I caught his performance at the "Spectrum Club" in Camden, last thursday night, (performing secretly as "Crow and Alice"!) playing songs from his new cd, and older gems as well. He was joined on-stage with Paul Worwood on bass,Tim Eyles on lead guitar, and Robert Ramsay on harmonica. Great to hear the old gems, and new stuff,with a thumping version of "The June Jar","Wrecking Ball","The Inaccurate Man" and of course...the rousing "Boat Race Day".
The club was well attended, and as Simon had been banned from playing in Camden, due to a disagreement with Camden Council officials regarding postering and leafleting(!?), was good to see the venue packed out.Simon, as far I know...is the only artist to have been banned from playing Camden...Rock and Roll!
Greg from "Dreamfield"
Simon Walsh's set at the Purple Turtle was the highlight of an evening featuring some very able musicians. He engaged with the audience from the outset, inviting us to decide on his persona for the evening - we were treated to Simon as "cockney cheeky-chappy" as he introduced the first song.
In between songs, he kept the audience involved, with an endless array of anecdotes and asides. Sometimes these were quite refreshingly personal, as when he name-checked his brother the successful song-writer Jem Godfrey, and introduced one number as the song which split his band. His comment about playing with the band being like playing with the Eagles was, I felt, revealing. Being a part of a group, even so talented and successful, isn't what Simon's music is about. It's much more personal, more individual, than that. I've seen him play with the full band, and at this gig he proved that his songs are able to stand alone, with just his more-than-capable guitar playing to accompany him. The simple arrangements placed a greater emphasis on the lyrics, so well suited to Simon's distinctive voice. High points for me were the haunting 'Wrecking Ball', and the storming 'Boat Race Day'.
Simon is not precious or pretentious about himself or his music. Wit and humour flavour the deep feeling In his songs, and you know that any artiste prepared to invite his audience to shout "Wanker!" at him has to have a healthy sense of perspective.
"Intrepid"