{"id":484,"date":"2014-12-06T18:00:40","date_gmt":"2014-12-06T18:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eitc.elvisintheclouds.co.uk\/eitc\/?p=484"},"modified":"2015-11-03T13:27:58","modified_gmt":"2015-11-03T13:27:58","slug":"gig-review-hugh-cornwell-hazel-oconnor-john-cooper-clarke-electric-ballroom-camden-town-4th-december-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eitc.elvisintheclouds.co.uk\/eitc\/gig-review-hugh-cornwell-hazel-oconnor-john-cooper-clarke-electric-ballroom-camden-town-4th-december-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Gig Review \u2013 Hugh Cornwell, Hazel O\u2019Connor, John Cooper Clarke \u2013 Electric Ballroom Camden Town \u2013 4th December 2014."},"content":{"rendered":"

Gig Review \u2013 Hugh Cornwell, Hazel O\u2019Connor, John Cooper Clarke \u2013 Electric Ballroom Camden Town \u2013 4th<\/sup> December 2014.<\/p>\n

Ships Log: Acting Captain \u2013 Elvis in The Clouds.<\/p>\n

Stardate: -308074.60045662103.<\/p>\n

Following my temporary promotion in the light of The Captain being otherwise disposed, we assumed standard orbit around an inhabited Class M planet in the Terran System. Where I organised and headed up an away team to study the life forms therein.<\/p>\n

We arrived to find a damp, dreary, dismal Thursday evening in Camden Town. After a quick reconnoitre we decided to transport back. However, due to a fluctuating build-up of Electro-magnetic interference affecting the operation of our transporters, our chief engineer pointed out that we may be stranded here indefinitely until this phenomenon subsided. So we made our best efforts to blend in\u2026<\/p>\n

Arriving at The Worlds End I joined SiB and Bjorn and before long we were in turn joined by Straightenout, Antro and Guildford Lil. After stopping off at the end of the pier for a cone of chips, we made our way to the Electric Ballroom. Where we met Mr & Mrs Bloggs and it was soon evident that there was a healthy turnout of The Family in Black.<\/p>\n

\"jcc\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Up first, John Cooper Clarke took the stage delivering a set of poems in his instantly recognizable Mancunian Cadence, punctuated with witty observances and sharp one liners. The audience lapped it up, being in the palm of his hand from first \u2018til last!<\/p>\n

Antro carried out a survey of the planets technological capabilities and was most encouraged with his findings which appeared to indicate an advanced pre-warp civilisation, adding that he wouldn\u2019t mind one of their sound mixing desks for his collection.<\/p>\n

\"Om<\/a><\/p>\n

Then Hazel O\u2019Connor took the stage along with Claire Hirst Sax\/backing vocals and Sarah Fisher Piano\/backing vocals. Together this trio delivered a set which held us captive. Interlacing atmospheric sonic textures with material old and new including hits such as 8th<\/sup> Day and the delightful Will you. It is duly noted that the sound system of the Electric Ballroom did full justice to them, in providing a clear balanced mix with the piano, sax and voice crisp and clear at all times. And thirsty work it was for the crowd too. As, at the end of the set, a surge was seen heading in the direction of the bar.<\/p>\n

Moments passed\u2026<\/p>\n

The dulcet tones of the Latin\/demo mix of T&T brought forward a smile while simultaneously heralding the imminent arrival of His Hughness.<\/p>\n

\"Hugh\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kicking off with a blisteringly awesome Totem and Taboo, starkly contrasting the aforementioned version. Followed by Skin Deep which was not too troubled by a complete loss of FOH sound, although the ship was soon righted in time for a bright poppy Stuck in Daily Mail Land.<\/p>\n

A brief pause for Hugh to enlighten us with an explanation of the concept of a Stranglers sandwich\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026before he goes on to tell us this next one is about a bloke from Essex (Manchester\u2019s likely too) and delivers a great rendition of Dagenham Dave.<\/p>\n

Up next another from T&T I Want One of Those, evocative of the Rainy day it\u2019s lyrics describe. Then a valiant effort to perform Duchess without one of its \u2018key\u2019 components. Before swerving back to Hoover Dam (informing us of his Mothers wish to charge the going rate for this body of work now) and serving up the fine slice of pop that is Beat of My Heart (and Antro Nods in approval).<\/p>\n

\"Caz\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Next up in the Super-Club Hugh\/MiB sandwich is the classic – Strange Little Girl, always a treat to hear Hugh sing this and credit to bass player Caz Campbell for her creative melodic bass foundation here, allowing Hugh the space he really needs to add some sparkling guitar work. All held together nicely by the drum work of Chris Bell.<\/p>\n

\"Time<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2026Observation: – It\u2019s nice that Hugh is happy performing The Stranglers material again. And it\u2019s worth mentioning that the solo material in this set sits well alongside the classics and, in some cases, could be said to sound fresher and more urgent. The production of Totem & Taboo is totally based on live performance, with minimal or no overdubs. Subsequently, when this material is played live it represents a very close approximation of the recordings, notwithstanding changes of personnel (i.e. Caz\/Steve) and progression of the songs themselves as they evolve. In contrast, while some of the classics stand up exceptionally well to the 3 piece treatment and almost always sound great with Hugh singing, others clearly have a keyboard sized hole in them with that particular missing elephant etc etc EiTC\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Then God is a Woman with its creamy bass followed up by Peaches and (for Bob) – is she trying to get out of Camden Town! And the excellent Gods, Guns and Gays with Chris once again taking a steady beat to the extreme while building his shed so hard it\u2019s little wonder he hasn\u2019t destabilised the core of the planet!<\/p>\n

Up next Grip, which for me is one of the songs that doesn\u2019t really work in this format, I\u2019d have happily swapped this for the brilliant T&T Bad Vibrations (sadly missing tonight)!<\/p>\n

Caz and Chris once again provide that solid platform for the master to perform with the great – A Street Called Carol, seguing niftily into a super punked-up version of set closer Straighten Out\u2026<\/p>\n

More\u2026<\/p>\n

Encore\u2026<\/p>\n

They return with the atmospheric Dead of Night. Which, in contrast to my prior ramblings, is Doorsy despite lacking the key<\/em> ingredient, which it does excellently without (Thank you very much)!<\/p>\n

\"nuclei\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hugh then introduces a very special guest the Lithuanian (from Epsom) youtube artist Seethelittlenuclei (well known for her Stranglers covers) to duet with him for Souls. A brilliant moment, inspired and touching!<\/p>\n

A super stonking and urgent Sleazy almost makes Tank seem a little tame by comparison (almost!).<\/p>\n

\"Hanging\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Then Hazel, Sarah and Claire join in for the finale performance of Hanging Around, executed in a fine manner both vocally and musically with a super solo from Mr C.<\/p>\n

Brilliant Stuff!<\/p>\n

Just then, the atmosphere cleared enough for our ship to get a transporter lock and beam us out of there!<\/p>\n

N.B. at this point Lord London pondered as to if Elvis had technically left the building but as he was in fact beamed out, this has become a matter of philosophical debate among temporal historians of the period(s).<\/p>\n

Over.<\/p>\n

Thanks to all involved. Apologies for errors and omissions.<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Andy Miller<\/a> (Thank you very much Sir!)…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gig Review \u2013 Hugh Cornwell, Hazel O\u2019Connor, John Cooper Clarke \u2013 Electric Ballroom Camden Town \u2013 4th December 2014. Ships Log: Acting Captain \u2013 Elvis in The Clouds. Stardate: -308074.60045662103. Following my temporary promotion in the light of The Captain being otherwise disposed, we assumed standard orbit around an inhabited Class M planet in the … Continue reading Gig Review \u2013 Hugh Cornwell, Hazel O\u2019Connor, John Cooper Clarke \u2013 Electric Ballroom Camden Town \u2013 4th December 2014.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,18,4,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2014-archive","category-hugh-cornwell","category-eitcs-views-and-reviews-on-music-and-maybe-life-in-general-from-time-to-time","category-fansinblack","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eitc.elvisintheclouds.co.uk\/eitc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eitc.elvisintheclouds.co.uk\/eitc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eitc.elvisintheclouds.co.uk\/eitc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eitc.elvisintheclouds.co.uk\/eitc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eitc.elvisintheclouds.co.uk\/eitc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/eitc.elvisintheclouds.co.uk\/eitc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":518,"href":"https:\/\/eitc.elvisintheclouds.co.uk\/eitc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484\/revisions\/518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eitc.elvisintheclouds.co.uk\/eitc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eitc.elvisintheclouds.co.uk\/eitc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eitc.elvisintheclouds.co.uk\/eitc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}