|
I can’t help wondering what the great man himself would have thought of all the hype surrounding John Peel Day. Nights across the country featuring already established acts have taken on his name however The Exeter Hall however seems to have lined up a keen selection of as yet unearthed Oxfordshire talent more in-keeping with Peel’s spirit of discovery. There’s a first ever public performance from My Hero and a headline set from Kaned Citezan however we chose to focus on our favourite artist from the bill, Ally Craig. Ally has recorded with Tim Booth and yet at just 19, records at home and is not signed. Alongside his own material, including the powerful Lower Standards, Ally performs a few Peel favourites to mark the occasion. He opens with Shipbuilding by Robert Wyatt (Ranked no.11 in the millennium 50) and joins the likes of the Magic Numbers and Schneider TM with a yearning rendition of The Smiths’ There Is A Light That Never Goes Out. (No. 1 in the 1982 Festive 50) “Its amazing what you can learn from the BBC website he smiles – oh how right you are Ally! However he soon snatches the warm glow away from us by cheekily dedicating a number to “all the boys in girls jeans and studded belts and all the ladies wearing leggings under their skirts” Ha! Oh wait a minute – that’s us. Ally’s was a promising performance and we can’t wait to hear more of his own material at Childish Things 2, The New Theatre on 20th November but will content ourselves for now with the CD, get it if you can or listen first on his website (link on the right). There are further acoustic sets from Laima Bite, Lee Davis (including an intense cover of Hey Ya) and Chris Thompson, chatty yet modest as he apologises for the wobbly stool and the long intros to his songs, apparently they were written for his band but it works for me. Plus he does a tune called Susie Out Of Range – winner! If I were to be fussy I’d say the range of musical genres on offer could have been more experimental if it were to reflect Peel’s eclectic tastes but otherwise this was an enjoyable and fitting tribute. | 
