PASCAL's
KEVIN COYNE HOME PAGE
Memories from the UK October 2004 Tour
Oct
25 2004, Sheffield, The Boardwalk, Snig Hill
Oct 26 2004, Lincs, Spilsby Theatre, Church St., Spilsby
Oct 27 2004, Leeds, The New Roscoe, Bristol St., Leeds LS7 1DH
Oct 28 2004, Henley on Thames, The Crooked Billet, Newlands
Lane, Stoke Row
Oct 28 2004, BBC Radio Show (Andy Kershaw)
Oct 29 2004, London, England Club Bang Bang @ 100 Club 100 Oxford Street
From the Kevin Coyne Group:
Saw
Kevin in Sheffield on Monday night and can only echo Uwe posting.The band
had driven from Germany and it had exhausted Kevin.The show was good with
the Band being really powerful but Kevin was finding it difficult to stand
although the music seemed to compel him to try -only to sing a chorus and
sit down again.
I didn't go to Spilsby on Tuesday but Leeds Wednesday night was something
else.Kevin was alot more rested and enjoying himself.The singing is as powerful
as ever even with the breathing tubes and lots of ad-libs. For those going
to London it should be great.
The audiences were smallish but vocal.A call for Marjory got a we don't do
that I'm fed up with it but thought better and did it anyway accapella
Tony
Went
over to Leeds last night. It was great to see Kevin in such good form. I don't
know what was in the gas bottle, but it could have been rocket fuel! His voice
was powerful and his wit no less sharp. He was very comfortable, relaxedÊand
content with his lot. In fact I haven't seen him so laid back before - nothing
really bothered him.
I would estimate there were about 150 people there -not bad bearing in mind
the lack of national publicity - and everyone was there to listen to Kevin
and the band (how irritating is it when you end up sitting beside the odd
couple who want to discuss the ins and outs of their week to the backing of
live music)! It was a pleasure to speak to Tony - I understand the book is
due back from the printers soon so put aside some cash for it now!!. Also
hi to Graham and his lovely wife - queen of the navigators??! Clearly Kevin
has mobility problems - but so what! The gig was great. My only sadness
is that I won't be able to do London as well.
Rob V
Saw
Kevin as he performed last night at The Crooked Billet, near Henley Oxfordshire
WOW what a gig. It was fantastic, Kevin was on top form, he still has the
most amazing voice, the band was tight. It was a real privilege to be there.
I woke up this morning still buzzing. Just wish I could go to London tonight.
David
About the 100 Club show:
Glad
I made the effort to get to the London gig - Kevin seated thruout and breathing
a bit laboured - but so would mine be if I sang like him - he's got an amazing
power and inflection to his voice - not as much range as when younger but
more authority (??) and emphasis.
He was in good humoured form and looks in better shape on stage than off.
Said he'd hoped to be more inspired on the night ( improvisation wise ?),
but what he did was great anyway ( and band fine- esp tight rhythm section).
Incidentally - haven't seen/ smelt so much smoking at a gig since the early
eighties (and this for a performer on oxygen ....) - perhaps we should open
up a new poll and find how many of the group smoke ( a third of the London
contingent ??). As a reformed smoker ( asthma made me do it) I can't abide
it more than most (sorry!).
Dynamite Daze packed a punch like the Pistols or Clash - appropriate considering
the venues punk days fame.
Marlene got a great extended version with extra words and humour. Missed buying
stuff cos noone on merch' stall 'til after gig and had to race for last tube
home....pity Amongst songs on DJ tape before gig: Nic Jones, Syd Barrett,
Beefheart, Waits and a lot of other good stuff ( who were the blues numbers
by ?).
Set List as I remember it ( not in exact order)
Dark Dance Hall
Smile Right Back
Locked Out
I Hear Voices
Donut City
Blow Us All Up ( referred to Dubya Bush)
The Wobble
House on the Hill
Sugar Candy Taxi
Marjory Razorblade
Weirdo
Marlene
Saviour
encores
Sunday Morning Sunrise
Dynamite Daze
Chris Potts
I
thought the 100 Club show was a great show too. The guys in the band were
a bit nervous to play in London but they were really good (I even heard Werner
say 'Thanks for the great show' to Kevin afterwards!)
It was great to see Kevin again and to meet so many people from the group.
It was great also to walk in the dressing room and find Kevin surrounded by
his old friends from the 1974 Hyde Park show: Tim Penn, Tony Cousin and Gordon
Smith! (Kevin dedicated House on the Hill to Gordon).
But I have to say, having seen Kevin in Shrewsbury in October 2003 then in
Paris in February and in March in Verviers, I think his health condition is
really worring and getting worse every time. He now has to use the oxygen
thing all the time and has to sit throughout the show. To see him stand up
for Dynamite Days but having to sit down after a few verses was painful. I
know many of us were quite moved to witness that.
On the good side, I got a lot of time to speak with Kevin before the show
and here are some of the best news:
- Kevin recorded a SOLO ACOUSTIC ALBUM!
- John Langford is to release the Coyne tapes recorded in Chicago last year
- Cherry Red is to release again Pointing the Finger and Politicz
- the Den Haag Excalibur recordings had all been sold before arriving in London!
- Bowers! (ah!). 'A bower is a tree that sways in the wind... it's a blakeian
song' (you should have all seen the look on Paul's face when I told him that
one!)
- About John Peel: Kevin liked him a lot ; in fact he did not want to talk
about him at the Sheffield show "because he was afraid he would cry"
Pascal Regis
PS: Paul The Girl: a girl, alone on a Gretsch guitar: excelent!
The
100 club was a great show. I was really struck by how good Kevin's voice was
sounding with plenty of tone and control. In many ways I thought his singing
was more controlled and melodic than it was back in the 'wild' days of the
70s.
Talking to Kevin with Gordon and Tony after the
show was strangely like the old days. He still has a wonderfully sharp wit
and sense of the ridiculous and likes to prod just a little at people's sensitive
spots: just to make sure there is no pomposity lurking. But to my eyes and
ears perhaps in a more gentle way than long ago. I can now hear Kevin saying
-- 'Tim, you don't know what you are talking about. Stop all that rubbish'.
'
Gordon said to me at the end of the show -- 'Well, there really is only one
Kevin Coyne, there's no one quite like him and never will be again'.
I really liked the band better than I thought I might. Hard to single anyone
out in particular, but I realy thought Werner a very sensitive drummer - the
kind I'd like to play with - he made the whole band sound sound relaxed and
confident.
The Donut City songs worked really well and made a strong opening to the show,
many sounding as good or better than on the album (now that I've bought and
listened to it!). But then Kevin always did know how to imbue something more
into a live performance.
Strange to see him perform Marlene though, given that he never really wanted
to perform it back in 73/74 (I'm sure I never once played it live - but then
my memory is not so perfect). Kevin joked that Marlene has become like a hymn
in Belgium. Wonderful recitation in the middle of it. A job slicing bacon
in the CO-OP, indeed.
As well as Gordon and Tony, several of my friends & my wife came along to
see the show (some had seen Kevin back in the 70s). My wife, who had never
seen Kevin and never really overly-liked him from listening to CDs (well he
is an acquired taste), really wondered what the hell she had come to see when
Kevin came out on stage with his oxygen bottle. She really felt that no-one
in his condition could possibly perform/sing or be anything other than a pale
shadow of his former self. However, it only took one number to make her smile
and turn and say -- 'I can see why playing with Kevin must have been an extraordinarily
wonderful experience'. She was rivetted by his performance, as I think most
of us were.
After the gig I asked Kevin how he was finding the effort of touring, and
he said it was just like the old days -- it's the travelling and hanging around
that is the worst and most tiring part. We both remarked that the decor of
the 100 club had not seemed to change one little bit in 30 years. The dressing
room was still a pile of *****. It would appear that he has no plans to give
up performing while he still can. Let's just pray that his health condition
may stabilise for awhile to allow him some more time to do what he so obviously
loves.
Glad I went to see Coyne perform again after a 30 year gap. Yes, without a
doubt. Can he still cut it on stage - absolutely.
Tim Penn
(...)
As for Friday's performance, as always, Kevin amazes me. What struck me apart
from the overall performance was the care with which Andreas, Werner and Harry
treated Kevin. There were no egos but a total commitment by all three to
support him to the full. Andreas carefully leading Kevin to and from the
stage; Harry, like a hawk perched on his five string bass constantly monitoring
the situation... So, hats off to those guys for being decent human beings
as well as great musicians.
Paul B.
A short quote from Wreckless Eric which gives some measure of the man and his attitude to the music business "I did a gig with Kevin Coyne the other night. Kevin is adamant that neither of us should think of ourselves as anything other than hugely successful. Even if just for the fact that we're both still doing it and pulling in an audience every night".
