- Sid Griffin and the
Bluegrass Folk
- The 12 Bar Club London
4 March 2001
- There were some significant changes to the band's
appearance here tonight. First up they were
billed as Sid Griffin and the Bluegrass Folk,
a change occasioned by the live debut with the
band of Gemma White on fiddle. There was another
new face tonight in Rory McFarlane on stand-up
bass. Add to this no less than 6 songs I've not
heard before and this was a major departure from
the Hillman/Parsons/Clark covers set the band
have been doing lately.
- After a promising acoustic set from Jan Bell, the
band crowded onto the stage and kicked off with
Wabash Cannonball, a lively new song, unannounced
and unfamiliar to me, but straight away giving
Gemma the opportunity to show her fiddle skills.
Pat McGarvey took the vocal lead for I Am A
Pilgrim which followed the first of several quips
tonight from Sid. This was followed by a
brilliant version of My Uncle which was a
personal highlight of the night. The 12 Bar Club
w as nicely packed tonight, especially for a cold
Sunday, and the crowd warmed to the next 2 new
songs. Flesh And Blood was a Johnny Cash song
which I felt had the edge over Man Of Constant
Sorrow. The latter began with Sid telling of Rod
Stewart covering the song but not singing the
verse about Kentucky! Pat sang it and it was well
received by the audience. We were back on
familiar ground with Neil Robert Herd's vocal on
Lost Highway. Sid prefaced this by dedicating it
to 'H' who was in the audience tonight , as was
former drummer Will Morrison.
- The band then played Cody Cody which they had
played live earlier on in the day when they
appeared on London Live Radio. Despite an error
by Pat at the start of the vocal, this went well
with some fine fiddle playing by Gemma White.
Another new song followed - Old Joe Clark, which
both Pat and Sid knew, but from different
sources. This was emphasised by Sid's tale of
trying to find the lyrics on the internet and
finding 18 sites, all of which seemed to offer
different alternatives! The song featured some
great banjo from Pat McGarvey and was extremely
well received. Then, another personal fave in the
shape of Bob Dylan's When The Ship Comes In. I
learnt tonight that this was covered by The
Hillmen which perhaps explains it's initial
appearance at this type of show. Sid cocked up
the beginning tonight however, and this was by no
means the best version the band have played.
- Next up were 2 more new songs. Pat took the vocal
lead on The Warmth Of The Sun, then shared it
with Neil Robert Herd on Old '55 which was the
livelier and arguably better of these two new
songs. Another song from the London Live show
followed. Git It On Bother featured some great
mandolin from Sid and fiddle again from Gemma
White. The set ended with a strong take on Fallen
Eagle, though the band were quickly asked to do
an encore and duly obliged with You Ain't Goin'
Nowhere.
- The band made several unusual mistakes tonight,
though with two new members, this is perhaps not
surprising. However, they sounded fine. Gemma
White's fiddle only adds to the songs and Rory
McFarlane on bass did not seem to put a foot
wrong. With Neil Robert Herd adding his vocal and
acoustic guitar to Sid's improving mandolin
skills and Pat's banjo, the band looked strong.
The inclusion of 6 (of 14) new songs in the set
also suggests that the band have got the Chris
Hillman bug out of their system (the tribute
album was 2 months away according to Sid) and
that these shows are increasingly likely to be
more bluegrass and less country-rock than
previously. If tonight's set is anything to go
by, the audience will have no problem with that
at all.
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