Ger Lane - Horse and Stables, London, 27/10/2015

  by Dastardly

published: 25 / 11 / 2015

intro

Dastardly watches Irish singer-songwriter Ger Lane make a triumphant iceberg-dodging maiden voyage with new crew at Top of the Horse and Stables club night in London’s Waterloo

I don’t know what Ger Lane is looking at. It could be a distant shore after months at sea. The ghost of a previous incarnation perhaps. Whatever it is, it’s far beyond the back wall of the upstairs room at the Horse and Stables on Westminster Bridge Road. Like the area surrounding it, the ‘TOTHAS’ (Top of The Horse and Stables) club night is finding its feet here in Waterloo as this part of town starts to wake up to what’s happening further down the river towards Bankside. Originally centered around the troubadours that started gathering here a few years back you’re now as likely to see masked solo keyboard virtuosos or loud(ish) indie bands nestling up alongside the acoustic guitars and folk veterans. Ger meanwhile is sensing riches he’s only ever imagined. He points himself forward and the stage becomes the bow of a ship. He’s navigating us onward, each song a little further. The songs themselves reach no conclusion. They’re all constantly building, trying to stay afloat, static. Just barely surviving the storm. Next to him on deck, facing him is Barbara Bartz threading her violin through the waves and reading Ger note for note. Back on shore at a table two conspirators are hunched over a piece of paper. One is giving the other precise instructions exactly, well approximately where to come in.. .now they’re on stage behind bass and drums and they’ve missed their mark but no matter they soon hit the groove and propel the vessel ever onward. Ger swaps his acoustic for a telecaster. The tone is bold, sweet, big as a glacier and thick like treacle. All too soon however the voyage is over and Ger and his band have docked and disembarked. He looks dazed but elated. On speaking to him it turns out he’s been waiting to play with this band for a long time, years.. I can’t remember exactly. I know he said he’d once supported Mark Eitzel and that is the closest comparison I can think of tonight. Both of them are performers that require the audience to bring their passports with them.

Band Links:-

Picture Gallery:-