Face Of Cheam

I took a week off to do four night with the fantastic Thea Gilmore. It started off on Sunday 24th September where I went to the Glee Club in Birmingham for my first night of four. A strange venue where the compare asked the audience to be quiet for the acts, something not lost on Thea when she came on. We managed to have our glimpse of the support here, a one Dan Arboise, a technically gifted guitar player whose music was a) very bland and b) had the knack of making each song last twice as long as it should. Still it was the one and only time I saw him. Thea's performance was ok and surprisingly an hour and a half despite her being 7 months pregnant. 'Juliet' was thrown third in and described as an oldie and we only got one song in the encore but it was a pleasant taster of what was to come.
Tuesday I headed to Bristol, a place I have not been to before. Hitler bombed it a lot according to my mate who accompanied me. More upbeat crowd this time and Thea ended with 'My Beautiful Defence' from her second album, the most obscure song from all four nights I went. There were two big breasted lesbians snogging in front of me at this gig, and an annoying old bloke in a hat and thick glasses trying to pull one of them by some dodgy dancing to 'Girl Is Taking Bets'. He also heckled in a friendly way but still was bloody annoying. Good pub like venue though and a better show. Onwards to Brighton and a three and a half hour train journey.
Brighton is always good for pubs and the Prince Of Wales in Churchill Square is one of the best pubs in the country. Anyway here I was nearly caught out as previously Thea came on at 9.30. Though I'd get into the venue just after nine to get a good place and as I entered I got the opening bars to 'Call Me Darling' the first song. Presumably she was struggling with times was the reason it was an earlier start. This was probably the best gig of the four. She did 'Heart String Blues' in my opinion her best song in the encore & I stood next to a group of girls one of which was having her 18th birthday!
Thursday 28th was the Koko in Camden (where the above photos are from). Manged to get really near the front for this and this is where you notice the similaraties / differences between artists chat in the gigs. Before 'Cheap Tricks' Thea had asked whether there's any wayward women in the venue. Camden was the only one who replied which Thea picked up on. Nigel Stonier (Thea's bloke and guitarist) always noticed the different ways Thea said she was taking a toilet break and 'The List' was being introduced as a murder ballad after Van Morrison's 'Crazy Love' song. A plus was a slightly different arrangement to 'Cheap Tricks' which included a bass solo from the lovely Joanne. The disappointment for Camden though was the set was identical to Brighton where the other two nights it had been slightly varied. Still good to do part of her tour allbeit fairly knackering. Hopefully there be some shows in the new year once Thea has had her baby.

Set (Brighton & London) - Call Me Darling / Have You Heard / Contessa / Cheap Tricks / Everybodys Numb / Juliet / Wild & Beautiful (by Nigel) / Crazy Love / the List / Holding Your Hand / Slow Journey / Red White & Black / Girl Is Taking Bets / We Built A Monster / The Gambler / Rags & Bones / Mainstream ///// Play Until The Bottles Gone / Heart String Blues / Inverigo