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Title: Pete and Simon at the Pheasantry 3rd August 2024 Post by Seán Kelly on Today at 10:34 https://photos.smugmug.com/A/Pete-Atkin/i-wqt3FGz/0/MqqGr44CHN2mpVVNGKSGd7spHwF9m2vM6g8WrtSGw/L/IMG_8846LR_800x533-L.jpg Once more unto the Pheasantry dear friends! And a great pleasure it is to be at this gig and to be clearly among friends. Simon and Pete were on great form. My table companion commented that Simon seems (even) more integrated into the songs than ever. Ok here is what they played. All songs were with Guitar from Pete and Piano from Simon except where indicated: Set 1 1. Ice Cream Man - a seasonal starter? 2. Time To Burn – great duo work 3. Have You Got A Biro – performed perfectly – Pete said he included it to make up for a partial version on a previous occasion 4. Winter–Spring. Simon on Piano only. A beautiful version. My brief scribbled notes say a lovely simple yet lyrical solo from Simon 5. The Faded Mansion on the Hill. Again no guitar. A slow steady – almost stately version 6. The Ballad of An Upstairs Window. Pete on Guitar alone. Great programming – from the sublime to the ridiculous. Pete said he was going to play it alone because the music was too complicated for Simon – which made us all laugh at this absurd idea. But listening to the stops and starts of this idiosyncratic song you could see what he meant. A song that Pete lauded as having changed his life by bringing him and Clive together. [In an excess of self-deprecation he said it was because Clive “could see I needed someone to write the words”] 7. A Hill Of Little Shoes – the first time Simon has played this with Pete live. A ruminative version – as effective/affective as always. 8. Driving Through Mythical America. Another Simon Premiere. A forceful version (Can I say a driving version? Best not. Ok!) 9. You Alone Will be My Last Adventure – A third Simon Premiere in a row. I really enjoyed this possibly under-heard song. Again the stately progress drew out the gravitas. My brief notes say: a rippling solo from Simon. 10. Beware Of The Beautiful Stranger. A request from someone in the audience. Pete started this alone and Simon gradually joined in. A great end to the first set. Interval then Second Set 11. The Luck of the Draw. Pete made us laugh by using the now (almost) anachronistic phrase “This is the title track of my latest cd”. No one makes cds now except me he told us ;) 12. Sunrise. No guitar. A great solo from Simon – who made a remarkable solo sound simply natural. 13. Practical Man – preceded by a good bit of rumination about the music business and what it takes – or doesn’t – to make it. This was a rocking version – with Simon almost straying into boogie woogie licks. 14. The Colours of the Night – Pete said he wouldn’t play the militaristic version which Clive had favoured – but the original gentler version - sorry Clive. In the end Simon and Pete played the song with quite a militaristic beat - it went well. 15. The Secret Drinker – no guitar – a lovely version 16. Rattlesnake Rock – proper rocking. Lots of laughs in all the right places :) 17. Together At Last. Clive had been mentioned continually through the evening even (or especially) in connection with the one song he didn’t co-write with Pete [Ballad… – see above] but since this was a song they actually sang together Pete dedicated this one directly: “This one’s for Clive”. Lots of Clapping and some shouting. Encore: 18. Let’s Try The Whole Thing Again. No guitar just Simon on Piano. Since this was a recent addition to the set Pete held a lyric sheet. Pete said the title came from a phrase which was uttered by a session man at one of his own recording sessions. Clive had heard it and by the end of the session he had written the lyrics. Another under-rated song? This is the one going round my head this morning! And it segued into : 19. Thirty Year Man. No guitar. Powerful (when is it not?). A great way to end the night…. Except no, here they are back and someone has shouted for 20. Girl On The Train – quite short and very sweet. That’s it and the audience clearly all go home happy. Thankyou to Graham on sound (if I recall correctly) and the Pheasantry staff who were as respectful as it is possible for restaurant staff to be during a musical performance – and most thanks again of course to Simon and Pete for another great night at the Pheasantry. NB Have I forgotten anything (any song!)? Any corrections or additions are always welcome! https://photos.smugmug.com/A/Pete-Atkin/i-srWj5Sr/0/NQ6vbLwdK8wc9mtXSGKcsLbGtwsbsstRvM5cfQBB6/L/IMG_8805LR_800x533-L.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/A/Pete-Atkin/i-CW5tQ6F/0/Ngd7NMRZDBbWS7sPwpCSrsjmR2qvCCkGRkjNTNN83/L/IMG_8764LR_800x533-L.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/A/Pete-Atkin/i-pkdfTKS/0/LMN5zqLdTRMJ9ScsFfTPtZxzWPBXkRV435b9CXpTZ/L/IMG_8900LR_533x800-L.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/A/Pete-Atkin/i-P6Zr9FH/0/MQZwtLK86jv7k9vXTbNpvGqMKzL3cT9dsCpKCtgQV/L/IMG_8859LR_800x533-L.jpg https://photos.smugmug.com/A/Pete-Atkin/i-fsXpX2d/0/MKDctQfmvnMLBHFtrVdGJNQSJC6G56DTZpdR5jq3p/L/IMG_8924LR-2_533x800-L.jpg |
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Title: Re: Pete and Simon at the Pheasantry 3rd August 2024 Post by S J Birkill on Today at 17:56 Thanks Seán for such a detailed and well-observed review. Whoever said there's nothing left to say about the songs! -- and a splendid sequence of new and old this time. I know Pete and Simon have worked hard on the new piano and vocal arrangements (can I call them that?) The ruminations (on both Pete's part and yours) make for an enjoyable read, even at this distance. And the photos, well, once more indeed, and superb as ever. Time for breakfast! |
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Title: Re: Pete and Simon at the Pheasantry 3rd August 2024 Post by Chris H on Today at 22:01 I'd also like to say thanks Sean, An excellent summary of an excellent evening. I agree that the staff at the Pheasantry are superb. The sound is always good and the staff are attentive without ever getting in the way of the music, not something that can be said of all venues. Thanks, Chris H |
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Title: Re: Pete and Simon at the Pheasantry 3rd August 2024 Post by Seán Kelly on 05.08.24 at 10:48 Thankyou Steve and Chris H - very nice of you - and to everyone else - do get along to the Pheasantry if at all possible - these are a series of great nights we are being treated to - and Pete himself expressed his pleasure at Simon's accompaniment - and what a treat it was [I paraphrase] to simply focus on his singing. |
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Title: Re: Pete and Simon at the Pheasantry 3rd August 2024 Post by David Morgan on 05.08.24 at 11:00 Furious with my laziness for not being there this time (I got to the last Pheasantry gig), because this song list is spectacular! Faded Mansion, Mythical America, and rarities such as Ice Cream Man and Last Adventure.....a summer night's bliss, I'm sure. |
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Title: Re: Pete and Simon at the Pheasantry 3rd August 2024 Post by Seán Kelly on 07.08.24 at 12:37 https://photos.smugmug.com/A/Pete-Atkin/i-nFNWpd7/0/MDx4FxFP32j4Qt2j3CPTrpMtSNWW38ncdJvBMKXVF/M/IMG_20240803_195628543-M.jpg A snap of the setlist. Which shows Payday Evening due to be played early in the second set. But was it ? Please do inform your unreliable correspondent ;) |
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Title: Re: Pete and Simon at the Pheasantry 3rd August 2024 Post by Pete Atkin on 12.08.24 at 14:34 Aha! Yes, we decided to drop Payday Eveving - and Thief in the Night! - from the second set, mainly because the first set had lasted a whole hour, but also because I thought we'd do an encore segue from Let's Try The Whole Thing Again into a requested Thirty Year Man. As it turned out, the sheer raucous demand from the clearly overindulged audience meant that I then tagged Girl On The Train on to the very end. I'm sorry not to have done those earlier two - especially Payday Evening, which doesn't get an outing all that often - but I'll fit 'em in somewhere as soon as possible. Maybe in Ambleside! And maybe again in Middlesbrough! |
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