Nick Harper. Photo: Simon Foster
Live Review: Nick Harper
The Fleece & Firkin, Bristol
Thursday 28th February 2008
by Meg Rowell
Nick Harper made his musical debut in 1985, performing on his father Roy Harper's Whatever Happened To Jugula? album. He's since gone on to record six solo studio albums, has worked with Squeeze, Glenn Tilbrook and The Levellers and, last year, released a long-awaited live DVD entitled Love Is Music.
The first thing to say about tonight's show at Bristol's Fleece & Firkin is that poor Nick Harper is not well. Suffering from some type of flu, he spends a large part of the show sipping honey and lemon and medicating himself with throat sweets. The audience turn-out isn't the greatest either but then, playing a show the day before most people's pay-day is always a risky business.
The Fleece is a beautiful old venue that has somehow managed to escape the curse of 'cool' modernisation. Its modest grace suits the tone of tonight's show perfectly and it's not long before the crowd has moved itself down to the front for Nick's gracious, if somewhat rambling, set. He starts the night off with a version of Smithereen's There Is No Truth Up In The Mountains before declaring: 'Thought I'd start with a rubbish one, it was brilliant when I wrote it...'
There's no denying that Harper's music comes from two very distinct places; there's the folk element, of which his father was surely a big part and then there's the eighties pop influence; the Glenn Tilbrook, Crowded House school of songwriting. The difference with Harper, however, is his guitar playing. He's an incredibly skilled musician with a flamboyance and flair that can't go unnoticed. He's cocky with it, but talented none the less.
His set changes pace at an incredible rate; going from the sentimental Aeroplane to an ambitious cover of Elvis Presley's Guitar Man to the haunting Buckley-esque moans of Treasure Island's Real Life in quick succession. In between playing, he talks. And he talks a lot. Which is fine for fans who know him and who are interested in hearing what he has to say, but for a first-timer like myself, who just wants to hear the music, it begins to grate a little.
Nick reckons that this current tour has been his favourite of the last fifteen years. That's quite a claim for someone who's been in bed with flu for the last two days, and for this reason, considering he's still making the effort to come out and play, I'd recommend making the effort too.
For more details about Nick Harper, including any forthcoming UK tour dates, see his page here on Ents24.
