Wild Willy Barrett Boardwalk Sun 11th April

[jazzamatazz]

Willy Barrett says he isn't Wild anymore: just Livid.

 

For anyone thinking of turning out to see his cabaret show with Sleeping Dogz and who frankly don’t have a clue what to expect, be prepared for a thoroughly entertaining and highly original performance from three seriously talented musicians.

 

Barrett himself is still best known for his previous partnership with the equally indefinable John Otway ('Beware of the flowers 'cos I'm sure they're gonna get you', for example), but he has moved on since the heady days of the 70s. He is, however, one the most accomplished multi-instrumentalists working today and plays amazingly dextrous blues, neo-spanish, jazz, rock and folk with aplomb, barely sneaking a look at the fretboard of his guitar.

 

But it's a band. The classically trained Mary Holland plays cello, keyboards and sings wonderfully whilst fielding her bandmates' rather twisted sense of humour and John Devine, when he is not fixating on nurses and mooses (best not to ask!) matches Barrett's fluency on uilleann pipes, flute, keyboards and an array of percussion.

 

Although often billed as a ‘folk’ band, they deliver several delightfully odd mini-epics that are very unfolky in their skewiff grandeur, with more affinity in tone to grandiose psychedelia. These include Gypsies Too, The Emperor's Head (a pub), Tales From The Raj (an Indian restaurant?), and, grandest of all, Milton Keynes, which has something of the feel of an outsider music answer to Stairway To Heaven. Then there's the rousing country jig numbers, such as the delightful Old Joe Coral. And then there's the audience participation numbers, which throw an element of football crowd rowdiness into very odd contexts. Who is this Boris ‘the vodka king', whom we are all celebrating so enthusiastically? Never expect explanations from this band.

 

Even the most straightforward songs have a twist that make them special, and for sheer panache you can’t beat playing the slide guitar with a whole raw egg! If you want to see it all for yourself then get along to a live gig and witness the godfather of grunge folk. Or is it acoustic punk? Even Livid Willy Barrett doesn't know, but he's open to suggestions.

 

http://www.myspace.com/wildwillybarrett

 

 

tickets available from

BOX OFFICE

 

0871 230 1101 (24HR) or

The Boardwalk on gig nights.

Plug Box Office,

Record Collector *NEW,

Rocky Horrors, The Porter Brook, Sheffield City Hall Box Office,

The Arena Box Office, Sheffield Students Union.