, vocals, and occassional piano) and by 'Fluff' (violin, vocals and percussion) and the music was mostly from her new 'Strange Communion' album, so lots of new music, (for some of which, Rod Clements came back on stage) as well as one or two covers.

The evening seemed to pass very quickly, and before we knew it we reached the encore stage. Thea explained that while it's a while until Christmas, to help us all to get into the festive spirit she and the band had made a dart-board of really cheesy christmas songs (Fairy Tale of New York was excluded for being too good) and a member of the audience was invited to select one by the throw of a dart, to be sung in an (in)appropriate style....

We got 'So here it is, Merry Christmas' sung as a slow ballad... which, I think we can all agree, is an excellent way to sing it :-)

It made for a delightful end to the evening. And then, wnen it was over, there was the opportunity to say hello to Thea and the other musicians and to buy a copy of the new CD.

A most excellent evening.