10 August, 2008
A full-house that spanned the generations, with no seats to be
had and a few in the crowd left standing, sums up the
preperformance expectations for ‘The Two Jimmies’,
James Wilkinson and Jimmy Young.
The night started out with Izzie Miller, extolling the virtues of
these two institutions of the Christchurch music scene. She
related their many accomplishments, such as their part in bands
such as ‘Rua’ and Mahinarangi Tocker’s
‘Mongrel Mob’.
The Jimmies began their set with lots of laughter and Jimmy
Young’s quite funny banter before launching into a
traditional first half set, beginning with the tune “Johnny
Cope”.
There was a palpable good vibe from the crowd from that first
song, and it held throughout the set, even through a brief
‘malfunction’ that sent Jimmy offstage to
‘fix’ a quirky tuning problem with his pipes.
The boys handled the situation with aplomb and had the crowd
pleasantly swayed by their easy attitude onstage.
Throughout the night, Jimmy played his pipes and occasional
whistle, and James deftly moved across a special-made acoustic
guitar.
They beautifully blended their voices in ‘Terror
Time’ and dedicated the song to friend, May Cole.
Then came traditional pieces, ‘Bonnie Jean Cameron’
and ‘Helen ‘o Kirkconnell, and then another crowd
pleasing instrumental, ‘Waltzurka/Celebration Reel.’
They ended the first half with their special arrangement, the
Australasian Suite of ‘Te Rua’, ‘Moreton
Bay’ and ‘Hoea ra, a convicts lament. During the
Suite, It felt like being taken to a far off place, a combination
of excellent musicianship, and Wilkinson’s romantic vocal
delivery.
The second set began with a dedication to the late- Mahinarangi
Tocker. Playing her song, ‘Start Again’. Their
beautiful rendition of Shona Laing’s ‘Soviet
Snow’ followed. The rest of the set past quickly and most
enjoyably.
James’ solo set included a special arrangement of
traditional nursery rhymes to a Beethoven Allegretto.
They then went through some ‘modern’ classics, with
their own special take on the Beatles, ‘In My Life’,
followed by Eric Clapton’s ‘Cant Find My Way Back
Home’.
Their last song of the set was the Rolling Stones ‘Ruby
Tuesday’.
But the crowd called for an encore, and they ended the night by
putting their special stamp on the Beatles ‘Eleanor
Rigby.
This was a special night at the Christchurch Folk Club, with lots
of great energy in the room. The crowd lingered for a bit after
the performance, perhaps as mesmerized by the evening, as I. -
LD