At last, after a gestation period that makes the
average Elephant birth seem a tad premature (apparently it takes around 2 years
between getting jiggy and wetting the baby’s trunk...who’d be a lady elephant
eh?) this year will finally see the release of Goodnight Lenin’s debut album. Definitely.
100%. No question at all. Hurrah! To prove they can deliver the goods against
the clock a few weeks back they set themselves the challenge of recording,
mixing and mastering a single for Record Store Day in just one mammoth 24 hour
session. The resulting recording, just 24 copies of which have been pressed,
will be sold on Record Store day itself, this Saturday 19th April
(hence the timing of this gig I guess).
Tonight’s all about the live stuff though and first
up a firm favourite on the local scene Dan Whitehouse. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen singer/songwriter
Dan oodles of times over the years in various different incarnations (from solo
acoustic through to being backed by a full band) and his combination of
heartfelt lyrics on love, loss and everything in between coupled with a gentle warming
vocal delivery never fails to impress. This evening was no exception, in fact
in footballing terms he played a blinder, much against the odds as well as the
power cut out after just a number or two and, rather than stand there looking embarrassed, he just got on with it and strode to the front of the stage and played unplugged, leading
the crowd in a “Oooooh Oooooh Oooooh” singalong. What a trooper. Playing tracks
from his new album, Reaching For A State of Mind (pick of the bunch being the hauntingly
beautiful waltz of regret that is Why Don’t We Dance?), plus some old favourites
including a sublime Somebody Loves You (which once again moved at least one
audience member to tears) the whole thing was a treat from start to finish.
Critical
acclaim hasn’t been in short supply over the years and he’s toured with some
pretty impressive names (Willy Mason, Julian Cope, Peter Green and World Party
to name just a few) but he’s yet to make that big break he deserves. In the
meantime you’ve still got the chance to enjoy him up close and personal. Make
the most of it.
The place was pretty rammed by the time Goodnight
Lenin took to the stage kicking off with the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
classic anthem to freedom, being yourself and sticking it to da man (hell yeah!), Almost Cut My Hair (one of
the two tracks Goodnight Lenin recorded for their Record Store Day release). Wow.
Covering a song’s always a bit of a gamble but, having listened to a fair few
versions by the originators, Lenin’s interpretation is right up there with the
best. There’s a richness and depth to it (kudos in particular to John Joe on
keyboards and Sam on drums) that sets the lyrics up in a widescreen landscape
whilst still capturing the, let’s face it, “Fuck you World” of the original
version. In fact, in Fell’s delivery this evening there was perhaps a little
more of that in there, an edge to the vocal that bordered on the slightly (only
slightly mind you) menacing.
Of course the danger of kicking off a set with a
cover is the risk that the band’s own material won’t quite make the grade in
comparison, but that simply isn’t the case. Take one of tonight’s standout
tracks Heart Of Gold (the Goodnight Lenin one) for instance. Sure it shares the
same title as one of Neil Young’s best loved songs but it’s also every bit as
gentle, fragile and yearning as its namesake. High praise indeed but justified.
In fact it’s particularly telling this evening just how many of Goodnight Lenin’s
tracks already have that classic feel, being greeted like old friends by the
crowd (those that were listening that is...on more than one occasion various
members of the Lenin had to request a little hush...quite why you’d spunk £10
on a ticket to see a band and then stand chatting to your mates is beyond me
but it’s a questions I’ve been wrestling with for nearly a quarter of a century
now so I guess I’ll never know the answer).
On top of Heart Of Gold, the weary, resigned
heartbreak of A Cautionary Tale and the fiddle powered folk rock of Ode To Rebellion
(which got the biggest whoop of the night) already feel like part of our musical
heritage.
There were plenty of new tracks though, some as mellow as a Sunday
morning (Break Into A Heart?) but one or two that revelled rather gloriously in
the band’s rockier side, perhaps first truly unveiled during their gig at The
Old Rep last June. I have no idea what
these songs were called (hell, maybe the band don’t know yet) but there’s more
of a free flowing feel, experimental feel to them embracing groovy bass (from
ace of bass Matt), organ sounds, bow melting fiddle (both courtesy of John
Joe...the new hardest working man in show business?) and screaming guitars that
seguewayed neatly into another Lenin classic, Old Cold Hands perhaps the best
example of the band’s emotionally potent three part (Liam, John and John Joe) harmonies
tonight. God this song gets me every time...”It’s hard to realise that there is
relentlessly nothing...” intoned Fell as a cascade of sound collapsed around
him. Amen to that.
After some big news about the album (it’s coming out
in November...honestly...) appropriately enough the set ended with the other
track recorded for Record Store Day, a fine cover of the Neil Young penned Helpless
(which makes a pretty good companion piece for Old Cold Hands when you think
about it).
As ever the gig itself was sprinkled with the odd
bit of legendary Lenin banter and wit plus a revealing insight into John Fell’s
toe fetish (we’ll save that for the band’s biography when they’re all rich and
famous). Most of all though it underlined (as if we needed reminding) just what
a great group we’ve got here, lyrically, musically and, perhaps just as importantly,
a ruddy nice bunch too. Yet another great night Lenin.
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