Alexi Murdoch

Monday night we went to see Alexi Murdoch in concert. Alexi Murdoch is a folkie who made a big impression with his four song EP a couple of years ago. Since then he has been working on his first full length album. Last Friday we received an email announcing the forthcoming release of this album and it also listed some concert dates. He was only playing two shows in London and them was the Monday show. I was very excited to grab a couple of tickets for only 6 pounds each.

We later learned why the tickets were so cheap. The venue was not exactly the most professional set up. Apparently Alexi had to set up the stage and sound equipment himself! After announcing a 7:30 starting time for the concert, it did not begin until after 9PM and during that time we were subject to Johnny Cash played on repeat (I like Johnny Cash for one or two songs, but that's about all I can handle).

Another funny thing about the show was that it was one of those occasions where the Americans all came out of the woodwork. Alexi is originally English (I think, he did live in London for a long time), but he has been making his music in L.A. for the last few years. He recieved much more attention in the US due to radio air play and his songs being featured on an American independent film and TV shows. So here we were in the upstairs of a dingy pub in London surrounded by Americans, which wouldn't be so bad if they did not attempt to sing along with every tune.

Okay, enough complaining because when he finally played, I loved the show. It was a really intimate performance with only around 30 or 40 people and we were right at the front. His songs were all really well performed, but at the same time he was very laid back taking requests from his friends and family. Another bonus was that we were able to purchase his newly released CD which is not being released in England (unless you import in using amazon.com). And we got our new CD and old EP signed.

I really respect the way he took his time to create this Album. He didn't rush into anything on the back of the success of his EP. I really hope this guy does well, he deserves it.

JE

PS - tomorrow we are off to Sicily to lounge around in the sun for a few days. Sadly, it's been beautiful here in London these last few days and we are leaving it behind. I am afraid we are going to miss all the good weather here.