Charlie Parr at Bush Hall

By Elin Berta

Friday November 18, 2011

It started out as a pretty quiet evening at Bush Hall last Thursday night (November 1). But it ended up a frenzied night of passionate blues and one-liners.

Charlie Parr came out on stage in a flannel shirt, a guitar in its case and a cup of coffee. Without paying the crowd any attention at all, he took out his guitar and started playing the song Midnight has come and gone.

With his head arched close to his guitar, it was as if he was alone in his house just playing the blues for himself as he captured every single person in the hall, I dare say.

The song seemed to last forever (and it is a long song) but it wasn’t one of those songs that goes on too long. When the song finished after about eight minutes, maybe longer, the response he got from the crowd was emphatic. People were whistling, shouting and wildly applauding.

After his very long, very appreciated opening, Charlie Parr finally gave the crowd some attention - a positive surprise since he at first didn’t seem to be the talkative type. First of all, he let us know he was happy to be there, playing at such a beutiful venue as Bush Hall, and moved on to tell the story about finding his way to the hall. Exiting at Shepherd Bush, he had been told it was a bit of a walk down Uxbridge Road to get to the venue. And he did find it to be quite far, which wasn’t really strange, as he suddenly found himeslf in Ealing!

I found myself enjoying his music throughout his set. But the minutes when he didn’t play were just as entertaining, since he is not only a great musician but also quite the comedian. It seemed, as the applause just got louder and louder after every song, the laughter got louder and louder inbetween every song. And you could tell he truly enjoys playing his music. Like enjoying it in the sense he gets lost in his music. But I couldn’t really decide whether it was his brilliant guitar or his amazing storytelling that got my attention the most.

At one point he took out a watch, telling us he sometimes gets carried away while on stage playing, and that he had been told he wasn't allowed to play any later than 10 o’clock. Then he held his watch up, saying 'luckily enough for me this watch says it’s five o’clock' and then kept on playing.

He also spent a lot of time excusing himself for tuning his guitar as he had just spent the day changing all 12 strings, and the guitar was still adjusting to the new situation.

Recently I wrote that The Jim Jones Revue did not impress me live, but I enjoy listening to them at home. Before that I wrote about seeing The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger play, who impressed me live, but I wouldn’t listen to at home. With Charlie Parr it’s another story. I loved hearing him play live, and I can’t seem to stop listening to him at home!