I'm a fan of differences in all their forms and yesterday evening brought one my way. I was invited to see Allison Crowe play in The Halo Bar, Battersea by her very friendly manager Adrian (thanks again for the invite Adrian) and was quickly transported over the Atlantic to their world. Despite the red London buses passing by outside the bar was a corner of Canada for the evening.
The music kicked off with a short set from Billie Woods, a musician and photographer who has travelled this way with Allison before. She played some elegant classical guitar and sang beautifully in a style that reminded me of Joyce ... possibly because of the Portuguese lyrics to some of the songs?
Next up was Allison who played and sang with a professional exuberance that I've rarely heard in such an intimate venue. Despite seeming a little nervous between songs she delivered a strong emotional performance that captivated the audience who were held silent throughout each song. With tones reminiscent of Ani DiFranco and Joni Mitchell, her neatly crafted songs of personal joy and torment came from the heart and filled the room with her whole soul as the late night traffic passed by outside the window behind her. If you like your music to tug on those tones then I can recommend ordering Allison's new album 'this little bird' which has just been released from it's little cage. The London dates are the start of her tour (in association with Oxjam) which continues onto Brighton, Glasgow, Liverpool, Dublin, Aberdeen & Dundee in the next couple of weeks and details can be found here.
Allison will also be appearing on the next 'musicians introduce their own songs' episode of the contrast podcast in a couple of weeks time.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
a corner of canada comes to cold london
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3 comments:
First Victor, then me, now Allison. What further enticement do you need to come out west and visit us all here in Vancouver??
Now I really hope she gets her U.S. visa problem worked out so I can have that kind of experience.
hello ( :
thanks so very much, Tim, for coming out to the concert at Halo
it's a pleasure to meet you - and, know that, even with the train schedule, your experience was positive
we'll be back in London, health willing - and I'll look for venues that can be reached without logistical challenges
and, aye, Muruch, one of our goals upcoming is to get US tour dates sussed out... (it's something that is overdue)
Vancouver? well, fil, Allison will be there on December 9 ( :
may we meet you all sooner than later - and bring the music home!
peace, Ad
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