Wilko johnson equipment5/9/2023 He plays the B side to Really Free, Beware Of The Flowers – or, to give it the full title: Beware Of The Flowers (‘Cos I’m Sure They’re Going To Get You Yeah). This act has netted him a very large, and very dedicated, enduring fanbase. Every song is really an excuse for a comedic routine and I’ve no complaints there because John Otway really is a genuinely funny, entertaining man. In fact, the performance is as much stand up as it is pure music. It seems appropriate then that he opens the show tonight with that hit single – Otway’s self-deprecating humour to the fore. A succession of flops in fact, a complete failure to impress upon the charts that lasted for decades – hence Otway’s ‘greatest failure’ tagline, which has formed the basis of his shows ever since. Otway’s childhood dreams of pop superstardom looked to be on the cards. Otway writhed, tumbled and inadvertently trod on Wild Willy Barrett’s fuzzbox before sealing the deal with a failed jump onto the guitarist’s amp, effectively writing off the equipment, the performance, and Otway’s plumbs in the process.Ī hit single, Really Free followed. Whilst technically the support, if you’re planning on attending this tour, get there early since Otway is brilliant and in truth this show is as close to being a double A side as you can get without it actually being billed as a joint headliner.įor anyone unfamiliar with the work of John Otway, a promising rock/folk/punk career was launched off the back of a classic appearance on the BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test in 1977. For this spring tour, he is joined by self-styled ‘Rock & Roll’s Greatest Failure’, John Otway. So, roll forward a decade, and Wilko is still out delighting audiences with his Thames Delta R&B. For me, it’s meant that the one person I thought I’d never get on the end of my lens has ended up gracing it more than anyone else – and I couldn’t be happier about it. It’s an amazing tale, one told through the lens of Julien Temple in his life-affirming and deeply moving film, The Ecstasy Of Wilko Johnson. Wilko emerged, free of his pancreas, spleen and a few hundred yards of intestine but more importantly, free of his cancer. In fact, he defied medical expectations playing and recording through the whole of 2013, and in the summer of 2014, he underwent pioneering surgery at Addenbrookes in Cambridge. Well, that was the thinking, but Wilko had other ideas. Not knowing whether I’d be any good at it wasn’t a reason not to give it a try, and whilst obviously, I sadly figured I’d never attain photos of Wilko, I sure as hell was going to try and snap anything else that moved. It gave me a calling to have a go at documenting live music. The dawn of realisation struck that I didn’t have any permanent record of the many Wilko shows I’d enjoyed over the years and that perhaps I ought not to be taking this stuff for granted. Canvey Island’s finest export announced in early 2013 that he was dying of pancreatic cancer, and only had ten months to live. I could have watched and listened all night and it would have been an absolute pleasure.If it weren’t for Wilko Johnson, I wouldn’t be photographing gigs. He is not the world's strongest vocalist of course, but he more than did justice to the songs, and given that he wrote many of them, who can rightfully complain? The high tempo set included 'All Through The City', 'If You Want Me, You've Got Me, 'The More I Give', 'Dr Dupree', 'Going Back Home', and 'Roxette'.ĭownside? You bet, it was over too quickly. Wilko was full of his trademark moves - jerking away from the mic during vocal breaks and skittering across the stage with that open-mouthed look of astonishment on his face, machine gunning the crowd with a smile on his face, or punching out the riffs from his trademark black and red telecaster. The by comparison, boyish, Howe drove the evening along with his no-nonsense drumming. So too did the svelte 64-year-old Watt-Roy cutting a dash and throwing some remarkable shapes and faces as he wrestled his bass around the stage. In Lincoln, Wilko looked fit and well especially considering his recent trials and tribulations. Wilko has recently been playing dates as a trio alongside former two former Blockheads bassist Norman Watt-Roy and drummer Dylan Howe (son of Steve, Yes guitarist). One week in late 2013 he and Roger Daltrey recorded a remarkably joyful album album given the circumstances entitled 'Going Back Home' which turned out to be one of the finer releases of last year. Happily, unbelievably even, Wilko has made the most remarkable of recoveries and this new lease of life has seen him back on the road again doing what he loves. Sunday 17 May found Wilko Johnson headlining the Lincoln Blues Festival, almost a year to the day after cancelling his planned 2014 headline performance there on doctor's advice after undergoing a major operation to treat him for terminal pancreatic cancer.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |