Dan Stuart and Antonio Gramentieri Live at the Water Rats Kings cross 22.4.14.
This is the opening night of Dan and Antonio's European tour that finishes in June and is to promote the release of two new books by Dan the expanded edition of The Deliverance Of Marlowe Billings www.cadizmusic.co.uk and Barcelona Blues which is Dans first book of Poetry and is a very limited edition on the Padre Lindo press that will probably sell out long before the end of the tour.
I was hoping to see the main support Kathleen Haskard but the Water Rats had stuck two more bands between her and Dan so I missed her set and due to my broken shoulder I sat in the bar chatting with Dan et al until 10 minutes before he went on and so missed the other supports.
Still I found myself somewhere safe to stand near the back of a packed club and soon enough they started with Dan playing an Acoustic Guitar and Antonio on an electric that I think was a Stratocaster but hard to tell from where I was stood. Right from the start no matter how ring rusty Dan might have been he never sounded it and no I'm not sure what the opening song was called but it was very good indeed it might have been all the pills I was on but damn it sounded great.
Dan was in jovial mood and was quipping nicely between songs as he made sure to Keep On Moving the first song to get half the audience or more singing along was a sublime and very laid back version of That's What dreams are made of the old Green On Red classic that certainly made most of us smile. Dan was soon telling us about a bunch of things we shouldn't ask him about on the beautifully sad Why I Ever Married You? They then played a slow almost sepulchral version of Sixteen Ways that was a standout highlight of the show.
The Day William Holden Died was played slow and sure and Dan really emphasized the lyrics and brought out all the emotion in the song's lyrics a wonderful lament. Dan then told us about his lost years as a Golf Playing property assessor a tale that got most of us laughing before he took us on a trip South of Juarez into his Mexican homeland a place he eventually found some redemption in.
Jimmy Boy saw some of Antonio's most fluid lines as smiles lit up the room for this stone cold classic that was full of emotion as we wondered if anyone had actually seen Jimmy Boy or if he was still sitting with his Throat cut behind the baseball stop the dark despair evoked by the loose yet spot on desert guitars as they felt their way through the song.
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My note taking at gigs is often sketchy and with the added impairment got sketchier still for the next section of songs that I think were from Can Of Worms and Retroneuvo the 2 solo albums Dan put out in the 90's that were recently re-issued as a double cd before Dan told us he was going to play the song his Mexican neighbours like the most, yes Gringo Go Home it was and it seems to work perfectly live with Dan being able to add emphasis to the lyrics and really get that feeling of being an outsider across.
They wrapped the set up with a spot on slow burning fuse style version of Time Ain't Nothing that still sounds fresh nearly 30 years after I first heard him sing it live with Green On Red I don't think there was anyone who didn't sing along to the chorus either a great show closer and they left the stage to very loud applause.
For the encore Dan surprised us with a very slow and hammy version of Lou Reed's Vicious that had some of the country edge that can be heard in the early live versions Lou played with the Tots at places like the Scala in Kings Cross in 1972 that was about 150 yards down the road from the Water Rats although Kings Cross is no longer the sleazy neighbourhood it was back then, Towards the end of it the slipped in a couple of Bars of Sweet Jane before going back into Vicious a great and surprising cover.
They then closed the show with a mass sing along of No Free Lunch that ignored all the food banks and gave it to us like we needed to hear this song or we'd never get any Gas Food or lodging again this was just a great close to a really enjoyable and cool set, the fact that they will only improve as the tour goes on makes fans seeing them in the next few weeks very lucky indeed don't miss this tour if it gets to your neck of the woods. Shows in Sweden are with the Plastic Pals and most of the second half of the tour will add Chris Cacavas to the band.
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