Yes, I went to a gig on Sunday afternoon. What a lovely idea, eh? Home in time for tea! Very civilised, the way gigs should be from now on (but they won't be).
I've tried to find the energy to write a proper review, but I'm struggling to write like a proper muso at the moment. I can only write like a person.
Support was BettySoo. She was excellent. Definitely worthy of further investigation.
Then came James McMurtry, probably my favourite songwriter of the past few years. He did not disappoint... even though he didn't find time for the song about losing his glasses.
This was probably the highlight for me...
Anyway, it would have been the perfect gig... were it not for the annoying bastard gentleman sat next to me. The seats were pretty close, and he had no respect for personal space, so I spent most of the gig having to move my legs to a really uncomfortable position to prevent our thighs from touching. But that wasn't the worst of it, because this was the kind of annoying bastard gig-goer I'm sure we've all encountered: the kind of gentleman who clearly has a wealth of musical knowledge, and wants to share it with the audience, and the people on stage.
The highlight came when James McM made a joke about how he wasn't worried too much about being respected as a songwriter, not when he compared his work to the popularity of "Jeremiah was a bullfrog". I'm sure most of the crowd knew that he was referring to this...
Actually, I really like that song. I get what Mr. McMurtry meant, but I also think that pop music can be silly too... and I don't actually think he was being critical, he was just making a joke.
Regardless, this gave our annoying bastard friend to my left the perfect opportunity to demonstrate his muso-street-cred.
"Hoyt Axton!" he cried.
Since Hoyt was the man who wrote that tune. But that wasn't the end of it...
"His Mum wrote better songs!" continued annoying bastard our friend, exercising his lungs to their utmost potential.
Hoyt Axton's Mum, Mae Boren Axton, co-wrote this... and a bunch of other things.
To his credit, James did not engage with the annoying bastard and carried on with his set as though no interruption had been made. BettySoo had adopted the same policy during her warm-up act.
And so begins a new series entitled Annoying Bastards People At Gigs. I have a few stories to tell... and I'm betting you do too. If you'd like to share one, in true Guest Post tradition, email me your story at the usual address and I will share it with the class.
(And yes, I was surprised the annoying bastard bloke didn't further remind us all that Hoyt Axton played the dad in Gremlins. But then, maybe that one wasn't contained in his wealth of knowledge.)
Here's my favourite Hoyt Axton tune. Thanks, Mr. Wogan.
