Entertainment
John Martyn - Wolverhampton - May 3rd
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Many years ago, when I was significantly younger (not to mention smaller) than I am now, my Dad would play John Martyn cassettes in the car. There's no doubt that my Dad has been and continues to be a massive influence on my musical tastes (as all fathers should be), but back then I didn't think I liked the music very much, couldn't understand a word of it, and was bemused by my Dad's enthusiasm for it; to me, this seemed like nothing more than a shouty incomprehensible man. It must have left an impression though as a few years ago during a flight to Barcelona, I was scrolling through the vast array of music on my iPod. As I reached the Js (and just why is it that I have so many artists beginning with J on my iPod?) I came across Solid Air. And so began my musical re-evaluation of John Martyn. He's not incomprehensible, I discovered; you just have to pay attention. And this is music that's well worth paying attention to.
Flash forward a few years to the present day, specifically Wednesday the 3rd of May 2006. My father, my uncle and I (a trio who regularly go to gigs around the Midlands area of Britain) travelled to Wolverhampton to see John Martyn perform at the Robin 2. My father had seen him perform before (and has the t-shirt to prove it), I hadn't. As a result, I didn't know quite what to expect.
The last time I visited the Robin (to see an entertaining performance by Nils Lofgren) it was being renovated. The renovations are now complete and the venue is perhaps one of the finest I've been to. The ceiling slopes down on one side of the hall, an architectural feature which I suspect enhances the acoustics significantly. It's not too big, not too small, and has a good sized, raised stage to provide the audience with a better view of their performer. Future acts at the Robin include Jeff Healey, and The Blue Oyster Cult.
The support act for the evening was a young guy called John Smith; A common name, but an uncommon talent. He was superb, arguably one of the best support acts I have ever seen. The first song he performed involved using his acoustic guitar as a percussion instrument: Drumming with his right hand, while his left played notes on the fretboard. Three fingers were used for melody, one finger provided occasional bursts of bass. Subsequent songs were performed in a slightly more traditional (albeit no less impressive) manner, with the exception of "Winter", his final song. For this, he placed the guitar on his lap and used it to provide percussion for the duration of the song. During the chorus he would hit strings to provide short bursts of other notes. The track can be heard on John's MySpace page here.
Smith has a voice and style that's clearly influenced by Martyn, but vocally he reminds me more of Ben Ottewell (Gomez) with occasional bursts of Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder - this is perhaps unsurprising given that Ottewell himself has been compared to Vedder. Impressive as Smith's vocal and musical talents are it's his charisma that makes him come across as well as he does on stage. Between songs he joked with the audience and thankfully doesn't take himself too seriously. After his first song he commented on how nice it was to play at a venue where the crowd were visible: "We were in Milton Keynes the other night - have you seen Milton Keynes? It's like Dawn of the Dead down there!". Later in the set he burst into The Fine Young Cannibals' "She Drives Me Crazy", and enthusiastically told us how pleased he was to have figured it out. He conveys an enthusiasm and warmth that's refreshing in a young artist, particularly one as talented as Smith clearly is. Following his set I rushed over to the merchandise stall to grab a copy of his CD, and got the opportunity to tell him how good I thought his performance had been. He seems like a nice guy in person, and I hope to see him on stage again soon. He's supporting Robert Cray in a few days; now there's a line-up…
And so to the main act: The last time I saw John Martyn was in the BBC documentary Johnny Too Bad. This was filmed a few months before and after what must have been a life changing operation: due to an infected cyst, John's right leg was amputated below the knee. During the documentary, John looked surprisingly well for a man who's been as unwell as he has. At every gig, moments before the artist you are about to see appears on stage, you construct a mental image of them. The mental image I had was of the John Martyn in the BBC documentary; these days the reality is shockingly different. In the years since the BBC documentary, he's gained a massive amount of weight. He was helped onto the stage, lowered himself into a chair that only moments before had been cautiously tested to ensure it would take his weight, and an assistant handed him his guitar. I was initially shocked; this man was so different to the image in my head, how could he possibly sound like the John Martyn I knew? Was he still the good-natured man the BBC had portrayed him as being?
In a word: Yes. Within moments of appearing on stage, as the audience applauded and he carefully made his way to his chair, John Martyn flicked his hand at the audience in a camp "ooh, stop!" gesture which set the tone for the duration of the performance. He was joined on stage by Alan Thompson on bass, Spencer Cozens on keyboard, and Arran Ahmun (or as I misheard "Aaron Baboom") on drums. Every member of the band came across as a talented musician in their own right, particularly Thompson on bass.
Martyn and band opened the set with "CoolTide": An odd choice, and in comparison with the rest of the set one that didn't really have much of an impact. It was undoubtedly good, but coming so soon after the unease and shock of his appearance, it struggled to make a significant impact on me.
When "CoolTide" finished, John started to chat with the audience. It soon became apparent that the guy in the BBC documentary was still around. He joked - both with the band and the audience, he laughed at himself and the other members of the band, bursting into "Happy Birthday" when he announced it was Thompson's birthday, and at one point insisting that, between them, Thompson and Cozens simulated the sound of fireworks while he played the part of the cooing spectator. Banter was plentiful, and like his support act Martyn doesn't take himself too seriously (he was reduced to fits of giggles during a drum solo). Just as with his singing, you have to concentrate when he talks; often there are virtually no gaps between words and your brain has to slow things down a bit. I didn't have too much trouble understanding him, but I overheard several members of the audience remark at how difficult he was to understand. I suspect a few years of trying to make sense of The Fall's Mark E. Smith helps.
At this stage, I should point out that I might not recall every track that John played. I'm reasonably certain he followed "CoolTide" with a brilliant rendition of "Couldn't Love You More". I know he played "Glorious Fool" - a song which is just as relevant today as it was during Ronald Reagan's presidency, when Martyn wrote it, and followed that with Ben Harper's "Excuse Me Mister". The problem is this: I discovered that a strange thing happens when John Martyn plays. For large parts of the performance I found myself to be completely absorbed, unaware of the people around me, or of the venue I was in. And no, I hadn't smoked anything - the performance was just that good.
When John Martyn plays, the age, weight, and weariness fall away. I've heard the cliche "it takes years off him" applied to many performers, but John Martyn is the first person I've actually seen that embodies it. He's magnificent, whether performing glorious (yet somehow understated) guitar solos, or plucking away unconventionally during "Big Muff" (one of many high points).
After performing several songs on the electric guitar, Martyn switched to acoustic. "Oh, how very folky!" he exclaimed, shrugging his bulk into the guitar strap that his assistant had placed over his head. With the shift to the acoustic guitar, his voice became more subdued, yet retained the trademark John Martyn growl. He performed older tracks like "Don't Want To Know", and "Solid Air" (something I've always wanted to see live: that's another one off the list), "Sunshine's Better", and "Rock Salt and Nails". His performance was even more impressive during this part of the set.
I'm told he doesn't perform "May You Never" any more; apparently he's sick of playing it. It's a privilege then to have heard him sing it here. It's a beautiful song, and the audience agreed; it seemed that the whole room sang, which on other occasions I might find tacky but which felt quite moving here.
As the evening came to a close the electric guitar returned, and we were treated to one of the most astonishing live performances I have ever seen. Earlier in the evening, when Martyn commented on the heat (something he did many times throughout the set; he was dripping with sweat when he finished) someone shouted "Too hot for John Wayne?" - "He might make an appearance later" he replied. And what an appearance! I would ask any John Martyn fan to try to imagine the impact of a full-on performance of this song, but I doubt your imagination could come close - to actually see this unfold before me was genuinely breathtaking. The riff, the growling vocal, the power present in this performance was mesmerizing.
I felt certain that "John Wayne" would be the last track of the night; how could he possibly better it? His assistant returned and removed the guitar, leaving John looking strangely vulnerable without it. As the band played a gentle backing track, John used his most powerful instrument, that voice, to sing a heartbreakingly beautiful version of "Never Let Me Go". He seemed to be imploring the audience to remember him fondly, and yet almost seemed apologetic in some way. Once done he was helped off the stage to a roar of applause. I didn't expect an encore, and didn't get one - it's clearly an enormous amount of effort for him to move around.
John Martyn is a unique talent: Massively influential, wonderful to watch on stage, an incredible guitarist and with a voice that transforms both sentences and songs into fantastic bursts of sound. This is music that is worth paying attention to - I just hope I get the chance to pay attention again.
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