For carsmilesteve

[juliet]

Billy Bragg doing Old Clash Fan Fight Song (at Berlin gig last year). Actual song starts at about 03:30 of that clip.

Mr Bragg last night was top fun, as ever. Played pretty much everything I'd expect, everyone sang along (an important part of any BB gig), & the Roundhouse is a reasonable venue & wasn't overfull (hurrah).

He played the entirety of Life's A Riot as an encore, in about 15 min flat. I knew it was short, but not that it was quite *that* short. With A New England to finish, of course.

Comments

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

He's doing a promo gig at HMV on Oxford Street on Friday evening if you fancy it.

[juliet]

Cheers! Probably won't bother as promo gigs tend to be a bit of a hassle (& I may have to go to Kings X to collect a bike wheel), but I'll bear it in mind.

[lnr]

*big grin*

I just watched that, and the New England from the same gig, and sang along with the crowd :-) (Working from home has its advantages). Brilliant.

I so need to go see him, but he doesn't seem to be hitting Cambridge this year except for the folk festival, which is never the same as seeing people headlining a proper gig.

FX: goes off to put on Back to Basics.

[(Anonymous)]

I saw him at Cambridge Folk Festival a few years back and it was brilliant, the best gig if his I've seen, I think. Last time I saw him (at Beautiful Days) was a bit irritating though: I was getting a bit bored of every band having a dig at George Bush before he came on...

[i-ludicrous.livejournal.com]

Why am I anonymous, I wonder?

Hello.

[juliet]

hello! Re festivals: ISWYM, but otoh Billy at Glastonbury is one of the best things ever, & is a Medical Requirement for my Glastonbury-enjoying.

[lnr]

Hello :)

I think the trouble with festival performances is that they tend to be shorter than a proper gig, and also a bit more "best of". Mind you while this is true in general it's not always a bad thing. I think it's more of a problem with big bands who do the one big tour for each album than it is for people like Billy Bragg and (say) Show of Hands.

[i-ludicrous.livejournal.com]

The great thing about seeing Show of Hands at festivals is that you can easily go to another tent. I don't think I could take another song whinging about tourists in Cornwall.

[lnr]

Which just goes to show, each to their own.

CHURCH!

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

going to a billy gig is like going to church, ie:

everyone there holds similar viewpoints, although there may be doctrinal differences on the finer points
communal singing
average attendee is getting older

and you always get a sermon

Re: CHURCH!

[juliet]

[grin]

Or several sermons. Bless him.

I really like the communal singing!

[mrs-leroy-brown.livejournal.com]

I was especially happy to hear Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key :) YAY BILLY!

[seph-hazard.livejournal.com]

He played the entirety of Life's A Riot as an encore, in about 15 min flat. I knew it was short, but not that it was quite *that* short. With A New England to finish, of course.

[grin] That's exactly what he did when I saw him in the summer. It was lovely, and I damn nearly cried when halfway through ANE he yelled out "this one's for Kirsty!" and sang her extra verse.