Chris Tong's Review of Ted Can’t Hear Ya at Rochester Sweeps' Festival 2007
The band started
playing to a fairly empty pub; but as the gig
progressed, I sensed that things would get
better......!
TCHY had a new line
up for their gigs at Sweeps. This follows loosing
Tim Sumner from the band. Standing-in on fiddle (and
also playing melodica) was a young, nervous lady by
the name of Lesley.
In the audience
were all the usual hardcore Ted fans - there to
cheer their heroes on!
A nice thing to see
was that Lucy had a more central position on the
stage, and sang more. As she is better looking than
Paul, she should stand where ALL the pub can see her
and not hidden by a speaker! Nice move Paul!
Well to the music!
When Ted started playing I felt that, due to the
few, rushed rehearsals, the band lacked the normal
impact. Maybe others in the crowd would disagree
with me, but that’s how I felt when the gig kicked
off.
There was a
definite problem with Lesley’s mike volume, as at
times she could not be heard at the back of the bar,
or maybe I just miss Tim’s LOUD fiddle work!
But let’s move on
to the music!
The band played all
the fan’s favourites like “Shirt of Blue”, “Musical
Priest” and “Shaven Monkey”. These had their fan’s
whooping and howling for more!
And MORE there was
going to be!
As the band were
getting in to their final numbers, the Rochester
weather did it’s usual thing; yes you guessed it; it
rained!
This was the sign
that the God’s were smiling down on Ted Can’t Hear
Ya; because the pub started to fill up with people
taking shelter from the rain.
I hasten to point
out that this was while the closing parade was
taking place. Sweeps' loss; Ted’s gain!
Well that was it;
there was no way that the band could finish now.
Suddenly a fairly down-beat gig had turned into a
rip-roaring Ted bash! I lost count of the number of
encores that Ted did; but the now FULL pub couldn’t
get enough of The Medway Town’s number one
cranked-up, punky folk rock band!
So in conclusion
folks; what had started as a rather quiet gig for
Ted; turned into a loud, ear bursting success!
Thanks Paul, Lucy,
Andy and Lesley for keeping the music loud, live and
spontaneous.
Watch out all you
Ted fans! Rumour has it that TCHY are going to be getting
bigger and better! And don’t forget that there is a
new album in the pipeline - keep checking
www.tedcanthearya.com for updates!
Chris Tong, May
2007
and for another point
of view; this time from Rachael:
Aw, Chris; what about the hero of the
hour; the little boy, who saved Paul's mike when he
got over-exuberant, or Lucy's heroic, 'show must go
on', even after being belted in the teeth by the
stalker fan crawling onto the stage?
How about Lesley's own fan-club,
dancing in the corner and her quirky melodica? Was
it a Jethro Tull tribute, the standing on one leg,
or just an overdue bog-break?
Paul's notorious attention to detail
started the gig, slightly after the advertised
kick-off but they more than made up for it with
encores. I thought that their version of, 'Another
Man's Cause' was well executed and well received.
It's a unique take on a Levellers' classic.
After the gig, Lucy seemed amazed
that I knew all the words to all the songs. I
explained that Paul has been singing the same tunes
for the last 12 years! That said, the improvements
are excellent and I know he's got a few more of his
own, in the bag. It was fantastic to hear 'Isle of
Rain' again. Now I want to hear him resurrect, 'The
Devil You Know'. Peace and
Pasties, Rachael x
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