C.C. Smugglers, The Dreaming Spires, Charlotte Carpenter.

Lev 2 Esquires Bedford. Saturday 5th March 2016.

Here at Esquires, the sold Out signs have been displayed quite a few times so far this year and needless to say tonight was no exception as the current C.C. Smugglers Spring tour reached their hometown venue.
Beginning the show impressively was a singer songwriter from Kettering by the name of CHARLOTTE CARPENTER. She recently released an E.P. entitled The Fault Line and in her set tonight she features three tracks from it. She begins her six song Esquires debut with Take It All. Her guitar playing fingers are well and truly warmed up as she stridently sings “Hear my heartbeat, hear my thunder, hear my daybreak,”
Mean Time features from the aforementioned recording relationship struggles and woes seem to dictate her lyrical direction. This one is no exception as she states firmly “How do you go on when everything you want rests in the hands of a ticking bomb.”
Break is more reflective, “This isn’t your fault, this isn’t mine.” Charlotte is supremely assured, with long brown hair, small of stature, she wears a stripey top and quite instantly wins over the early arrivals, on what is her last show supporting C.C. Smugglers. Wasted is my favourite as it finishes her slot. It delivers in all the right places. With a poetic slant to her wordy compositions, this one has her pondering “I could have been so much wiser so much better,” I know she impressed a lot of the local acoustic stalwarts in attendance, so hopefully Ms. Carpenter can make a return visit to this town.

It was way back on November 16th 2012 when THE DREAMING SPIRES last visited Esquires. On that occasion they had just released their debut album Brothers In Brooklyn. Needless to say for this Oxford band, it received much acclaim as it told of Joe and Robin Bennett’s journey across America. The Oxford brothers have a long history playing at Esquires, so it is mighty good to see them back. They describe their music as simply thus ‘Amplified harmonious rock n roll Americana played by English people!’ As we greet them now, The Dreaming Spires have a second album to enchant us with. Released last year, it is called Searching For Supertruth. Tracks from both of them heavily dominate the set. Singing Sin City is a composition that namechecks a couple of likely influences, The Byrds and Teenage Fanclub. Catchy melodies adorn their performance. This is especially so on Everything All The Time, which is a heady rush of gorgeousness. Robin then tells of “Travelling from Boston to Chicago in a train with a priest who declared that we used to have parties and we used to have fun.” This is pure undiluted homespun Americana.
Also from their new album is Easy Rider, where they reveal “They have soul” before adding “You know you got soul.” This song builds to a rousing climax of a collective singalong. The Dreaming Spires tell of recently being in Nashville as well as recording in Memphis, a beautiful new song entitled Harder To Leave. Country rock runs through its heart. They finish their set with the albums title track, Searching For The Supertruth. It’s not for nothing that The Dreaming Spires have been Americana music association UK triple award nominees, the breakthrough to the big time would be rich reward and it was lovely to have them here in Bedford Esquires again.

Headliners C.C. SMUGGLERS offer up a huge melting pot of world music influences. Their live performances are certainly an intense high octane experience. They have always had an instant chemistry with their public, which was well and truly honed to perfection by the constant busking they did back in the early days. Fresh and distinctive, they contain such rhythmic variety, utilising amongst others uke, accordion, dobro, piano and banjo. A rich fertile imagination of ideas, they once again totally thrilled their audience tonight. It demonstrated their obvious love of music and most importantly the way they engage collectively with their instruments. Their aim one feels is to put a smile on your face, get ‘yer’ toes a tapping and make you feel so good. In introducing How Long, vocalist Richie admits that they have “Had to make some sacrifices” in order to get where they are now, but he concedes that the crowds loud reaction always “Warms the heart,” even though he is struggling with “A bad thumb” Tonight. The C.C. Smugglers have got so much to celebrate as its rhythm guitarist Sam Barrett’s Birthday, so they promise a “Bloody great show,” their songs are the “Things to keep us dancing.” The now familiar repertoire of vibrant compositions come particularly thick and very fast. A treat is unleashed for their Bedford fans with a “Brand new effort that’s not long off the recording desk” and is entitled Dirty Money. Although it’s not really needed, C.C. Smugglers continually cajole even more frenetic dancing participation amongst the audience. Finally and as nearly always happens during one of their gigs, band and supporters have a mighty party on the wooden dancefloor. They are collectively together and drenched in sweat. Once more it’s easy to see just why C.C. Smugglers must be considered as one of the finest live bands to witness in this country.

Review by Martin Stapleton.