July 8, 2004

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  …we interrupt this question & answer session for a newsflash from adifrentdrumr…

  
  

  

  
  

  Last night was Christmas in July for me. The long-awaited Electric Strawbs concert at the Strand Theatre in Lakewood, NJ finally arrived.

  
  

  Bernie and I were invited to a pre-show reception in the theatre’s gallery by Ray Coles, the Mayor of Lakewood, and long-time Strawbs fan, who was responsible for booking this event. I “met” Ray this spring on Witchwood, the Yahoo Strawbs-fan-group, and we have been corresponding via email since, about our shared interests in both music and historical building preservation (especially the restoration and re-birth of the Strand) It was really great to meet him in person, and also to have a nice chat pre-show with his lovely wife.

  
  

  I also enjoyed meeting Dick Greener, longtime friend of the band and webmaster of Strawbsweb, the official Strawbs website, who has been instrumental in bringing together the relatively small but fiercely loyal group of fans and keeping us advised as to all the various projects of the many fine musicians who have been involved with the Strawbs over their more than 30 year history.

  
  

  Last night’s concert was part of a brief but well-received US tour of the five musicians who were the Strawbs during the height of their US popularity during the mid-70′s. Although the band has toured with other personnel, (most recently as a three piece acoustic ensemble) and produced several fine recordings since then, they have not played together in this configuration in nearly 30 years. Last night’s electric show was truly a historic occasion, and from what I have heard, the best performance so far of the tour. And I will be going to see them again in Sellersville, at another historic Theatre, on Saturday night.
  

  
  

  When they return to the UK at the end of next week, they will be embarking on an electric tour of the UK with yet another line-up, trading the bass, drum and keyboard player for other musicians who played with the band in different eras. Quite difficult for a casual fan to keep track of (you should see the band “family tree” on the website — it’s impressive!) but since this is my favorite band of all time, I like to keep up on the comings and goings and various collaborations. The wonderful thing is, every time a different person has joined the mix, new influences have been added to the music. So over the years it has grown and evolved, and become more rich and complex. Just like a fine wine, improving with age…

  
  

  Which brings me to what follows here — my initial response to the show, posted on the Witchwood message board right after I came home last night. I will add a few (parenthetical notes) to clarify here and there, since this was posted on a Strawbs forum last night, and I am reprinting it here to a more general audience…

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  just back from the Strand, still not back on the ground…
  
  Just came home from seeing our boys at the beautiful, historic,
  acoustically wonderful Strand theatre. I can’t really get my
  thoughts into words quite yet, my feet still are not on the ground
  and my head is somewhere up in the clouds…
  
  Please forgive me for the long rambling post that follows, but I
  can’t help myself.
  
  What a show. These guys and this music are truly like fine wine,
  only getting better with age. The choice of songs not only
  encompassed music from nearly all eras and incarnations of the band,
  but also was an excellent sampler of the many moods and flavors
  which make the Strawbs so unique.
  
  Wow. just wow. I will no doubt say more about the music itself at a
  later date, but right now, just wow.
  
  Let me instead describe my expereinces surrounding the show….
  
  I had a front-row ticket, which turned out practically at (bass player) Chas
  Cronk’s feet, and was like a kid on Christmas eve all day long,
  literally bouncing around the house with anticipation. Now that the
  show is over and I am back home, I will probably be bouncing around
  the ceiling for at least a few more hours. Then on Saturday I will
  be heading up to Sellersville for another dose of this unbridled
  joy. So glad I was able to arrange to go to both shows, because
  music this big, this intense, and this good, needs at least two days
  to be fully appreciated.
  
  After the show, I said a quick hello to Mike the guitar guy (the band’s guitar tech, and fellow witchwood member) at the
  edge of the stage, and then braved the crowd in the gallery room to
  meet the band and get my poster signed. I printed out a nice 8 X 10
  of the “then and now” poster to take along for this purpose, and
  although I am frightfully nervous in crowds (and getting worse with
  age) I was a woman on a mission. I usually am too shy to do this
  sort of thing, and tend to become a blithering idiot and forget the
  English language if I finally do come into contact with people I
  admire this much, but like I said, on a mission… Beside that, for
  the past 30 or so years I have really, really, wanted to thank (frontman, lyricist, songwriter, rhythm guitarist — the heart and soul of the band) Dave
  Cousins for all his beautiful words and music, and the inspiration
  they have provided me in my life. And, of course, to meet some of
  the other band members who have each contributed so much to the
  magic.
  
  I approached the table where the band was seated from Rod’s (drummer Rod Coombes) end (the
  kinship of drummers, I guess), and we had a very nice, albeit brief,
  chat while he passed my poster down the line for everyone to sign.
  He seemed truly amazed and a bit humbled at the response to these
  shows, and said he didn’t realize there was “so much love out
  there”. I certainly hope that this positive response will influence
  all of them to come back out and do this electric thing again very
  soon. Not that I don’t look forward to the acoustic shows, it is
  just so good to have the electric line up again, I hope it isn’t
  another 25 years, as Dave C promised us at the end of the show…
  
  My husband snapped some pictures after the show with my digicam,
  which he is not familiar with, but they came out okay. I will post
  some of them as soon as possible. We were not allowed to photograph
  during the show, but I did give it my best try, hoping to get a nice
  shot for (webmaster Dick Greener) Dick to use on the website from my excellent vantage point.
  Sadly, an usher came along and made me put the camera away before I
  could shoot a single frame.
  
  After I got my poster signed I decided to stick around a little
  longer and see if I could get a word with anyone else, and finally I
  slipped along the back of the table (with permission of course) to
  finally deliver my long anticipated “thank you” to Mr. Cousins. To
  which he replied with a kiss on the cheek — which my husband caught
  on camera, too.
  
  I am a happy happy happy Strawbs fan tonight.
  
  A big thanks to Ray Coles for his part in bringing them to the
  Strand. A big thank you to Dick Greener, who I also had the pleasure
  of meeting tonight, for all of the stuff he does to keep us informed
  on all the latest goings-on, and for maintaining such a superlative
  website. A big thanks to Mike the guitar guy for keeping the
  instruments healthy and the band happy.
  
  And a big, big thanks to (left to right) (on stage that is) John (Hawken- keyboards), Chas (Cronk- bass, vocals), Rod (Coombes- drummer extraordinaire), Dave (Cousins- vocals, guitar, dulcimer, storyteller) and
  Dave (Lambert- lead guitar, vocals and 3,000 watt smiles)  for making the music magic and the magic happen.
  
  Hopefully at the Sellersville show I will be able to get my courage
  up to brave the crowds and maybe get a few words with the band
  members I was not able to get through to tonight. I really hate to
  be a bother, and it must be tough to have so many people clamoring
  for your attention after playing your heart out on stage for a few
  hours. But maybe I can slip through if I put my mind to it.
  
  And Chas (bassist Cronk, also a witchwood member, who recently rejoined the band on a more permanent full-time basis), if you happen to stroll through the Witchwood at any time
  soon and see this message… I really enjoyed the evening I spent at
  your feet. I shall never forget it. Great to see you back

  
  

  

  
  

  “then and now”

  
  

  the cover of their classic 1974 album “Hero and Heroine” superimposed with a photo of the band today 

  
  

  this is the poster I had signed last night for a space of honour on my wall

  
  

  

  
  

  
   

  • 2:19 pm
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