* Reading Oct 11 2001 *
( Thanks to Sandy Macdiarmid for additions )
Click on the pics for larger version
( excuse quality it was kind of hard to pay any attention to camera technique ,given the circumstances )
For the first time in .. well no one could remember exactly when it was that Terry last gave a public performance in the UK . 10 years ? 20 years ? .
Also first time anyone can think of that he played a straight acousic set .
Terry - voice - acoustic guitar .. perfect !
The gig took place in the suitably grand Reading Town Hall concert space . A restored Victorian concert hall with an enormous pipe organ filling the backstage area , Terry was impressed and so were we.
After a sound check to a small but serious audience ( including an admiring Nick Lowe ) we were in no doubt that Terry meant business .
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Original sign just said ' plus support ' . A bit of Photoshop magic and Terry is , as he should be , on the bill . |
Do they know each other ? |
Pre sound check warm up |
Terry had talked beforehand of ideas for his song list , deciding he'd stick to some of his own mixed with some well known songs by others .To our delight he began with a brilliant rendition of Without Expression , it was just right , perfectly delivered , vocals bang on with Terry's distinctive guitar style streaming along .
For clearer details of the rest of the set you'll have to wait until I get some feedback from others .As you might understand I was somewhat too taken by the event to spend time logging what all the songs were . The set lasted approx 40 minutes , Terry clearly enjoying himself and performing like he does this kind of a gig every night .
He does like to move about when he sings and gave us a full repertoire of Terry swings , ducks and shuffles even a little tap at one point.Songs were interspersed with typical Terry banter , jokes and quips with whoever caught his eye.
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Well into it
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An audience moment . |
Sound check , almost as good as the gig |
The other songs I can remember ( not in the right order ) were Don't Worry Baby , Seed Of Memory , The Hong Kong Song ( see old newsletter ) Singing The Blues ( Guy Mitchell) One Night Of Sin (originally by Smiley Lewis; later, with cleaned-up lyrics, by Elvis Presley) ,Crazy Love ?( a song he performed on the net TV show ) and for me the absolute ace , an unexpected rendition of Rich Kid Blues ... acoustic guitar severely stressed to produce this but wow what a superb treatment of one of Terry's all time classics .
The audience applauded vigorously after each song and gave him a serious round at the end . You'd have thought we'd bussed in every Terry fan in the country.
Nick Lowe stood stage right though the whole set and applauded with evident enthusiasm along with the rest of us .
For me it was a real emotional , thrilling time , hard to believe but better than I'd expected or hoped for.
Given the lack of publicity and therefore the likelihood that most of the audience would be unaware of Terry's appearance it was great to get such a good response and a pointer to any music/bizz people around .
After Terry's set I scooted around the bar handing out the website cards I'd had printed and got a seriously warm response . There were people who'd never heard of him but were keen to find out more , people who vaguely remembered him from way back and were pleasantly surprised at the bonus for their Nick Lowe gig ,people who were bowled over by the event including one bloke who looked like he wanted to kiss me in exchange for the card ( not my type ) and of course the converted who were mostly standing around lost with that faraway look I mention on the Intro page.
Many times people asked if he had CDs for sale at the event ( please note anyone in the business )
I would say that a significant part of that audience could be seen as potential new buyers of Terry product , if proof were needed, it was there at Reading last night.
My guess is ,from what was happening around the edges of last nights gigs, from 'winks and whispers' and if Terry holds it together for the next 2 gigs a fairly big door may be about to open .
Before the gig I spent a couple of hours with Terry for an intended formal website interview ,as I kind of expected the formal bit lasted 3 nanseconds . The relaxed wandering around ,storytelling and picking up other stray Terry people lasted ummm a little longer . It was fun but not conducive to clear recording . I've noted down what I can remember and here it is Tea With Terry
Anyone at the gig who wants to add to the set list or fill in details please mail .
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Going
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going
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and really going
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