nick harper at mr kyps!!

first draft of potential review.

The warm up gig, Fearne, are a local band I had never heard of (which means nothing, I don’t get out much!) but they had never heard of Nick (cue loud gasp from a member of the audience now writing a certain review), they were actually quite good, even if it was past their bed time (but they really did all look they were only just out of junior school! Sorry guys!). The lead singer, Alex (oh the invincible power of google!) is a talented guy, but seriously dude, we didn’t need to see your belly!! I really felt the need to dress this guy!! But that is just my maternal instinct taking over. I fought the urge and he is still wearing his own clothes. Nick, the bass, bore a striking resemblance to Justin Timberlake, a 13 year old Justin though and with more talent! The drummer, Tom, looked a little nauseous, but he fought it, I think he might have been catching a look at the lovely Alex' belly too. Or just had a dodgy bag of chips on the way over. He did manage to bang away at the right spots too. Won me over at the end with a song called Green eyeshadow, as i am a green eyeshadow fan. So all in all pretty good and at the end of the night, not who we were there to see, but not bad enough to have heard people say they were pants ;o)

Nick was, as always, entertaining, enlightened, political and passionate about what he does. This gig kicked off the new tour, his last gig having been a record breaking attempt for the highest gig in the world, for the Love Hope Strength Foundation in Nepal. he may have mentioned it once or twice.
Started his set off with No Truth Up In The Mountains, but after his recent trip to the great mountains, the Himalayas, in Nepal (not just Poole! not my joke, but worthy of repeating, I thought ..... ok, maybe you had to have been there!) I think he found a truth or two of his own. If nothing else, he now knows the smell of yak's sh*t and was reminded of it at Mr Kyps, but I think it was something to do with my best mate Steve who was sat in-front of him.We had Aeroplane, Real Life, Guitar man, By By Rocket Comes Fire, Treasure Island, Three Magpies, Simple, Field Of The Cloth Of Gold, and a tear jerking Imaginary Friend followed by the Galaxy Song. Reminding us how short life is, and how small we are in the greater scheme of things, but with just a small effort, we can all make a difference.
Nick once again mixes original material with good humor and a strong message. Many people don’t know about the Williamson Tunnels, they don‘t understand the plight of these people in Nepal that don’t have the access to medicines that could save their lives when all else has failed. Hospitals unable to sustain themselves forcing people to go further afield for their treatment than their local hospital, sometimes at the cost of their life-savings and lives. He makes his audience passionate about this stuff too!
He shared tales of his journey up the mountain and back, over looking everest base camp, how much it meant to him to be part of such an expedition, tales of gastric explosions and happy children playing with grass balls, Sherpas with one shoe and his million dollar boots (ok maybe not that much). Reminders of how lucky we are and our children. They raised $500,000 in the record breaking gig! amazing! Kudos to you all!!
Love is music/Headless with a string break suitably impressed both the people I had brought with me, just as much as those of us who have seen it before. His style wasn’t really their kinda thing, but its good to try new things and his energy and humor put smiles on both their faces, next time I'll have at least one of them buying cd's ;o)
Personal favorite of the night was Field of the cloth of gold, for some reason, altho i've only heard this track live once or twice before, it plays in my head over and over! But then i am a bit odd. all to change as i bought miracles for beginners so can bore my whole family with it playing endlessly until one of them breaks my speakers (which could happen if I manage to be annoying enough).
He finished off with Blue Sky Thinking, his first single which i believe reached no 1 in ITunes for sons of singer/songwriters starting with H first name Nick born in June ;o) It is a great song.
Going to see Nick Harper is always more than just a live gig, it is an educational experience, it is a night of triggered memories and new ones. Everyone takes more away with them than just memories of some guy playing his guitar, Nick is always much much more. Here's hoping he enjoyed playing in n'Poole as much as we enjoyed him being here!
Did I mention he is a joint world record holder for the worlds highest gig? It was in Nepal in October for the Love Hope Strength Foundation, think he said about it, maybe??