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Martin Stephenson was playing at Oran Mor tonight, which is about a ten minute walk from here. So I walked down, and Eric and I had a wonderful evening. Eric asked me what he should expect, and I told him I had absolutely no idea. I must have seen Martin play about 20 times in the last 20 years, and no two shows have been the same.
Tonight he was playing with a full band, and it was the loudest and rockiest I've heard him in those 20 years. The songs were mostly from his first four albums, and boy were they loud. It's been a while since I've come out of a gig with my ears ringing.
What impressed, as ever, was the joy Martin takes in playing. The smile never left his face, and it was widest when he stepped back to let his guitarist take solos. The music went through blues, finger picking, surf guitar, pop, and a lovely solo version of "Rain".
I took away a couple of blessings. His performance of "Nancy", a simple song about heartbreak, sung with a smile and introduced with the thought that having a teenage girl break your heart was bad enough when she had been your girlfriend, but much, much worse when she is your daughter. And as I say, he sung it with a smile.
He finished with a rocking version of "Look Down", too soon, leaving us wanting more.
He's a beautiful man, and I salute him.
Tonight he was playing with a full band, and it was the loudest and rockiest I've heard him in those 20 years. The songs were mostly from his first four albums, and boy were they loud. It's been a while since I've come out of a gig with my ears ringing.
What impressed, as ever, was the joy Martin takes in playing. The smile never left his face, and it was widest when he stepped back to let his guitarist take solos. The music went through blues, finger picking, surf guitar, pop, and a lovely solo version of "Rain".
I took away a couple of blessings. His performance of "Nancy", a simple song about heartbreak, sung with a smile and introduced with the thought that having a teenage girl break your heart was bad enough when she had been your girlfriend, but much, much worse when she is your daughter. And as I say, he sung it with a smile.
He finished with a rocking version of "Look Down", too soon, leaving us wanting more.
He's a beautiful man, and I salute him.
