Saturday, July 20, 2019

Graham Nash: Bath Forum 18/7/2019


I went to see Graham Nash in Bath on Thursday. I thought I would go to Bath on the bus which would save me the walk to the train station and also it is free with my senior citizens bus pass. This turned out to be a bad idea. It wasn’t too awful at first, I had a double seat all to myself. At every stop though more and more people got on. When we reached Trowbridge there was a big queue to get on the bus. I knew someone would sit next to me. “Please let it be a nice attractive woman who I can talk to”, I thought to myself. No such luck, I had some old man sit next to me all the way to Bath. It was really hot as well. I had brought a book along to read on the journey called Locked In The Arms Of A Crazy Life which is a biography of one of my favourite writers Charles Bukowski. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that if I read while being transported in a vehicle it makes me feel sick. When I finally escaped from the bus by Pulteney Bridge in Bath I had to sit down for ten minutes until the feeling of nausea abated.

Usually when I go to Bath, I like to have a look around the charity shops or listen to the buskers but after my horrendous bus experience I wasn’t in the mood. I made my way to the Lamb & Lion pub which is quite near the venue for the gig. This is the pub where Patti Smith accidentally ate somebody else’s lasagne a few years ago. I ordered a pint of cider and some vegetable curry. They didn’t have the curry, so I opted for halloumi & salad. It was like chewing rubber and the salad wasn’t very nice either. Never mind, I read my book for an hour and had two large chardonnays. Then it was time to go to the Forum.

On the merchandise stall they were selling signed and numbered framed limited edition prints of photos by Graham Nash. There was one photograph of Joni Mitchell that I liked but it was £70, so I decided not to be tempted to buy it. I felt a bit sorry for him because there were lots of empty seats in the auditorium. I was surprised about that because he was a member of one of the greatest bands of all time. Last week his former band mate Neil Young sold out Hyde Park in London and Graham Nash couldn’t sell out this relatively small venue in Bath. He was accompanied on keyboards by Todd Caldwell from Lubbock in Texas and on guitar by Shane Fontayne who is English. I was very impressed with the guitar playing in particular. The show began with Pre-Road Downs from CSN’s first album and Marrakesh Express which was also a hit song from that great album. Then it was a hit from 1966 when he was in The Hollies which was Bus Stop. This was followed by I Used To Be A King from his first solo album Songs For Beginners in 1971 which was a great album in my opinion and better than anything Stills or Crosby ever produced as a solo project. Then it was Right Between The Eyes from the live Four Way Street album. Then he paid a tribute to Steve Stills by singing 4+20 from Déjà Vu which is one of my favourite ever albums. Immigration Man was next and Graham told the story of how it came to be written and how the lyrics are very relative in modern times. One of my favourite Graham Nash songs was next which was Military Madness, another song which still has a lot of meaning in today’s world. Wind On The Water is an anti-whaling song and followed a humorous tale of an adventure aboard Dave Crosby’s boat. The first half of the show ended with a fabulous version of The Beatles A Day In The Life in which guitarist Shane excelled himself.

Wasted On The Way from 1982 opened the second half and was followed by King Midas In Reverse which was the song that made Graham Nash decide to leave The Hollies because he had outgrown them as a songwriter. Carried Away was next from the CSN album and Graham played keyboards and harmonica on this song. Love The One You’re With was next and that was followed by a song I don’t think I had heard before called Golden Days. It is quite a sad reflective wistful song from a recent album that I haven’t heard. Taken It All is another song that seems to have passed me by. I don’t think I had heard that one before either, but I enjoyed it. One of my favourite songs was next, the short and sweet Just A Song Before I Go. I also like Cathedral which is a song about an acid trip Nash had in Winchester Cathedral which must have been quite an experience.
I knew he would sing Our House at some point and he told the story of how the song came to be written. It is possibly his most successful song of all. That was the end, but we knew there would be an encore. The house lights came on and all three of them sang Buddy Holly’s Everyday. As you know Buddy Holly also came from Lubbock, Texas. The final song of the whole evening was the classic Teach Your Children. That brought an end to a most enjoyable evening.
I downed a quick pint in the pub opposite the railway station before catching the 10.22 train home and got back to Westbury before closing time in my local pub and that was the end of that.



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