The order of their names in the headline reflects the sequence in which they performed rather than any pecking order-style billing and it made for an interesting set of circumstances as these three politically conscious troubadours took their turns in the spotlight.
On this form, Nick Harper is unassailable. It was little wonder Rev Hammer noted he and the Levellers' Mark Chadwick should have invited Billy Bragg (equally forthright but musically rather prosaic) to join them instead, after Harper peeled off another devastating piece of guitar artistry to accompany the glide through the multi-octave range of his singing.
Hammer had to follow Harper, and Chadwick, sporting slippers to ease a foot injury, was forced to listen as Harper started the next cycle by, without any malice, showing he was on another musical planet. Sheer force of personality pulled Hammer and Chadwick through, although the former's tribute to Ralph McTell raised a smile and Chadwick's way with a singalong chorus and convergence of acoustic rapper meets Gary Glitter went down well.
Harper's selection included his excoriating, musically sophisticated and rhythmically booting assessment of Thatcherism, Thanks for the Miracle, with its newly topical pay-off, and brilliantly assembled thoughts on ecology, consumerism and the political strengths of Evo Morales, complete with virtuosic flamenco-infused guitar picking. There were no diversions, entertaining though these can be; this was a totally focused Harper, superbly witty in his lyrical observations, notably so on The Juicy Fruit Girl, and in an unfinished fantasy about dating Dorothy Parker, showing that his current songwriting is well up to standard.
HHH
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article