Strawbs' 50th review

This past weekend in Lakewood, New Jersey, USA a couple of dozen current and former Strawbs and a host of friends came together with hundreds of fans for a very special 

celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first release by one of England's most internationally successful folk rock bands.  

The organization of the event was superb, thanks to many but especially Mr Ray Coles, the mayor of Lakewood, the product of the culmination of a long association between Coles, the band, and the beautiful historic Strand theatre.  I'm not an experienced attendee of these type of events, but many of the other fans were, and the general consensus was that this was more a labor of love than the average, without blatant cash grabs and with a VIP package that not only helped finance the event but was worth so much more than the premium paid.  

Friday night began with a crackling set from "friends", dubbed "Wesley Stace's Modern Collection of Antiques and Curios". 

These are artists who count themselves as Strawbs fans.  Fronted by congenial and witty MC Wesley Stace (also known as John Wesley Harding) 

and Eric Bazilian of the American band the Hooters, they welcomed a succession of guest vocalists performing Strawbs' songs that would otherwise not appear 

in subsequent weekend setlists (with one exception).  Of special note were the versions of "Simple Visions" in which Richard Barone made Dave Cousins's unique mannerisms 

his own, a heartfelt "Hanging in the Gallery" by David Lewis, Tammy Faye Starlite's wild and wonderful "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus", and Sophie B Hawkins' 

modernized take on "Burning for me".  Ms Hawkins' also performed her own hit "Damn I wish I was your lover" as closer.  Also of note;  Bridget St John performing 

"Sealed with a Traitor's Kiss".  At least two numbers were ones I had never seen performed live: the percussive "Here it Comes" and the rollicking "Joey and Me" sung by the keyboard player for the backing band known 

as The English UK.

Since the setlist for this part might not be easy to find on last.fm, here it is to the best of my recollection, 

not necessarily in the right order:

I only want my love to grow in you

Stormy Down

Hanging in the Gallery

Joey and Me

Simple Visions

What if God was One of Us (beautiful Eric Bazilian song which he wrote and was a huge hit for Joan Osborn in the 1990s)

Here it Comes

Man Who Called Himself Jesus

Sealed with a Traitor's Kiss

Burning for me

Damn I wish I was your lover (Sophie B Hawkins song)

The next couple of sets were by current Strawbs members Dave Bainbridge and Dave Lambert respectively.  Bainbridge was unaccompanied, though occasionally bolstered by technology,

as he performed brilliantly on lead guitar and keyboards, running the gamut from Mike Oldfield like solos to variations on a theme from Strawbs' classic "Autumn".  

The man is always smiling and his love of his craft and where he is at the moment shines through clearly.  

Lead guitarist Dave Lambert was accompanied by a backing band announced as "Fire",

the group he fronted prior to joining Strawbs in 1972. I'm not sure how many were actually from the original lineup, as he performed a mixture of Fire songs and

his better known Strawbs songs such as "Heartbreaker", "Just Love", and "The Winter and the Summer" with his ever present passion.

The finale for Friday night was Strawbs accompanied by the Terra Nova Orchestra and performing heavily symphonic versions of some of their classics as well as a surprise or two.

One of those was the opener, a rare live performance of the 10+ minute epic "Blue Angel", which for 30 years was only available on Cousins' classic 1972 solo album "Two Weeks Last Summer".

In the quieter moments the orchestra occupied the spotlight and in other passages Dave Cousins and a rather robust rock band backing were the focus.  Included here was 

keyboardist during their UK commercial peak, Blue Weaver, as well as Brian Willoughby who minded lead guitar for a quarter century for both acoustic and electric formations.

The orchestra shone most brightly on quieter tuns like the sublime "Evergreen" and the reverent "When the Spirit Moves", while Dave Cousins surprised most of us by including 

his favorite song from the 1978 "Intergalactic Touring Band" concept album, NOT the one sung by him but "Reaching Out" with Annie Haslam, which she performed as though no time had passed.

She also channeled Sandy Denny for "Who Knows where the time goes", a classic first recorded as a Strawbs member.  As an added bonus, Tony Visconti conducted the

orchestra for a David Lambert-sung version of the band's first single, "Oh How She Changed".  It preserved the potency of the original while the fresh arrangement was

a fitting birthday present.  The evening ended with the symphonic prog folk epic "The River/Down by The Sea".  Because it was orchestrated in its original version

the arrangements built to their bombastic climax in the manner to which they had not been accustomed but always deserved.  To settle us down and make sleep possible,

Strawbs wisely revived the beautiful "Here today Gone Tomorrow" originally on the "Deja Fou" album from 2004.  This completed a monumental day 1 and, with

so much more in store, we already felt we had been amply rewarded for braving the 6 hour trek scurrying across the freeways of 4 states.

Day 2 began very low key, with the gentle caress of Brian Willoughby's exquisite acoustic guitar work and his partner Cathryn Craig's understated vocals.  Brian was Dave Cousins' sidekick 

for all those lean years as Cousins and Willoughby, the esteemed master of the twiddly bits so evident on their duo albums and in concert appearances until Chas Cronk replaced him

in Acoustic Strawbs some years ago.  In the meantime, he and Craig have honed their craft and plied it in an exquisite set that included old and new tracks, among them "Alice's Song"

and the traditional "Cotton Fields".  For their efforts they were accorded a well deserved appreciative reception.  

Next up was the John Ford band.  John spent only 3 years in Strawbs, from 1970-1973, but the resulting cross fertilization remains apparent to this day.  His set included

a couple of his favourite Dave Cousins' songs, "Stormy Down" and "Witchwood", as well as a couple of Hudson-Ford tunes, "Floating in the Wind" and "Burn Baby Burn".  He interspersed 

these with selections from his prolific solo career, generally feel good numbers with substance and style, be it new number "Somewhere Down the Line", the lovely

"Kissed by the Sun" or the equally appealing "Together Apart".  Ford is a consummate showman with an easy humourous demeanour, but the question most people were asking was 

how has he managed to stay so young in appearance and voice?

Up to this point, Dave Cousins and Strawbs had only appeared in one out of 6 sets, but the remaining 4 would be all Strawbs, beginning with a brief acoustic set.

Kicked off by the raucous "Turn me Round", Cousins showed his voice still packs plenty of bite and, by example, Strawbs showed how their songs are valid both 

stripped down and overstuffed costume and every variation between.  "A Glimpse of Heaven" represented the more gentle and pastoral side, while a pitch perfect version

of "Copenhagen" laid the logical bridge to re-introducing Annie Haslam, who sang the Sandy Denny lead vocals on two of their best early songs, "On my Way" and "tell me

what you see in me".  It's easy to accept huge stylistic changes over a 50 year career spanned by Strawbs, but rather remarkable to consider that the period of 1967-1975

was one of steady progression and evolution, while retaining a singular character that is more its own genre than any random association of adjectives and qualifiers.

If I had to pick one highlight from the weekend it would be the first ever live presentation of the entire Grave New World album.  Three Strawbs who appeared on the original 

recording - Dave Cousins (dulcimer, acoustic guitar, vocals), Blue Weaver (keyboards) and John Ford (bass, vocals) were joined by Tony Fernandez (drums), 

Brian Willoughby (acoustic guitar),

Eric Bazilian (electric guitar and vocals), Wesley Stace (narration and vocals), and Cathryn Craig (backing vocals) for an emotional presentation.  Stace's

performance as narrator was reverent, Ford's solo performance of Heavy Disguise was flawless, "Tomorrow" was as bitter as "New World" but more adventurous, "The Flower

and the Young Man" was gorgeous as led by Wesley Stace, and "Ah Me Ah My" had Cousins filling in for Tony Hooper, who presaged those late 1970s Queen ditties by

a solid half decade.  But bookending the life of the wanderer were two fully electric and electrifying

performances of "Benedictus", a communion we have received all too seldom in recent years.  The first started tentatively but ended assuredly, and the second soared atop the

wake of the previous 35 minutes.  If there can only be a high def DVD of one set from the weekend, let us be blessed with a Grave New World.

During a 2 hour break we were refueled by 2 food trucks parked just outside the theatre, one of the many examples of how well we were treated by the organizers, every detail 

attended to.  Next up was an unusual set featuring Dave Cousins on vocals and Larry Fast on keys, with other members of the electric band slowly complementing the sound.  The 

objective here was to include numbers that are rarely played in concert.  The best performance of these was "Words of Wisdom", kicked off by a new preamble by Cousins 

that described a meeting with Carlos Castaneda on whom the song was based.  A close second was the version of "Heartbreaker" from the Intergalactic Touring Band album on which Larry Fast also played.

Note this piece only shares a title with with popular Dave Lambert tune off Burning for You.  Dave seemed to have some difficulty with "The Moon and Stars", my favourite

number off the Cousins and Conrad collaboration, and "Another Day without You", his favorite Heartbreak Hill song, which also suffered from lack of acoustic instrumentation.

Finally, the main event, with the current lineup occasionally fortified by past members doing a variation on the stock setlist ever since "Hero and Heroine" was named

one of the top 50 prog rock albums of all time.  Naturally the band was at its tightest here on a set dominated by that album as well as "The Ferryman's Curse".

The well deserved standing ovation accorded for "You and I when we were young" on which the original keyboardist John Hawken played was the first of a half dozen such 

bursts of appreciation.  Not surprisingly, John Ford returned to the stage to perform "Part of the Union" with Blue Weaver backing him on keys.  While Strawbs fans

are divided on this monster UK hit and it has been wielded as a weapon to justify dislike of Strawbs in other quarters, it remains a toe tapping singalong crowd pleaser.

Next up were the UN singers, a volunteer chorus of UN workers who made the trip from New York at their own expense.  They sand several of their own favourites first before 

accompanying the band on "We Have the Power" and finally "Lay Down", where even the vocally shy John Hawken emerged from the shadows to harmonize.  

It was a suitably bombastic end to a gargantuan effort.  

If one paid the small extra amount to be a VIP, one helped to finance the weekend while scoring a few free drinks, a souvenir lanyard, an exclusive lounge, better seats, and

last but not least, an

all you can eat brunch at the host hotel in Tom's River, NJ, just down the road from Lakewood.  If that wasn't enough, all the performers were there for photo ops,

signings, and informal chat.  And more performances and stories, from Dave Cousins who played "Grace Darling" (which would have been grand with the UN singers - sigh) 

and his white flag anthem "Beat the Retreat", to John Ford who reprised a subset of his act, and Blue Weaver who occupied a rare spotlight as he reminisced about his time 

with the BeeGees and how they

struck gold again and again and again, while playing a few of the numbers on the stock piano and steadfastly refusing to sing!

This weekend was the ideal forum for faithful fans and almost as many past and former band members and their friends to return the favors to each other in more than a fleeting way,

and. while I doubt anyone left the event rich or poor, I'm pretty sure most everyone was enriched in spirit.