Mid-century modern

Billy Bragg | Patti Smith |The Cure

Catching the last night of The Roaring Forties tour in Clapham.

I have a metaphorical rather than an actual gig-going bucket list, but one of the people who is literally on it is Billy Bragg.

Although I didn’t start buying his albums until last year, I’ve long had a ripped copy of one of his greatest hits albums that I borrowed from a local library. Further back than that I was certainly aware of the singles from his 1991 album Don’t Try This at Home, but for no good reason I never really got into him.

Having always had designs on far more records than I could even afford, an obviously limiting factor in a pre-streaming, pre-YouTube age, I inevitably missed out on some gems that I’ve been catching up on ever since.

And, as The Roaring Forties compilation and accompanying tour prove, Billy’s certainly got plenty of gems.

Many of these were showcased and put into perspective before he came on stage at The Clapham Grand last week in the short film 40 Years in 40 Minutes that generated audience applause and singing in equal measure.

The gig was my last for 2023 and another that I mostly stayed right down the front for, until the heat in the venue and from my big winter coat saw me retreat to the bar for some water.

It was a stripped down performance that opened with just Billy and his guitar, before switching up and down between solo renditions and versions bolstered by bandmates on guitar/pedal steel, keys and trumpet.

All along there was plenty of chatting – or perhaps ranting - to the audience, and he certainly knows his crowd. In addition to pokes at Morrissey, jokes about Paul Weller and Boy George, and a gentle admonishment for anyone who still thinks piles of N.M.E.s make you cool, there were also some timely reminders of the ghastliness of right-wing politicians, anti-vaxxers and transphobes.

Self-effacing about his singing and guitar playing abilities, he can also hold the audience in the palm of his hand (as I'm sure he well knows), and certainly doesn't lose us during any of his lengthy digressions.

There was also the biggest age range I've seen at a gig in a long time, from those not much younger than my elderly parents to 20-somethings down the front and many points between, and all delighted to be there.

Songs from Don’t Try This at Home went down the best, with the audience happy to supply many of the vocal lines Billy leaves for us and even a few harmonies.

But it was the encore, where he played his 16-mintue debut album Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy in full, that inspired the most full-throated sing-along.

He played both of my favourite songs. ‘Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key’ and ‘A New England', complete with the extra verse from Kirstie MacColl’s hit version. I’ve included videos of both in this issue of Fire Red Sky exclusively for you (assuming I’ve set the YouTube permissions correctly), just as I did with recent issues on Dinosaur Jr and UltraBomb’s Hüsker Dü covers. I know ‘A New England’ is a bit ropey, as I way by the bar at that point, but I like it for the audience reaction.

However, as good as those were - and they were great - other songs were even more memorable. There was the exceptionally poignant ‘I Will Be Your Shield’ from 2021’s The Million Things That Never Happened that I heard for the first time that evening. And then, walking away from my train station on the way home, it was ‘All You Fascists Bound to Lose’ and ‘Waiting for the Great Leap Forward’ that were playing in my head on repeat.

So, a definite tick off the gig-going bucket list. But much like visits to see Patti Smith and The Cure in recent years, I now want to see him again, though perhaps at a folk festival with a good range of real ale.

Next Tuesday on Fire Red Sky I’ll take the inevitable plunge into trying to narrow down my favourite records of the year and then I’ll be taking a break until the New Year.

Who’s at the top of your gig-going bucket list? I’ve love to know. Put them in the comments below.