Live music listings: June 2007Roll the mouse over the dates on the calendar below to see who's playing, then click on the date for the full listing and ticket info.Click on the mailing list link to your left there and enter your email address and we'll let you know, at the start of every week, who's playing in the next seven days and for how much, and leave you to peruse the full listings here at your liberty and leisure.
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Fri 1st The Luminaire presents NICK HARPER + Malcom Holcombe
Doors 7.30 "Frank Zappa would have been impressed. He deserves to become a major figure in his own right." [The Guardian] Son of the legendary UK singer-songwriter Roy Harper, Nick was born in London and raised in Wiltshire. Having played the guitar from the age of 10 and surrounded by the likes of Keith Moon, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and Dave Gilmour as he grew up, it was no surprise when Nick made his recording debut on his father's 'Whatever Happened to Jugula?' in 1985. "Harper has so much musicianship in him that it just leaks out all over the place." [The Times] He often segues from his own compositions to well-loved covers he makes his own - he takes on Presley, Zappa, Jeff Buckley, Led Zeppelin, Monty Python and Public Enemy (yes, on an acoustic guitar). He also has the alarming ability to break guitar strings almost by sheer force of will… and then change them without dropping a beat. For over a decade, he has been dazzling audiences and reviewers alike with this heady mix of virtuosity, boyish charm, showmanship and sheer bravado. His talent and showmanship were recognised in 2003 with a (Glasgow) Herald Fringe Angel award for excellence in live music during his Edinburgh Festival run. "Harper is prodigiously rocking, soulfully operatic, tenderly concerned, politically disaffected and waggishly witty. New listeners should prepare to be captivated by a colossal talent, and if you've never seen him live, you're missing out on one of the musical phenomenons of our age." [Glasgow Herald] Nick's talent and energy entranced Roy's fans and it was inevitable that he would begin touring and recording in his own right. The 1994 EP 'Light at the End of the Kennel' was swiftly followed by his powerful 1995 debut long player Seed prompting The Independent to describe him as "hugely talented". "If imagination, energy and bags of talent were the only factors in making a successful pop career, few would deny that Squeeze man Glenn Tilbrook has backed a winner in Nick Harper…Splendid stuff" [Mojo] In 1996 Nick met Squeeze frontman and songwriter Glenn Tilbrook. Tilbrook was so impressed that he offered Nick a job playing with and supporting Squeeze and promptly signed Nick to his own label, Quixotic Records. Following tours in the UK, USA and Japan, Nick recorded the 1998 album 'Smithereens' with Tilbrook as producer. This album and subsequent 40 date solo tour, including dates in New York and Glastonbury, confirmed Nick as a formidable talent in his own right. "Dylan for the iPod generation, Betjemen with a guitar." He teamed up with Tilbrook again on 2000's highly acclaimed album 'Harperspace'. This is the album that confirmed his position at the forefront of a new generation of British Acoustic Performers. To call Nick a superlative singer/songwriter could put his highly lauded guitar talent in the shade, and to call him a guitarist's guitarist might slight his distinctive, soulful voice and passionate songs. Not forgetting the wild ride that is one of his live shows - from personal introspection to biting political satire via a charmingly caustic wit that would make Groucho Marx proud. With this amount of melodic and sonic ingenuity, Nick Harper could be dubbed 'the new Beck' - but that would be a bigger compliment to Mr. Hansen than it would be to Harper." [Guitar]
Opening proceedings is Malcolm Holcombe |
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