Simon Godfrey / Tom Slatter

The Bedford, Balham, London
Sunday 29th September 2024

A wet, very wet journey to the venue means your writer was soaked through and somewhat slightly dripping when he arrived at the pre-gig curry, which thankfully went some way to relieving his accumulated angst.

Enough already, we are here for the homecoming gig of one Simon Godfrey, now a fully ensconced citizen of the US of A. More on this reprobate later. First up is steampunk malcontent Tom Slatter, a man who has cultivated a deep loathing of his followers as an unusual but effective promotional tool on his Facebook page.


TOM SLATTER

A wryly self-deprecating and humorous intro leads into a song about aliens escaping from a secret laboratory, just as you would expect. Just Tom and his acoustic, we will see if these songs have the strength to stand unadorned.

Tom’s songs are musically intricate affairs, some may even say convoluted. This is chin stroking music that keeps one’s attention. I’ve almost forgotten that I’m still damp. Almost. It turns out that Tom had a very similar journey to the gig, but unlike me was able to get home to change, the lucky bugger! 🙂

Tom Slatter

Rambling comedy banter between songs featuring poisoned feather dusters among other esoteric nonsense keep the crowd entertained. A between-song sideswipe at prog rock, followed by a song introduced as being in 7/8… haha. It wasn’t in seven anyway, (or maybe it was…it sparked a musos’ dispute at our table, that thankfully I had no part in) which is no less than we deserve. This only adds to the quirky atmosphere. Most of the audience seemed quite familiar with all this, and a relaxed atmosphere prevailed.

Looping features on Nothing You Can’t Buy, and it creates a thoughtful vibe. Tom is not all about fantasy sci-fi arcana, as the affecting lyrics of this and other numbers attest. OK, he is, mostly.

Tom’s longtime guitarist Gareth Cole makes an appearance for the last suitably portentous and rather melancholic ditty Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said adding a layer of wistfulness to proceedings. Mr Dick would have approved.

SETLIST:
Some Of The Creatures Have Broken The Locks On The Door To Lab 558
West Wind
Nothing You Can’t Buy
Mirrorworld
Wizards Of This Town
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said

MUSICIANS:
Tom Slatter – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Looping & Effects
Gareth Cole – Lead Guitar

LINKS: Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | YouTube | X | Instagram


SIMON GODFREY

After a short break, during which I discovered that my jeans had almost dried out, but my jacket was still steaming slightly, the evening’s much anticipated headliner enters stage right as we look, to a rousing reception, looking slightly sheepish. A legend in his own lunchtime, Simon Godfrey has a long musical history that few seem to be aware of, me included. But I am definitely in a minority here tonight, judging by the response of the rest of the crowd.

Starting the set accompanied only by his acoustic guitar, Simon’s songcraft is immediately apparent, with The Lake Out Of Town being a song in the storytelling tradition telling a dark tale of murder and escape. This tune is the opening track on Simon’s latest album, How I Was Defeated, a showcase for the man’s ability as a songsmith, and also the strapline for tonight’s gig. The only other song from that album tonight was Boatrace Day, as Simon drew on his humongous discography with bands and as a solo artist, covering many moods as we journey down the winding road taken by his muse over the years. Some of this may even be prog, whatever that is. He was in a band called Tinyfish, whose songs featured heavily tonight. They were actually moderately big fish in the small pond of prog, not far off 20 years ago. They were 100% prog, even, dare I say it, a bit “Genesisy” to these ears, which may be why they passed me by at the time, but tonight, without a full rhythm section or pompous keyboards, the stripped back nature of the band meant that dreaded comparison, or the heinous word “neo” never crossed my mind.

Gareth Cole, wearing the shiniest pair of DMs known to man, joins Simon for the Tearing Up The Room, as does Tim Eyles, whose time under the spotlight isn’t yet due, so he hurriedly leaves again, slightly embarrassed. “You can tell this is live” says Simon! Tim, getting his cue right this time, and Robert Ramsay on mouth organ enter the stage for the next number, the aforementioned Boatrace Day. “People often ask me ‘Is that song about your brother?’, ‘No’ I say, ‘Jem I hate you and I want you to die’ is about my bruvva!” jokes our host – it looks far worse in type, honest guv! That got a laugh! 🤣

Simon Godfrey Split frame

Leon Camfield from the Tinyfish years joins for Driving All Night, and the onstage banter between the band members, already buzzing, now steps up a gear, and is razor sharp as digs fly left, right, and centre. These guys know each other inside out, despite years apart. It’s what friendship is all about, innit? Musically, we hope the easy interaction is as unforced, and to these ears, it is. Sometimes this banter even raises its spiky head during the songs, which can detract from them being taken seriously. Mind you, it is a homecoming gig, and the band seem to be friends with a large chunk of the audience, so maybe tonight was an exception? Somehow, I think not!

Rob Ramsay, a founder member of Tinyfish, and long-time good friend of Simon’s, in character as The Young Professor introduces The Big Red Spark, a tale of machines that want to destroy the Universe. Just what you need of a Thursday evening. The main set ends with a long ‘un, All Hands Lost, from Tinyfish’s eponymous first album, released way back in 2006. Rob is again in character for this one, and it is something of a prog epic. The song is introduced after some more banter from Leon, who since getting up on stage has taken over as band comedian from our genial host. “I don’t really need to be here, do I?” says Simon. As a self-confessed Simon Godfrey neophyte, I find his songwriting style these days, where he focusses on shorter and more accessible writing is far preferable (if you’re still reading, you’d never have guessed that, would you?!), but that’s just me. His many fans in the audience lapped it up!

Simon Godfrey band

The nominal encore – no-one leaves the stage – sees Rob in full sway “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!” he quotes, camping it up, before the band launch into a rousing Motorville. The encore concludes with its second Tinyfish number, The June Jar, another singalong for those in the know. Its infectious rhythm gets everyone bouncing, and we leave happy into the thankfully now rain-free night. I was now dry.


[Photos by Roger Trenwith and Phil Lively]


MUSICIANS
Simon Godfrey – Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Gareth Cole – Lead Guitar
Tim Eyles – Acoustic Lead Guitar, Vocals
Leon Camfield – Electronic Percussion
Robert Ramsay – Narration, Vocals, Snazzy Costumes

SETLIST
The Lake Out Of Town
Sally Won’t Remember
Tearing Up The Room
Boatrace Day
Driving All Night
The Big Red Spark
All Hands Lost
~ Encore:
Motorville
The June Jar

Simon Godfrey – Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram



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