Saturday 4 October 2014

The Burning Hell (Mathew Street) live at the Acoustic Dustbowl

So I have been promising myself that I would get to the Acoustic Dustbowl held in the lovely View Two Gallery Liverpool and finally this month everything fell into place.. the planets aligned... Share prices were right... the queen was in residence... the M6 was still crap but sometimes you just have to go for it...

It was funny seeing my 12yr old daughters reaction as we wandered down Mathew Street towards the secret oasis of The View Two Gallery. She just grabbed my arm and said 'It's not down here is it?'. Having to pass numerous bars called The Cavern pumping out white noise just gives the impact of walking into The View Two Gallery even more power, it's so worth it.

It wasn't long before Barry Jones introduced the evening & then took up position as one half of the Southbound Attic Band who set the mood perfectly. Songs with interesting & entertaining lyrics(pretty sure I've not heard a song with Bill Grundys in it before) and banter that helped you relax and feel welcome. A great way to open the evening..

Checkout this video for a taste of the Southbound Attic Band
http://youtu.be/a1Jfl4Gdm4U

Now I had heard great things about The Big I AM not least from the ever present Roger Tolley who can be seen regularly checking out music around the Liverpool area. I trust Roger's judgement on matters of music so I was really looking forward to this. Before the band even entered the performance area I was intrigued. It wasn't your usual array of instruments there was a Tenor Ukulele, a bass Uke, a Cuatro(which due to my ignorance I thought was a mandolin) & yes even a boring old guitar. Most of the set had Peter McPartland on the Tenor Uke & Colin Heaney on the Cuatro and what a beautiful sound they made.. It was a wonderful almost symphonic soundscape. It was a real pleasure to hear something that sounded genuinely different delivered by just two people acoustically. As I am currently listening to the CD while I write this the lines are getting blurred as to which songs I heard live & which have lodged in my brain listening to the CD but I have to say I am loving 'Opposite'. My suggestion is you go and like The Big I AM on Facebook and go watch them live yourself & buy the CD it's great.

Here's a vid to give you a glimpse of The Big I AM..
http://youtu.be/WD-9MCPmSV4

Well this was a last minute decision gig so I actually had no knowledge of The Burning Hell and what to expect. With a name like The Burning Hell it could have been a Metal Core band for all I knew(Obviously not though we were going to an event called 'Acoustic' Dustbowl). Going in blind is my favourite way to sample a band for the first time because if it hits the spot it's like digging up gold, real joy. It didn't take me long to fall in love with the music & personality of The Burning Hell the deep tones & guitar playing of Mathias Kom were offset wonderfully by the flowing clarinet & softer vocal of Ariel Sharratt. I am sure Mathias and Ariel have heard this a hundred times but I couldn't help but be reminded of They Might Be Giants a band that holds great affection in our house. I put the comparison down to the quirky & amusing lyrics which held my interest throughout the night. I'm listening to 'Amateur Rappers' right now & I can feel the muscle memory kicking in giving me the exact same grin that held on my face seeing this performed live. We found ourselves being transported into the world of Mathias Kom sometimes funny,sometimes scary & even informative.. now we know about bylaw B174 ;) I can't tell you how glad I am we made the trip over to Liverpool for this gig( What am I on about of course I can, I just did. Stupid phrase that is 'I can't tell you how glad I am') Anyway I suggest you go and find tickets to see The Burning Hell and enjoy finding this piece of musical gold...


Checkout the official video for Amateur Rappers it'll make you groove & smile
http://vimeo.com/64891997

Big thanks to Barry and the Acoustic Dustbowl team. It was a wonderful night in a beautiful venue.

Sorry for the lack of photos and vids but this was so last minute I didn't have time to get my stuff together & check permissions. Next time hopefully.

You can follow The Big I AM on facebook..
https://www.facebook.com/thebigiam

Make your way into The Burning Hell..
http://www.wearetheburninghell.com/index.htm

Finally to find out what is going on at the Acoustic Dustbowl
http://acousticdustbowl.americana-uk.com/

Till next time..

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