location: Bled / Jezerska promenada / Slovenia
date: 02.08.2018
English guitar legend and folk rock pioneer Richard Thompson first rose to fame as a founding member of the unforgettable folk rock icons Fairport Convention, with whom he helped create English folk rock in the second half of the sixties. He then went ‘solo’, first releasing a few albums with his then-wife Linda, and later building an enviable collection of solo records. Now, for the first time in his incredibly rich and eventful musical career, he has played a show in Slovenia. Richard took the stage right by Lake Bled as part of the traditional Bled festival Okarina, which is mostly dedicated to promoting world music acts.
Richard, who of course didn’t show up without his trademark black beret, was armed with both an electric and an acoustic guitar throughout the show, while the other two members of his ‘electric trio’ kept him company on stage: American bassist Taras Prodaniuk and American drummer Michael Jerome. Richard, who will release a new, long-awaited studio album called »13 Rivers« on September 14, played a colorful mix of his solo work from nearly every chapter of his solo career at Bled, along with plenty of very confident renditions of material from the upcoming record. Over the years his style has outgrown traditional folk rock, so that besides folk, some of Richard’s songs carry plenty of blues, occasional rock’n’roll, jazz and country too. In short, it’s a seriously colorful blend of musical styles. Some may have been surprised that he didn’t play a single Fairport Convention song that evening, but that rarely happens at Richard’s shows, usually only on special occasions like various anniversaries.
Richard, who mostly swears by the Fender Stratocaster when it comes to electric guitars, opened his set with three new songs, »Bones of Gilead«, »Her Love Was Meant For Me« and »The Rattle Within«, all from the upcoming solo album »13 Rivers« mentioned above. All three came across as very promising, and it looks like »13 Rivers« will be another really interesting record in Richard’s rich solo career. With the next song, »Take Care the Road You Choose«, Richard went back to the 2007 album »Sweet Warrior« and proved he’s one of those cult musicians who don’t get hung up on their mighty creative past and are well aware of the quality of their newer work too. His guitar artistry, with its distinctive technique, was a treat for the ears, while some of the solos sounded like they were beamed in from the ‘ninth galaxy’. Richard’s mostly very successful revival of old evergreens continued with an energetic take on »Can’t Win« from the album »Amnesia« (1988), which he cleverly stitched together with »Dry My Tears and Move On« from the album »Mock Tudor« (1999). The older material was mostly saved for the final stretch, by which point the initially reserved crowd, which included quite a few foreign visitors, mainly tourists, had properly warmed up.
Suddenly, Richard’s set was interrupted by a special guest, our well-known singer-songwriter Andrej Šifrer, who proudly announced with a wide grin that his friendship with Richard goes back twenty-five years. In honor of that long-lasting friendship, Šifrer played the acoustic song »Vsaj za en dan« from his album »Srce in pogum« (2014). Richard also guested on it in the studio, and this time he accompanied his friend Andrej on acoustic guitar on stage. In the end, Šifrer, who was in no hurry to leave the stage and would probably have played a few more of his own songs if Richard hadn’t been getting visibly impatient, sang one more verse of his folk-hit drinking toast »Za prijatelje«. All honor and glory to their long friendship, but Šifrer’s unexpected solo spot cut sharply across Richard’s set, both musically and atmospherically, since the two are completely different musical characters. The crowd’s reaction was accordingly pretty mixed.
Richard, whose vocal skills are almost unchanged compared to past decades, then surprised us with a performance of »Guitar Heroes«, from the album »Still« (2015), a song dedicated to some of the guitar heroes of his childhood who had a key influence on the development of his style. The song is built as a collage of different, shortened takes on evergreens by jazz and rock’n’roll guitar heroes like Django Reinhardt, Chuck Berry and Hank Marvin, who were Richard’s teenage idols.
»The Storm Won’t Come« was another new song, which you’ll soon be able to hear on »13 Rivers«, while »Put It There Pal«, which came out in 1996 on Richard’s second Grammy-nominated album, »You? Me? Us?«, was quite a surprise. After »Trying«, yet another »13 Rivers« song, Richard went back to the album »Sweet Warrior« with a passionate version of »I’ll Never Give It Up«. Then came the closing stretch of the show and time for some of Richard’s favorite masterpieces from the start of his solo path, which he kicked off with the Richard & Linda Thompson standard »Wall of Death«, released in 1982 on the commercially successful album »Shoot Out the Lights«, the last one Richard recorded with his former wife.
Richard wrapped up the regular set with the solo classic »Tear-Stained Letter«, released in 1983 on his second solo album »Hand of Kindness«. For the encore, Richard played two relatively unrepresentative songs, which was a bit of a surprise given that many people were expecting some older work from the start of his solo career, since he didn’t play a single Richard & Linda Thompson song from the seventies all evening: »Sally B« from the album »Electric« (2013) and »Take a Heart«, a cover of the lesser-known English beat/rock and roll band The Sorrows. Even though the encore picks weren’t quite what most fans were hoping for, there wasn’t a single reason for negative feelings, because Richard and his musical sidekicks thrilled us more than enough with their perfectionist versions of most of the songs, charged us up with energy, and proved that even though he’ll soon turn seventy, Richard is still in excellent form on both guitar and vocals.
Richard Thompson, who wowed us at Bled with royal performances of newer and older pieces from his rich musical treasure chest, is one of those guitar giants that every lover of good music should see at least once in their life. Not just Richard, but the other two members of his trio as well, showed off remarkable chemistry, enviable technical chops and, above all, huge heart in playing timeless music that was truly made for ‘heart and soul’. Attendance was totally fine by local standards, helped by a wave of curious foreigners. It seems the organizers made more of an effort this year than in some previous years, with a bigger stage and a smart choice of a wonderfully atmospheric spot right by Lake Bled, after some concerts at the Okarina festival were moved to less atmospheric locations in the past. Even the elder statesmen and icons of Slovenian music journalism, who were spotted in larger numbers that evening and who usually aren’t easy to please, were more or less happy with what they heard and saw.
author: Peter Podbrežnik
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
setlist:
1. Bones of Gilead
2. Her Love Was Meant for Me
3. The Rattle Within
4. Take Care the Road You Choose
5. Can’t Win
6. Dry My Tears and Move On
7. Vsaj za en dan (with Andrej Šifrer)
8. Guitar Heroes
9. The Storm Won’t Come
10. Put It There Pal
11. Trying
12. I’ll Never Give It Up
13. Wall of Death
(Richard & Linda Thompson cover)
14. Tear Stained Letter
——–encore——–
17. Sally B
18. Take a Heart
