It wasn't until about 3pm on the Saturday afternoon that I found out that Ed Tudorpole was playing at The Railway that evening. This in itself was quite exciting, as although I couldn't quite remember off the top of my head any Ten Pole Tudor songs, I knew I knew some! When I was very young, I had cousins about 8 or 9 years older than me who were totally into the rockabilly/psychabilly scene, and Ten Pole Tudor was one of the bands that I was brainwashed with! So yes, you could say I was quite excited (especially after being reminded of some of the songs!). I also found out that afternoon that we would be interviewing Ed Tudorpole soon after his soundcheck... but more about that in issue 4!
So, onto the evening. It's been a while since I've had to pay to get into The Railway, but the £4 entrance fee did seem fair tonight. The support band went on about 10:15, The Cobwebs. These are a Southend based 60s influenced garage mod band, complete with Hammond organ. This band were good, they could play well, were energetic, enthusiastic, lively and generally seemed to be having a good time which in turn completely livened up the audience ready for the main act.
Ed Tudorpole went on at about 11pm, and yes it was just him with a very old, knackered, acoustic guitar! His new 'one man band' show isn't disappointing, not if you're up for a good time and are willing to go with the spirit of the show and just enjoy yourself. Ed is very good at creating a sort of 'relationship' with the crowd, he draws you in, and you can't help but succumb to his charms. His new songs still have the old rockabilly feel to them, but maybe with a little extra rock'n'roll added. His stage persona is quite different to that of the well spoken, polite gentleman we met earlier, suddenly he turns into someone extremely animated, very excitable and possibly a little mad! All of this however, makes for a great show.
He did start experiencing slight technical hitches with his guitar a little way into the set, which, as the set went on, got more and more drastic. Apparently the guitar has been 'working fine for the last 28 years', but tonight it decided to die! After getting a little too drastic to continue with, he borrowed the guitar from the first band and went on to break two strings in one go rendering that one pretty useless too! But, spurred on by his obvious enthusiasm and almost inability to be stopped, the acoustic was back and the show went on.
The set consisted mostly of new songs including He's Got a Moustache and Made it this Far, but also brought back some of the old favourites, Who Killed Bambi, Throwing my Baby out with the Bath Water, and finally, the song that everyone had been waiting for, Swords of a Thousand Men (accompanied on drums by Dave Dulake, bass by Dave Deville (Optic Nerves) and some backing vocals from The Cobwebs and various audience members). Everything went a bit manic during this last song, but that's exactly how the show should have ended, instruments failing, minor 'stage' invasion, impromptu audience participation, and everyone having a jolly good time!
Ed Tudorpole, please come back soon!
The Cobwebs - www.myspace.com/theconvicted1
Ed Tudorpole - www.myspace.com/edtudorpole
Ed Tudorpole 'Swords of a Thousand Men' collaboration!
Ok, see you soon!
Debbie. x.