Chuck Prophet returns to the UK with his Cumbia Shoes who are comprised of Mission Express stalwarts, James DePrato and Vincente Rodriguez and members of the Cumbia band ¿Qiensave?, Alejandro “Flaco” Gomez and Mario Cortez along with Joaquin Zamudio Garcia.
When I found out that tonight`s support was Our Man In The Field essentially singer-songwriter Alaxander Ellis, it was a real bonus as I’d reviewed both of his albums `The Company Of Strangers` and ‘Gold On The Horizon’ and really loved them but hadn’t caught him live. OMITF takes to the stage and opens with a couple of unreleased numbers in `Silverado` and `Doin` Alright` which is about that glance between friends when one is struggling with sobriety and silently looking for support. The tracks will be on the singer`s forthcoming album. OMITF has a wonderfully varied vocal range and is every bit as good it is on record as he shares `Feel Good` written about an agent who promised the world but took off after wasting ten thousand pounds due to the artist. His self-deprecating humour shines through as he relates this amusing but shattering tale. The latest single `Mice of Men` written about economic migrants follows and `Last Dance` a breakup song. This thirty odd minute set closes with a song about the American Dream with what I think was `Come On`. This artist relates stories and songs from life experiences which are both amusing and heartbreaking in equal measure with an enticing voice that is somewhere between David Gray and Ray Lamontagne. He has another couple of shows in Brum next month with a support slot with Jackson Dean, the fast-rising Nashville county singer at the O2 Institute and a headlining gig across the road at the Kitchen Garden Café. A further opportunity to catch this endearing artist.
It was a bit of a shock for me when I realised that it`s nearly a decade since I last caught up with Charles William Prophet or `Chuck` and a lot has happened in-between with this San Francisco-based musician being diagnosed with stage four lymphoma and undergoing treatment. He found solace in cumbia music and the band ¿Qiensave? during his illness and recovery and his last album release `Wake The Dead` is testament to this healing.
Chuck and his five piece Cumbia shoes walk on stage sharply dressed in trajes de charro and looking like a slick mariachi band looking to do business which is exactly what they do for just short of two hours. Eddie Cochran`s `C`mon Everybody` which is given a slight Mexican vibe opens up the set tonight which is a fifty-fifty split of old tracks and ten out of the eleven cuts on his latest release. The new release eases us in with the reggae tinged `Same Old Crime` and title track `Wake The Dead` before the almost subliminal `Wish Me Luck` which once heard will be ingrained in your subconscious for days follows. Mr Prophet shows off his dexterous guitar playing on `Dance Pajaritos` before the amusing `Jesus Was a Social Drinker` is aired with a joyous amount of cowbell.
The show continues with numbers from `Wake the Dead` in `Betty`s Song`, `Give The Boy a Kiss`, `Sally Was a Cop`, and `First Came The Thunder` which may well be a metaphor for a stormy relationship with the politically tinged `Killing Machine` sandwiched in between. We enjoy the humorous but insightful `In The Shadows (For Elon)` which the singer shares that the audience all as one sang “ Elon Musk is a wanker” when played in Newcastle as they did here tonight.
The highlights of the home stretch for me were the retro sounding `Sugar Into Water`, charming `One Lie For Me, One For You` dedicated to the singer`s wife Stephanie Finch, the driving `Ford Econoline` and `You Did (Bomp Shooby Dooby Bomp)` with it`s back and forth audience participation.
The band are urged to return for the obligatory encore which they do and it`s back to 1986 with a version of `Time Ain`t Nothing` a hit for the leader’s formative band, Green on Red and `Wooly Bully` a hit for Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs sixty years ago. Most of the band leave the stage as Chuck and James DePrato shared a stripped back heartbreaking version of `It`s a Good Day to Be Alive` a number that is wonderfully poignant considering Chuck`s recent illness.
The American National Public Radio declared that “no one can turn tales from the outer limits into catchy songs quite like Prophet does” and that for me really summed up this evening`s stunning show. I intend not to leave it another decade before I catch up with the guy for me who retains the torch now that Tom Petty has left us.
