David Sinclair Trio
Friday, May 19, 2006
Going Underground
Trying to find Ginglik is like looking for the doorway to The 10th Kingdom. You can be staring straight at it and still not see it. A bunch of fairy lights slung over a metal archway and a strangely camouflaged sign with a big "G" and a very small "inglik" stand at the top of a flight of steps that lead down to a subterranean chamber beneath Shepherds Bush Green itself. The traffic and people swirl around in perpetual motion without ever touching or even noticing this little island in their midst.
Inside, you are in a different world. A lovely room with soft furnishings and a kind of bedouin tent vibe beckons to your left. There is a stage at the far end, PA, lights, etc. To your right a spacious bar area. It's a real friendly, club atmosphere, the kind of joint where people become regulars and invest something of themselves in the place. And we had the honour of playing there last night with our MySpace friends, the Favours. The sound and lighting were, by all accounts, first rate, the band was on fire, and we really had a brilliant time. Great to see so many friendly faces.
But here was the killer: Matthew Ryan, Brian Bequette and Steve Latanation from our Myspace friends Strays Don't Sleep showed up - all the way from Nashville! They had just arrived to start a UK tour with Josh Rouse. Owing to a missed connection they had spent the previous night sleeping in Washington DC airport. Tonight they are playing in Sheffield. And they still managed to find their way to an invisible basement bar on Shepherds Bush Green to check out the scene. What great guys. They are playing Shepherds Bush Empire next Thursday (May 25). Now that's a gig not to be missed.
Ginglik, May 18: The Favours/Mon Fio/David Sinclair/Paul Jeffrey
Set list: Jammed/Time is the Simplest Thing/Pennies on a Plate/Dusted & Rusted/Swimming With the Sharks/Bouquet of Weeds/Going to do Something/Life's Too Serious/Feedback ¶ 9:54 pm 0 comments
Inside, you are in a different world. A lovely room with soft furnishings and a kind of bedouin tent vibe beckons to your left. There is a stage at the far end, PA, lights, etc. To your right a spacious bar area. It's a real friendly, club atmosphere, the kind of joint where people become regulars and invest something of themselves in the place. And we had the honour of playing there last night with our MySpace friends, the Favours. The sound and lighting were, by all accounts, first rate, the band was on fire, and we really had a brilliant time. Great to see so many friendly faces.
But here was the killer: Matthew Ryan, Brian Bequette and Steve Latanation from our Myspace friends Strays Don't Sleep showed up - all the way from Nashville! They had just arrived to start a UK tour with Josh Rouse. Owing to a missed connection they had spent the previous night sleeping in Washington DC airport. Tonight they are playing in Sheffield. And they still managed to find their way to an invisible basement bar on Shepherds Bush Green to check out the scene. What great guys. They are playing Shepherds Bush Empire next Thursday (May 25). Now that's a gig not to be missed.
Ginglik, May 18: The Favours/Mon Fio/David Sinclair/Paul Jeffrey
Set list: Jammed/Time is the Simplest Thing/Pennies on a Plate/Dusted & Rusted/Swimming With the Sharks/Bouquet of Weeds/Going to do Something/Life's Too Serious/Feedback ¶ 9:54 pm 0 comments
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Encore
The album is slowly coming together. Jethro, who is designing the cover, sent me through the first draft of the artwork this morning, and it looks so cool. It is called Hey, and it is going to be released on the, ahem, Critical Discs imprint, catalogue number CD 001.
Meanwhile, the group has been working up new songs and playing more gigs. We have actually played The 12 Bar Club twice since I last checked in here. Our first show there, on March 9, was a blast, and our triumphant return on April 20 even more so. Much as we enjoyed playing there, I got the feeling that we kind of strong-armed the place into submission, whereas the other acts who played before and after us, generally took a more subtle approach to seducing the audience. Thing about the 12 Bar is - it's small. And, no disrespect, but it's a weird place to play. There was a neat review of a gig by our MySpace friend, the American singer Jeff Klein at The 12 Bar Club, which ran in The Independent on March 24. "There can be few stranger live-music venues in explored space," the critic Andrew Mueller wrote. He went on to explain that the venue is "a tiny room, the size of which some genius has attempted to double by inserting a mezzanine halfway between the ceiling and the floor." The net result of this peculiar arrangement is that when you are performing on the stage your eyes are roughly level with the feet of the people upstairs. And you can only see the audience downstairs from the waist down. Most acts, it seems, prefer to sit while they're playing there. But that's not for me. And while Drew may be sitting down, he is not a drummer who allows himself to be held in check. So we charged through our set and gave the walls a good rattling. My friend Garry Bell, a West London musician originally from Canada, was ensconced on the mezzanine level. "Similar boxed seating to the Cream gig at the Albert Hall last year," he commented afterwards, "Only much closer!"
Our other gig over this period was our return on Good Friday to The Borderline. And once again it was a fantastic experience. That place really is the Rolls Royce of London club gigs. Instead of being one of four bands, as we were on our previous visit, this time there was just us and a bare-chested hard rock ensemble by the name of Great White Hope. Our set was a dream to play - great sound, great lights, great audience, the works. We debuted two new songs - Swimming With the Sharks and Feedback. I love this place.
The 12 Bar Club, Mar 9: Uncle Bob Strano/Kevin Stanke/KeithThomson/David Sinclair/Alexander
Set list: Jammed/Time is the Simplest Thing/Pennies on a Plate/Dusted & Rusted/Going to do Something/Life's Too Serious/The Song Marches on
The Borderline, Apr 14: Great White Hope/David Sinclair
Set list: Jammed/Time is the Simplest Thing/Pennies on a Plate/Dusted & Rusted/Swimming With the Sharks/Bouquet of Weeds/Not Another Wasted Day/Going to do Something/Life's Too Serious/Feedback/The Song Marches on
The 12 Bar Club, Apr 20: Norton Money/David Sinclair/Joe Doyle
Set list: Jammed/Time is the Simplest Thing/Pennies on a Plate/Dusted & Rusted/Swimming With the Sharks/Bouquet of Weeds/Not Another Wasted Day/Going to do Something/Life's Too Serious/Feedback/The Song Marches on ¶ 4:36 am 0 comments
Meanwhile, the group has been working up new songs and playing more gigs. We have actually played The 12 Bar Club twice since I last checked in here. Our first show there, on March 9, was a blast, and our triumphant return on April 20 even more so. Much as we enjoyed playing there, I got the feeling that we kind of strong-armed the place into submission, whereas the other acts who played before and after us, generally took a more subtle approach to seducing the audience. Thing about the 12 Bar is - it's small. And, no disrespect, but it's a weird place to play. There was a neat review of a gig by our MySpace friend, the American singer Jeff Klein at The 12 Bar Club, which ran in The Independent on March 24. "There can be few stranger live-music venues in explored space," the critic Andrew Mueller wrote. He went on to explain that the venue is "a tiny room, the size of which some genius has attempted to double by inserting a mezzanine halfway between the ceiling and the floor." The net result of this peculiar arrangement is that when you are performing on the stage your eyes are roughly level with the feet of the people upstairs. And you can only see the audience downstairs from the waist down. Most acts, it seems, prefer to sit while they're playing there. But that's not for me. And while Drew may be sitting down, he is not a drummer who allows himself to be held in check. So we charged through our set and gave the walls a good rattling. My friend Garry Bell, a West London musician originally from Canada, was ensconced on the mezzanine level. "Similar boxed seating to the Cream gig at the Albert Hall last year," he commented afterwards, "Only much closer!"
Our other gig over this period was our return on Good Friday to The Borderline. And once again it was a fantastic experience. That place really is the Rolls Royce of London club gigs. Instead of being one of four bands, as we were on our previous visit, this time there was just us and a bare-chested hard rock ensemble by the name of Great White Hope. Our set was a dream to play - great sound, great lights, great audience, the works. We debuted two new songs - Swimming With the Sharks and Feedback. I love this place.
The 12 Bar Club, Mar 9: Uncle Bob Strano/Kevin Stanke/KeithThomson/David Sinclair/Alexander
Set list: Jammed/Time is the Simplest Thing/Pennies on a Plate/Dusted & Rusted/Going to do Something/Life's Too Serious/The Song Marches on
The Borderline, Apr 14: Great White Hope/David Sinclair
Set list: Jammed/Time is the Simplest Thing/Pennies on a Plate/Dusted & Rusted/Swimming With the Sharks/Bouquet of Weeds/Not Another Wasted Day/Going to do Something/Life's Too Serious/Feedback/The Song Marches on
The 12 Bar Club, Apr 20: Norton Money/David Sinclair/Joe Doyle
Set list: Jammed/Time is the Simplest Thing/Pennies on a Plate/Dusted & Rusted/Swimming With the Sharks/Bouquet of Weeds/Not Another Wasted Day/Going to do Something/Life's Too Serious/Feedback/The Song Marches on ¶ 4:36 am 0 comments
