Oysterband
It was a dark and stormy ni?
Let's start again. It was a dark and chilly night and the Rainy Day team was tempted to do the couch potato thing except?except the Oysterband was in town so we headed out into the freezing fog and towards Munich's rail yards where the Backstage club is located.
Oysterband. We first heard their music some 15 years ago when they were shaking up British folk music with rocking versions of traditional standards such as "Hal-an-Tow", and railing against Margaret Thatcher's treatment of the coal miners. It was their ability to combine politics with a truly British form of rock and folk music that took our fancy. Here's a group that has always worn its heart on its sleeve and time has not wearied Jones, Prosser, Telfer & Co. They have mellowed a bit but their opposition to Tony Blair's stance on Iraq was articulated early and clearly.
Dressed in black, wearing dark shades and making moves that recalled Ian Dury, band founder and leader John Jones knows how to get a crowd on his side — especially a crowd that might not, at first glance, share his radical politics, sense of history and generational hatred of the Tory mindset. Typical of the good-humoured exchanges during the evening:
John Jones "I feel old enough to be one of the English subs." Voice from the audience: "You fuckin' look it!" John Jones: "Well, there's always one cunt, er, friend in the crowd."
And the music. The addition of uillean piper James O'Grady from "Luton, Ireland" has given the band a needed injection of melody and vitality. O'Grady is one of those amazing multitalented people who can also play the whistle and fiddle, and hold a pure vocal line. His work on numbers such as "Blackwaterside" and "Shouting About Jerusalem" can be heard on the band's latest recording, "Rise Above".
After a set that lasted nearly two hours, and three encores, one of which featured a magnificent unaccompanied setting of "Bright Morning Star", the Oysterband headed into the night. Great stuff.
Diarist of the day: Charles Greville, 22 January 1848"Lady Beavale told me some anecdotes of the Royal children, which may one day have an interest when time has tested and developed their characters. The Princess Royal is very clever, strong in body and mind; the Prince of Wales weaker and more timid, and the Queen says he is a stupid boy; but the hereditary and unfailing antipathy of our Sovereigns to their Heirs Apparent seems this early to be taking root, and the Queen does not much like the child. He seems to have an incipient propensity to that sort of romancing which distinguished his uncle, George IV. The child told Lady Beavale that during their cruise he was very nearly thrown overboard, and was proceeding to tell her how when the Queen overheard him, sent him off with a flea in his ear, and told her it was totally untrue."
