After the crazy frenzy of Newquay on a Saturday night it was such a pleasure to play to a mellow Sunday daytime vibe down in Falmouth.
It was real sweet to play a show where the audience gave the music the space to be whatever it wanted. It allowed me to play some more mellow songs that normally just would drown in the sea of barroom hustle and bustle.
Messy Messy Messy Messy Messy Messy Messy Messy Newquay!!!!!
This show was a real treat for me as the pub and the place seemed to be very open to having live music.
The audience were friendly and banter was rife . I would recommend any touring musician coming to the south west get in touch with Kirk and Andy at the Westgate Inn as you will find the experience enjoyable and rewarding.
Thanks for having me guys 🙂
Playing my show at the studio Bar for the second time on the tour was a joyful experience.
I was alot more relaxed with having been there before and was fed will prior to soundcheck by the wonderful Jak. Jak also got me the show and so I feel double indebted to her.
My support for the night was a wonderful musician called Matt Bond. He has a very delicate style and his writing is honest and heartfelt. Speaking to him also revealed he has a severe speech impediment which is evident in conversation yet vanishes in song. It adds more depth to his music when you know he is really saying what he wants in his music.
For my set I felt very confident and happy to experiment with what was a huge and great sounding PA system. I decided to open with a song I hadn’t played in maybe a couple of years. The song is called ‘Because’ and is the closing track to my Debut album. It’s a real sparse number and so to be perfomed the live the atmosphere has to be just right.
From Because I looped into the track ‘Default:Escape’ This is a brand new tune which only had it’s 2nd outing that night. The rest of the set flowed well and I ended on the tune ‘Resonate’ which was written 6 months back whilst in New Zealand.
Last year I was aided in my touring by a nice man called Stewart Osbourne.
He helped get me a couple of valued shows during a tour that was seeming to go from bad to worse.
Upon meeting himself and his lovely wife Carol I had my first introduction to someone with the illness Lupus.
It can affect any organ of the body but most frequently it damages the heart, joints, skin, lungs, blood vessels, liver, kidneys, and nervous system and it is now recognised as one of the most important and common illnesses of modern times.
Lupus Fest is an annual music-based charity event taking place in Weymouth, Dorset 7th – 9th October 2011, entry is free and and the event is intended to raise awareness and research funds for the auto-immune disorder SLE Lupus and the associated blood-clotting disorder Hughes Syndrome.
It’s a pleasure to be involved in the event Which will be held At the Kings Club in Weymouth.
I’ll be playing on the Sunday in the afternoon.
Through the weirdness of not writing a setlist before playing I spontaneously failed to perform a single song from the album ‘Good Times With Evil’ that I am on tour to promote.
This was my final show of 7 with Goga who joined me from Japan. Conveniently the venue was situated clase to a long running international language school. This resulted in many locals speaking some Japanese to him. Not something you’d expect to find in deepest darkest Devon.
My set was purely a mix of really old material (including one My Pet Junkie Song); and New stuff yet to be recorded. Goga joined me for the final numbers two of which were totally new songs being played for the first time that night.
It was a pleasure to share the road with Goga and I wish him the best upon his return back to Tokyo. For myself the tour will return to cornwall for 4 more performances.
Next stop is England’s most western Town – Penzance.
For the 15 odd years I’ve been performing I’ve alway kept a record of my set lists in my personal Diary.
It’s a great way of channeling my focus on the performance and varying the songs that are played from night to night.
This show (In Falmouth) was from a shared billing with Japanese performer Goga-Tech who had flown from Tokyo to join me on the road for 9 days.
Photo taken by Simon Smith
For one week of my UK tour. I will be joined for support by a very special guest.
Goga (The Elephant) is a unique and experienced singer guitarist and songwriter who has taken decided to take a break from playing the hectic Tokyo livehouses to join me in rural Cornwall.
This will be his first time venturing to Europe.
Goga will be joining me at the following venues:
| 17/09/11 | Calstock Road, Gunnislake, Cornwall, PL18 9BX | The Rising Sun | United Kingdom |
| 22/09/11 | 52 High Street Falmouth TR11 2AF | The Star and Garter | United Kingdom |
| 23/09/11 | 1-2 Chapel Terrace Town Centre, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 3BQ | Jacobs Ladder | United Kingdom |
| 24/09/11 | Whitchurch Road, Horrabridge, Yelverton, Devon PL20 7TP | The Leaping Salmon Inn | United Kingdom |
http://gogatech.owllights.com/ this is his website where you can hear his solo stuff along with his many other projects he has.
For the past two weeks I have been enjoying a stint of shows off the mainland of the UK playing in the Island of Jersey.
And it’s here I will be embarking to set a personal record.
The most shows I have ever played in one day is 8 and that has included many shows on the same stage at a festival.
However on Sun 28th Aug. I will be attempting to break that record with 12 shows in 12 different venues (all in the 12 different Parishes) around the Island.
The event is organized as a part of a charity initiative to raise funds for Help a Jersey Child.
Please find all the info here on http://www.rockaroundtherock.co.uk and find all the details of my shows on my shows page 🙂
Wish me luck. This is gonna be mental.
Stoo 🙂
Stuart O'Connor 