Reviews

elliothall

Elliot Hall bears a strange resemblance to a young Neil Young. Backed by a bassist and Sue, a young hippy looking chic on bongos, Elliot cracked into his first song with the lyrics "Find ourselves a new life, give ourselves a new dose of fear, we can love like we used to if we make it out of here." There was a hint of country in his vocal style but the old english accent charmed it into something a little closer to home. Elliot is from Bristol, a place "full of pills and prostitutes like most cities". His second song 'Flats Full Of Pillheads' was dedicated to it. His lyrics were great as they had a very satirical realism about them giving them a somewhat quirky edge. Comical while still retaining that hint of melancholy. Nevertheless Elliot apologised for being 'a miserable bastard'! I found it quite uplifting so I don't know what that says about me (mind you I find Radiohead uplifting as well...time to crack into the sleeping pills). "Man is like the devil, an angel dressed in drag" was a killer line from a new song.

This was followed by a very simple and very beautiful song with the chorus "think of me when the rain comes down, I will love you though I can't be around." Sue had ditched the bongos and was now accompanying Elliot on mandolin. Elliot had reached for his harmnonica and my first country comparisions began to justify themselves. They played a couple of covers in their two sets. The first was a cover of the song 'Lost Highway'.

They also played a more energetic (if thats possible) version of Hughway 61 by Dylan and Sue took to lead vocals for a cover of 'House Of The Rising Sun'. Two other notable songs in the first set were 'Me and The Bartender' about going into your favourite bar and one day realising that ten years have gone by. We all know that one. "I started to sleep with whiskey, so the world would not get wierd, thats when I took to drinking, I just couldn't give it up, me and the bratender, just about pushed our luck." The other one was called something like 'Death Hall Blues', a dangerous and dark song about a lonely place. "These cold stone walls hold the murderers and rapists."

At the beginning of the second set we found out a little secret. Sue is Elliots partner. He didn't tell us this of course until after he'd sung a song with the lyrics "shame on my baby, I curse the first day we met". Obviously a very understanding woman! 'Gypsy Woman Blues' was a tuneful and depressing little ballad...car crash baby! We also had a song about terrorism NOT a party (its New Years Eve and the partys nowhere near) and a song about shagging in Mexico. I really enjoyed Elliots set. He had been billed as being something a but different and his style was certainly unique. Beauty in misery.

<br><br> This article is the copyright property of Moles Company Ltd. It may be copied freely without permission or payment, but any copies of this article must contain this copyright ownership notice, and include the entirety of this statement including the link to the Moles website.

Ed Hutchinson