Goldie's Fab Four #17

My Highlights and Recommendations

B C Camplight (Drummonds, Worcester)

Never, ever give up. 18 years and 6 albums into what seemed like an inescapable small hall career, BC Camplight (aka Brian Christinzio) has finally hit the big time. His new release ‘Last Rotation On Earth’ has cracked the Top 40, and is already winning ‘Album Of The Year’ nominations.

The record is full of playful melodies and the kind of sonic layering Brian Wilson, 1OCC or Flaming Lips might admire, but I prefer BC in the stripped down, piano player mode we saw at Drummonds.

Although he had occasional vocal assistance from Francesca from his band, this was essentially a solo gig, Christinzio rolling through his songbook with vodka fulled gusto - he downed two thirds of a litre bottle while on stage.

Lyrically, his tales of break-ups and breakdowns are leavened by jokey references to daytime telly (both ‘Homes Under The Hammer’ and David Dickinson get a namecheck) as well as chip shops in Oldham.

He has also has the funniest intersong banter I’ve heard since Jimmy Webb (with whom he also shares musical similarities) and there’s no higher praise than that.

Gerry Love (MAC, Birmingham)

(pic: Paul Samuels)

In a good week for gigs, ex Teenage Fanclub vocalist, bassist and songwriter Gerry Love came to Birmingham to headline the inaugural Ryland Caravan day festival, organised by excellent local band Independent Country, who also featured on an eclectic alt-country flavoured bill.

Playing Fannies songs outside of Scotland for the first time since quitting the band in 2018, Love was relaxed and in good humour, and showed what Messrs McGinlay and Blake are missing by allowing him to leave in a row over touring schedules.

Love isn’t a natural showman, but these West Coast inflected tunes speak for themselves. Tuneful, heartfelt, and uplifting.

Birmingham Pride

I was busy hosting the Ryland Caravan Festival mentioned above, but otherwise I would have been at Pride, which drew an estimated 100,000 people onto the streets of Birmingham in a spirit of celebration and solidarity.

It’s easily forgotten that Pride festivals grew out of the Stonewall Riots in 1969 when cops in New York sought to brutally enforce laws banning publicans from selling alcohol to gay and lesbian customers.

We’ve come a long way since then in terms of LGBTQ rights on both sides of the Atlantic, but bigotry is never far away. Pride is an important show of strength, as well as great day out.

The Eastern Front - Terror and Torture in Ukraine

Powerful new documentary by former BBC Panorama presenter, now plying his trade at Byline TV, detailing Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine.

You can hear more about it on this episode of the Byline Times podcast - or watch it here.