- The Coal Porters: Rosie
O'Grady's, London - 13 February 2000
- A return to Rosie O'Grady's late Sunday afternoon
slot for Sid, this time joined by not only Pat
McGarvey, but also Neil Robert Herd and 'H', with
Dave Morgan in the audience for moral support.
Today the band are billed on the flyers as Sid
Griffin and The Bluegrass Boys. This has been
advertised as a bluegrass tribute to Chris
Hillman and Gram Parsons - 2 people whose music
Sid has been quite happy to champion in the past,
hence the numerous birthday and tribute shows he
and the band have played. To reflect the
bluegrass nature of the gig, Sid played mandolin
for the entire show, with Pat on banjo, Neil
Robert on acoustic guitar, with 'H' on dobro.
-
- Despite some sound problems setting up, there is
a healthy crowd waiting patiently by the time
Pat's vocals kicked off I Am A Pilgrim and the
show was off to a good start. This was followed
by a superb version of My Uncle from The Gilded
Palace Of Sin which is a great song and probably
very much underrated amongst tracks like
Christine's Tune and Sin City which it sits
alongside on the album. In fact it was Sin City
which came next, again an always popular
favourite with the crowd, who clearly like the
idea of a Sunday afternoon drink and some fine
music.
-
- A noteworthy run through The Byrds' Time Between
was followed by Neil Robert Herd taking over the
vocals for Lost Highway, a song made famous by
Hank Williams, but known to me because of Jason
And The Scorchers, which just goes to show that
good music has no expiry date. Another cover
version in the shape of Bob Dylan's When The Ship
Comes In had all 3 sharing the vocal arrangements
to great effect. Next up were two more personal
favourites. Sweet Mental Revenge managed to live
up to its' old glory with Sid doing a marvellous
solo on the mandolin, whilst He Was A Friend Of
Mine will always be one of my favourite Byrds
tracks and showed why this evening with another
great performance from all the band.
-
- The final part of the set began with the song
Fallen Eagle which went down so well at the Chris
Hillman birthday show back in December, though I
am still no nearer to knowing its' origins. This
was succeeded by two Burritos tracks in Wheels
and Older Guys, the latter suffering from a
slight vocal cock-up between Messrs Griffin and
Herd. After a quick check with hosts Alan Tyler
and Big Steve that there was time for more, the
guys gave finished the set with So You Wanna Be A
Rock'n'Roll Star. There was the usual audience
participation in the screaming parts which seemed
to baffle one audience member, as Sid asked
someone to explain what was happening in between
verses! After a great reaction from the crowd
(and Sid, who wasted no time in whooping his own
appreciation!) the band came back for one more, a
smashing drive through Six Days On The Road.
-
- Despite a few sound problems, particularly with
the dobro which wasn't always as audible as Sid
would have liked the guys put on a good show. Sid
seems more comfortable handling the mandolin, as
does Pat with the banjo and clearly Neil Robert
Herd and 'H' can manage guitar and dobro with no
problems.
-
- As someone who has seen his fair share of
Hillman/Parsons tribute shows, I was pleasantly
surprised that the set this evening sounded as
fresh as it did. There's always a danger that
people might get tired of hearing the band play
these songs, but on today's evidence that moment
is some time off just yet.
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