This is Dan Stuart's latest travelling musical variety show, but rather than having long gaps between the acts, it pretty much flows from start to finish with the odd short gap while musicians find their way on or off stage.
The tour is to promote Dan's new album Marlowe's Revenge that was recorded in Mexico with the Twin Tones and he comes on stage to welcome us all to the Islington and to introduce the first of his Companeros, the Argentinian singer/songwriter Fernando Viciconte who is back on tour after several years off sick, during which time he worked as an accountant(!) Some of you may know him from his work with Richmond Fontaine or The Delines.
He started his set by saying the first song was either called Leave The Radio On or else it came from the album of that name, but either way it was a cool, bruised song with some good picking on it. Fernando's voice reminded me a bit of James Carr although he's not as lonesome. He followed that with (I think) The Dogs, also from the new album and he had the whole room hanging on every word and note.
Sorry To Let You Go really brought the soulful edge out of his vocals as he said adios to another partner. It was rueful and at the same time acknowledged it was time to move on again.
He gave a long intro to a song about his Argentinian heritage and told us a little of why his family left in the 70's before singing the song in Spanish. We then got taken to the ghetto Known as Los Angeles for a song that was a cool look at that most odd and at times broken of cities before he sang a song I have down as Kingdom Come but it certainly wasn't the Tom Verlaine song of that name.
He finished with a cover of a song I put down as Theatre of Dreams but is obviously called something else. Hell, it was a cool closing number to a very nice short set whatever its real title.
Dan than came back on stage to introduce Tom Heyman who opened with Alright and it certainly was, even if the crowd was a little bit noisier than they had been for Fernando. Tom was unfazed, however. He delivers good, grizzled vocals that really put me in mind of Bob Frank.
Still Believe Me continued that dark feeling with some really nicely played guitar before he sang about being On The Road as a teenager hitching across the USA. It was a song full of adventure and the dangers of the road. Deliver Me had some very cool and at times disturbing lyrics that seemed to help make the crowd go quiet again.
He then dedicated Gypsy Queen to Bucketful Of Brains and Nick West as he learnt the song from a flexi disc on the magazine's cover and it was a lovely plaintive version of that old song which then led into a song about Black Moons, Pink Hearts and White Crosses and that was the highlight of his set - a great song.
He closed with a great version of Phil Ochs I Ain't Marching Anymore with some slightly updated lyrics and it had most of the audience singing along with him. Cool set and then some.
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Then Dan Stuart joined Tom on stage and opened with Over My Shoulder. Very cool it was too with Dan playing it nice and slow as he started to work his magic on us like he must have done with The Whores Above. That one seems to be about where he's been living in Mexico.
The trio did a nice slow version of Lou Reed's Vicious and that image of Dan hitting anyone with a flower and doing it every hour always makes me smile. Dan is still throwing daggers at his ex on All Over You wherein he spits the bitter words out to make us feel the pain as we all should. He repeatedly asked "Is Love the answer?" on what I think was Why I Ever Married You. The correct answer to that question would probably because she was stunning and everyone drooled over her, however.
Dan then went back to the Green On Red days for a nice laid back version of That's What Dreams are Made Of. Inevitably, it had most of us singing along to it and grinning. Not sure what the next couple of songs were as I think they were pretty new ones, but I do know they were followed by the wonderfully angry and sardonic What Are you Laughing About.
We then got a good shot of Gravity Talks and of course it does. It was then time for a good verse about Aleppo at the start of Rock & Roll Disease that spat bile at all sorts of people. Damn that's one nasty disease. But it's still you can trade it in for a Love So Rare if you are real lucky that it is.
The last song played as a duo was about Muhammed Ali's last great fight and it was a brilliantly moving song and portrayal of one of the greatest boxers of all time and his struggles against the system and his own health.
Fernando Viciconte then joined Tom and Dan mainly on backing vocals for a rousing take on Gringo Go Home: a piece of advice Dan is yet to take and let's face it with Donald looming large now would not be a good time to do just that.
Having added Sid Griffin on mandolin, it was high time they went all strolling bones on us for a nice version of Dead Flowers which didn't feature Dan strutting like Mick, more's the pity. However, he did pull off a few of Mick's favourite gurns. Time Ain't Nothing sounded as timeless as ever; featured a cool mandolin solo from Sid and had eveyone singing along. Just about a perfect end to a great night's music.
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