Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Acoustic Moon 3 - Without words and in other tales

I shall continue with the performances of last Thursday evening, and not before time, with a trio of artists whose principal weapon is acoustic guitar. If you think that might be a recipe for tedious similarity then think again.

The first of those to play was Chris Woods and while he was very talkative between tracks they are all entirely instrumental. I must admit that I'm pretty tolerant of instrumental music but even if that were not the case it would have pushed me to think that way and, apparently, most others thought the same. It did however make me think about the way he was playing, and how to take photos of it. I never did quite succeed in doing the latter. No excuses on my part --- it was astonishing just to watch and wonder. In retrospect it is amazes me that I took any pictures at all. I've seen more than my fair share of live acts this year and this was right up there with the most remarkable.
  
When it came to it Cole Stacey, who has recently been touring the UK sometimes with and sometimes without Chris Woods, was certainly in competitive mood.  I should say that this was the closing date of that tour and a coup de grĂ¢ce.
It was a contest of a kind...
Cole sings his own songs; he also picks judicious cover versions too. He then conjured Jennifer Clark, up from Devon, to sing on some songs and even got the audience singing too. There were only winners here.
This one was 'The Boxer'. There is however no animosity.
   
Together unplugged, at Acoustic Moon 3, with Chris Woods on banjo.
  
Top of the evening, and dealt a tough hand, was Mark Abis. Have no worries about this for he thrives on songs about that sort of thing...  and a new album is on the way soon.

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