In the time PEP (pre exit polls) when we could dance with abandon and even a little naivety the dance happy girls needed to fill the hours between voting and watching the results roll in so we headed North to the O2 Islington to party with the bad boys and girl of folk. Skinny Lister.
We lost the first support act to a few G&Ts but made it in time to catch Sean McGowan. And what a little firecracker he is, a baby Billy Bragg, full to the brim with youthful outrage.
You should be listening to Sean on the night of a General Election.
But, holy crap! There is a special place in hell reserved for gig talkers. And YES that includes the support act. Skinny Lister was a support act when I first found them and now they're headlining. So on behalf of Sean McGowan - shut the fuck up!!!! Thank you.
I'll let the Eurythmics take it from here.
Skinny Lister shouldn't work.
They are a fusion of punk and folk, celtic ballads and sea shanties, held together with beer, rum and a shedload of chutzpah. But the result is quite simply a bloody good time. The roots of the music is hot wired into our psyche and so inclusive, if you didn't know the words to begin with you find yourself stamping and singing yourself hoarse by the chorus.
What do you call a man crowd surfing with a double bass?
A lunatic - possibly
But he generally answers to Michael Camino
It feels as though anything could happen at a Skinny Lister gig but regulars aboard the good ship skinny have certain standards that were well and truly met at the O2.
Crowd surfing double bass player TICK
Flagon of rum passed around the audience TICK
Posing for a photo with Lorna Thomas (for her dad) TICK
And a roof raising, foot stamping, chorus of the song that stays with you for the journey home and beyond, John Kanaka
TICK TICKETY TICK
I left the O2 with my feet aching and ears ringing. I sang John Kanaka for 3 days solid, very loudly due to the ringing ears. Skinny Lister, my friends and family Thank You.
Too rah aaaay.....Skinny Lister were amazingly fantastic. Love their energy.
ReplyDelete