Post by andrewjw on Nov 10, 2018 23:44:43 GMT
We'd never seen JS live before so jumped at the opportunity to see him at the Barbican Theatre in Plymouth...a small , comfortable venue ideally suited to acoustic music. 
It was a huge disappointment ...
The evening was billed to start at at 7.30...we'd anticipated JS from then for a set/interval/set...wrong.
There was no mention of an opener...Maz O'connor. ..who eventually kicked off sometime after 8pm. She might have been OK but the sound was horrendous... vastly overprocessed vocals and guitar....she also played a 6 string uke which wasn't processed at all and sounded barren as a result.
Then an interval..
Sometime after 9 JS and a couple of guys who looked like a throwback from Woodstock ambled on.... JS centre stage with the guys left and right. One had an acoustic bass and the other a small bodied acoustic. Absolutely horrible sound for the first five songs...bass,bass and more bass...hopefully it sounded better to those on stage. The Woodstock duo tried some harmonies of the ooh aaah variety...to their credit they seemed quite serious about it.
At last they left the stage and JS did a few songs on his own...it was as if the fog had lifted and the sun had come out. His guitar sound still lacked clarity and his vocals were sometimes distorted but at least we were at last getting what we'd come for.
Lord Franklin was the highlight for me.
Then the Woodstock duo came back on and ...
Sadly the Barbican treated the evening as as an open mic night...people wandering in and out of the darkened theatre with drinks during songs...we felt for JS who made a comment to one member of the audience who was checking his phone..."emails OK mate?"or words to that effect.
I think tonight was the first night of his tour ...it can only get better.
It was a huge disappointment ...
The evening was billed to start at at 7.30...we'd anticipated JS from then for a set/interval/set...wrong.
There was no mention of an opener...Maz O'connor. ..who eventually kicked off sometime after 8pm. She might have been OK but the sound was horrendous... vastly overprocessed vocals and guitar....she also played a 6 string uke which wasn't processed at all and sounded barren as a result.
Then an interval..
Sometime after 9 JS and a couple of guys who looked like a throwback from Woodstock ambled on.... JS centre stage with the guys left and right. One had an acoustic bass and the other a small bodied acoustic. Absolutely horrible sound for the first five songs...bass,bass and more bass...hopefully it sounded better to those on stage. The Woodstock duo tried some harmonies of the ooh aaah variety...to their credit they seemed quite serious about it.
At last they left the stage and JS did a few songs on his own...it was as if the fog had lifted and the sun had come out. His guitar sound still lacked clarity and his vocals were sometimes distorted but at least we were at last getting what we'd come for.
Lord Franklin was the highlight for me.
Then the Woodstock duo came back on and ...
Sadly the Barbican treated the evening as as an open mic night...people wandering in and out of the darkened theatre with drinks during songs...we felt for JS who made a comment to one member of the audience who was checking his phone..."emails OK mate?"or words to that effect.
I think tonight was the first night of his tour ...it can only get better.
