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- Seazoo @ Telfords Warehouse, Chester 31st January 2019
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- The Wave Pictures @ Telfords Warehouse, Chester 31st January 2019
Last week I went to see The Wave Pictures at Telford’s Warehouse in Chester. That was my 4th time seeing them at that venue and overall my 8th time seeing them in 3 and a bit years.
Why do I keep going back? One big reason is that no gig is ever the same. At last week’s gig they played a whole load of songs I’ve never heard them play live before. The setlist included songs from 2004’s CD-R release “The Hawaiian Open Mic Night” right up to their brilliant new album “Look Inside Your Heart.” Along the way they played some of my all-time favourites like “Frogs Sing Loudly In The Ditches” and “Just Like A Drummer” before finishing the night with a crowd singalong to “Never Go Home Again.”
As well as the ever-changing sets there is the bandmembers themselves who just seem to get better and better. Singer / guitarist David directs operations with an impromptu shout of “bass solo” or “drum solo” and his compadres Jonny and Franic just conjure up a stunning solo on the spot.
At Indietracks last summer, I got talking to another Wave Pictures fanatic called Tom, the creator of a great fanzine called Back of the Gig. One issue is dedicated to his favourite similes in Wave Pictures lyrics. I really enjoyed reading that so I said that in response I would write a blog post of the 10 favourite Wave Pictures guitar solos. It was too difficult to narrow it down to 10 so I’ve ended up with 30.
To make the task easier I’ve only included electric guitar solos so nothing from the acoustic albums here. Plus I’ve only considered the studio versions so no radio session tracks or live versions off YouTube. That’s a pity in some ways because there are some blisteringly great solos on some of those. For example, the original version of “Sleepy Eye” doesn’t have a particularly interesting guitar solo but when it’s played live, well just see for yourself.
We tweeted this list a couple of weeks ago with the snappy hashtag #Top30WavePicturesGuitarSolos
Anyhow let’s get on with it shall we, here’s my top 30.
30. Give Me A Second Chance
Appears on: Long Black Cars (2012)
Key: Am
29. The Fire Alarm
Appears on: Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon (2015)
Key: Am
28. Newcastle Rain
Appears on: Bamboo Diner In The Rain (2012)
Key: Em
27. Sea On The Full Moon
Appears on: Catching Light: The Songs of Andre Herman Dune (2006)
Key: F#m
26. Before This Day
Appears on: City Forgiveness (2013)
Key: G
25. Epping Forest
Appears on: Beer In The Breakers (2011)
Key: Bm
24. Now You Are Pregnant
Appears on: Jonny Huddersfield Helm Sings (2010)
Key: A
23. Never Go Home Again
Appears on: Long Black Cars (2012)
Key: G
22. Little Surprise
Appears on: Beer In The Breakers (2011)
Key: D
21. Cinnamon Baby
Appears on: Sweetheart EP (2010)
Key: F#m
(not available on Bandcamp)
20. Sinister Purpose
Appears on: Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon (2015)
Key: Em
19. Stay Here and Take Care of the Chickens
Appears on: Long Black Cars (2012)
Key: Dm
18. Panama Hat
Appears on: Bamboo Diner in the Rain (2016)
Key: Em (ish)
17. Eskimo Kiss
Appears on: Long Black Cars (2012)
Key: Dm
16. Kittens
Appears on: Sweetheart EP (2010)
Key: Gm
(not available on Bandcamp)
15. Roosevelt Sykes
Appears on: Look Inside Your Heart (2018)
Key: G
14. The Ropes
Appears on: City Forgiveness (2013)
Key: Gm
13. Pale Thin Lips
Appears on: Beer In The Breakers (2011)
Key: D
12. The Running Man
Appears on: Bamboo Diner In The Rain (2016)
Key: Em
11. The Yellow Roses
Appears on: City Forgiveness (2013)
Key: Em
10. Goodbye Spiderman
Appears on: Look Inside My Heart (2018)
Key: G
9. Coconut Tree
Appears on: Helen (2014)
Key: G
(not available on Bandcamp)
8. Red Cloud Road (Part 2)
Appears on: City Forgiveness (2013)
Key: G
7. Seagulls
Appears on: Long Black Cars (2012)
Key: G
6. Better To Have Loved
Appears on: City Forgiveness (2013)
Key: Dm
5. Orange Juice
Appears on: Orange Juice by Stanley Brinks & The Wave Pictures (2014)
Key: A
4. Walk The Back Stairs Quiet
Appears on: Beer In The Breakers (2011)
Key: Em
3. All My Friends
Appears on: City Forgiveness (2013)
Key: Dm
2. Instant Coffee Baby
Appears on: Instant Coffee Baby (2008)
Key: C
1. Lisbon
Appears on: City Forgiveness (2013)
Key: G
Here’s a live version from 2016.
Bonus track: Tiny Craters In The Sand
(my favourite Franic Rozycki bass solo)
Appears on: If You Leave It Alone (2009)
Key: Em
Watch this space, I might put a bar chart here. That’ll get you rushing back I’m sure.
Left to right: Jonny Helm (drums), David Tattersall (guitar), Franic Rozycki (bass)
Buy The Wave Pictures music and go to see them live. They will knock yer socks off!
They’re playing Koko in London next week and more tour dates in March.
Click here for the details.
Related posts:
- Live review: The Wave Pictures @ Telford’s Warehouse, Chester 2016
- Live review podcast: Indietracks 2015 (Part 1)
- Live review podcast: Indietracks 2015 (Part 2)
- Live review podcast: Indietracks 2017
- Podcast number 53 (Chorizo’s favourite songs of 2015)
- Podcast number 68 (Kicker’s favourite songs of 2016)
- Podcast number 69 (Chorizo’s favourite songs of 2016)
- Podcast number 86 (Chorizo’s favourite songs of 2018)
