The Mackintosh Church
Glasgow
25/01/24
One of the abiding qualities of Celtic Connections is its ability to draw to Glasgow artists to Glasgow who I’ve really liked, song-wise, but never had the opportunity to experience live. I remember being a massive fan of Seth Lakeman’s Freedom Fields, & then leaping with the same joy as when a mother discovers her only daughter is pregnant & she’s gonna be a grammy for the first time, on discovering Seth was playing at Celtic Connections. I actually had a few tears when I saw him play, so powerful was the coming together of artist & fandom that Celtic Connections creates.
So to 2024, & glancing thro’ the program one name immediately leapt out – John Martyn. But surely he’d been dead 15 years now – wait, the John Martyn project! Alright, I’m in , let’s do it, I mean, Solid Air, that is one hell of an album. Martyn’s guitar work & vocals are simpler other-worldy – this would be one for the bucket list, to experience at least some of that album live. When I’m listening to it I always feel like I’m resting by the gentle bubble of a stream on the first sunny day in May, & it’d be nice to see, hear & feel the source of those sensations.
On the birthday of Robert Burns, my journey to Glasgow began on a grey day on Arran – Goat Fell was completely cover’d in mist. Luckily I’d given myself plenty of time thro’ the day, for on arriving at the ferry terminal, I discover’d that the with the Irish berth at Ardrossan being condemn’d, & the sea swell too much for the main berth, the ferry was diverted to Gourock at the mouth of the Clyde. Cool beans! I was excited, the normal, done-it-a-hundred-times hour’s crossing was now to be a two & a half hour epic voyage across the Clyde Estuary. Bute, the Cumbraes, Largs & Dunoon all appear’d out of the mist with pleasing pastel alacrity. Then I hit landfall at Gourock & was soon on a train winging east.
Glasgow was pishing it down all day, but I guess Celtic Connections is all about bringing the soul’s musical sunshine into our lives, & I was happy to experience a damp march up Maryhill Road to the wonderful Mackintosh Church, across the road from Partick Thistle’s football ground, Fir Hill. What a superb venue for music too, a blend of grey granite & white plaster, the aesthetic was very special, & emphasis’d most sweetly the ‘Celtic Connections’ logo which was projected onto a wall before us.
Starting out 5 years ago at the Jazz Cafe in London, the John Martyn Project are going from strength to strength. The band is six strong – two phenomenal, ballet-finger’d guitarist chaps, a bass & drum combo of jovially-chuff’d chaps with beards, a chap on keyboards & a lady singer in a flowing dress. Performance wise, it was a well cheeky jamboree, like, with various combos of instruments & players unveiling before us in the wine-dark church; & everyone having a pop at, & proper pulling off, the vocals. between them they spun a delicious web of music – at times I was pure hypnotised. Some songs I knew, some songs I didn’t, but all were top class. It was interesting, also, to see the group trying out material for the very first time, including this reyt complicated prog-rock thingy which went on for ages & was reyt good, if not amazing.
With a glass of red in her hand, our lead lady singer, Blythe Pepino, was getting more & more into the gig, telling us little anecdotes from the wild world of Martyn fandom, which she’d been a part of since seeing him live when she was 17. Her tales were fun, into which, upon one occasion, she sprinkl’d a saltier, but fascinating, awareness of her idol’s, lets say, weaker aspects of humanity – apparently down to ‘abandonment issues,’ she said. Martyn sold his soul in heaven to the angels as they were falling, kinda vibe.“Let’s hope gentlemen these days get the help they needed,'”she opined, before launching into another fantastic piece of expansive audio-adulation.
“How good were that!” I said to a stranger as I left the church, when all-in-all, that was a bangin’ gig, that – one for the head & the heart, & the John Martyn Project have surely managed to catch their muses’ candybubble – & it inspir’d me to ask my old drummer if he wanted to play some blues with me next month. I’ll be on bass – & he said yeah! Music’s in the air, Spring is coming & thanks to The John Martyn Project last night, the world is a pitcher brimming with the warm south. I strongly urge anyone with an interest in Martyn, or an interest in brilliant music, to catch these guys when you can.
Damo Beeson Bullen
Mumble Music 