Ravens and Lullabies - Summers End Festival - Lydney - 5 Oct
Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 1:08 pm
What a night!
An enthusiastic audience greeted the Ravens and Lullabies Band very warmly indeed as they took the stage.
Gordon was probably reassured to see the massed ranks of Giltrapites right at the front of the audience area - no seats here - all sporting their Giltrap tee-shirts.
Others can comment better than I about the audience's perceptions of the event, but from where I was at the side of the stage I could hear the enthusiastic applause, whoops, shouts and sheer appreciation of a crowd that not only remembered Gordon from his Giltrap Band days and the magnificent three albums from that period, but also responded very warmly to the present band and the new material. Of course, any reference to, or playing of, material from that era brought the house down!
Being so close to the band two key things struck me: Firstly, the sheer professionalism and musical chops of them all. Considering that this was in many ways a 'scratch' band with very limited rehearsal time their tightness and delivery was astounding. You'd have thought they'd being playing together for years. Secondly, the sheer respect - and indeed affection - they showed to Gordon. Here were people clearly very accomplished in their own spheres who recognised not only the heritage in which they'd been invited to share, but also someone who can still cut-it with the best of them after almost 40 years in the business.
(It has to be said that they were all exceedingly nice people too. Each of them individually took the trouble to come up and thank me for my own VERY small contribution to the proceedings - effectively 'Mr Shifta'.)
I knew instinctively what the encore would be... a full, album-length, version of Heartsong. I moved position so that I could see Gordon for that one... how would it go? From the first few chords I knew that 'the boy was back in town'. (Of course, all of us reading this know he's never been away....). To hear the full band version with all the old arrangements we all know and love so well with some tasteful new additions brought a glisten to the eye and a lump to the throat of this old codger who's seen and heard so many bands over the years. There was Gordon very much in the driving seat powering the whole band through this iconic piece.
As the music played I was taken back to that time in the late '70s when I was first introduced to Gordon's music... It brought me great pleasure at the time and made me an avid collector of his material. Twenty years later I was introduced to Giltrap Mark 2 and again found music - above all, tunes - that delighted and entranced.
Thank you Gordon for the pleasure and delight you've brought to so many with your music - not just last night, but for 40 years.
An enthusiastic audience greeted the Ravens and Lullabies Band very warmly indeed as they took the stage.
Gordon was probably reassured to see the massed ranks of Giltrapites right at the front of the audience area - no seats here - all sporting their Giltrap tee-shirts.
Others can comment better than I about the audience's perceptions of the event, but from where I was at the side of the stage I could hear the enthusiastic applause, whoops, shouts and sheer appreciation of a crowd that not only remembered Gordon from his Giltrap Band days and the magnificent three albums from that period, but also responded very warmly to the present band and the new material. Of course, any reference to, or playing of, material from that era brought the house down!
Being so close to the band two key things struck me: Firstly, the sheer professionalism and musical chops of them all. Considering that this was in many ways a 'scratch' band with very limited rehearsal time their tightness and delivery was astounding. You'd have thought they'd being playing together for years. Secondly, the sheer respect - and indeed affection - they showed to Gordon. Here were people clearly very accomplished in their own spheres who recognised not only the heritage in which they'd been invited to share, but also someone who can still cut-it with the best of them after almost 40 years in the business.
(It has to be said that they were all exceedingly nice people too. Each of them individually took the trouble to come up and thank me for my own VERY small contribution to the proceedings - effectively 'Mr Shifta'.)
I knew instinctively what the encore would be... a full, album-length, version of Heartsong. I moved position so that I could see Gordon for that one... how would it go? From the first few chords I knew that 'the boy was back in town'. (Of course, all of us reading this know he's never been away....). To hear the full band version with all the old arrangements we all know and love so well with some tasteful new additions brought a glisten to the eye and a lump to the throat of this old codger who's seen and heard so many bands over the years. There was Gordon very much in the driving seat powering the whole band through this iconic piece.
As the music played I was taken back to that time in the late '70s when I was first introduced to Gordon's music... It brought me great pleasure at the time and made me an avid collector of his material. Twenty years later I was introduced to Giltrap Mark 2 and again found music - above all, tunes - that delighted and entranced.
Thank you Gordon for the pleasure and delight you've brought to so many with your music - not just last night, but for 40 years.