I had a real treat the other night, Arthur Brown "in concert" in a small cafe in Soho, London. It was like having Arthur playing in my font room!
The evening consisted of a few songs and a couple of stories with Nick Pynn accompanying as usual.
The show opened with "The Voice of Love" the title track from Arthur's forthcoming album. An excellent ballad which bodes very well for the album.
Next came a reading of "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe. Arthur put all the emotion that he puts into his singing into the reading so we had some whispers and some screeches and a lot of fun.
The first half closed with an old song that Arthur often covers, "Please don't let me be misunderstood".
During the break were able to have a chat with Arthur and Nick, again in a very informal atmosphere. For some reason, the venue which seats about 50 people seems to have printed several hundred flyers for the event and Arthur signed, and doodled, one for my mate.
The second half opened with another story, this time it was the true story of Arthur's arrest for obscenity (appearing on stage nude) in Italy in the '60s. By the sound of things he should not be going back there! The next song was "Gypsies" and the closer was, no surprise here, "I'll put a spell on you".
All during this event the cafe was operating as usual with people who just wanted to eat and drink coming and going throughout. There was a small birthday party on one of the tables at the back and so we all sang "Happy Birthday" at one point.
So, overall bit of a strange night but a hugely enjoyable one!
The evening consisted of a few songs and a couple of stories with Nick Pynn accompanying as usual.
The show opened with "The Voice of Love" the title track from Arthur's forthcoming album. An excellent ballad which bodes very well for the album.Next came a reading of "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe. Arthur put all the emotion that he puts into his singing into the reading so we had some whispers and some screeches and a lot of fun.
The first half closed with an old song that Arthur often covers, "Please don't let me be misunderstood".
During the break were able to have a chat with Arthur and Nick, again in a very informal atmosphere. For some reason, the venue which seats about 50 people seems to have printed several hundred flyers for the event and Arthur signed, and doodled, one for my mate.
The second half opened with another story, this time it was the true story of Arthur's arrest for obscenity (appearing on stage nude) in Italy in the '60s. By the sound of things he should not be going back there! The next song was "Gypsies" and the closer was, no surprise here, "I'll put a spell on you".
All during this event the cafe was operating as usual with people who just wanted to eat and drink coming and going throughout. There was a small birthday party on one of the tables at the back and so we all sang "Happy Birthday" at one point.
So, overall bit of a strange night but a hugely enjoyable one!
A very good synopsis of the gig. Wish I could have been there. I would have been there but I live in the states. Can't wait to get his new album. Ralph Anderson.
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