Marcus Bonfonti Live @ The Old Bookshop, Bristol 31/1/13
Marcus Bonfonti Live @ The Old Bookshop, Bristol 31/1/13
It has to be something a bit special to entice us out onto the winter roads and a 200Km round trip (that’s 130 miles to those who haven’t embraced Europe) into the depths of Bristol and back in an evening. Well it was In our opinion rather special, this was Blues Awards winner Marcus Bonfanti on the first night of his acoustic tour. (Sadly the Worcester area has been overlooked, come on Mr Marr, Marcus is made to measure and would surely be a good draw. The venue of The Old Bookshop is a regular promoter of live music, not sure about old books, its more an olde curiosity shop, with an eclectic set of memorabilia scattered around, typewriters, box cameras and old cine projectors etc Crammed into this tiny café were 65 music lovers with only just enough space to raise a glass. Surely we can match that!
Marcus has a thick bitter chocolate with cocoa nibs, voice, coarse sand rather than gravel, he is an exceptional performer, if you missed him at Upton last year, it was definitely at your loss. To me, as a stand alone singer, accompanied only with his guitars, he is at his best, opening with 'God Only Knows', a cross between blues and gospel, with harmonica only. Devil Girl, and Honey fed through to end the first set with 'Hard Times' his first recording and reflecting his struggle as a musician trying to make his mark. Most of his lyrics are rooted in his life experience of which anecdotes and tales interlace the music. I like this, its a connection to his audience that sadly gets lost as venue size grows and fame and fortune tap on the shoulder. A short break and a few cigarettes later and we are into the second set, and a particular favourite of mine, heard at said Upton Blues, 'Run Long' is an out and out gospel call, courtesy of The Blind Boys of Alabama, close your eyes and your in that mission hall and Marcus is preaching as one possessed; wonderful stuff. We come to 'Bittersw
eet'. The lyrics for which the Blues Award was given, this is decidedly 'softer', edging toward folk, and for me lovely as it is, I have a preference to his hard blues and gospel style. It will probably grow on me, but would not be the song that pops into mind if I see the name Bonfanti.
'Give Me Your Cash', is on the other hand, a full on blast against the greedy capitalists and the tax system, very fitting for today’s times, and a rip roaring song as Marcus starts to wind up his session. Naturally you can't walk away from a stage without protest from a now slightly merry crowd, who were having a great time; especially as there was nowhere to go to, so we ended on 'Sweet Louise' and 'Bad', a soft lyrical ballad, blown aside by a final broadside that Michael Jackson would probably not recognise; we all wanted more. It was a long journey and a tiring return up the motorway with all its diversions and restrictions, would we have given it a miss? No, this was a memorable gig with an artist who is highly regarded in the blues world, he warrants a wider recognition, but selfishly, lets keep in the small intimate venues, just let us have priority ticket allocation, we will be there. Come on you local promoters, lets get some dates around here, its hard to believe that the nearest venues are Bristol, Hay on Wye? Leicester and Banbury.
Photos And Words by Graham Munn
