Friday Photo #74

My heart sank a little on Martin's behalf when he mentioned a bunch of chattering gig-goers in his recent review of an Echo & the Bunnymen gig in Norwich. We've all experienced them at one time or another I'm sure. The constant blathering of a small, inconsiderate minority can so easily take the shine off of an otherwise good night out. But what's the best course of action in such a circumstance? Confront or try to ignore? It's a tricky one.

In October last year, I attended a gig that was almost comically polar opposite in terms of audience kerfuffle. Modern Nature played a basement show in front of a sell-out crowd of 60 uber-polite spectators, who remained so respectfully quiet during and between songs, that Jack Cooper felt the need to break the silence with a light-hearted remark every now and then. The band's 'The Heat Warps' was one of my favourite releases of 2025 and thanks to the particularly attentive audience that night, we could all fully appreciate every nuance of every tune.

Modern Nature - Pharaoh

Monday Long Song

I've been fortunate enough to witness Jon Wilks perform 'Greek Street' in venues of all shapes and sizes over the past few years and, be it a field, a hall or, most recently a tiny room, I'm invariably reduced to a blubbering mess by his moving recollection of a brief, fondly remembered, youthful affair. 'Greek Street' was originally released on Jon's fourth album 'Before I Knew What Had Begun I Had Already Lost' and a further two live versions of the song appear on his recent, terrific, odds and sods collection 'Bones'. If you, like me, are prone to a wobbly bottom lip, 'Bones' may well have you reaching for a hanky more than once, particularly with his devastating interpretations of Peter Knight's 'From a Butterfly Kiss' and Robin Williamson's 'October Song', both utterly sublime.

Jon is currently part of the hastily rejigged Songs of Martin Carthy tour and later in the summer, for the third year in succession, he'll be curating a stage at FolkEast. He's also working on a book about the legendary 1960's London folk club Les Cousins, itself based on Greek Street, which is due for publication at the end of this year. 

Greek Street