I must confess to being totally astounded to hear that Chris Wood was to play at one of my favourite local pubs. The Cumberland Arms is situated above the Ouseburn valley in Byker, a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne and besides offering a range of fine ales, has also boasted a plethora of activities including it's own knitting circle.
The upstairs room hosts comedy and music gigs but I admit that I never expected to see Chris Wood perform there. Nevertheless, play there he did and I was determined not to miss it. So that was my destination on Saturday evening.
I have been a fan of Wood's music for several years and have had the good fortune to see him live on a number of occasions either solo, with the Imagined Village or with some-time partner, Andy Cutting. For this gig, Wood was on his own armed with just his trusty acoustic guitar and some very fine songs.
The thing that amazes me about Chris Wood is that he always manages to make everything look so bloody easy. His in-between-song patter is humourous and engaging, his rich vocals are sublime and the sounds he conjures from just that one acoustic guitar are, to use his own words, 'absolutely gorgeous'. As he pointed out, if the guitar sounds great, he can get away with playing crap songs.
So among the 'crap' songs he played for us were 'None The Wiser', 'Hard', 'Jerusalem', 'A Whole Life Lived', 'The Sweetness Game', 'The Cottager's Reply', 'My Darling's Downsized', 'Cold Rainy Windy Night' and the chilling yet wonderful, 'Hollow Point'. Crap songs indeed! If you are familiar with them, you will know what a good set it was and if you are not, well you really should be.
To watch Wood play 'Hollow Point' at the 2011 Folk Awards, click here.
Or perhaps you prefer 'The Cottager's Reply' for which you need to click here.
After two hours, he was still finishing his set, but sadly I had to leave to catch a late night metro home. I had an early start on Sunday morning, but that is another story for another time.
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