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Tonight was the final night of the Daphne du Maurier Festival and was held in specially constructed marquee in the grounds of the Fowey Hall Hotel.
Fowey Hall was the inspiration behind Toad Hall in 'Wind in the Willows' and sits in a spectacular location overlooking the sailing and fishing port of Fowey on the South Cornish coast, within it's original walled gardens and with commanding views of the river estuary and far out to sea.
Both Julian Webster Greaves and Eleanor Stanford, regular members of Gilbert's band are unavailable tonight and are replaced by Pat Kyle on saxophone and flute and by Rachael Steadham on 2nd violin. This is Pat's first time to play with Gilbert while Rachel played in Derry in Oct 2008.
The audience included some familiar faces from past shows. There was John and Shirley Towers from County Durham and Ernie Vernon and it was nice to meet longtime fan but at his first Gilbert concert; Jim Berry and his friend Adrian.
For the purpose of this report the personnel on stage were: String Quartet: Laura Stanford [1st violin], Rachael Steadham [2nd violin], Amy Stanford [viola] and Jessica Cox [cello]. Band: Martin Ditcham [drums + percussion], Bill Shanley [guitars] and Nick Scott [bass]. Backing Vocals: Charlotte James and Niamh McNally. Saxophone & Flute: Pat Kyle. Keyboard and Accordion: Mick Parker.
TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF MY TOE - [From the album "A SCRUFF AT HEART"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + Mick [Keyboard] + Pat [Saxophone] + String Quartet
A PROPER FOOL - [From the album "A SCRUFF AT HEART"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet
MY PLACE OR YOURS - [From the album "A SCRUFF AT HEART"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + Mick [Keyboard] Gilbert ended the song smiling and explained "You rehearse for a couple of days and get everything right and then you turn up on the very first night and start making mistakes. I have so many lyrics in my songs, I'm one of those writers that doesn't like to repeat the middle section. If you are familiar with pop songs it's normally the middle section that is repeated. But I like to do it a different way, so that makes it a little more awkward when you need to learn the lyrics for a concert. I remember when we did the Barbican a year ago in London, I went blank on "Nothing Rhymed"!! I lost it completely but that's what's nice about live.
"Anyway it's really nice to be here in Fowey in Cornwall, my first time visit to Cornwall. It's really nice to be here and I see that you've given up your Eurovision night [This is a reference to the televised broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest from Moscow, Russia] to here with me. I'm really honoured, what can I say? " [Audience laughter].
NOTHING RHYMED - [From the album "HIMSELF"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet + Nick [Bass] + Pat [Flute] Gilbert jokingly stopped playing as the audience applaude the intro of the song and said "Okay thank a lot". It was only afterwards that he realised that he messed up the playing of the video on the large screen behind the stage when he stopped and started again so quickly. He apologised to Paul who is responsible for audiovisuals.
OUT OF THE QUESTION - [From the album "BACK TO FRONT"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + Mick [Keyboard] + Pat [Flute] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] "The fact is that I only sing my own songs. So if you want to leave now? [Audience laughter]. It's nice when people write to me as they have done over the years and say things like 'We love the obvious songs, the hits, that's what introduced us to you but our particular favourite happens to be this particular track on this particular album.' The next song is an example of one of those."
Gilbert [Keyboard] + Mick [Keyboard]
KNOW WHAT, YOU'RE RIGHT - [From the album "A SCRUFF AT HEART"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet "We are going to do something now that involves our 'choir'. All our band members are going to come out. When they hooked up with me they didn't realise that were going to have to do this. They had to be cajoled but now they love it!"
LOVE YOU OUT OF TROUBLE - [From the album "A SCRUFF AT HEART"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Everybody Else [Backing Vocals]
WE WILL - [From the album "THE BERRY VEST OF"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Bill [Guitar] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] This next song that I'm going to do for you is one of my earliest songs, a hundred and fifty years ago...[Audience laughter]. It was never a hit song but it is a track that a lot of people like.....including me. Back when this was released in 1967 Kenny Everett and John Peel were very supportive of me and Kenny Everett used to play this song quite a lot. When you're young and starting out in the business to hear somebody like him who was a very popular DJ, play your song....you were not going to get in the charts or anything, in fact you were very lucky to get any radio play. That's the way it is when you start off. You build up to getting the success that you are looking for."
MR. MOODY'S GARDEN - [From the album "THE BERRY VEST OF"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Mick [Accordion] + Pat [Voices]
I'M IN LOVE WITH LOVE (AGAIN) - [From the album "A SCRUFF AT HEART"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet
TAKING SIDES - [From the album "A SCRUFF AT HEART"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Nick [Flute]
DON'T LET IT GET TO YOU - [From the album "A SCRUFF AT HEART"] Gilbert [Electric Piano]
SOMETIMES - [From the album "SOUNDS OF THE LOOP"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + Pat [Flute]
OOH-WAKKA-DOO-WAKKA-DAY - [From the album "THE BERRY VEST OF"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + Mick [Keyboard] + Pat [Flute] Charlotte and Niamh sang the lines 'Who's that lady I saw you with' and 'It was not your wife'.
"Arguably my most intellectual song!" [Audience laughter]. Deep, deep lyrics [said sarcastically]. That's a music hall tradition. I've been criticised for that. People used it as a target to target me as a crap songwriter but the thing is I like music hall and 'wakka-doo' is a music hall phrase and music hall is close to my heart because in the history of popular song and I listen to records that go back to the beginning of the twentieth century because of the beautiful melodies. That influence comes through in certain songs."
CLAIR - [From the album "BACK TO FRONT"] Gilbert [Electric Piano] + String Quartet + Bill [Acoustic Guitar] + Mick [Keyboard]
INTERVAL
STICK IN THE MUD - [From the album "FROBISHER DRIVE / IN THE KEY OF G"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Pat [Saxophone] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] Nice saxophone solo from Pat who in fact played very well on all the songs.
CAN'T GET YOU TO LOVE ME - [From the album "A STRANGER IN MY OWN BACK YARD"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Pat [Saxophone] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals]
MAKE MY DAY - [From the album "PIANO FOREPLAY"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band+ Mick [Keyboard] + Pat [Saxophone] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals]
NO MATTER HOW I TRY - [From the album "THE BERRY VEST OF"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band+ Mick [Keyboard] Gilbert had a technical problem with his keyboard during this song when he lost all power to it. He continued singing and improvised the chorus to sing "Is there a engineer to fix this piano for me". The problem was fixed and the show went on.
"Live! don't you just love it?" he asked. "I bet that never happens to Elton John." [Audience laughter].
Gilbert went on to speak about his admiration of the way Peggy Lee interpreted songs and how the duet recording of "Can't Think Straight" came about.
CAN'T THINK STRAIGHT - [From the album "SOUNDS OF THE LOOP"] Gilbert + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals]
CAME TO SEE ME YESTERDAY - [From the album "THE LITTLE ALBUM"] Gilbert [Vocal + Tambourine] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] "That's a song I wrote, also quite a long time ago. When you are putting songs together for a concert, obviously I don't listen to myself, I listen to other people's records but I don't listen to myself. For touring I have to go back and check out songs and I come across songs and I think 'Did I write that?' It's interesting that with this track is the version of it we do is based on a cover version of my song. It was never a hit but the band that did it, did it in the reggae style and I really liked it. It's fun when you go back over your catalogue and listen to songs that you haven't heard for twenty maybe thirty years. A lot of them you wouldn't touch but a concert gives me the opportunity to try some and I hope you enjoy them."
THUNDER AND LIGHTNING - [From the album "HIMSELF"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Pat [Saxophone] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals]
WHY, OH WHY, OH WHY - [From the album "THE BERRY VEST OF"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] "This part of Cornwall is beautiful. The view of the bay from the hotel is gorgeous. So this maybe is an appropriate song for down here."
Gilbert began the song but forgot to detune his keyboard so was playing in a different key to everybody else. Mick Parker alerted him to the fact which he corrected and said "I should have changed keys, it's like a computer up here. I don't know....technology. I can just about manage a plug. I won't have a mobile phone. You walk along the street and you see people with bruises on their forehead, there're bumping into trees, they're bumping into people. They are not doing this anymore [demonstrating having a mobile phone to his ear], they are doing this [demonstrating taking a photo on a mobile phone]. Madness! [Audience laughter].
Gilbert quietened the band down and encouraged the audience to sing "Take me to where peaceful waters flow" at the end of the song.
WHERE PEACEFUL WATERS FLOW - From the album "I'M A WRITER NOT A FIGHTER" Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Backing Vocals [Bill, Nick & Mick]
A FRIEND OF MINE - [From the album "I'M A WRITER, NOT A FIGHTER"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals]
CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF YOU - [From the album "OFF CENTRE"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Pat [Flute] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] "A big of country now. Right girls....get the stetsons out and the spurs on.
HOLD ON TO WHAT YOU GOT - [From the album "BY LARRY / THE LITTLE ALBUM"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard & Accordion] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals] Once again Gilbert's keyboard lost power and Francis [on stage sound engineer] came on stage to fix it while the band continued playing.
As always the string quartet solo during which they stand up to play is always a highlight of this song when played live.
Gilbert added "I keep losing the power on my piano. For some people that's a good idea!" [Audience laughter and aahs].
HAPPINESS IS ME AND YOU - [From the album "THE BERRY VEST OF"] Gilbert [Vocal] + Bill [Spanish Acoustic Guitar] + Pat [Flute] + Martin [Percussion] Gilbert tentitively returned to his keyboad and wondered "Is it working or not?" and then introduced the band during which he mentioned that Charlotte had recently got married and later dedicated "The Marriage Machine" to her.
SAY GOODBYE - [From the album "IRLISH"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + Mick [Keyboard] + Pat [Flute] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals]
THE MARRIAGE MACHINE - [From the album "A STRANGER IN MY OWN BACK YARD"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Charlotte [Vocal] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Pat [Flute]
WHAT'S IN A KISS? - [From the album "OFF CENTRE"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard]
ALONE AGAIN (NATURALLY) - [From the album "THE BERRY VEST OF"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard]
ENCORE
MATRIMONY - [From the album "HIMSELF"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Pat [Saxophone] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals]
GET DOWN - [From the album "I'M A WRITER NOT A FIGHTER"] Gilbert [Keyboard] + Band + String Quartet + Mick [Keyboard] + Charlotte & Niamh [Backing Vocals]
STATS Gilbert played and sang 35 songs tonight representing material from 13 different albums. The breakdown was as follows:
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