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Review: 'Robert Coyne and Simon King'
'Live at i'klectik Old Paradise Yard, Lambeth.'   


-  Genre: 'Indie' -  Release Date: '14.7.16.'

Our Rating:
This was my first visit to i'klectik which is an arts lab and possible London’s most hidden venue that you almost need a guide to find. Just the walk from Waterloo Station that took me past the old Necropolis Station and then past some allotments to the old buildings that houses i'klectik made the night worthwhile. I had no idea there are allotments less than 400 yards from Westminster Bridge! So well hidden away you could never find this place by accident.

This show was a Club Integral night and I believe they also have a radio show on Resonance FM.

It has a cool laid back vibe and it was a seated show first on was Simon King who I have seen play quite a few times over the years with all sorts of different bands and at several nights put on by Resonance FM or The London Musician Collective. Tonight he was playing solo electric Guitar and a large array of pedals and effects.

This was all about guitar textures and simple motifs that were built on using the effects pedals to distort or bend the sound and build an atmosphere as I look around at the chairs hanging from the ceiling and the Typewriter on a desk besides where Simon was playing.

It was all quite calming apart from when he hit the wrong effect and things got a bit more disturbing before returning to the motif that was being manipulated. It was a cool set that almost worked more as background music even though everyone kept quiet throughout.

After a very brief break it was time for Robert Coyne who I have been seeing play live on and off now for the best part of 30 years, I'd seen him play live at least a couple of times before I realised he was Kevin Coyne's son the first time I saw him backing Kevin with his brother Eugene at the gig they played at the Roadhouse in Covent Garden all those years ago, at least I think that was the first time I saw him play with his dad.

The last time I saw Robert play was at the heart breaking farewell show Kevin played at the 100 club not long before he died, since then he put out the incredible Memory Deluxe: I Knew Buffalo Bill 2 with Jeremy Gluck and this tour is to promote his two most recent albums Last Lion and I Still Have this Dream the latter one is with Jaki Liebezeit.

For this show he is joined by Werner Steinhauser who was in Kevin's band at the turn of the millennium and tonight is playing the drum parts that Jaki Liebezeit does on the album so no big shoes to fill then.

They open with Tough to Love and it's quite gentle sounding almost acoustic as Robert plays a no body guitar! Yes it has the fret board and the exterior shape but no actual body it looks really cool and sounds pretty good too.

Signature Song is very restrained with Werner playing very gently on his very sparse drum kit, Ball Of Light keeps up the atmosphere that is only broken by Robert re-working some of his dads old inter song banter about how nice it is to play for an audience that understands him and speak English as just like his dad was he is now based in Germany and normally plays for non-English speaking audiences. It was striking how although he doesn't sound like his dad he has inherited many of his mannerisms. That intro led into the very cool sounding Ball of Light.

Cockney Mystic had another jokey intro about how finally he had a crowd that actually knew a cockney mystic or two, yep I've met a few of them and it's a great song with some very wry lyrics and nicely strummed guitar.

Second Fiddle was probably the gloomiest song of the set a real downbeat song that reminded me of Richard Warren's solo stuff dark and almost desperate sounding. Away With The Fairies sort of lifted the mood a touch and Werner's cymbal work helped lift things.

The Grand Scheme was introduced as normally being played with a full band so this stripped back version might have taken some of the edge off of it but still sounded pretty damn good to me. Golden Elk sounded like it might have been about a secret society but I'm sure it isn't another cool gentle rumination.

The next song may have been How Can I Choose but I'm not sure either way they kept to the same feel they had all set it was nice and restrained with some nice guitar work. Then for the last song of the show they brought on Hugo Martin on second guitar for Slow Down and well of course they sped up a little bit on it that extra guitar added some more texture to the sound that worked pretty well.

Robert is well worth catching live if you get the chance although you will have to go to Germany to see him with a full band these days.
  author: simonovitch

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