Bruce & Neil: the big beasts come to town

Funny how the timing works out sometimes: two huge gigs in two days - Bruce Springsteen at Wembley on 15 June and Neil Young at the O2 on the 17th. You'll probably have seen the reviews already so here are some random thoughts on these big talents and big events...

To some the obvious question might be 'which was the better concert'? But, as any fan of both of these big beasts will know, it's unlikely there will be a straightforward answer to that.

I can tell you which I enjoyed most as an experience, and that was definitely Neil's.

That was partly down to logistics. I was in the upper tier seats at Wembley, relying on the video screens to see what the tiny figures on the stage were up to; I was standing at the O2, just 10-15 yards from the stage and privy to every grin and grimace, except when Neil disappeared behind an upright piano. And the sound at the O2 was massively superior: very loud, with crispness and crunch across the spectrum, vocals fully audible in the mix - and no hint of ringing afterwards in my unplugged ears.

Bruce's vocals were pretty audible at Wembley and the band was louder than for last summer's outing in Hyde Park, but that is the best you can say. The music was often an undifferentiated mid-range sludge, there were big issues with echo and it was hard to pick out the instrumental solos. I suspect both Springsteen and the E Street Band gave five star performances, but that wasn't quite how it came through my ears. Don't get me wrong, I heard some brilliant stuff - but I could have heard it better.

Add to that advantage the thrill of seeing Neil back with Crazy Horse. I've seen him play great shows solo and with a range of different bands but he and the Horse make a very special noise together - and it's been years since I've seen them make it.

Neil also deserves bonus points for originality of staging: the huge mocked-up amplifier stacks, the enormous mic-stand, white-coated and grey-wigged scientist-roadies arguing and bossing around the heavy lifters in hard hats and hi-vis, then the litter whirling across the stage for 'Walk Like A Giant' as Neil and Poncho literally whistled in the wind...

And what was the opening 'God Save The Queen' all about? It clearly wasn't enough for them to have recorded the dirge for Americana... do they play this in other countries too?

There were no surprises in the staging of the Springsteen show: you know he's going to go walkabout at the front collecting song title banners, there's the familiar mic sharing with Miami Steve, audience members pulled up on stage for 'Dancing In The Dark'. Of course, he does it all uniquely well, but you're never going to get the edge and nervousness that Neil induces: might he fall off the tightrope wire this time? Ah, yes - he has done... but he seems to be dusting himself off for the next song...

Bruce's surprise this time was playing the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album in its entirety. Had he asked me, it wouldn't have been my recommendation. It's one of my least favourite of his records anyway, but knowing what's coming next for three quarters of an hour rather spoils the jukebox effect of a standard Bruce show as he ranges back and forth across the decades and one of your favourites could appear at any time. But yes, Bruce, I am prepared to make an exception and put up with the whole of The Wild, The Innocent And The E Street Shuffle next time...

I'm sure there will be a next time, but I'm going to have to find a way of getting closer.

Anyway, great to see two real giants and personal heroes doing what they do so well and with a clear and obvious appetite to be doing it, in both cases the polar opposite of going through the motions for the money or for old times' sake.

Highlights?

From Bruce an unexpected 'Rosalita', a beautiful version of "The Rising', an angry 'Wrecking Ball' - and the moving tribute to Clarence Clemons behind a stonking 'Tenth Avenue Freezeout' which got chopped when the plugs were pulled at Hyde Park last year.

From Neil, a strong and tight 'Powderfinger', a lovely 'Ramada Inn' - his strongest song for some years, and at least parts of the epic wig-outs on 'Walk Like A Giant' and 'Fuckin' Up'. (Yes, of course they can go on a bit - but this is what the Horse are about...)

This summer's festivals

Plans are proceeding smoothly for Eden On The Line's summer jaunt to Alberta.

The major challenge was getting tickets for the Edmonton Folk Festival, which is now so popular that the online ticket allocation sold out in 12 minutes. Fortunately, we knew someone who could queue in person. (Many thanks, Tessa!)

Highlights this year for me will include Dave Alvin, Lisa Hannigan, Dick Gaughan and the Carolina Chocolate Drops. But the great beauty of this event is the series of small stage workshops which mix and match performers in different combinations. In the past I've always come away raving about someone I'd never heard of before. Previous discoveries from four visits over 20 years include Tom Russell, Alejandro Escovedo, Rufus Wainwright, Fred Eaglesmith, Kelly Joe Phelps, Harry Manx, Jim Byrnes, Wooden Sky and the Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir...

And the week before Edmonton we'll be at the rather smaller Canmore Folk Festival, up in the Rockies, where I'm really pleased to see Del Barber on the bill - he is the young singer-songwriter from Manitoba who played the opening set for Billy Bragg at the Great Escape which I mostly managed to miss. His people kindly sent me a copy of his forthcoming Headwaters album by way of compensation: there are some really nice songs on it and I'm looking forward to seeing him properly live. Here's a taster.

Anniversary time

An interesting co-location of big musical anniversaries this week: 100 years after the first performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and the 50th birthday of Bob Dylan's Freewheelin'.

The two most important influencers of a century of western music? Discuss – but (in true Sellar and Yeatman style) candidates should on no account try to write on both sides of the paper at once..

And a strong contender for the number three slot, Miles Davis, would have had his 87th birthday this week. But that is an annoyingly, if appropriately, unround number...

The Great Escape 2013 - final thoughts

OK, list fans: it's about time we had a top five from TGE13. Billy Bragg has been ruled out of consideration for being too damn good for the competition to have had any chance. Which leaves the following, from a total of 18 acts I saw: 

1. Royal Canoe
2. Mo Kenney
3. Mac DeMarco
4. L'Hereu Escampa
5. Lab Coast

All definitely worthy of closer study. And the best place to start with Royal Canoe is an EP appropriately called Extended Play, which you can download for free here, but which is also available as a nicely collectable 10". (I am the proud owner of #37 of 500, since you ask.) I'm hearing some echoes of their compatriots Brasstronaut on my first listen, which can only be a good thing.

 And, yes, 4 out of 5 in my list are Canadian...

The Great Escape 2013 - day three

By day three I'm starting to flag, but Canada House at the Blind Tiger looks intriguing: a line-up sponsored by music organisations from three of the western provinces. I'm off to Alberta at the end of July, so this could be a good warm-up.

'We're here to show you that Western Canada is about more than just wheatfields, gravel roads and kissing your cousin behind the barn,' says the man from Manitoba Music, introducing Winnipeg sextet Royal Canoe.

"Of course, we still have all those things. But we also have stuff like this..."

And it's good stuff, too: two drummers, electronics, heavy on the vocal effects. An awful lot going on, but a keen sense of space and dynamics means it's never overloaded. There's a fractured funk at the heart of it, with counter-rhythms skittering across a generally slow central beat. They'll build up to an intense climax, with a roaring vocal taken down to Beanstalk giant fee-fie-fo-fum depths, then cut away to a single choppy guitar. I'd like to hear more.

(Special useless trivia note: Royal Canoe's guitarist bears an uncanny resemblance to the captain of the UCL team beaten in the final of this year's University Challenge.)

A few minutes later it's the turn of Lab Coast. Their introduction affirms that people 'don't tend to associate the city of Calgary with the avant garde'. Well, we still don't. The band chug along nicely, without scaring the horses, but it feels like indie-by-the-yard rather than anything particularly distinctive - with the proviso that I couldn't make out many of the words.

There's no stagecraft here: they're the sort of band where the singer keeps both hands on the mic stand and the guitarists study the necks intently, as if worried that the frets might suddenly move... I felt rather protective of them and, in the absence of other distractions, found myself focusing on the way the lead guitarist bounces on the balls of his feet before tip-toeing back and forth to his pedals, like he's trying to take them by surprise. Anyway, they relax a bit as the set proceeds and start to exchange smiles. It was enjoyable for the audience, too.

There was no reticence about Winnipeg five-piece Boats. They clearly enjoy being on stage and like to fling themselves around. Frontman Mat Klachefsky does a good line in manic stares and, at one point, managed to roll his guitar up to his neck in its strap while still playing...

There's an archness about their manner and the snatches of lyrics which were audible - what is it about Winnipeg bands and vocal effects? - which put me in mind of Sparks: the vocal swoops and higher register of Russell Mael coupled with brother Ron's glare. 'This is a song called "Advice On Bears"' ran one introduction. 'It's about advice on bears...' They may be trying too hard, but at least they're trying. It was an energetic and well-received set.

Next up were Fist City, a quartet from Lethbridge, Alberta, who play thrashy punk with all the subtlety of their name - though that name is taken from a Loretta Lynn song, I now see. Excellent energy and drive, but I'm not sure I detected a lot else in the music. They do what they set out to do convincingly and well.  Oh, and bassist Lindsay Munro has very nice dimples.

By this point I was ready for a change of scene. The 'Don't Panic, We're From Poland' session at the Dome Studio was unfortunately full. So I tried Luke Sital-Singh, who can'th, I fear.

I called it a day and, heading home, looked in at the Independent Record Fayre to say hello to the Art Is Hard guys, who put out some fine music in lovely packages, and also some decidedly stylish teeshirts. Consider yourselves plugged, chaps.