RICHARD THOMPSON

RockKent is at the Orchard Theatre, Dartford for Richard Thompson.

The singer/songwriter and former member of Fairport Convention has a huge, devoted following. And the Kent contingent are out in force tonight: mainly bearded men of a certain age with uniformly shaggy or just plain long hair. Some have brought their wives along.

Now residing in California, Thompson’s appearances in the UK are rare – and usually set to coincide with the cricket season. And now the season of leather on willow is here, Brandywine music have snapped up the opportunity to get the be-bereted one to perform in Dartford between inningses.

Is that a word? Is “inningses” the plural of “innings”? Don’t ask me. This is RockKent.com, not CricketKent.com.

Ty and Ayesha Watling

First up, though comes support from Ty and Ayesha Watling, a married couple from Sevenoaks. Theirs is a gentle acoustic sound, a good starter to Thompson’s main course. Ty’s on guitar and vocal duties while Ayesha provides close harmonies and rattles an egg shaker.

It may sound odd, but the Watlings’ songs sound almost like those of Robbie Williams when he’s in reflective mood. Ty and Ayesha could sing Williams’ “Feel” and it really wouldn’t seem out of place on the set list. See also the songs of Stephen Duffy (who, incidentally has written songs with Williams).

But there are also hints here of Ralph McTell, especially in “Cousin John” and Simon and Garfunkel. Some of the songs here are a little on the twee side (the rhyme of “1944” with “war” in a song about the 1939-45 conflict is as weak as it seems inevitable).

But, with their warm humour (“you’ll be delighted to hear we don’t have any CDs for sale”) and Ty’s expert musicianship, such foibles can be easily forgiven.

Richard Thompson

After an interlude for ice cream, beers and, no doubt, a crafty fag, Richard Thompson comes on stage. Cue rapturous applause. But of course. What else should we expect?

He opens with “She Twists the Knife Again”, the first of many bitter, twisted songs about relationships turned sour. They’re something of a speciality for Thompson.

It’s an impressive sound. Thompson is on stage, alone – as he will be for the whole performance (with one notable exception). But Thompson hardly needs the accompaniment of bass guitars, drums or any other fripperies other musicians may choose to adorn themselves with.

It’s a brilliant performance. To this Thompson virgin, his playing is a revelation of brilliance: at times it’s an overpowering force of nature, chugging towards you with steely determination.

At others, the sound is transformed to something as light as pixie dust, scattering itself here there and everywhere. And then, when you’re least expecting it, this craftsman allows his songs to collapse into a glorious discordant mess – before taking off again.

Thompson’s songs are astonishing. How has this reviewer been so appallingly unaware of this giant talent for so long? The shame of it! The shame!

There’s plenty of self doubt, accusations, bitterness and sexual politics in tonight’s set from Thompson. “Cold Kisses” is all about comparing yourself to your lover’s exes; “Johnny’s Far Away” is a sea shanty about infidelity and ceilidh bands; “Crawl Back” is a song of ironic recrimination – the song of a man belittled by a woman he once loved.

Meanwhile “Hope You Like the New Me” is as twisted as it gets: a song about a man slowly taking everything away from a rival – up to and including his wife.

Not that it’s all doom, gloom and marital disharmony. Scattered through his performance, you’ll find “The Story of Hamlet”, a four verse jive précis of the Shakespeare play, written by Frank Loesser and a seemingly impromptu medley of “Paint it Black” and “Time on my Side”. Well, Dartford is the home of the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

But the oddest moment of the evening comes half way through Thompson’s fourth song, “Uninhabited Man” when the house lights come back on. Which is a bit weird. Weirder still, a stage hand marches on stage and politely waits for an appropriate moment to cut short the singing songwriting legend: “Who’s been sleeping in my bed?/Who’s been sleeping in my bed?/Who’s been -”

“Sorry to interrupt you. We have to evacuate the building,” says the stage hand. And with that the fire alarm goes off.

And so we get up and make our way out into the drizzle of Dartford where we stand for several minutes. Strangers start chatting with one another. Others get their phones out. It’s like what the Blitz would have been like if they’d had Twitter. And fewer bombs.

When a fire engine arrives, the prospect of a return to a warm, dry theatre in the presence of Richard Thompson seems to evaporate. Strange then, that moments after the appliance has got here, we’re allowed back in. Not that we’re complaining. It was getting a bit wet out in the Waitrose car park.

With the return to the comfort of the theatre, the show soon gets underway. Thompson reappears on stage to yet more rapturous applause and starts singing: “ – sleeping in my bed? Who’s been sleeping in my bed” as if the last 20 minutes never happened.

Maybe they didn’t. Maybe it was all a dream.

The songs continue; more and more relationship misery dealt out in Thompson’s thick, woody baritone mixed with the singer’s gentle humour. At one point he tells a story of how once a stage hand rugby tackled him to the floor mid song because a drunk man was about to fall from the rigging above him.

There’s particular applause for old classics like “1950 Vincent Black Lightning” and his cover of “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” by the late Sandy Denny, a one time band mate of Thompson’s in Fairport Convention.

This is a concert no one wants to end. Both Thompson and his awed audience seem reluctant to leave. And we get two encores for our trouble. “Two Left Feet” gets an improvised, hilarious verse added about Rupert Murdoch and the News of the World, while the self loathing and relationship crises continue with “One Door Opens”.

It’s been a fantastic gig: even with the enforced alfresco interval. As he turns to leave (for one of the many times that night), Thompson apologises for not playing Dartford more recently.

“I won’t leave it so long next time,” he promises. He better not.

Find out more about Ty and Ayesha Watling on www.tywatling.com/
Find out more about Richard Thompson at www.richardthompson-music.com