Having heard quite a bit about EILEEN ROSE on the grapevine, naturally our curiosity got the better of us, and so this W&H writer went to check out what the fuss has been about. Personally I was expecting bitter-sweet tales of love and loss, heartfelt lyrics, and sultry yet gritty vocals, possibly along the lines of Lucinda Williams. Enter the danger of high expectations.
First and foremost, as an instrumentalist, Eileen Rose’s playing is just not up to scratch. Her voice was nice enough, and she came across as a sweet and funny woman. But her guitar playing was rudimentary to say the least, and when at one point she got on the piano, she literally massacred whatever song she was performing – banging away on the keyboard like an R.E teacher during school assembly, her foot slamming on the sustain as you would on a break pedal if you were about to slam into a brick wall. You get the picture.
It was a shame, because although she had a really warm personality, there is a reason why she is a self-confessed “under the radar” singer/songwriter – and it boils down to the quality of musicianship.
After a while I lost interest because I felt that however good her songs could be - and there might well be some nice tunes dying to break out - her musical ability limited their potential. I’d like to hear what she would sound like with a backing band, but I don’t envisage anything groundbreaking.
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The main act of the evening, JOHN WOOD, was a bit of a dinosaur from an earlier age. He gave a compelling and entertaining performance, littered with wistful tales of how he “Recorded in 74, released in 75, and was forgotten by 76,” and how his new album may as well be called “As I Was Saying Before I Was Rudely Interrupted By 30 Years”. Catchy title.
His songs were entertaining, self-deprecating, and observationally wry, but still frightfully chirpy, and he kept calling everybody “darling”. At one scary moment I felt I was in the middle of some strange West End musical, especially with his shoulder-padded white dinner jacket complete with black satin sleeves.
So this is what eventually happens to those who get their 15 minutes of fame? If so, at least John Wood has retained a quirky sense of irony (well, regarding his jacket, I sincerely hope so), and a good sense of humour. No doubt he’ll do well on the cruise ship circuit.
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