Chris Wood at the Forge, Basingstoke
03/06/11
It is always
a good sign when a concert is sold out. I went to see Chris Wood unconvinced by
his recorded material which I found cryptic, sombre and generally
depressing. So it was quite a surprise
to see a bouncy and smiling man come into the Forge through the audience door,
guitar in hand. I took an immediate
liking to his humorous and thought provoking comments which accompanied each of
songs. He was very relaxed but totally
involved in working on his intricate finger picking on six and twelve string guitars
and voicing very personal lyrics. He
made every story he told (They’re all true, he said) in turn, touching, ironic
and so close to real life that it was a pleasure to sit back and enjoy. One
particularly stays in my mind; “One In A Million”, recounting the tale of a
fish and chips waitress dealing with a pretender whom she assumes is not “good
enough for her” and ends up throwing away the wedding ring he offers her into
the sea, thinking it is a fake one... But as the story goes, when the ring turns
up in the entrails of a fish she is cleaning, she has to succumb to his
charms...Well worth a listen. A perfect balance between traditional English
folk songs and Chris’ own nicely crafted material made for a very memorable
evening.
I can now
listen to Chris’ CDs and enjoy them ad infinitum. One last thing, his voice at times reminded
of a cross between that great American singer songwriter David Crosby and the
amazing and unforgotten Nick Drake: nothing less. Thank you, Mr. Wood, for
being in touch with the real world.
Joel Roszykiewicz