Review: Billy the Kid, The Birdcage

Kate Bush at the Hammersmith Odeon? Well I didn’t have a grand spare and, besides, for the princely sum of £6.75 there was an intriguing triple bill at Bristol’s own Birdcage, opening with Mary Spender. Boasting a deep sultry voice that encompasses both an Atlantic soul vibe and an Island soprano – often within the same song – she played a brief but tidy set. A gifted song writer, Restaurant Window sounded fully formed despite being less than a week old, and fitted in well with a set that had plenty of well crafted variety. She’s a fine musician too; great acoustic picking complimented by some bluesy solos and using live loops to supplement the tunes. Melancholy Parade apparently started life in a previous metal band, which explains why it sounded like Sandy Denny singing a tune with lyrics from Dave Mustaine. Seek it out on YouTube, you’ll see what I mean and find yourself a brand new earworm.

Rebecca Clements had a different vibe, switching between piano and electric guitar (set to spook, a la Chris Isaak); her tunes had a melancholic vibe, but were somewhat slippery – not the kind of tunes that hit immediately but certainly sound like growers. Chokehold was the stand out song, intriguing lyrics and heartfelt.

Storming the stage with Ain’t Dead Yet, Billy the Kid was showing her punk roots early: the song having an urgency that got feet tapping and suggested it would sound like a monster when played by a band (and this only its third outing). The set list draws from her back catalogue, with old favourites as well as new material – Lord Let Me standing out, an excellent new tune describing how her grandparents met and fell in love across the sectarian divide in Northern Ireland. Billy Bragg cover To Have and to Have Not slotted in with the originals beautifully, a precursor to a support slot on the writer’s US tour. Swapping her purloined guitar (shhh, found in the bowels of the Birdcage and borrowed for the gig) for piano was a rare treat for her, as apparently they’re somewhat cumbersome to manage when you tour by train.

Having already complimented the venue as “the coolest living room in the world” at the halfway point Billy suggested it would be a lot more fun if everyone actually came to stage front, which resulted in the shuffling of a variety of leather armchairs and stools as the audience moved the venue’s furniture on mass to the lip of the stage. This did make the gig way more inclusive but you have to wonder why people didn’t move forward and stand up…nonetheless a great set that one felt should have been twice the length.

Oh and bonus points for anyone who can link her excellent cover of Sixteen Tons to the Clash.