This evening at Hell's Ditch, onlookers were treated to an emotional, beer addled rollercoaster ride of pure genius. Apologies readers, I gush, therefore I am. But it was one of those rare evenings where one is faced with raw bleeding talent, energy, and pure unadulterated thigh-slappin fun. Yee-ha.
Opening the evening were the mighty JANITORS, who belted out their characteristic bluegrassy-folk-fried "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" indie pop, to a more than appreciative audience. Lush harmonies, touching lyrics, with hooky catchy songs were on the menu for the evening. Their songs veered from the Heavenly and delicate, to the downright dirty - with intricate vocals that flipped from Alt. Country three-part harmonies, to more Bell and Sebastian-esque, contemporary arrangements. All that in addition to the cute flutes and lashings of finger-pickin action on the guitars - thrown out with style and charm. Lovely stuff.
Eccentric front man Dave Owen even managed to squeeze in a shortened version of his hideously politically incorrect 'Prisoner of War (Really Crazy)' [don't ask] - which managed to raise about three belly laughs, and lots of suppressed guilty chuckles.
Sadly though, (hence the "beer addled emotional" part) this was to be the Janitors last gig for a while. Clearly this is a huge injustice to the world of music, but there you go - the respective members will hopefully still be playing around Liverpool, and I don't think the possibility of them picking up where they left off in a few months could be ruled out either. Here's hoping.
However, the main course of the evening was the New Orleans based bluegrass duo, JEFF AND VIDA, and what a performance it was (hence the "rollercoaster" part).
At times the two of them managed to sound like the entire Union Station Band, with Jeff Burke's virtuoso mandolin/banjo/guitar playing terrifying the beJeezus out of all and sundry (a member of the audience was heard exclaiming - "Bloody hell, he's got a proper mandolin with curly bits and everything"). There were reports of smoke rising from his fingers as he was playing [call the fire brigade, his hands are on fire!], but these were unsubstantiated.
Vida Wakeman's powerful vocals were both tender and soulful, but when she broke out and rocked, she really brought the house down. And they both can yodel to perfection.
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With a set that mixed traditional Appalachian bluegrass with good old fashioned rock n roll, and soulful Alt. Country - the prospect of becoming bored just wasn't an option. I'm sure most people at the gig woke up the following morning with gigantic bruises on their legs from the sheer amount of knee-jerkin thigh-slappin going on. Although it has to be said that a lot of people looked like they were exacting the Tiger Feet dance rather than the Ho' Down effect they were hoping to achieve (most of us Brits just don't cut the mustard in that department).
Their songs are about as authentic as you're going to get - the hype is bang on, they really do sound like they were written in another age. An age full of trucks, whiskey, women, pool-halls and those times when "You thought you found God, but it was just the weekend". On the flip side, they sing bitter-sweet ballads of loves lost - not just in relationships, but of the loss of homes and towns through mass unemployment: 'Have mercy on me... I'm a poor man with a rich history/I wish I was dead so that I could see/The place I loved best, died before me' [Have Mercy]. Folk music on a par with that of Woody Guthrie, bloody marvellous.
They ended their set with a ridiculously frenetic bluegrass number that just got faster and faster - anyone trying to out-dance/clap/thigh-spank these musicians were beaten hands down - they ended up playing like a washing machine on full spin, and no-one could possibly compete with that. Wowzers.
Hell's Ditch. We came, we saw, we drank, we cried, we drank some more, we tried dancing, we decided it was a bad idea, and then after another drink we declared undying love for everyone, for Bluegrass and Jeff n Vida.
I guess it was just one of those nights...
(www.jeffandvida.com)
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