GIG REVIEW : BILL WELLS & AIDAN MOFFAT : PAISLEY ARTS CENTRE ; 7 OCTOBER 2011

The break-up of Arab Strap some five years ago was a sad day for Scottish music as it brought an end to one of the most innovative and entertaining acts of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.  It took me a couple of years to cotton on to the band - it was the Philophobia LP from 1998 that got me very interested.

What is hugely surprising but incredibly welcome is how the years since the break-up have seen some fantastic solo releases from both Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton all of which have been quite different from the stuff with the old band.  I've mentioned Malky on umpteen occasions on TVV and always in glowing terms but haven't given as much praise to his old sidekick.  Time to redress that oversight...

There's a lot to like about the 2007 solo and largely spoken-word  LP I Can Hear Your Heart and likewise the 2009 recording How To Get To Heaven From Scotland with a band under the banner of Adrian Moffat & The Best Ofs.  But there's a huge amount to love about his latest LP released in collaboration with the jazz pianist Bell Wells.

Everything's Getting Older is an outstanding record.  Lyrically, it more than matches anything Aidan has released over the past 15 years since the early Strap recordings. For the most part they are short stories set in songs.  Musically, and I say this as someone who would normally run a million miles in the opposite direction than sit down with a jazz record, it is a joy to listen to - so it's not jazz as I understand it.  There are songs and tunes that will make you smile broadly and others that are as tear-jerkingly brilliant as classics such as I Know It's Over and Hallelujah.  There's even a song Nick Cave would tear what's left out of his hair to record with Grinderman.  There's philosophy and poetry in abundance all over the backing of some incredibly simple-sounding but hugely inventive piano playing, drumming, percussion and strings.  I bought the CD a few weeks after it came out and it has been on very heavy rotation since.  Indeed, I liked it so much I went out a wee while back and bought the more expensive deluxe triple vinyl set just for the extra tracks.

Last Friday, after a couple of false starts when I couldnt make earlier gigs, I finally got to see a full show live (I did see them perform a couple of songs at the Chemikal Underground 15th Anniversary bash back some 18 months ago but not a full set). Paisley Arts Centre is a lovely little venue with its raked seating giving great views no matter where you were (although the narrowness of the rows did cause my companion for the night the six foot and quite a bit tall cullen skink a fair bit of discomfort).

I wasn't disappointed.  The 70 minutes or so flew in as Bill and Aiden, backed by a three colleagues on trumpet, viola and double-bass entertained and entralled the 150-capacity.  Just about all of the current LP was played together with a cover version and some new stuff.  Set-list in full:-

Tasogare
Let's Stop Here
Ballad Of The Bastard
Dinner Time
A Short Song To The Moon
Cruel Summer
The Copper Top
(If You) Keep Me In Your Heart
Glasgow Jubilee
The Missing
The Sadness In Your Life Will Slowly Fade
The Greatest Story Ever Told

Encore:-

Man Of The Cloth
Box It Up
And So We Must Rest

Aidan told us that the band would normally feature a drummer but such was the intimate all-seated setting that they chose to stick simply to the percussion.  This meant that the songs very much relied on the double-bass for rhythm and beat and allowed much more of the piano, viola and Bill's extraordinary piano-playing to be fully appreciated.  Having said that, some of the more upbeat numbers, such as Glasgow Jubilee, lost something from the lack of drums, but the other quieter numbers, of which there are far more, certainly got even more of a lease of life in the live setting. And the version of the song offered up as an mp3 today was just majestic.

Particular highlights were the stunning and moving rendition of The Copper Top (that's the song I mentioned earlier as being worthy of Morrissey or Leonard Cohen), a startling rendition and re-invention of the Bananarama pop-smash so that it becomes a song of desolation, loneliness and misery and a bonkers and very extended version of A Short Song To The Moon in which the jazz trumpet makes you want to get out of your seat and grooooooove.  And the closing two songs of the main set followed by a very brave encore with two brand new songs which are as of the same high standards as the LP rounded off a hugely enjoyable and wonderful evening made all the better for being an audience which sat and listened to every single note without a bit of a chit-chat while the songs were being performed.  Bliss.

There's a UK and European Tour about to kick off.  If you live near any of these venues, get yourself along and into the company of a lyricist and raconteur who is getting better and better as he ages accompanied - not backed - by a set of incredibly talented musicians.

OCTOBER


Friday 14th: Edinburgh, Cabaret Voltaire
Saturday 15th: Aberdeen, Lemon Tree
Sunday 16th: Newcastle, Black Swan at Newcastle Arts Centre
Tuesday 18th: Manchester, Deaf Institute
Wednesday 19th: London, CArgo
Thursday 20th: Cardiff, SWN Festival
Friday 21st: Liverpool, The Kazimer
Thursday 27th: Copenhagen, Loppen
Friday 28th: Stockholm, Stacken (Nalen)
Saturday 29th: Oslo, Bla
Monday 31st: Berlin, Heimathafen


NOVEMBER:


Tuesday 1st: Frankfurt, Brotfabrik
Wednesday 2nd: Brussels, Botanique / Rotonde
Thursday 3rd: Amsterdam, Vondelkerk
Friday 4th: Paris, Fleche D’Or
Monday 7th: Rome, Circolo degli Artisti
Chiesa di Sant’Ambrogio
Thursday 10th: Barcelona, Razamatazz 3
Saturday 12th: Zurich, El Lokal

17th October also sees the release of the afore-mentioned Cruel Summer on an EP together with three new songs, including those performed during the stunning encore.

Now here's a thing of real beauty.......

mp3 : Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - The Greatest Story Ever Told

Happy Listening