Preview

Duke Special a.k.a. Peter Wilson, a true one-off: dreadlocked, eyeshadowed, and impish, armed only with a piano and a vintage gramophone, he's an artist of stunning originality. With his wonderful yearning voice and arrestingly beautiful songs, Duke Special mines an historic vein of pop writing that harks back to a pre-Beatles era of literate and theatrical performers. After two unforgettable Talbot shows, he's back again (accompanied by percussion maestro Chip Bailey), by public demand!

Review

Sold Out signs and a queue across the square - that's the way it should have been by rights, for the third Tregaron visit from rising Ulster star (and Cambria Arts fave) Duke Special. As it was, a smallish crowd gathered for this, the first night of his UK tour, but surely none of them departed unmoved by the truly uplifting performance of the Belfast genius.

The last-minute cancellation of Bristol duo Isafire, through illness, left us momentarily ashen-faced, but the return of Tom Chant (who opened for Stephen Fearing in April, and so impressed us all), this time accompanied by his dad Mike, seemed like a good wheeze, and ruddy facial pallor was rapidly restored at HQ. Much of what Nagus play bears the early-70s melodic and stylistic stamp of, say, Al Stewart, or the West Coast Americana of that era: Mike holds down a solid rhythm guitar base, while Tom overlays his trademark repertoire of lightning-quick harmonics and arpeggios. Love, the seasons, and life in the Preselis ring through Mike's songs ('Rain Came Down', 'September Days', 'Smile', and more), while Tom's fledgling songwriting promise was aired on 'Everything Stays The Same'. This duo delivered a quality start to the night, and with ambitious solo tracks currently being recorded and further songs under development, under his dad's supportive guidance, we confidently predict the building in young Tom of a significant talent.

We've raved twice before (check out previous gig reviews on our website) about Duke Special, stressing his uniquely arresting mix of music-hall theatrics, complete with trademark vintage gramophone, his robust piano work, soaring voice, Ulster brogue, and heart-stopping songs - accompanied once again by the marvellous Chip Bailey on a panoply of percussion (full drum kit plus boxes, rattles, shakers, egg-whisk, cheese-grater, metronome, and Stumpf fiddle), the Duke's show was another dramatic event, an emotional rollercoaster (Tired cliche - you must try harder. - Ed.) that had us all spellbound (There you go again. - Ed.). The man's knack of penning moving and instantly memorable songs is unstoppable, and 'Some Things Make Your Soul Feel Clean', 'Regarding the Moonlight in Eastbourne', 'Wake Up Scarlett', and 'Love is a Series of Scars', all featured on his brand-new 'My Villain Heart' CD, along with 'You Don't Slow Me Down' (a glorious version of which features on our upcoming 'Live at the Talbot' CD) are further gems to complement an already glittering array of songs that are nothing less than potential timeless pop classics. Familiar songs such as 'Freewheel', 'As Good As It Gets', and 'Lucky Me' were dusted down and magically reworked, while his astonishing backing tracks were deployed with effect, most notably on 'I Let You Down'. There were a couple of touching covers too: Ralph McTell's lovely 'From Clare to Here', and, as a tribute to the sadly deceased Ray Charles, a convincingly bluesy take on the great man's 'Roll With My Baby'. A rousing 'You Are My Sunshine' completed another unforgettable night with the Duke, whose praises we will continue to sing with Ancient Mariner-like zeal ... next time, we intend to employ more vigorous tactics to drag you to the Talbot for your Duke Special therapy. Remember, we know where you live ...