In fact, the performance is as much stand up as it is pure music. It seems appropriate then that he opens the show tonight with that hit single – Otway’s self-deprecating humour to the fore. A succession of flops in fact, a complete failure to impress upon the charts that lasted for decades – hence Otway’s ‘greatest failure’ tagline, which has formed the basis of his shows ever since. Otway’s childhood dreams of pop superstardom looked to be on the cards. Otway writhed, tumbled and inadvertently trod on Wild Willy Barrett’s fuzzbox before sealing the deal with a failed jump onto the guitarist’s amp, effectively writing off the equipment, the performance, and Otway’s plumbs in the process.Ī hit single, Really Free followed. Whilst technically the support, if you’re planning on attending this tour, get there early since Otway is brilliant and in truth this show is as close to being a double A side as you can get without it actually being billed as a joint headliner.įor anyone unfamiliar with the work of John Otway, a promising rock/folk/punk career was launched off the back of a classic appearance on the BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test in 1977. For this spring tour, he is joined by self-styled ‘Rock & Roll’s Greatest Failure’, John Otway. So, roll forward a decade, and Wilko is still out delighting audiences with his Thames Delta R&B. For me, it’s meant that the one person I thought I’d never get on the end of my lens has ended up gracing it more than anyone else – and I couldn’t be happier about it. It’s an amazing tale, one told through the lens of Julien Temple in his life-affirming and deeply moving film, The Ecstasy Of Wilko Johnson. Wilko emerged, free of his pancreas, spleen and a few hundred yards of intestine but more importantly, free of his cancer. In fact, he defied medical expectations playing and recording through the whole of 2013, and in the summer of 2014, he underwent pioneering surgery at Addenbrookes in Cambridge. Well, that was the thinking, but Wilko had other ideas. Not knowing whether I’d be any good at it wasn’t a reason not to give it a try, and whilst obviously, I sadly figured I’d never attain photos of Wilko, I sure as hell was going to try and snap anything else that moved. It gave me a calling to have a go at documenting live music. The dawn of realisation struck that I didn’t have any permanent record of the many Wilko shows I’d enjoyed over the years and that perhaps I ought not to be taking this stuff for granted. Canvey Island’s finest export announced in early 2013 that he was dying of pancreatic cancer, and only had ten months to live. If it weren’t for Wilko Johnson, I wouldn’t be photographing gigs. Simon Reed heads to the south coast and the Victorian splendour of the New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth to soak up the fun. Wilko's new autobiography, Don't You Leave Me Here, is available now, as is his curated Chess artist compilation album, Wilko Johnson Presents: The First Time I Met The Blues.Wilko Johnson and John Otway finally embark on the first of a set of dates delayed by two years courtesy of Covid. Living with the idea that your life is about to come to an end, it forces into you what's important, and what's not." But I hope it's changed me for the better. That whole year, it's like a strange dream. It's almost impossible to take in, the idea that I'm still alive. I don't think people come to see me to hear any marvellous musical innovations." You and I are gonna live forever… The only time I pick my guitar up is when I walk onstage. "If you put a determined expression on and play loud, people are convinced. I can play three chords, and 12 bars, and back that whole thing up with a bit of machine gun. It can be explained in five minutes, and it's served me all this time. So that's a shame." I'm easy like Sunday morning… And she gave this thing away to some scrap collectors, right? Well, what could I say? She did this quite innocently. But then this bird come along and she was clearing out my house. It was stuck in the back somewhere, for ages. "I kept my HH combo amplifier that I used in Dr Feelgood. The only time I pick my guitar up is when I walk onstage If you put a determined expression on and play loud, people are convinced. Call me old-fashioned." I can't stand losing you… To me, everything about that style of music is the right way to do it. Here I am now - I'm an old man, and I still dig it. I thought, 'I will always dig this music.' And I was right. "When I first heard stuff by Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, it was just so exciting and mysterious. As I was learning to play in the mid-60s, if you ever saw a disc with the Chess label, you'd get excited, because you knew there was some great music on there. "The songs on The First Time I Met The Blues were so important to my development as a guitarist.
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