The Boy Done Good

Thursday 4th May. Billy Bragg. What can I say about him? I've been a fan since the early 1980's when I first heard A New England on John Peel's late night show on Radio 1. During my politically-active student days I was a staunch supporter of Red Wedge, the collective fronted by Billy Bragg and I've continued to enjoy Billy's music throughout my adult life. (In fact the title of this blog is taken from a Billy Bragg album - Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy. ) I was thrilled, therefore, to hear that Billy was to play Leicester's De Montfort Hall and snapped up tickets at the earliest opportunity.

I'd expected the audience for this gig to be far older than the ones I've been to recently but it was actually a very mixed crowd - Billy is evidently still appealing to the student generation! The audience was, however, considerably more sedate than at recent gigs. Cam and me had standing tickets and managed to comfortably maintain our front of hall, centre-stage position throughout the evening. I don't think I was jostled once!

The support act was Seth Lakeman, one of last year's Mercury Music Prize nominees. Seth plays his own unique brand of indie-folk and performed a passionate and energetic set. Possibly not to everyone's taste but well worth a listen if you haven't heard any of his music. As an added bonus, he's absolutely gorgeous too!

The theme of the tour was Hope Not Hate, with an anti-fascist message, targeted in particular at the British National party. In his usual style, Billy interspersed his songs with banter, jokes and a liberal sprinkling of politics, making for a fabulously entertaining evening. Although I may not agree with absolutely everything Billy says, I'm definitely with him most of the way. Billy was accompanied on keyboards by Sir Ian McLagan, formerly of The Small Faces and The Faces and there was evidently a great rapport between the two men. There were old songs, new songs and updated songs. The evening ended with two encores - the second of which was an audience sing-along to most of the tracks from Billy's first two albums. The evening was incredible value for money and I left the hall feeling uplifted and, if truth be told, slightly emotional and teary. Billy Bragg, I love you!


The Boy Done Good - Billy Bragg (Reaching To The Converted, 1999)