Bap's Friends – Derek's Page

By Derek Brown

THE MUSICIAN
At Leicester, England
15 November 2009

I'd been looking forward to this gig for some time since it was first announced. Usually I trek up to London to see Bap but on this occasion the gigs were over the far side of town which was not as convenient for me to get to, so instead I decided to look towards some of the provincial dates on this tour. The Worcester and Leicester dates looked the most likely that I could attend as both locations are only an hour or so away from where I live. Ultimately I had to drop the idea of going to Worcester as the obvious late night that I would have was not compatible with an early start on the following morning and a 7-hour briefing session that I was due to lead during that day at work! So Leicester looked like being my only date on Bap's tour apart from the see late addition of the Bedford date (My review of that gig will be posted shortly.

Sunday was a busy day for me and the weather over the preceding 24 hours or so had been pretty foul with torrential rain and gale force winds so I wasn't really looking forward to my drive up the M1 motorway but fortunately by early evening the weather had calmed right down.

I'd looked up the details of the venue on the Interweb and was impressed with what I saw. The venue was obviously being run as a proper venue for real music enthusiasts and the listing of gigs planned for the next month or so showed an impressive line-up and variety of different artists covering a multitude of differing styles.

I found the venue with great ease thanks to the sat-nav (the days of driving round and round dingy city centres looking for dubious venues and having to ask passers-by for directions and then receiving a blank from them seems now to have become a thing of the past!).

I recognised the venue straightaway from the picture on its Interweb site. It was sat on the corner of the road and was lit up like an oasis for desperate music fans lost in a desert of dark, dreary and bland industrial/commercial buildings that form this part of Leicester city centre. The warm glow that was exuding from the building seemed very welcoming.

When I entered the building there was already a small gathering of people but by no means a crowd. Even though it was just past 8 pm there was no indication what time the music would actually start but I was hoping that the locals would know and that a reasonable crowd would gather in time for the main attraction. Armed with a pint of a local brew I found myself a suitable position just in front of the stage (slightly to the left). The venue itself is fairly small and has only relatively recently been enlarged to hold 200 people. As a consequence there was a good view of the stage area from pretty much all parts of the venue (apart from the bar!). The ambience of the place was absolutely spot on and I think the owners/promoters of the venue should be applauded for hitting all the right buttons.

The locals of Leicester are also a very friendly bunch and I had some lovely chats about music and our favourite 'Bap moments' (hello to Mike and Sheila!).

The support act for the night was a local artist called Dawson Smith ho played an excellent selection of country classics as well as a couple of original numbers. He was ably accompanied by an excellent mandolin player (whose name I can't recall) and a guy called Paddy Hodgekinson who was playing a double bass (I love the double bass as it is great to see the musician wrestling with the instrument during the more lively numbers - as we will see more of later). It was obvious listening to Dawson Smith talk between the numbers that he is a genuine enthusiast of country music and had numerous stories to tell. All too soon their set was over and it was time for Bap to arrive on stage.

By this time there were only about 40-50 people forming the audience which I guess for a rainy Sunday night in Leicester probably wasn't bad. I felt it must be slightly disappointing for an artist such as Bap to be performing in front of relatively small numbers which must make the economics of touring very difficult indeed.

Bap was playing the gig as an acoustic duo with his wife Brenda. Step-son Kenneth was 'multi-tasking' (according to Bap) as he was selling CDs and running the raffle (more about that later)!

Bap introduced the set by explaining that many of the songs that he would be playing were from his new album, Howl On which was inspired by his memories of the moon landings in the late 1960's and all things cosmic! Being only four weeks older than Bap I can appreciate what Bap is relating from his memories as I can clearly recall similar sentiments from that era as well. Bap also said he'd spent some of that day visiting the National Space Centre that is located on outskirts of Leicester.

Bap went on to play America as his opening song. He then followed this up with The Blue One explaining how this related to a photograph that was taken by the Voyager space craft which was purposely turned around in order to face our solar system and take some photographs. Famously it captured our planet as a tiny pale blue dot hence: The Blue One.

Continuing the tracks from Howl On, Bap then went onto play Cold War Country Blues. Bap explained how most of the astronauts were country music fans (some laughter from the audience but nevertheless generally true). And he explained how recordings of Hank Williams (on cassette tapes!) were taken by the Apollo 11 astronauts during their voyage. Apparently this did not include Neil Armstrong, who took recordings of Theremin sounds with him!

Personally I've had mixed feelings about this song on the album. Although I understood the context in which the song was written and the influences on how it was performed I felt that the lyrics were a little too simple in comparison with other classic Bap songs - it felt a bit of a throwaway sort of song. However hearing the song performed live gave it a completely different feel and I hope that the next time I listen to the recorded version that I will appreciate the FULL context in which the song was written and recorded. A good live number for sure.

It was good to hear on old favourite - Long Time a-Comin from Domestic Blues, played next and which took my mind back to those heady days at The Boogaloo on a Sunday evening when Bap and the Walborne Brothers could almost be guaranteed to play this number. Hearing this number led me to re-visit the Domestic Blues album again the following week and even though it was some years ago since it was originally released it still sounds as fresh as ever!

Next we moved a back an album to The Big Picture and the masterpiece of which is On The Mighty Ocean Alcohol. Bap regaled the story about how Shane McGowan had promised to record this song with Bap and how after waiting for over a year for an arrangement to be made the solution was found that was to take a recording studio to McGowan (and this is what happened in The Boogaloo in Highgate).

We then returned to the title track of the latest album and Howl On itself and how the universe can seem a very small place when you have a broken heart. This is one of my favourite songs off the album.

Bap recalled a recent gig in Oswestry and said that Howl On was very popular there and that the song was revered by the town. A voice in the Leicester crowd shouted out "But Oswestry is only a tiny place!" to which Bap responded "Boom boom!!"

One of the joys of a Bap gig is the likelihood that a Hank Williams song will get played and tonight was to be no exception with a soulful rendition of Ramblin Man, a classic HW song about a man trapped in his drifting ways who was forever doomed to break his lover's heart. All HW songs are masterpieces and Bap knows how to deliver them with the utmost respect to their creator but with a passion and freshness as if he had written them himself.

Bap then invited Brenda to tell the story how they originally met (during a song writer's workshop in Belfast that Bap was hosting a couple of years ago). Brenda then went on to perform Entirely Free which was the actual song that won her the associated competition and the opportunity to perform with Bap. The rest is history, etc.

Following this, it was good to hear one of Bap's earlier solo songs again after what seemed like quite a long time but probably wasn't ... and we were given Vampire. Although it was apparent that most of the audience were not entirely familiar with all of the songs on Howl On that was definitely not the case for Domestic Blues and you could see the smile emerge on Bap's face as the chorus of the song was sung along with by a great majority of those watching. Okay there might not be a full house but those who were there were evidently familiar with some of Bap's material.

The inspiration for the next song, Brave Captain, was explained by Bap as being the famous Earthrise photograph that was taken by the crew of Apollo 8 and which Bap believed led to the first real awareness of the ecology of our planet.

One of my favourite tracks off Howl On is One of those Days. The song is written about the astronauts who having been to the moon and the dilemma that faced them upon their return to Earth which was 'what is there to do next?' Well most of us know (particularly from reading the Moondust book) what actually did happen to the astronauts and the difficulties that they faced in their lives coming to terms with it all. As Bap pointed out, the astronauts that we remember from the footage of the time are now old men and only 9 of the 12 involved in the moon landings are still alive.

Bap's love of country music then introduced us to a song that Marty Robbins made famous - The Streets of Laredo. I'd heard Bap sing this song a few times but never made an association until recently as only the week before I was helping my parents dispose of some old LPs (Val Doonican, George Hamilton, Fairground Organs and Grenadier Guard bands!!!!!) but amongst them I found three albums by Marty Robbins (including Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs) and I was interested enough to put the records aside for future listening and on hearing Bap mentioning Marty Robbins the penny finally dropped! As Bap was singing, my mind was seeing the cover of the Martin Robbins album where he is dressed as a cowboy and is in a classic pose of shooting his Smith and Wesson (possibly in the direction of the photographer!!).

By now the audience were suitably fired-up (unintended pun - see above) and once again joined in fully with the chorus lines to The Way I Love Her which made it feel like the venue was full. Again Bap was very appreciative of the support he was receiving.

Throughout the evening it was evident that Bap was enjoying himself and was fairly relaxed and as a consequence the humorous quips and puns were flowing fast and furious. The gig itself had started fairly late in the evening (9.45 pm) and Bap quipped that most of us probably had to get up early in the morning to go to work to which Bap added "so have I - I've got a paper round to do!"

As mentioned earlier, during the show Kenneth was running a raffle. Basically for £2 and by completing a mailing list registration card it would then entitle an entry into a raffle with the prize of a signed CD AND the key to a double room (Room 309 to be precise) in a local Travelodge, which Bap claimed was a delightful room located right next to where he was staying for the night. Bap explained that the room had originally been booked for another musician (Peter O'Hanlon) who was unable to make the gig due to commitments elsewhere) and as a consequence it was spare and available for use! Bap even held up the swipe card for the room and when the raffle was drawn the card was dutifully given by Bap to Kenneth to pass on to the lucky winner!!!!

Anyhow back to music and Irish Moon was played as a tribute to Michael Collins who Bap felt is often overlooked on the Apollo 11 mission, as Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong receive most of the attention even though Michael Collins provided the taxi ride home! Bap, as usual, explained how when he was 7 years old he thought that Michael Collins was an Irishman! Again, this was another song off Howl On that I struggled to fully appreciate as a recorded track but which works really well as a live number.

The next two songs took me back to October 2007 when I saw Bap perform an exclusive gig in north Belfast. One of the (many) highlights of that night was Bap performing the (then) 'new' song The Ballad of Neil Armstrong. This song was inspired by Neil Armstrong's tragic los of his young daughter (before the Apollo missions started) and Bap imagining the Apollo 11 commander seeing her guiding presence amongst the stars as he voyaged to the moon. Neil Armstrong has always been a strong, silent type and has rarely participated in any of the post-moon landing media or public events and hardly ever seen in public. As a consequence it is easy to imagine him to be a sensitive person ('unlike the other square jawed cowboys who ran NASA' - Bap quote) and this song seems so plausible.

Following on from this was another of my all time favourites - Moonlight Kiss. I will never forget how Bap performed this song in October 2007 and seeing how it is performed now I can sense that the song has become more uplifting. I can never tire of hearing this song. It was then the last song of the night (and from Howl On) which was The Right Stuff. As Bap pointed out, the astronauts that we remember from the footage of the time are now old men and only 9 of the 12 involved in the moon landings are still alive.

Bap hinted that he would perform an encore ('do that showbiz stuff') and despite not actually leaving the stage he placed his guitar down, received a rapturous applause and then readied himself for his final number.

An appeal from a member of the audience to play Mostly Water on the tenuous grounds of continuing the moon theme (as evidence from recent lunar probes has identified that water might actually be present on the moon) raised a smile and was played anyway. Bap and Brenda were joined on stage by Paddy Hodgekinson who accompanied them superbly on double base 'guitar' and with the audience joining in with singing the chorus once again the gig came to a rousing end.

However it couldn't stop there and the cheering and clapping persuaded Bap to return for one last number and Bap once again called Paddy back to play the unscheduled Hey Joe. Paddy was heard to check the chords to use with Bap as he climbed back on stage and from the evidence of his playing you would have thought that he played that number every night with Bap! All too soon it came to an end and that feeling of wanting to see another performance started once again.

Speaking with Bap after the show he was obviously pleased with the way it had gone and said it had been a good night.

As a venue I rated The Musician as top place to see acts like Bap, etc. I'll definitely come back again and I just wish more people would realize what gems are right on their doorstep - even on a wet and rainy Sunday night!

I wonder if Room 309 was as good?!

SET LIST

America
The Blue One
Cold War Country Blues
On The Mighty Ocean Alcohol
Long Time a-Comin
Howl On
Ramblin Man (Hank Williams song)
Entirely Free (Brenda Kennedy)
Vampire
Brave Captain
One of those Days
The Streets of Laredo (Marty Robbins Song)
The Way Love Her
Irish Moon
Ballad of Neil Armstrong
Moonlight Kiss
The Right Stuff
Mostly Water
Hey Joe

The article featured below is what inadvertently provided the concept for the Fans' Articles Pages, by a very special friend, Derek Brown. Derek has been of immense assistance, encouragement, and support for me in forming this site, and he comprises part of the 'we' mentioned in the material below. The third portion of the 'we' is Bap himself, who visits this site ... and I know he will welcome and enjoy your participation!

Derek and his family live in Brackley, England, where he is employed as a Railway Engineer. What follows is verbatim what he sent me quite some time ago, when I first enquired about his 'how and when' he first saw Bap Kennedy and Energy Orchard. I'm betting he never dreamt it would ultimately become a feature on a Bap Kennedy website...but then again, neither did I!! Coincidentally, Derek also provided the captions for the Fans' Articles Pages!  Derek, thank you so very much for your friendship, assistance, and encouragement ... and for allowing me to share your 'story' to launch this part of the website! (Subsequent articles are listed below in reverse-chronological order after this article.)

My Introduction to Bap's Music
By Derek Brown

Back in 1990 I was still living in my home city - Oxford. I can remember reading my local newspaper, which mentioned a gig at a local college (actually Oxford Polytechnic). It seemed that the band concerned were called Energy Orchard who were an Irish band that played with a Celtic influence. It sounded interesting enough for me to go along. The gig was being held in the Student Union building, which is only open to Students, so I had to make friends with one very quickly so that I could go in as their guest!

The weather that night was really rough with gale force winds which brought lots of trees down across the roads nearby which made all the band's equipment late in arriving. This caused the gig to start fairly late. When the band finally came on stage I knew that they were the band for me. At that time they only had songs from their first album and a few Van Morrison songs to play. As part of the show Bap would encourage members of the audience on-stage so that they could do an Irish jig to the music. In return Bap would give them an EO T-shirt. I didn't go on-stage but Bap had one shirt left, which he threw into he crowd. Somehow I managed to catch it and quickly hide it before someone else could grab it off me!!

A couple of months later the band was touring again and I managed to see them a Leicester Polytechnic. The only time I wore that shirt was to this gig and somehow after the show I managed to get backstage to the band's dressing room. Bap asked me if I had ever washed the shirt and warned me not to as it would probably fall apart!

While backstage I managed to get a number of items autographed by the band. I've got a vinyl copy of the first album with each of their autographs written in silver ink on the front cover. In the UK their 2nd single 'SailorTown' (still one of my very favourite songs) was issued as a Ltd CD in a boxed set with a poster and postcards of each band member.

I also managed to get each of those items signed individually as well. The best bit was that they wrote funny comments along side their signatures as well!! These items are my pride and joy and I would never sell them. If I ever did consider it - then the purchaser would have to consider selling their home to raise the money!

Over the years I saw the band 25-30 times at many venues in London and across England. I went to their farewell gig in 1995, which was a great show, but after the last song I knew that life was never going to be quite the same again!

The Most Memorable Gig of the Year
13th October 2007

Chapter 1

As it seemed such a long since I’d last written a review of a Bap gig, I’d been thinking about the title for the review for a quite a time. The gig that I am now writing about was always going to be special. Special because it was going to be so unusual AND in Belfast, the first time that I had ever visited the province.

Two months earlier the impossible happened for me. In late August, on a very unusually warm Sunday evening, I saw my beloved favourite band, Marillion, reunited in the spiritual hometown and playing in the Market Square with their original front man, FISH. No one would have ever believed that 18 years after they split up that a reunion would ever happen, but it did and I was there to witness them play one more song together. Their first hit single from 1982 – Market Square Heroes was performed in front of my own eyes in the very place that it referred to!

At that time I honestly believed that this would be the best and my most memorable gig of the year. As I said, I’d already started thinking of the title for my latest Bap review and ‘The Second Most Memorable Gig of the Year’ had been sitting in my brain for some time.

As I write this review, on Sunday 14th October 2007, I’m sat in the departure hall at Belfast International, Aldegrave, or Crumlin Airport depending fhuge on which road sign you chose to believe and I still can’t believe what I’ve experienced over the past couple of days and I’m busy imagining what I would usually have done in my more normal routine of things!

On Saturday evening, I drove to pick Shirley up from the guesthouse where she was stopping, near to Queens University in Belfast. We travelled through the centre of Belfast and headed out to the northern outskirts where the venue awaited us! I’d already sneaked a look on the Google maps/satellite photos to see the location of Stephen’s house and to familiarise myself with his locality so that I could start imagining what a gig in his house might be like. Yes … we were going to see Bap perform and the gig was going to be taking place in a HOUSE! A typical three bed roomed semi-detached suburban home exactly like the one I was born and bred in!

I had been thinking about all the venues that I’d ever seen Bap perform in the past: London, Hammersmith Odeon, The Town and Country Club, The Marquee, The Mean Fiddler, The Borderline Club, The Dome – all with Energy Orchard - as well as numerous provincial venues and many others with Bap performing solo. I always thought that seeing Bap play at The Boogaloo was fairly intimate and exclusive but little did I know that tonight was going to surpass all these. Even though this was going to be the smallest gathering I’d even seen Bap perform in front this wasn’t due to any lack of demand, oh no………100% of the audience tonight were going to be wholly dedicated admirers of Bap and his musical talents. No audience that I’d ever been part of would be as knowledgeable and committed as the gathering tonight!

Chapter 2

As we journeyed away from the 'Shankhill Road' and up the hill towards north Belfast, I told Shirley to turn around and take a look. She let out a stunned gasp in the same way that I had the previous night. There in front of her lay the lights of Belfast, the city spread out before us way down below. It was an incredible sight and was totally unexpected. I thought back to the Energy Orchard song 'Belfast’ and could understand to some degree what had inspired that song. I tried to imagine standing on that hill as an observer during ‘the troubles’ and seeing those lights looking so beautiful but knowing all amongst them that the city was tearing itself apart. The song made perfect sense and I could feel the connection and wondered whether Bap had taken in this same view for part of his inspiration (if he needed any more).

We arrived at Stephen’s house just as the caterers were delivering the evening’s supplies! It provided the perfect opportunity for us to make our entry so we each grabbed a tray of sandwiches and wandered in! We walked through to the kitchen where I made my first acquaintance with Stephen. It was a nice relaxed way to meet for the first time and we both felt at home straight away!

Shirley and I were the first to arrive and it was really exciting to hear the door bell ring to see which of the guests was to be the next to arrive. Up to this point I’d only ever seen the names of these people on various emails or web sites – they didn’t really exist but now before my eyes they were becoming 100% reality. Like Shirley, I’d never met any of the others before and I was a little nervous about meeting up with so many ‘strangers’ for the first time. Some of Stephen’s family were also there and they seemed bemused by the fact that so many people were arriving from so many different directions and places – Dublin, Oregon, England, Scotland, Belfast (on a weekend from England) etc. It wasn’t long after they arrived that I realised that we weren’t strangers at all but friends who had never met before! Soon after, Bap and Peter O’Hanlon arrived.

I’d already noticed that the auditorium for the night was going to be the dining area and that there were three rows of chairs neatly set out for the ‘audience.’ The stage area comprised of two further chairs, placed in front of the curtained windows, facing the other way towards us. Whoever was sitting in the front row would have a superb view!

We all found ourselves standing in Stephen’s garden chatting together, as Bap and Peter tuned their guitars and prepared for their performance. (I wonder what they were thinking at this stage?). By this time it was really starting to dawn on me just how different tonight was going to be and in my 30 years of going to gigs how unique this performance was going to be. Outside the evening was unseasonably warm for October and it was so relaxing as we stood out there chatting. Then, Bap asked Stephen if we were ready and with due acknowledgement we all took our places in the dining room!

Chapter 3

Bap and Peter sat down and launched into A Long Time a Comin.’ Straightaway I realised just how different this performance was going to be as there were no microphones or amplification. I’d not really given this too much thought in the run up to tonight but suddenly here we were seeing Bap and Peter perform in an absolute natural state. You can forget all those gimmicky MTV Unplugged gigs from the 1990s – this was unplugged in the true sense! All the songs took on a much richer sound and had a depth that seemed to have come straight from the heart of their creator whether it was Bap, Hank, Elvis or whoever. I remembered first seeing Bap in 1990 and thinking how brash he was as a performer but tonight I sensed a level of intense sensitivity, which I realised, was the real Bap. The emotions from the songs gave them all a new feeling, which has totally changed the way I now hear the songs when I play them on CD.

I have never ever doubted that Bap’s songs and singing came from his heart and soul but tonight the proof was there in front of my own eyes. At times, Bap’s voice was very soft sounding and it almost seemed that he had momentarily left us as he delved deeper into sentiments of the lyrics and their meaning and took himself away on an emotional journey somewhere. I imagined that Bap was feeling closer to the meanings of the lyrics than at any time since he had written them or started playing them.

Never were the above words more applicable than to the night’s performance of Moonlight Kiss, rightly requested by Shirley! I have never seen or heard Bap perform that song in the way he did tonight. It was probably the saddest that I have ever heard him sing it. For me, the emotion and feeling in his voice was incredible – he seemed to be living every single word of that lyric. It should rank as one of the best set of lyrics ever written and here I was watching the man living them. It was incredible – stunning and shocking in one go! I felt a tinge of sadness in Bap as he sung it and a couple of times I felt that Bap had lost himself in those lyrics. It actually brought a tear to my eye, as it was so powerful. It was one of the most extraordinary performances I had ever witnessed. I will NEVER EVER forget that moment and every time I listen to Moonlight Kiss I will find myself transported back to the time/place in my life. Thank you for that, Bap.

Bap returned to us and performed a brilliant version of Angel is the Devil which really lifted things to reach the end of the first set. “Don’t go back, we’ll be right away” said Bap as he brought the first half to its end.

The format of the evening had been Bap playing pretty much anything that was requested: His songs, Hanks, Elvis’s etc. It really was like playing with your own Bap Kennedy jukebox. Sweet Oblivion was about the only thing that he wasn't able to play.

Highlights for me of the first half (well … all of it really but for the purposes of this exercise) were Domestic Blues, Elvis, Hank and Me; the Postman Pat intro to Angel is the Devil etc.) The banter was also flowing well and the intimacy of the evening made the chatter between the songs equally entertaining. Bap told us a tale about how he’d forgotten a lyric and had to email Shirley to remind him of a specific word!

Chapter 4

At this stage I must mention – Peter O’Hanlon. This was the first time that I’d seen him and Bap perform. Anyone who has seen Bap perform over the years knows that he always manages to associate himself with some superb musicians especially guitar players, but honestly Peter must be at the top of the pile. The way he and Bap interact with one another is superb. I guess (not being a guitarist) that much of what Peter plays is very much improvised ‘on the night’ but he makes it appear so easy and it sounds absolutely exquisite. I think that Peter’s playing on Moonlight Kiss was the catalyst for the emotions that the song released tonight.

During the break we once more gathered in the garden to chatter with Bap and Peter and to tuck into the food that Stephen had kindly provided for us. Time flew by and we reconvened for the second set.

Bap and Peter kicked off with Lonely Street and a little later on Too Old for Fairy Tales nearly hit the same level as Moonlight Kiss had. Again, the lyrics are amongst the best that Bap (or any body else for that matter) have ever been written. There was now no stopping the flow of songs: - My Sweet Love Ain’t Around, Moriarty’s Blues, etc., etc. Bap requested himself to play Baby It’s Alright. Again he sang it with deep emotion, which I don’t think would have been evident if it had been sung through a mike.

By the time we got to a rousing rendition of Lost Highway the realisation dawned on me that the evening wasn’t going to last forever and that it was going to have to end. I can remember starting to concentrate so hard in order that I didn’t miss a second of what was going on.

The level of audience participation during the evening had been good as Bap had, thoughtfully, provided a 'shaker’ to be passed around, so that people's levels of rhythm (or not) could be exposed for all to see. I must say that everyone who had a go did extremely well – I managed to avoid it myself and relied on good old-fashioned foot tapping which didn’t seem to stop all evening!

Chapter 5

All to soon I sensed that the last song was approaching. I didn’t want it to end. We managed to get Bap and Peter to play two encores and they finished with Hey Joe. Through the evening we’d heard the absolute best of Bap and Peter, we’d heard all our old favourites performed (for most of us), in a unique way. I don’t think I’d ever experienced a set of this length by Bap so we were well and truly spoiled. We’d also heard a couple of particularly special songs and I felt so privileged to witness two great musicians so close–up.

We all ended up back in the garden again to chatter, exchange phone numbers etc. Bap had bought along a few old Energy Orchard concert posters that he’d found in his loft. I was particularly pleased to see them as they were for a London gig that I’d attended many years before (I remembered the night very well as there was a power failure as EO were playing!). Bap signed one for me and one for Shirley. He also signed a few copies of the Book of Banter (a supplement needs to be written to include the night’s offerings).

The evening then ended with us all going our separate ways. It was 5 hours earlier when we had met as strangers but I felt that as we left that we were like life-long friends. None of us knew when we would meet up as a group together again … but I’m sure we will.

We said our farewells to Stephen and Jackie and headed back down into central Belfast to drop Shirley and Alan off. I then drove back up the Shankhill Road again to my hotel near the airport and took a last look at the lights of Belfast. It all seemed so surreal and although it was nearly 2 A.M., I felt no tiredness and I knew that I would have a real struggle trying to get to sleep with all those memories in my head. I almost wanted to relive the night again as I still couldn’t quite believe what I’d seen. I imagined all of the others would be thinking the same, especially Stephen. What must it have been like in his house when we’d all gone ……. Soooooooo quiet!

Tonight was really about Elvis, Hank, and Bap, and Stephen, Jackie, [and Derek!],
Shirley, John, Alan, and Scott.

All the above would not have been possible without the organisational skills and hospitality shown to us all by Stephen and Jackie … Big thanks to Bap and Peter for such a stunning performance and for being such bloody nice people.

And finally thank you to Shirley, Scotty, Alan, John and everyone else who was there that night for making it so good. You are all very special people who have impeccable taste! [--Derek]

Huge Thanks!

Heartfelt thanks to Derek for providing us the ability to
virtually see this wonderful evening through his eyes…

You have greatly blessed us...Thank you Derek!!

And enormous thanks to Bap and Peter
for giving us this absolutely amazing, incredible night of bliss!
It will forever live in my mind
and go down in history as my 'Gig of a Lifetime!' [--Shirley]

On 9 October 2004 Derek had the pleasure of seeing Bap's show at The Verge in London. Derek sometimes treats me to his 'review' of the evening's entertainment when he sees Bap perform, so that I can enjoy it as well, albeit in a much smaller way, but nonetheless...it really makes my heart smile!! What follows is Derek's review of that gig.

Bap at The Verge - Kentish Town, London
9th October 2004
By Derek Brown

Due to work commitments it had been many months since I had seen Bap play at The Social, behind Oxford Street in Central London. I had for some time intended to trek up to The Boogaloo but the thought of getting home in the early hours of Monday morning with a full weeks work ahead for some reason deterred me from making the trip. Whenever I could take a days leave always coincided with a Sunday night when Bap wasn’t playing so you can imagine my delight when the date at The Verge was announced – a Saturday night gig with the prospect of a lie-in on Sunday morning!

Come that evening I travelled up the M40/A40 past Camden Town and managed to park directly outside the venue in Kentish Town. One of the good things about Bap’s gigs is that they take you to venues that you probably never realised existed and in areas that you would be fairly unlikely to go in the course of ones normal business. They actually make a refreshing change from the usual Astoria, The Forum, Mean Fiddler, Brixton Academy type venues.

The Verge is a fairly small venue established in what was formally a typical London pub. On entering through a small lobby with narrow swing doors at each end, one enters into the bar area and notices the stage to the immediate left, located at an angle across the corner of the building. The bar was further down on the left with a few perch stools and some table and chairs around an L-shaped corner. The décor was fairly dark and the lighting minimal, but overall the atmosphere created was perfect for a Saturday night of good music.

I had arranged to meet up with some other followers of Bap who I had met via Shirley and numerous emails. I had also been tasked with delivering some special parcels (thanks Shirley!). I had worried that the venue was one of those ones where you get searched before entering and I tried to think up a credible excuse as to why I was attempting to take fancy gift bags into the venue. In the end I needn’t have worried! (BAP – I hope it fitted you OK?)

I was too busy chatting to take too much notice of the first band to play but from what I could hear and see, they appeared to be very good. One noticeable thing was that the P.A. was VERY loud for such a small venue, but was nevertheless of good quality (my mind wandered back to appalling sound quality at The Legion in December 2003 when Bap asked the ‘Sound Man’ if he’d been given the P.A. as a Christmas present!).

The second band onstage was somewhat familiar as it consisted of James and Rab Walbourne (and a bass player whose name I have unforgivably forgotten). They played a superb set with James showing some astonishing guitar playing in styles that one would not normally associate him with when he is accompanying Bap. I’m not sure that they were warming-up Bap's audience, it was more like roasting us!!! Any other artist would have a hard act to follow after their performance; but considering that the next act was going to be them again (with Jason Wilson on bass) and with Bap there was never going to be a problem!!!

Bap soon arrived on stage wearing his obligatory (it seems these days) Dalston T shirt (Bap – maybe you should wear the State of Oregon shirt now!!). Bap played a typical set although with only one song from the ‘new’ album. It’s interesting to hear how different the songs are played live in comparison with the recorded versions. Bap was his usual witty self (claiming after one song that he was playing a greatest hits set and immediately saying goodnight!).

Mind you every song he played did seem like a greatest hit to me with only (unbelievably?) the Elvis songs being the only ones that I didn’t really recognise! Lost Highway, Elvis, Hank & Me,Moonlight Kiss, and Vampire (who else could write a chorus containing those words!!) are my particular favourites. Baby Please Don’t Go brought the set nearly to an end with Mostly Water the final song finishing at ten minutes past midnight with the best audience participation of the night

SET LIST
Be Careful What You Wish For
Moriarty’s Blues
Lost Highway
Vampire
Elvis, Hank & Me
Domestic Blues
Love me
Moonlight Kiss
My Money
A Long Time a Comin’
Tryin' To Get To You
Long Gone Daddy
Angel is the Devil
I Saw the Light
Baby Please Don’t Go
Mostly Water

I always hate the end of Bap’s show as I could carry on for at least another hour or more, and one leaves never quite knowing how long it will be before you’ll get to see his next show (unless I decide to have a late night out the following Sunday that is)!!!

The audience probably numbered 40 to 50 people and were, as usual, very appreciative of the band’s performance. I recognised a few faces from previous shows and it is likely that some of them may regularly visit this website. It would be nice if we make contact with one another and maybe even meet up at Bap’s gigs even if it is only to say hello. I’ve found that the people who like Bap’s music are some of the nicest people around!! If you’re going to a gig – let people know by leaving a message on this site!

Excellent suggestion Derek!   Messages
may be left in the Guestbook, or Email directed to Shirley at Lontana2@comcast.net

Derek, another wonderful article, thank you very much for sharing...
and we truly hope it will encourage others to connect with one another!

The Miracle of Bap Kennedy [and James Walbourne!]
Witnessed at The Ship Inn, Bedford
Sunday 13th August 2006

For me, this was a gig that came out of nowhere. I’d been bemoaning the fact to several people during the previous week that I hadn’t seen Bap play for ages. I hadn’t really registered the note on Bap’s web site about this one and mistakenly thought that it was another one he was playing back in Northern Ireland. It was only towards the end of the week that I actually realised where it was and as I live less than an hour away there was a possibility that I might be able to pop along.

However normal domestic life intervened and an invitation to Sunday lunch at my brother-in-law's had apparently already been accepted and therefore for the sake of peace and harmony I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to miss this gig! But then the first miracle of the day took place, the lunch was brought forward an hour or so because my brother-in-law had booked for his family to go water skiing at a lake about 3 miles from guess where? ……… BEDFORD!! He asked if we would like to come along and watch and that they would be finished by 4.00 p.m. Now as you can imagine, my brain was racing in top gear and a plan was quickly formulated, approved and attendance at the gig was now a 100% certainty!

Now, I’ve never quite understood the attraction of being pulled along at high speed behind a boat whilst hanging on to a piece of cord and having a couple of planks of whatever material strapped to your feet. Mind you I’ve never understood the attraction of standing on the bank of a nearly deserted gravel pit in Bedfordshire in a strong wind with driving rain watching the above either! I suppose others might think that watching a couple of guys playing guitars in Bedford on a Sunday afternoon a little odd, but then, we know different don’t we?!

Anyway sacrifices have to be made and once the water skiing thing was done it was a quick dash round to The Ship Inn.

We arrived there and I could hear Bap and James playing as we drove into the car park. We had originally expected them to be playing outside in the garden area but obviously the weather had persuaded them that it would be safer indoors.

The Ship Inn itself seemed a pleasant town pub and as we walked in the door Bap and James were sitting on stools to our right in the corner of the room playing their acoustic guitars. We headed to the bar for necessary refreshment and stayed there to watch the rest of their first set.

I guess we had arrived about 10 minutes or so after they had started so we missed a couple of songs but instantly we managed to catch a couple of my real favourites. In no time at all I was completely at home and relishing my good fortune that I had actually made it there! As ever the pair were in stunning form and the crowd in the bar were really appreciating the visit of such highly talented musicians to their humble bar!

The first set included (amongst others):

A Long Time a Comin’
Elvis, Hank and Me
Moonlight Kiss
Baby It’s Alright
Angel is the Devil

By the end of the first set the weather had improved considerably. The Sun was now shining so Ray (the Landlord) decided that they would risk having the second set take place outside.

Once the guys had moved their gear we were ready for part two and what good fun it was!

Bap announced the start of the second set with a “Welcome to the second stage ”!! Immediately they flew into Lost Highway. The next song, The Way I Love Her, was specially requested by Ray (the Landlord) and Bap said he would play it only if Ray joined in, which he duly did on the last chorus!

My Money was next up and Bap explained that this was normally the last song he sang when doing pub gigs. After Bap had finished singing Ray appeared offering his wallet towards Bap. Bap replied that Ray had misheard the lyrics and that the song was actually called I Want My Mummy, and I want my Mummy now!!

Bap was then contacted from above by Elvis and went on to play A Mess of Blues. Another ‘religious’ song I Saw the Light followed and Bap invited anyone who had brought along a tambourine to join! Sadly, the people of Bedford no longer take such instruments to the pub on a Sunday afternoon and no one took the offer up!

This was followed by Lonesome Lullaby after which Bap told the crowd that he was selling CDs and that he had some by Dire Straits, Michael Jackson etc, etc!!!! He then said that he was going to give James a chance to sing. I can’t for the life of me remember the name of the song but I’d swear that James’s vocals have improved greatly since I last heard him. When James finished Bap said (with only the merest hint of sarcasm), “Not bad James!”

Now this is when the biggest miracle of the day took place. Dark clouds were forming overhead and Bap requested that the audience should participate in the next song by singing along with the chorus. He explained that audiences in the US, China, Watford, Acton and now hopefully Bedford had all sung along in the past. He said that the song was especially good at “driving the rain clouds away” but only if we all joined in. With rain imminent, the crowd did indeed ‘do the business’ with the chorus of Mostly Water. As the crowd sang along, Bap and James stared up into the sky, the crowd kept singing, Bap and James kept staring and then it happened! The rain clouds dispersed and the Sun shone through! Upon finishing the song Bap held both his arms in the air and declared "You have just witnessed the miracle of Bap Kennedy...and James Walbourne, in brackets!!!"

Next up was another Hank Williams' song, Long Gone Daddy which Bap said that Hank didn’t write but bought for $20 in a bar. Bap said that his songs were for sale for £27.00!

Bap introduced the next song by revealing a little known fact that he actually wrote the traditional Irish song Star of the County Down nearly 200 years ago and explained that this was possible because he worked for Doctor Who. (For non-UK residents, Doctor Who is a famous time traveller who has featured in a BBC TV series of that name for 30 odd years or so and is currently very popular again)!

The set came to end with their rendition of Hey Joe which turned into a frantic Hendrix guitar duel: Very impressive with acoustic guitars!

Throughout the gig I felt privileged to be watching how Bap and James enjoyed their playing so much. You can see the glint in Bap’s eyes as he studies the neck of James’s guitar as he plays and that wry smile of his as he goads James to play ever more complicated arrangements or to raise the tempo of a song in order to achieve an ending at a breakneck speed! Great stuff!

After much applause the pair returned to play A Long Time a Comin' (again) as a special request for some of the Bedford locals.

It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon and as I left the pub I reflected on the miracle that got me there and the one that I had witnessed ‘on stage’!

And as we drove out of the car park, overhead, the black clouds returned.

[Derek, thanks so very much again for a lovely article!!]

Bap Kennedy at Covent Garden
12th March 2006
By Derek Brown

“My name is Bap Kennedy, I’m from Belfast in Northern Ireland, this is James Walbourne, and which part of Ireland are you from, James?" [James is British!]

And so began Bap’s performance at Covent Garden as part of the London St. Patrick's Day Celebrations.

We were already visiting London that day and having seen that Bap was booked to play a spot in Covent Garden there was no way that we were going to miss it. It was only the day before that I had really noticed some of the other acts scheduled to appear as part of the celebrations, so we decided to have a quick sneak peek at some of them given the chance.

We arrived at Trafalgar Square and could see Tara Blaise performing on the stage nestling just below Nelson’s Column. A small crowd had already formed and it was obvious from the amount of green being worn in the general area that the celebrations were going to attract a reasonable crowd.

We disappeared into the National Gallery for an hour or so as it was a place that we had always intended to visit. From the windows of several of the galleries it was possible to look out over Trafalgar Square which led to a surreal experience of standing in one spot and watching a gig in one direction and looking at Rembrandt painting in the other! Very Rock ‘n’ Roll!!!

I had particularly wanted to see Gemma Hayes perform again, having seen her play a superb gig in the Zodiac Club in Oxford the previous Friday evening. We therefore managed to find a reasonable position in time to see the official opening speeches by various politicians, dignitaries and others, which included Ken Livingstone and Martin McGuiness amongst others. The boos and cheers from the crowd surprised me slightly at who they were aimed at. A few serious and some less serious thoughts went through my head at this time. The serious ones have no place here but the less serious one was thinking about the spoof comedy that the ‘Comedy Strip’ TV programme made in the early 1990s, in the style of a Hollywood blockbuster film about the old GLC (Greater London Council) when Ken Livingstone was in charge. The programme featured a song that Kate Bush recorded as part of the soundtrack and I can still hear her waling the chorus line of ‘Ken being the leader of the GLC’!

Once the various coloured balloons had been launched to formally open the event, the music resumed. A very cool looking Gemma Hayes then appeared and preceded to play a good mixture of songs from her two albums. It was good to look around the crowd and see a good representation of ages, races, nationalities and degrees of sobriety!

But, no matter how good Gemma Hayes’s performance was, I was still watching the clock as we needed to leave and head round to Covent Garden for the main event of OUR day. We actually arrived in good time at Covent Garden and met up with some other friends. The stage at Covent Garden was very compact but was nicely positioned on the steps, under the imposing portico of St Paul’s church, facing the Covent Garden Piazza itself.

Covent Garden can feel very touristy at times but the environment still has a lovely cosmopolitan feel to it, so standing there on a chilly Sunday afternoon it was easy to forget that we were actually in Central London.

It was at this very location that back in 17th century, the renowned diarist, Samuel Pepys, noted the first public Punch and Judy show performance in the UK. However here in 2006 we were just about to witness an equally dynamic pairing, although the likelihood of Bap Kennedy hitting James Walbourne over the head with a rolling pin and stealing a string of sausages seemed remote!

Following Bap’s introduction, the show started with numerous comical ‘one liners’ being thrown in for good measure. Maybe we ought to start a section on the web site that records some of the best ones!

Bap proceeded to play the following set of old favourites:

A Long Time a Comin'
Elvis, Hank and Me,
Moonlight Kiss (Asked "Has anyone seen the film Serendipity?"
I think I was one of only two people in the crowd who
put their hands up to signify 'yes'!)
Vampire
Be Careful What You Wish For
On The Mighty Ocean Alcohol ("for all the drinkers here today")
Star of the County Down
(“As it’s St Patrick’s Day, here’s an Irish song...
Well, I’m Irish so that must mean
that all of my songs are Irish ones?!”
and
Mostly Water

I’m always impressed at just how versatile Bap can be when he performs – the various permutations that Bap plays in, e.g., solo, with a single guitarist, small band, full band, acoustic, electric etc. His songs always seem to adapt to whatever style they are played in and always sound so strong and fresh.

In general, the crowd were fairly receptive to Bap’s performance and possibly the offer of a free Guinness did have an affect on the number of people joining in with Mostly Water at the end! Anyway, Bap’s set was soon over and the crowd gave a reasonable level of applause and a hint of wanting an encore, but the tight schedule of the festival no doubt prevented that from happening. Bap and James swiftly departed the stage and that was that!

We then decided to hang around the area a little longer and ended up having a drink on the balcony of the Punch and Judy pub which provided a good vantage point of the stage on which The Men They Couldn’t Hang were now performing. With a drink in hand, their superb Irish songs reverberating around the market and a lively but friendly crowd enjoying the spectacle … I really couldn’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else at that moment in time! I friend of mine has raved to me about TMTCH for years and at long last I could understand what he has been on about. They were the perfect band for that moment in time and it was a shame when their performance came to an end.

A swift detour via Trafalgar Square enabled us to catch a glimpse of The Hothouse Flowers who were performing I Can See Clearly Now and it was that tune that we were humming as we descended into the bowels of the Charing Cross underground station for the journey home.

Next year I might make more of an effort to savour more of the musical performances but for now, as a day of relaxation, good music, excellent company, etc., it was up there with some of the best!

[Thanks very much, Derek!]

BAP KENNEDY TO SPLIT - SHOCK!
27th February 06
By Derek Brown

Another excuse to see Bap at that greatest of London venues – The Borderline – courtesy of the Loose Records’ ‘Unplugged and Acoustic’ night. The idea for the show seems to have originated from an idea for Robert Fisher (of the band Willard Grant Conspiracy, who was visiting the UK on a promo trip) to play a semi-impromptu show. Loose Records therefore call upon their stable of stars to make up the line-up, each playing a short set in the build-up to Robert Fisher.

Opening the show was a guy called Shuyler Jansen who played a steady, but accomplished set to a small audience. It’s always difficult to write about an artist who you have never heard of before, but I felt he did his job well.

Being an acoustic show, the time between one act finishing and the other starting was minimal, so Bap was soon up on stage to an introduction from the Loose Records representative! Bap was wearing jeans and a black leather bomber jacket and looked very much like he did in some of those early Energy Orchard promo shots! It was fairly evident at this stage that the audience, who had grown slightly in numbers, were definitely not there to see Bap! Bap obviously realised this when he asked for requests and received no response! It was at this point that Bap then mentioned that his band had deserted him and that he himself was splitting up shortly!!

I was trying to remember whether or not I’d actually ever seen Bap playing a completely solo show, but I couldn’t recall one. Normally he has the band or at least another guitarist or bassist with him but this showcase actually gave Bap the opportunity to demonstrate that he is actually a good guitarist in his own right. Despite the lead to Bap’s guitar causing him a few minor difficulties he was still able to demonstrate some ‘guitar hero’ type solos with his acoustic – very amusing!!

Bap resorted to jokes and banter between the songs most of which I felt were lost on the majority of the audience, but up to his usual standard I can assure you!

The set that Bap played included:

The Way I Love Her
Elvis, Hank and Me
Vampire ...(Bap: I’ve been singing this song for 30 years now!)
Moonlight Kiss
Too Old For Fairy Tales ...(Bap: This is the saddest song I’ve ever written. So if you want to leave, go on…I’ll join you!)
Mostly Water (an attempted crowd sing-along failed with only one person joining in!!!)

All in all this was a really good performance by Bap and it was a shame that the set had to be so short. It was also a pity that the audience weren’t behind Bap a bit more; but I guess that’s the difficulty with showcase gigs in that you can’t always appeal to everyone’s tastes! It would be good to see Bap do another solo acoustic show in his own right in the future or maybe even a specific spot during some future ‘headlining’ gigs?

The rest of the show followed the high standard set by Bap! Peter Bruntnell was on next with an excellent performance. I had wanted to see Peter play for some time, so to see him straight after Bap was like an hour of being in a musical heaven for me! If you haven’t heard Peter I urge you to buy his latest ‘Ghost In A Spitfire’ album (which features a certain Mr. Walborne on guitar). It is a stunning album, which is well worth listening to (as are all of Peter's earlier albums)!

After Peter Bruntnell was Robert Fisher (without beard!) [Willard Grant Conspiracy, etc.] accompanied by Josh Hillman (on violin). I didn’t know anything about RF etc., (presumably in the same way that the majority of the audience didn’t know Bap!). I was really impressed by his vocal style and his guitar playing and his superb lyrics etc.. A class act without any exaggeration and an artist I will now seek out further.

A pretty good night and one which Loose Records should be justly proud of organising. Hopefully they will be encouraged to do another one and The Borderline is THE perfect venue for a night of acoustic music like this.

Now on to Covent Garden where I’m sure the audience for Bap will be a lot more responsive, receptive and appreciative of Bap – jokes and guitar solos included!! And Bap... Please play Moonlight Kiss as I never tire of hearing it!

[Ed. Note: Bap, Shirley never tires of hearing Moonlight Kiss, either!!     Derek, thank you for the excellent article!