Tag Archives: Southend-on-Sea

Posts from Base Camp

Great Music Trips

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

Near the end of 2014, I went on a “musical pilgrimage” to southern England. Based mostly in Cambridge and London, highlights included Paul Carrack in Southend-on-Sea, Jools Holland at the Royal Albert Hall, the London production of “The Commitments”, Los Pacaminos (featuring Paul Young) in a Putney pub, and a bunch of Beatles sights (including crossing Abbey Road, in the above photo).

It’s been a while since I’ve done a trip like that, although I still attend a lot of concerts. So, where would I go now?

The first place that comes to mind is South Africa. Regular readers of this blog will know that I saw (and met!) the late Johnny Clegg many times. Paul Simon’s “Graceland” album remains one of my all-time favourites. “The Indestructible Beat of Soweto” is a great compilation of music from South Africa. I really enjoyed seeing Ladysmith Black Mambazo when they came to Kingston. And Ladysmith Black Mambazo recently collaborated with South African Jeremy Loops on a fun single called “This Town”. It would be great to see this live, in the country where it was made.

I enjoyed seeing a small tango orchestra in Buenos Aires, Argentina. But since then, I have discovered the music of Bajofondo. The band members are from both Argentina and Uruguay. They use local music, such as tango, as a starting point…but take it in some very interesting modern directions. Since poor weather stopped me from getting to Uruguay, wouldn’t it be cool to see something like this in Montevideo?

But it is not necessary to go halfway across the world. There are some American artists who could form the basis for a fun musical trip. I have great respect for Jon Batiste from New Orleans, Louisiana: I was singing the praises of his “We Are” album even before it received a bunch of Grammy nominations. A trip to New Orleans could also include Trombone Shorty, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (who we recently saw in Kingston)…the list goes on.

I’ve already seen the Weeklings perform live…in Monmouth, New Jersey, of all places. However, they were so compelling that I’d love to see them again. Their cover versions (especially of Beatles songs) are amazing, but their original compositions are great too. And I recently discovered that they sometimes play live at Daryl’s House, in Pawling, New York. It’s a cozy venue, and is operated by none other than Daryl Hall (of Hall & Oates fame). Wouldn’t that be a fun part of a trip to New York City?

I shared some Weeklings videos in a music-related post from a couple of years ago…if you like the above two, you’ll probably find these ones even better.

And what about all those Canadian music trips I could do? Pagliaro in Montreal…trips like that could keep me occupied for years!

Posts from the road

Paul Carrack Concert Review

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(Southend-on-Sea, England, U.K.)

I don’t think I had ever been to a proper theatre concert in Europe before; my sole European rock concert experience was seeing Paul Simon at a Budapest soccer stadium way back in 1991. That was a great show but hardly typical!

The Cliffs Pavilion on a late afternoon in November (Southend-on-Sea, England)
The Cliffs Pavilion on a late afternoon in November (Southend-on-Sea, England)

The Cliffs Pavilion has a spectacular location overlooking the sea but the “modern” façade really doesn’t look too inspiring on an overcast November afternoon.  Fortunately, it looks much better on the inside and holds 1,630 spectators in the main theatre.

The opening act was a young singer/guitarist named Elliott Morris.  As yet unsigned, he is an impressive guitar virtuoso.  Not only does he have impressive string technique, he also uses the guitar as a percussive instrument at the same time.  He described it as “slappy and bangy” and he closed off his short set with a fascinating version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”.

The Cliffs Pavilion stage, just before the concert started (Southend-on-Sea, England)
The Cliffs Pavilion stage, just before the concert started (Southend-on-Sea, England)

Paul Carrack came on with a 7-piece band and played a main set of about an hour and forty minutes.  Drawing equally from his “greatest hits” and his more recent albums, Paul was definitely playing to the converted.  He has played this venue several times before and most of the attendees were “return customers”.    A consummate professional, Carrack ensured that the focus remained on his voice…still fully intact after more than 40 years of professional singing.  There were very few extended solos or “jazz odysseys”.

Paul Carrack sings "The Living Years"
Paul Carrack sings “The Living Years”

Carrack has certain “must play” songs, so we eventually heard “Tempted”, “How Long”, “The Living Years” and other highlights from his long career.  Because the vocals were so clear and the sound was so balanced, you could actually understand all of the lyrics.  They clearly affected the fellow beside me, who was indeed wiping away tears during “The Living Years”.  With the audience supplying most of the backing choral-style vocals, it was one of those special musical moments where you can feel a chill running down your spine.

Of the newer material, the cover of Brenda Lee’s “I’m Losing You” was probably the highlight.  But the crowd enthusiastically greeted each of the new songs;  clearly, they were familiar with Carrack’s latest album.  He also felt confident enough in it to close the show with “Rise and Shine”, the title track.

Ever wondered what happened to David Hasselhoff after Baywatch? He's playing in a Peter Pan pantomime in Southend-on-Sea!
Ever wondered what happened to David Hasselhoff after Baywatch? He’s playing in a Peter Pan pantomime in Southend-on-Sea!

After the handful of encore songs, the concert was over and the crowd politely filed out.  Actually, the crowd was quite polite throughout the show.  They seemed a little more reserved than the crowds back home in Kingston!

The final assessment?  It was definitely among my top ten concerts, although my expectations for it were also quite high.  I hope that the rest of the shows will be as professionally performed and have the same sound quality!

Next up:  I’m off to London, with a West-End (London’s Broadway equivalent) show on my very first night there!

Posts from the road

Let The Music Begin

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(Southend-on-Sea, England, U.K.)

November 25 was my final night in Cambridge. As noted in my previous blog posting, I spontaneously bought a ticket to see a musical put on by Cambridge University students.  I knew nothing else about it.

The musical had the somewhat postmodern name “[Title of Show]”; it is “a musical about creating a musical about creating a musical”. This odd premise really makes your head spin at times, as the distinctions between performance, reality and time gets blurrier as the show progresses.

The Eagle Bar - this is where two Cambridge professors regularly went for lunch...and also where they announced that they had discovered DNA
The Eagle Bar – this is where two Cambridge professors regularly went for lunch…and also where they announced that they had discovered DNA

It was a very intimate theatre with a capacity of about 100 people (although this mid-week show attracted significantly less than that), so there was no chance of feeling distant from the stage.  In fact, the stage was on the same level as the front row of seats.

While it was not as polished as a Broadway production, the show was amusing enough and set the stage (heh) for the professional musical performances that I’ll be watching over the following 4 nights. In fact, I even made my British theatrical debut during the Cambridge musical: one scene required the actors to have an audience member film them for a YouTube video. I happened to be closest to the stage and was thus drafted without warning into the non-speaking role of “videographer”. I was handed a cell-phone and completed my role without incident.

View of King's College Chapel from the street (Cambridge, England)
View of King’s College Chapel from the street (Cambridge, England)

November 26 saw me travel by train from Cambridge to Southend-on-Sea for the Paul Carrack concert I discussed a few posts ago.   The Cliffs Pavilion in the Westcliff district of Southend is the theatre hosting the show and my cozy B&B is precisely 1 minute and 25 seconds by foot from the Pavilion.

I'm staying at the Trinity Hotel, a B&B in Westcliff-on-Sea. The waterfront is perhaps half-a-block down the street.
I’m staying here, at the Trinity Hotel, a B&B in Westcliff-on-Sea. The waterfront is perhaps half-a-block down the street.

I wandered around both Westcliff and downtown Southend during the afternoon.  It is a decent-sized city that also doubles as a seaside resort…at least during the warmer months.  Its claim to fame is having “the longest pleasure pier in the world” – it stretches out more than a mile into the North Sea.  There are rides, unhealthy food, games of chance, tacky trinkets…the sorts of things you would hope to find in a place like this.  While it is the off-season and Southend looks a little deserted in places, there are also some very nice neighbourhoods in the city.

On the waterfront at Southend-on-Sea, England
Near the waterfront at Southend-on-Sea, England

I am also pleased to report that I managed to acquire some vinyl records at a well-stocked store near the pedestrian-only High Street.  The street was full of Christmas shoppers and Christmas trees with blue lights.

High Street in Southend-on-Sea, England
Christmas Shopping on the High Street in Southend-on-Sea, England

As my B&B is so close to the theatre, I had dinner at a fish restaurant just a few steps away.  I rarely eat fish but thought that this would be the best time to have some, because this is the closest I’ll get to the sea during this trip.  It was a cut above your typical “chippy”: my haddock (and chips) was almost all fish and no batter, rather than the other way around.  I felt properly English, having upscale fish and chips with a nice cider by the sea.

Stay tuned for a review of the Paul Carrack concert!