Dean Owens and the Sinners, Traverse

 

The now-traditional pre-Xmas home gig for Dean, this time with his four piece band, the Sinners, was as rowdy as ever, and even more emotional.  This was the first time without his parents in attendance (his mother was ill), so it was a tough one for the main man

The band featured long time associate Craig Ross on guitar, Adam McMillan on upright bass, and Philip Cardwell and Charles Dearness on trumpet.  The latter formed an important element of the night, because for the first half Dean mostly offered up material from his most recetn trio of albums, all with a strong Tex-Mex feel and brass backing.  That allowed for some very different arrangements on some older material, and that freshness made the familiar feel new.

Owens took an early opportunity to get the audience involved, not just singing along, but humming and whistling too.  Cue much laughter...

The second half opened with Dean playing solo, determined to get through his own tribute to his father, The Man from Leith.  With his voice starting to crack up from the emotion this time it was the crowd's turn to help him out, as we knew the words as well as he did.  It was one of those moments only live music can provide.  Ross helped him out with his next number, and then the full band returned to provide a rockeir feel to procreedings.  The crowd involvement level remained high, and the final number, appropriately The Last Song, was belted out by every voice in the bar, even those new to Dean's work.  

One final turn of the screw.  Deam solo to sing his mother's favourite song, After the Rain.  Another notch on the emtions, another test for the audience vocal chords.  Lovely stuff.

In all this I've said nothing much about the musicianship, which was solid, Ross as impressive a guitarist as ever. And Dean's vocals, some understandable cracking aside, is still as distinctive and plaintive as ever.

But this wasn't a night that was just about the music.  The Owens pre-Xmas gig is always a special one.  More so both for the reasons above, and for this being the final Travertse gig to be put on by Soundhouse, who have done so much for live music in this city.  All the best to Douglas and Jane-Anne in the future.

England and Son, Traverse

Something a bit different, at least in terms of format. For the section before the interval Mark Thomas emerged without fanfare, sat in a chair centre stage, and chatted to the audience, as himself. He explained how he first met the writer (Ed Edwards) of the play we were about to see, and the origins of the play itself. An important element of their working relationship is that both work with addicts at a centre in Manchester, teaching them drama and giving them the means to express themselves in a more literate fashion than they might have managed previously. Thomas being Thomas, this comes complete with impressions of the people he worked with, and was hilarious. But also gave a flavour of what it's like to be a recovering addict.

The play itself follows, where Thomas plays the 'son' of the title, as well as myriad other characters as they crop up. It's an often moving portrayal of an abusive childhood, and how the lack of self-worth that engenders that can feed into addiction and repetition of the cycle. The action is set during the eighties, where the actions of the Thatcher regime resulted in mass unemployment, the growth of the black economy, and an exponential increase in drugs use.

That Thomas' character is surnamed England, in the eponymous country that was in such great social decline, seems a heavy handed way of hammering home the metaphor we're presented with. But the script largely avoids a swerve into didacticism, and generates sympathy for 'son', very much the victim. It helps greatly that Thomas is the performer, with his trademark high energy, motormouthing style, his ability to improvise interactions with the audience, and deliver laugh upon laugh, yet still wring the pathos from the character's sodden lifestyle.

Hugely entertaining, and makes it's point well. Definitely worth seein