Otis Gibbs @ the Admiral Bar, Glasgow. Thursday 24 October, 2013

Otis Gibbs is just one of those guys that gets 'under your skin' and gives you a pleasant itch! The fact that he is a gifted storey teller in the Harry Chapin mould, is of course, an extra attraction. Oh, and the fact that he hails from a place with an enticing name called Wanamaker (originally New Bethel), Indiana (a state with three unbelievably straight borders!) also adds colour to his personality!

My first encounter with Otis was back in 2008 when he toured as the support act to Rennie and Brett Sparks - The Handsome Family, and I have kept abreast with, and greatly enjoyed, his musical output since. So when I saw that Kevin Morris/The Fallen Angels Club were bringing him back to Glasgow, I was a 'shoe in' as we say!

I have been to one other gig in the Admiral Bar basement and that was Old Man Luedecke (see my review back on 9th May this year) and as luck would have it tonight was the same talented young man who was the support act - Al Shields!

Al, who advised us that he had come straight to the gig from his work, was wearing his usual 'pork pie' hat and played some fine electrified acoustic guitar as accompaniment to his songs. He started with a song called Bluebird (I believe) and after some minor technical gremlins, he settled into a great 30 minute set which included Losin' Sleep, Blessed By The Wind, Got It So Bad and Crying Over You. All of which were well received by an appreciative audience who had foregone the likes of Peter Gabriel (who was on at the SSE Hydro) to attend!

Al made reference to his last visit to the venue and explained that at that point he was just back to playing live music after an eight month lay off and he was far from 'on form' that night. I think he was being overly modest as he wasn't that 'off form' back then, but there was a confidence about his performance tonight that was palpable. He chose to end on a great cover of Lefty Frizzell's wonderful Saginaw Michigan (Lefty also wrote the peerless Long Black Veil) and Al left the stage to a well earned applause.

Check out Al Shields here.....

The great thing about these sorts of gigs is that whilst Al was performing on stage, Otis stood at the back and enjoyed a few songs along with the rest of us. Also, everyone in attendance was a fan in the sense that we were there to hear the songs performed live and not bask in reflected glory from being seen with or next to the 'star'! We were all 'brothers under the bridge' as Springsteen sang back in '83. No autograph hunters here, no embarrassingly posed photos with the 'band' tonight! 

And so, Otis took to the stage at 21:00 and acting as MC, he asked the audience to "put your hands together and welcome on stage, all the way from Wanamaker, Indiana, Mr Otisssss Gibbs"! We were all as one, in attendance to participate in a communal musical experience, as Otis was to say later on.

Let the show begin!

First up was Second Best from Otis' current album Harder Than Hammered Hell which got things off to a great start and it was obvious that his gravely, sonorous voice was in good form, as indeed was his guitar playing. Then we were treated to the sublime Where Only The Graves Are Real from 2010's Joe Hill's Ashes. As I said at the start, Otis has a talent for words and this song has some cracking lines in it including the acerbic:

"Where are my true friends? Where did they go? God dam all of my fake friends, the ones who cling to me like I'm a star. Everyone's your best friend when you're closing down the bars, god bless the ones who really are"

Mr Gibbs, who has been likened to Woody Guthrie, Steve Earle or Nebraska era Springsteen, is a story teller par excellence and I don't just mean the lyrics in his songs. His inter-song banter was entertaining, humorous, moving and at one point extremely emotional. Along the way he regaled us with stories of how he learnt to appreciate & sing Hank Williams and Jimmie Rodgers in the questionable company of his 'uncle' Brisco. Stories of his days as an underpaid 'doorman' ('bouncer' to us!) when he almost shook hands with Johnny Cash and tales of his days planting trees! In his time, Otis told us, he has planted in excess of 7000 trees and so perhaps it is no surprise that the cover of his current album is of a root balled tree flanked by two shovels. It was at this point that things got pretty emotional and that can't be easy for a man of such obvious sensitivity. We heard about an exceptional young man who Otis encountered during his tree planting days. The two became life long friends, saving up so that they could have some wonderful 'life experiences' together, sadly these times together were to be limited as fate stepped in and took Otis' friend at the age of 30 years old.

It seemed utterly appropriate that, after his "manufactured enthusiasm" for 'uncle' Brisco, Otis asked if we would mind if he sang a song for his friend, the applause was deep felt and genuinely encouraging as he sang Something More the final song from Joe Hill's Ashes:

"I was thinking about the lord above and why do the good die young and why do the worst of those amongst us never fail. I am trying to believe that there is something more to this world besides keeping score, but frankly I'm losing faith as all my friends pass away"

To lighten the mood Otis then told us about a guy in England who patted him on the back as he left the gig saying "Toodle pip old chap". To which Otis said he didn't know if he should "shit or wind his wrist watch". Classic!  

And so, after a few more songs Otis worked towards the end of the show. As any of you who read this blog regularly will know, I am not a big fan of the whole encore charade and so it was very refreshing when Otis explained that he had no intention of playing that "encore rock n' roll bullshit". So he suggested that after Kansas City he would take a step back and we could go batshit and then he would 'reappear full of surprise, wonder and humility' at our adoration! It was a fun and humorous way to draw things to a close. And we did indeed go batshit as we had really enjoyed a superb gig during which we had heard songs from most of Otis' albums. We had listened to some great finger picking guitar playing, some wonderfully meaningful lyrics sung to great melodies with catchy hooks and been regaled with some funny and uplifting stories of life on the road as seen by Mr Otis Gibbs of Wanamaker, Indiana.

Then and with a final touch of the unusual, Otis stepped off the small stage and walked around the audience playing acoustic guitar, unplugged whilst he sang Karluv Most the opening track from 2004's One Day Our Whispers album. A nice touch which brought us full circle, back to everyone being part of the shared experience.......thanks Otis and here's to your next visit!

Check out Otis singing "Caroline" (a favourite of mine!) here.....

Set List:

Second Best
Where Only the Graves Are Real
Unknown song
Caroline
Small Town Saturday Night (tribute to 'uncle' Brisco)
Unknown song
It's Never Enough
Joe Hill's Ashes
Unknown song
Preacher Steve
Something More (tribute to Otis's friend)
The town That Killed Kennedy
Kansas City

'Encore'
Detroit Steel
Karluv Most

PS. If anyone can update the three 'Unknown' songs listed above, it would be much appreciated!