Plug ‘N’ Play

Plug & Play, Penrith. 2nd March 2008 (Dr Zoo)

Fresh from a tour of South Africa and just starting a run of gigs in the UK, Dr Zoo managed to squeeze a date into his schedule for the Plug & Play session in Penrith.

A lot of open mic’ers turning up had Andy, Tom and Chris working hard to ensure all went smoothly in the opening session of thenight. First up was Ken Wilcock with a slight change to his usual style of playing kicking off with “Slow Blues”, a wonderfully soulful and melodic Stephan Grossman piece in the style of Lonnie Johnson. Followed by “Blues ain’t dry” a more up tempo ‘30s style number and finishing off with the slow and laid back “Mississippi Blues” with it’s intricate blues runs to get the evening off to a fine start. Rob Heron then took to the stage with “A Day Longer”. His distinctive voice blending well with the soft guitar playing to good effect. “Introspection” is a favourite of mine, with it’s off beat syncopated strumming going down well with the audience. Finishing off with “Cross the river” from his new CD had the PnP crowd clapping warmly. Ethan Thomas then got up and reminded everyone that the future of music is in the youngsters. “Waiting for morning”, a self penned classical piece in the style of Rodrigo was played with confidence and style as was “Taggin’ along” with it’s intricate fingerpicking and “National 7” allowing Ethan’s soft vocals to compliment the mood changes throughout the song. Christian Moss then took to the stage and immediately started to banter with the audience, pretty much as he did when he headlined the September PnP last year. “Temporary God”, with its intense, driving rhythm, showed why Christian is such a crowd pleaser and his strong voice pounding out “Lungful” off his CD had the audience applauding their appreciation. Greg Wilson took to the stage as the final act of the open mic slot, joined on stage by guitarist Chris Walker. The latin-esque “Impressario” allowing nice interplay between Chris and Greg was followed up by “Something like this” with its catchy melody. Sung with ease and confidence, both songs off his new demo CD, received warm appreciation from the PnP crowd.

Bringing his latest album, “42”, to the stage, Dr Zoo (Randal Arsenault, Guitar/Vocals, accompanied by Jonathan Bunce on Violin/Vocals) brought the art of storytelling to a different level. Interweaving the semi-autobiographical tale of a young mans quest for identity and fulfilment with songs from around the world, he got the audience singing and howling and even managed to teach them some Zulu and Swahili in the process!! Starting off with the “Prologue” about the history of Newfoundland, demonstrated the ease with which Randal and Jonathan complimented each others playing. “Act 1 – Rebellion/Rejection” about family difficulties showed an ability to write a song with feeling and sensitivity whilst also being honest.  “Act 2 – Journey” allowed Randal to pay homage to Paul Simons “Gracelands” album, a great source of inspiration in his writing and one of the reasons he went to Africa. “Diamonds on the soles of her shoes” had the audience singing along and “Full Moon” even had them howling like wolves through the tune. (A first, I think, at PnP!) “Fields of the Lord” allowed Jonathans prowess on the violin full reign, with some fantastic playing around Randal’s strumming. Throughout the set, Jonathan played with intensity and feeling for the music that you don’t often see. A real pleasure to listen to! “Act 3 – Africa” had the audience singing along in Zulu  and Swahili (“Hello” and “How are you” - “Sawubona” and “Unjani” in Zulu and “Jambo” and “Habari Gani” in Swahili if you must know!!) Very reminiscent of Gracelands with its rhythms and melodic singing, this was followed up by “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” – yep “wim-a-way, wim-a-way” and all that! Something that was picked up on by the crowd without any prompting to end the first set on a high.

Set 2 carried on the “Africa” act with “Stay with me” about falling in love and raising a family, but also the uncertainty of the path his life is going. “War” was the next act, “Peasant Battalions” recalled fighting during the second world war and how the young man is captured by the Germans and forced to fight on the Russian front. This was my favourite song of the night, not just for the artistry of the song writing but the poignancy of it being based on a true story. The final acts “Redemption” where the young man has realised his mistakes and starts to rectify them, followed by “Reconciliation” where he travels back to Africa to bring his wife and child to Newfoundland, and home, both showed the confidence Randal has as a storyteller and musician. Called back for an encore, “Little Man” had the audience applauding warmly for a story well told and also for the great musicianship of the performers.

See you all on the 6th April for the amazingly talented Kirsty McGee accompanied by Mat Martin. Check out the web site for further details www.plug-play.co.uk

See you there…Keep it live!!…Open Mike