Head Space Daily Words...

A week last Friday, I took my youngest son to his first gig. As part of the Sydenham Arts Festival, held at Livesey Hall in Catford, we saw a singer songwriter called Sean Taylor (see Head Space Daily Image,) a folksy young female duo known as the Carrivick Sisters and serious contemporary blues man, Ian Siegal, who rounded off the lineup, in a night called 21^st Century Folk and Blues. Livesey Hall is five minutes up the road, so right on our doorstep. It was not exactly Arctic Monkeys at Brixton Academy but to hear extremely accomplished performers play live music – loud live music – for the first time, sharing the experience with a like-minded group of people, is a momentous occasion. My son is currently learning to play acoustic guitar at school and is in a very enthusiastic moment with it. You cannot get him off the thing, with the riffs to Sunshine Of Your Love, or Smoke On The Water forever echoing through the house. When Sean Taylor struck the first notes on his electric acoustic guitar, my son was gobsmacked. The look of wonder and excitement on his face  at the sheer volume was a picture. We spoke to Sean Taylor after his set and he gave my son his plectrum. Wow. What a memory. Can I buy his CD dad? No, I answered, lets see who’s up next. Then, along came the Carrivick Sisters. He had never heard folk music before but was bowled over by the slightly strange tales they told in their songs and at the end of their set, we bought him a signed copy of their latest album. The final act was the slightly grizzled blues performer, Ian Siegal. The guy has a killer voice and is a fantastic guitarist but is a bit of a tortured artist, which meant he didn’t go down quite so well with my son, who prefers a bit more humour in his tunes. I love to hear him sing along to Riot Van by Arctic Monkeys. Seeing his first gig was a great experience and sharing it with him was terrific. Hopefully it will be the first of many...