Lonely Tourist - Stag & Hounds, Friday 14th March

The Lonely Tourist certainly didn’t cut a solitary figure at a heaving Stag and Hounds tonight as he launched his third and best record yet ‘Shouting At Weather.’  This genial purveyor of top class folk/skiffle storytelling appears to have been unequivocally adopted by the natives since the former Odeon Beatclub singer/guitarist decamped to Bristol from Glasgow a few years back.

After securing a fantastic line-up earlier in the year for ‘Stagfest’ gigs at this pub are always a lively affair and it’s fast becoming one of the places to be for seeking out emerging talent.  Paul Tierney aka the Lonely Tourist is a regular support fixture to many who’ve performed there and has played in almost every available venue/square foot that you can throw down a loop pedal across the city, including a fantastic slot at the 02 Academy warming up for, well; a shambolic, Babyshambles gig late last year.  Put simply to the uninitiated we’re watching Johnny Cash with the broadest Scottish accent heard since a pair of bespectacled brothers last tormented the airwaves, strumming acoustic and mandolin at a speed falling just short of wild, telling sharp-witted tales of talent squandering (‘Rattling Around’, ‘Send In The Clowns’) and prolific boozing (‘Ten Green’, ‘Last Glass’.)  

With a shy demeanour and a packed out room it’s a situation that you’d imagine would be uncomfortable for the self-deprecating singer, who all too often depicts himself as bereft of talent and support, but he seems to take it all in his stride.  There’s a tight band behind him for the first half of the gig its great fun from the off.  “The jukebox gets more money than me for standing singing songs” Tierney triumphantly cries on ‘Watch For The Sharks’ in it’s desperate lyrics versus bouncy melody Smiths-ness.  Slowing down soon after and the lyrical ingenuity knows no bounds as Mr Tourist takes us through life in the eyes of an insect (‘Fly On Your Window’) before concluding quietly “please put up with me and don’t try to kill me.” 

‘Clydebank 360 Feedback’ charts the life of a downtrodden, reluctant call centre supervisor dedicated by Tierney to anyone who hates their boss which predictably brings a hearty cheer.  Simple acoustic melodies with the emphasis on humour and cheerful despair(!) are the orders of the day but it actually never comes across as overly indulgent or grossly negative.  On ‘Rattling Around’ a stomping ode to relentless gigging, there’s further regret and disappointment but always with a rye smile and a perfect metaphor; “I’ve added up the change in life’s guitar case, two buttons, a Euro and eighty nine pence.  It’s good to know I’m doing this for fun, cos someone’s making it, well I make none.”  Great stuff.

“Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Paul Tierney Paul Tierney” is perhaps one of the most unlikely choruses you might ever hear for our finale.  This isn’t some egotistical self-homage but all part of what is the Lonely Tourist’s most lyrically brilliant piece of work yet; ‘The Ballad Of Paul Tierney.’  Picked up by BBC6 Music the tune tracks the tragically short-lived football career of the singer’s namesake whilst cleverly linking their fortunes of hope, promise and supposed failure within their respective careers. The entire crowd bellows it back arms aloft to unexpectedly bring the singer back on for one more.  It’s another superlative performance from one of Bristol’s best songwriters, charming and converting all before him.

Best Track: Click on link below
Lonely Tourist - 'The Ballad of Paul Tierney'


Buy Albums here:

'Shouting At Weather'
'I Live Where You Are'
'Sir I Am A Good Man'


Kindly published by Bristol 24-7
http://www.bristol247.com/2014/03/25/review-lonely-tourist-at-stag-hounds-bristol-47756/

Gaz Brookfield - Exchange, Friday 28th February

The term ‘Local Legend’ can be attributed all too often but to those around the city who’ve seen the gradual emergence of D.I.Y. singer/songwriter Gaz Brookfield, it’s a more than appropriate title as the penultimate date of his latest tour reaches a packed rowdy Exchange.

Playing over 300 gigs a year without a label, manager, agent or (quite often) a reliable means of transport, the well travelled acoustic people’s poet is back in his adopted city after the release of outstanding 3rd album ‘In The Company Of Thieves.’  An even better proposition with a full band and fiddle behind him, it’s easy to see how he’s amassed such an army of admirers in the South-West and beyond.  For an entry fee of less than two pints, we’re treated to real quality throughout.  Ieuan Williams impresses early on, a young Welshman with a great future ahead.  Next up Sam Eason charms the crowd and gets them singing, the flame-haired bearded singer turns the air all warm and fuzzy.  Dueting on ‘Cliches’ with talented wife Beth on vocals and I can see a fair few blokes reaching for their partners shoulders in one of many moments of pop brilliance.

On to our headliner who bravely opens a gig in Bristol with an ode to Swindon; ‘SN1’ -whacking and knuckle-rapping his well-worn acoustic as he goes.  The band behind him appears well drilled and the perfect foil for his fast-paced accessible folk with violinist Ben Wain playing stealing the show on crowd favourite ‘Limelight.’  The autobiographical ‘Towns’ follows as a real highlight.  Not for the first time Brookfield successfully mixes humour and brutally honest sentiment with ease as we’re told (about his parents), “folk called them the Brookfields, I call them Mum and Dad” and more movingly, “coz playing songs to folk like you is what keeps me alive.”  I’m pretty sure he’s not exaggerating here.

Interaction with the audience is an essential element to any of his shows.  There’s a unilateral charge of glasses in honour of “every real musician” on witty anti-plastic pop anthem ‘Diet of Banality;’ with a clutch of proudly hoisted middle fingers at the mention of the dark lord Cowell.  ‘Tell It To The Beer’ sees the charismatic singer alone on stage with harmonica and guitar delicately taking us through his early career in a doomed rock band, the track dedicated to his former band members genuinely haunts and chokes before concluding “I wouldn’t change the life we led for any other.”  Having triumphantly tackled plagiarism (‘Frank and Sam’) and life on the road eating service station sandwiches (the fun folk-fest of ‘Land Pirate’s Life’), there’s a further writing maturity on recent single ‘Black Dog Day.’  It’s quite simply one of the best songs I’ve heard addressing the issue of depression, the lyrics made more poignant when dispatched with bucketloads of throaty passion and an unusually weighty alt-rock.

Musically there’s a case for Frank Turner meeting Dylan but substituting politics for the pursuit of happiness, unburdened by material trappings and rejoicing in living for today.  Final tune ‘Westcountry’ is a big event demanding participation and the multi-talented musician appears genuinely and rightly humbled by their vociferous reaction.  More comedy in the lyrics (forgetting London, he’d rather see the West End of the M4 corridor) but it’s an open homage to Bristol and further proof of a real bond between a singer and his home-town fans that is rarely seen.  Not for the first time I leave a Brookfield gig with the feeling that he really is one of them, living the dream for everyone one of them who in turn do their utmost to keep him going on the road.  Not a fortnight ago an emergency batch of merch was bought to help him pay for car repairs to continue his 25 gig February tour.  What still defies belief is that such quality can come from an unsigned artist with a gigging ethic that even Springsteen couldn’t match but similarly a man who lives to play live for his fans; their faith and support is certainly rewarded when he delivers an astonishingly good performance like this one.

Best track: Click on link below
Gaz Brookfield - 'Towns'

Buy albums here:
Gaz Brookfield Albums

Kindly published by Bristol 24-7
http://www.bristol247.com/2014/03/04/review-gaz-brookfield-exchange-bristol-97118/