Live in person
Jan. 28th, 2022 05:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustLast night we went out to an actual music event: actual music at an actual event (in an actual launderette). If my memory is correct - that is, if this diary is to be believed - this was the first live gig we've been to since we saw the Young'Uns in February 2020. But when we heard that Martin Carthy was playing the Old Cinema Launderette (for the sixth time, says proprietor Mr Wishy Washy), we didn't hesitate.
It was a long evening: possibly I've just lost the knack of going out - you can applaud without having to find the mouse and unmute yourself first! - but I think it genuinely was long. Doors open at seven o'clock, and since seating is very limited, we made an effort and were there by five past (so we got to watch Martin doing his sound check); support act Johnny Campbell came on at eight, and did half an hour; then Martin did two sets, and the show ran until eleven. The metal folding chairs are not designed for a four-hour stint, and eleven is well past my bed-time. Support acts are a fine institution: they give exposure to less well-known acts, and I've made some great discoveries that way. Johnny Campbell was fine - not great, but fine - but we really didn't need him...
I wouldn't have wanted to reduce Martin Cathy's set by a minute, but I was exhausted by the end of it, and I think he was pretty tired, too. Certainly, the memory was flakier in the second set than in the first. In other respects, I was relieved that the rustiness I had seen the last time we sw him in concert (by Zoom) is much diminished: the voice, the guitar, the storytelling are all present and correct, and he's clearly working on the memory. Meanwhile, the lapses are incorporated into the act: "Don't do that, Martin..."
It was a long evening: possibly I've just lost the knack of going out - you can applaud without having to find the mouse and unmute yourself first! - but I think it genuinely was long. Doors open at seven o'clock, and since seating is very limited, we made an effort and were there by five past (so we got to watch Martin doing his sound check); support act Johnny Campbell came on at eight, and did half an hour; then Martin did two sets, and the show ran until eleven. The metal folding chairs are not designed for a four-hour stint, and eleven is well past my bed-time. Support acts are a fine institution: they give exposure to less well-known acts, and I've made some great discoveries that way. Johnny Campbell was fine - not great, but fine - but we really didn't need him...
I wouldn't have wanted to reduce Martin Cathy's set by a minute, but I was exhausted by the end of it, and I think he was pretty tired, too. Certainly, the memory was flakier in the second set than in the first. In other respects, I was relieved that the rustiness I had seen the last time we sw him in concert (by Zoom) is much diminished: the voice, the guitar, the storytelling are all present and correct, and he's clearly working on the memory. Meanwhile, the lapses are incorporated into the act: "Don't do that, Martin..."
