Ted on 'The Rochester Queen', 6
October 2007
The band has asked me
if I could do a review of the gig at The Rochester
Queen. Not being a budding music journalist – I will
of course try my best but bear with me if this is
not the usual ‘rock and roll’ review using the usual
cliché ‘rock buzz words’
I’m in my mid-20’s
and a full time student. I have a wide range of
musical tastes, The Libertines, Bright Eye’s,
Flogging Molly, The Pogues, Oysterband, Levellers,
The Red Stripes, Killers, and so many more. But I
love ‘Ted Can’t Hear Ya’ 'cause they are always full
of energy and have a spirit that you just don’t see
much of these days – especially on a local level –
even in Canterbury ‘The Student Town’ where I live
and am at Uni. Plenty of interesting duo’s and
stuff, and the odd gem of a student band gig, but
‘Ted Can’t Hear Ya’ – always entertain me.
On this occasion
the folky feel was stronger at this gig. (Could be
‘cause it was on a boat?) They have a new member
(well at least we think he is a new member) called
Paul – who plays Mandolin, Mandola, Fiddle and also
the added bonus for guitar lovers like me – he plays
Electric Guitar!
They also have the
recent addition of Lesley on Melodica and a few bits
of percussion. But even more strangely - in the Ted
Can't Hear Ya ‘swelling of numbers’ - a
special guest appearance on the night from an
excellent fiddle player called Fran Broady – who
used to play with ‘Shave The Monkey’ - now split-up.
So this gig had a
kind of ‘folky’ guest appearance laid back ‘friends
and guests’ kind of feel - maybe down to the line-up
changes the band have been through recently. I have
seen the band many times, but I got the feeling that
settlement is imminent - whoever ends up playing
full time with the band it seems to be almost
complete. As always though – at the heart of it all
were Andy Baker, Paul Johnson and Lucy Whitman – the
driving force that were as ‘rock solid’ as ever.
The 'new' Paul -
Paul Hunt - on Mandolin, Banjo, Fiddle and Guitar
was a brilliant addition. He really seemed to gel
well with the rest and his playing was really good,
although he could have been louder! He did however
fill-out the sound and gave the set a fresh edge
which I really liked – especially hearing additional
electric guitar on tracks such as ‘Shirt of Blue’ -
bringing it closer to the version you find on their
last album. Also ‘Hal & Tow’ the traditional ‘spring
time song’ sounded fuller and more powerful with the
addition of the electric guitar to blend with (the
other) Paul’s acoustic guitar – bringing this track
nearer to the version by Oysterband.
Fran Broady’s guest
appearance was a treat – she joined the band to play
'Shaven Monkey’ this was a nice touch because TCHY
wrote this tune as a tribute to her old band, 'Shave
the Monkey'. Trouble was though – although what she
played was fantastic – it was really, really loud!!
A slight technical hiccup there I thought!! But it
still sounded excellent though!
Before playing the
tune Fran explained that TCHY’S ‘Shaven Monkey’ has
been adopted by ‘Wolf's Head & Vixen Morris' (Website
and
MySpace) based in Rochester, as a dance tune and
can now be heard all around Medway and beyond,
wherever Vixen perform their garland dance! Cool!
All a bit folky though!
Anyway, back to the
gig! A great gig – 'The Rochester Queen'? A great
place to go with friendly staff and a pretty good
atmosphere – I think TCHY were a bit of a ‘culture
shock’ for the regular crowd though – looking around
I could see mixed reactions. Most though soon ‘got
it’ and ‘got in to it’ and were dancing around - and
a new thing for TCHY people clapping along to TCHY’s
usual stonkers like 'Jessie James', and the newly
included (and with Paul Hunt on fiddle –
revitalized) ‘Drowsy Maggie’. Another great moment I
felt was the debut of Lucy’s new song that she wrote
called ‘Southern Stars’. I really liked this, it had
a folky ‘floaty’ feel to it - but had a underlying
driving rhythm from Andy on drums.
The rest of the
gig? Manic, sweaty and as high energy as ever; with
cranked-up brilliance in all the best loved songs
such as ‘Matty Groves’, ‘Maid in the Garret’,
‘Streams of Whiskey’ and the like. All-in-all, a
brill night and I hear that they are to be re-booked
by The Rochester Queen – so you can come along and
see for yourself next time – I will be there!
Nathan Morris
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