In his own inimitable way..

Here’s my “review”

At 7.59 a crowd of people were stood in clusters around the bar at the old Joint Stock, hastily finishing their drinks, in order to gain access to the theatre upstairs to see Rich Batsford’s solo performance.

After rave reviews after his last performance there with kraut rockers Einstellung, there was an atomosphere of eager anticipation to see what the boy wonder would pull out of his gloves. We could be sure of some sublime moments from his debut album Valentine Court, and he makes no secret of being one of Brian Wilson’s biggest supporters, so you’d expect a few beach boy covers.

Photo by Pete Ashton

Sure enough we were taken on a 45 minute ride of Rich’s own beautifully expressive piano music, coupled with some previously unreleased and touchingly heartfelt songs, with vocals that lay somewhere between conciousness and meditation. Highlights for me in the first 45 mins were Rich’s own masterpiece “Namaste” (a track often played by Mixmaster Morris), the specially dedicated and synchronistically expressive “Gudonya”, and 2 wonderful new pieces dedicated to two of the women in his life, (his partner Lyndall – “its easier for her” and to one of his best friends Ali – “let go of letting go”)

After a short interval we walked back in (a little late), to a great rendition of The Beach Boy’s classic “Im waiting for the day” This was definitly Brian Wilson hour, with Rich tackling some difficult pieces i’ve never him play before with great skill and conviction. Highlights in this half for me where a beautifully sung “God Only Knows” and “Love and Mercy” from the beach boys, and from Rich’s own works, “Ralph’s trip to the Orient”, and an amazing new piece called “Naryan”.

In short (and this “review” is), Rich played a beautiful and engaging solo show, all tied up nicely with his warm humour and likeable Batsford charm. Leaving the stage to raptuourous appreciation, his encore did him proud, and left us all with a feeling of joy, and big smiles on our faces. Nice one Rich

I recorded the gig on my binaurul microphones and will be featuring the show on our next Mr Elephant Radio, so keep your ears out, or eyes on this blog.