AFSAD – Live
01.21
February 2011 sees the first official live tour under the AFSAD banner. Jon’s Remnant Kings, including fellow Bellowhead multi-instrumentalists Sam Sweeney and Paul Sartin plus concertina virtuoso Rob Harbron and double bass maestro Rick Foot have been busy honing their lo-fi sound. They’ll incorporate anything from glass harmonicas to wax cylinder players (Eric and Edith) to bring to life the vision of Songs From The Floodplain. As most will already know, part of that vision is the idea that in a regressed future, folk song and folk custom will come to have greater significance as technological distractions become rarer or die out altogether. So naturally enough the Remnant Kings will be presenting a selection of traditional songs drawn from Jon’s wider repertoire as featured here, but within a framework of post-apocolyptic vision of his album.
As a special bonus, at selected venues on the tour the band will be leading an after-show singing session. A different song will be recorded each night (with participation from the audience) and will be streamed the following day on these very pages. So here’s a chance for you all to join in. Even those of you who aren’t confident enough to sing out solo can surely muster a hearty chorus or two, safe in the knowledge that those with stronger voices will doubtless carry the tune. Besides this really is one of those rare occasions where the taking part is all that matters. With a reasonable prevailing wind we hope to offer them as bonus podcasts too.
I’ll be at the London show for sure and am currently considering my options for one or two others. I’d be very interested to hear from any of you who are going as it might be a chance to meet up, should any of you wish it.
We’ll be posting each of the Live tracks on this page as they’re recorded so check back regularly to stay updated.
- Fri 28th Jan – The Apex, Bury St Edmunds – 01284 758000 (with Fay Hield Trio)
- Thu 10th Feb – London, Kings Place – 020 7 520 1490
Hanging Johnny (Live at Kings Place)
[audio:http://www.afolksongaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/hanging-johnny.mp3|titles=Hanging Johnny] - Fri 11th Feb – Cheltenham Folk Festival – 0844 576 2210
Butter And Cheese And All (Live at Cheltenham Folk Festival)
[audio:http://www.afolksongaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Butter-And-Cheese-And-All-Live-at-C.mp3|titles=Butter And Cheese And All] - Sat 12th Feb – Bridgwater, Arts Centre – 01278 422700
Don’t Go Out Tonight Dear Father (Live at Bridgwater Arts Centre)
[audio:http://www.afolksongaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/dont-go-out-tonight.mp3|titles=Don’t Go Out Tonight Dear Father] - Sun 13th Feb – Shrewsbury, The Hive – 01743 234 970
Young Banker (Live at The Hive)
[audio:http://www.afolksongaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Young-Banker.mp3|titles=Young Banker] - Mon 14th Feb – Oxford, O’Reilly Theatre, Keble College – Buy Tickets
Cupid’s Garden (Live at The O’Reilly Theatre)
[audio:http://www.afolksongaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/20110214_cupids_garden.mp3|titles=Cupid’s Garden] - Tue 15th Feb – Farnham, Maltings – 01252 745 444
Donkey Riding (Live at Farnham Maltings)
[audio:http://www.afolksongaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/20110215_donkey_riding.mp3|titles=20110215_donkey_riding] - Wed 16th Feb – Reading, South St Arts Centre – 0118 960 6060
I Sowed The Seeds Of Love (Live at South St. Arts Centre)
[audio:http://www.afolksongaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/20110216_seeds_of_love.mp3|titles=20110216_seeds_of_love] - Thu 17th Feb – Pontardawe, Arts Centre – 01792 863 722
Over The Hills And Far Away (Live at Pontardawe Arts Centre)
[audio:http://www.afolksongaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Over-the-Hills-and-Far-Away.mp3|titles=Over the Hills and Far Away] - Fri 18th Feb – Cockermouth, Kirkgate Arts – 01900 826 448
Bird In The Bush (Live at Kirkgate Arts, Cockermouth)
[audio:http://www.afolksongaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Bird-In-The-Bush.mp3|titles=Bird In The Bush] - Sat 19th Feb – Hereford, The Courtyard – 01432 340 555
Grey Funnel Line (Live at The Courtyard, Hereford)
[audio:http://www.afolksongaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Grey-Funnel-Line.mp3|titles=Grey Funnel Line] - Sun 20th Feb – Nottingham, Glee Club – 0871 472 0400
Yay! I shall be at the London and Oxford shows. If the shows are even half as good as the one they put on at Nettlebed last year, I’m in for a treat.
Please come to Lancaster Jon
I’m coming to Oxford! My other half got us tickets for my birthday, which was splendid of him. Particularly as we actually live in Manchester…
Unfortunately my voice is hopelessly unable to produce any sort of tune whatsoever. It’s properly, laughably awful to the point where people think I’m being terrible deliberately for comic effect.
Maybe I’ll just participate in a very hushed whisper and hope nobody notices…
I also live in Manchester, but will be at the Cheltenham gig (on my birthday too Joanne!) Hoping we’ll get the chance to have a jolly good sing.
We’ll be at the London gig I should think. I sing and Bloke mutters. Hello Piers! {waves}
Oooh oooh do Bury.
Me and my mate are in the process of forming a guitar/voice/melodeon due and I could do with the practise!
I wish you were coming to Edinburgh
I may be able to arrange a visit to my daughter in Nottingham on the appropriate weekend – does that date involve a singing session?
Hmm… so much for the home of folk music relocating to Sheffield. Not a single date in Yorkshire!
Ouch! Shrewsbury sold out!!!
My Wife Jane and I will be at the Kings Place, London, concert on February 10th. I am slowly converting Her Ladyship to the folk scene!
I was also from Manchester originally, I will be going to the Toronto Ontario show, whenever it appears on the tour date listing. I have LOTS of friends over here who sing too.
JohnB.
Dunno, John, Toronto’s a fair way out. Maybe on the way back from Bury?
Heaven only knows how Jon will cope with the travel from Pontardawe up to Cockermouth and then back south to Hereford for sucessive nights! Looks as if Cockermouth is the only northern venue; are there many [AF]SADists planing to go? I may manage to get there too.
Matthew
can’t you come up to york? 🙁
can’t wait for the London gig…can hold a tune pretty well…the session sounds amazing xxx
Mezzie: if the singing at Jon and Fay’s club in Dungworth is anything to go by, the sessions will be rivalling the gigs fo fabulousness.
Hi Allison. Can I recommend Tuesday nights at The Plough and Harrow on Leytonstone High Road to you?
Just seen on Jon’s website that there will be a singing session at the Cheltenham gig – huzzah!
Glory Glory, a venue in the Southwest – so we will be up to Bridgwater
Eric and Edith actually…
I thought Eric and Ernie didn’t sound right!
The gig at Bury was wonderful. Nice not having to trek to Cambridge to see some good music 🙂
Piers,
I’m live not that far from Epping and the Central Line – I like to try different folk clubs – can you advise me re the Leytonstone High Road venue please?
There’s little more than a week to go the the Bridgwater gig and we’re looking forward to travelling back to my wife Jo’s home town from the Black Country.
We’re especially looking forward to the singing session which will give Jo a chance to perform at the Arts Centre once again. She just won’t say how long it’s been since her last performance!
However it would be nice to know what the song will be (prior notice promised on the Arts Centre Website) so that we can rehearse in the car on the way down!
Why have you missed the Musician in Leicester? Great venue and always well supported.
Please consider.
Looking forward to Jon third visit to Farnham Maltings in the company of the Remnant Kings – especially the return of Eric and Ernie!
Farnham for me too… looking forward to it 🙂
where can we find out which song is going to be the focus of the london gigs’ session?
Here’s the planned songs for the after show recordings:
10-Feb Rolling down to Rio
11-Feb Hanging Johnny
12-Feb Butter and Cheese and All
13-Feb Don’t go out tonight dear father*
14-Feb Young Banker*
15-Feb Cupid’s Garden*
16-Feb Donkey Riding
17-Feb I sowed the seeds of love*
18-Feb Over the hills and far away*
19-Feb Bird in the Bush*
20-Feb Shoals of Herring*
21-Feb Grey Funnel Line*
Looking forward to it! jx
10-Feb Rolling down to Rio – Blimey Jon, we’d better be in good voice! I’ve just found Peter Dawson and Sandra Lissenden’s versions on Amazon…
thanks Jon..that’s brilliant
This is a wonderful idea and I would join in, if the only near venue wasn’t Cockermouth, so not that near. Come North, young man!
Contrary to what some might say, I haven’t got a cockermouth and can carry a tune, when not too scaredy-cat to sing! I’d have joined in yer session… maybe another time then… I know!…what a loss to AFSAD! Hahahaha!
Hurray! Really looking forward to tomorrow – I’ll be at the London show. Just going to look up the song now… 🙂
Actually – sorry, that’s the podcast schedule, so we’ll be recording the night before – so tonight we’ll be recording hanging johnny. (We might record rolling down to rio too). J
fantastic evening last night..Kings Place is a great venue…and the Kate Bush cover was inspired and SO funky..need a copy of that….how wonderful to close the evening with a session 🙂 thanks Jon and the Kings x
Thanks for a fantastic night at King’s Place. And hundreds of folk singers in the lobby afterwards, in such good voice. Extraordinary. @John do you know Walthamstow folk club? And Waltham Abbey and Loughton?
Yeah, what a cracking night.
(BTW, John Bryson, it’s an open mic without the mic at The Plough and Harrow on Leytonstone High Road, every Tuesday night at 7.30, and a jolly good night it is too)
Thanks Piers – good meeting you. Jane is a choral person (member of two choirs) but is coming round to the folk world! More concerts like last night will convince her event more. Really enjoyable concert and post concert sing.
Any readers not yet committed to attending a date on the tour I would encourage you to get a ticket if possible – if last night’s show is the standard for the tour you won’t be disappointed.
Incidentally Piers, really enjoyed your library song
Looking forward to Bridgwater on saturday. Have you any idea what song will we be singing on the night?
Thanks, I must have scrolled down too fast
Hanging Johnny sounds fantastic. The chorus are in good voice and the list of future songs sounds very promising.
Thought the concert at The Hive Shrewsbury last night was fabulous. I could listen to Jon Boden sing all day. Loved the Remnant Kings. Classy musicians, sublime music and singing. So glad to be able to say I was there. Thanks.
I had a thoroughly enjoyable night in Oxford last night – thank you.
Wonderful gig at Keble last night 🙂 would love a download of the 4 concertina Kate Bush cover 😉 x
Oxford was brilliant – we had a great time. Amazing gig and although neither my other half or I can hold a tune (I can’t even start one, in fact) we also really enjoyed listening to the post-gig sing too. Excellent stuff!
Farnham gig was good last night. Loved all the ‘Floodplain’ stuff – it’s the 3rd time we’ve seen Jon doing Floodplain at Farnham and since the Farham Maltings is right on the water meadows/floodplain the story is totally set in Farnham in my head. Farnham’s that kind of small town (good and bad) place too…
Also liked the trad stuff, Kipling and the Kate Bush – once I got over my fit of the giggles when I realised what it was.
Singing after was generally very mellow and occasionally a bit silly (as you will have heard).
Hope to see everyone back there for Spiers and Boden in April.
Jon, Rob, Rick, Sam and Paul (not forgetting Mark on sound) – a hat-trick of superb concerts at the Maltings. So much talent, so many ideas, so much good music on one stage in one evening. The concertina quartets and string quintets were probably my highlights – and the Kipling stuff. Peter Bellamy would have loved what you are doing.
And well done getting us to sing choruses after the show in buttoned-up Surrey. Mind you, bearing in mind the county and the fact we were in Farnham we should, perhaps, have sung “Pony Riding”.
[…] AFSAD – Live […]
Loved the singalong at Pontardawe, and managed to sing “The Trees They Do Grow High” (aka “Lang a Growin’) despite being very nervous. It was an opportunity not to be missed and I am glad I did it.
Was at Hereford last night, well worth the trip down from Birmingham. I think Jon wants to emulate Bruce Springsteen – I make it 4 hours last night and would probably have been more if the venue hadn’t shut at midnight. Utterly wonderful, especially the social singing afterwards, including the floor singers. If anybody was like me and wondering about the amazing song from the floor with ‘Ottoman obscenities’, it’s The Errant Apprentice, written by Bill Watkins, there’s a mudcat link http://tao.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=1848
I do hope there’s going to be a Remnant Kings CD, either playing Jon’s songs or some of the stunning traditional arrangements from this tour.