Review By Joe Taylor
Let me admit this right away, especially for you Harry Manx fans. This was my very first time seeing this man live in concert. I have wanted to see him for a few years now but never could find my opportunity. When I heard that Steve Marriner and Kevin Briet was on the bill, I knew this has to be my time to finally see his show.
Supergroup
What happens when you put Harry Manx, Kevin Briet, Steve Marriner and Clayton Doyle on the same stage? I think you just formed a Supergroup. I happened to run into Brian Blain, our trusted editor at The Toronto Blues Society. He told me he was excited to see Clayton Doyle. He came all the way in from Australia and Brian wanted to reacquaint their friendship. I knew nothing of Clayton Doyle but that recommendation was enough to get me excited about the show.
The Show
The show opened with an earthy sound that took on a soulful flight that seem to promise you a fresh destination of hope and wonder. Harry, in his dry with, similar to Tom Waits, let us know that the opening song is called- “God is gonna cut you down”. This is a Johnny Cash original from his America V CD. That was a stark contrast to the original.
He continued with his inspirational theme, and sang-“Death has no mercy”, which got the crowd laughing. The originality of this song reminded me of the inventiveness of RL Burnside.
Harry’s stories are just a ridiculous as his thematic songs. He told of how proud he was of growing a bountiful crop of zucchinis and took six of them and dropped two off in three different stranger’s vehicles just to spread love and joy in his part of the world. By the time he made it back to his car, somebody who also felt generous dropped off a big pumpkin and put it in Harry’s front seat of his car. This sounds like a pretty cool town that is in B.C.
What I found fascinating was that each musician truly was playing an emotional role that really stood out. It was like listening to a plays dialogue. Steve Marriner was conveying his part to the pain and loneliness of the song. Clayton was preaching from his side of the room seeking redemption. Kevin played Judge and jury as he uncovered the truth and laid it at your feet. Harry was the thread that bound each player and kept the story tightly woven.
Another quick dry witted Harry moment came when he was excited to discuss the legalization of weed and then forgot what he was saying. This guy should do stand-up if this music thing doesn’t take off.
Harry then pulled out a very strange guitar that I have never seen before. It had 20 strings and sounded like a sitar. I asked him after the show what kind of guitar was that? Well, it is a Mohan Veena and this thing coverts his music into a mystical blues machine that was filled with swaying smoke signals for all of us to ingest. It was quite a hypnotic experience.
The quick story behind this guitar was that Harry was in India and ending up at an artist’s home at 3am in the morning. He heard this guitar and stayed in India for the next 5 years.
The next two songs are very popular in our western world. It was Bob Dylan’s “Serve Somebody” and Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire”. The cool thing is you may not fully recognize these songs. Harry reinvents these songs so far from the original that they feel like original Harry Manx songs. His reinterpretations of these songs are so well crafted that they may make the original artists a little jealous.
My personal highlight of the show was his interpretation of Bob Marley’s “Waiting in Vain”. This song was so emotionally driven that you could feel your heart swelling up during this performance. I am sure there were a few tears shed from other members of the audience.
I was surprised to hear the band go into, “Spoonful” by Cream. It was Steve Marriner that took this on and he stirred this thing with his amazing harmonica playing until we all felt a little heady. Conrad took over the stirring and purposely spilt it onto the audiences as it flowed through Hugh’s Room. Then Kevin went into a psychedelic solo and turned that warm feeling in a full-blown fever. I wish Eric Clapton could hear this version.
As we were nearing the end, Harry brought out a colourful banjo and let us know, that banjos are easy to play but hard to listen to. More dry wit from our leader.
He played Van the Man’s version of “Crazy Love”. It was sublime as he finished this song with a deep heartfelt ending that was good to the final note. A standing ovation was needed at this moment.
A couple of times during the show he asked for requests and then played them beautifully. You have to remember that this supergroup that he assembled never played together. This was like a great Tragically Hip lyric, “No Dress Rehearsals, this is our lives”.
The final song of the evening came, and he asked for another request. Somebody shouted out, “Bring that thing”. So, they brought that out song out and the band built it right in front of us. Steve’s harp solo was so controlled and determined. Kevin brought a big piece of the emotion to the table. Conrad was digging deep to search for the hidden meanings then carried it close to his side like a fragile package. And Harry… brought his thing to Hugh’s Room.
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Harry Manx and Friends-
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