Album review: TIGER MOTH TALES – A Visit To Zoetermeer (CD/DVD)

TIGER MOTH TALES - A Visit To Zoetermeer

White Knight Records [Release date 21.02.20]

Peter Jones was something of a revelation when fellow scribe Dave Randall and I saw Camel on their 2018 Moonmadness tour. Had it not been for the sheer brilliance of Andy Latimer, Jones’ keyboard and sax playing, and singing would have stolen the show.

In his own world, when not re-visiting Peter Gabriel-era Genesis material, Jones’ own material is equally accomplished, if, dare we say it, a little derivative in style. Well, more than a little to be fair, and he has no issues wearing his Genesis influences proudly.

Recorded live at the Cultuurpodium Borderji in Zoetermeer, The Netherlands, in January 2019, this set catches Jones fronting his Tiger Moth Tales live band performing material from across his catalogue. The neat CD / DVD package features nine songs, with the DVD including 5 promo vidoes.

Ably abetted by Andy Wilson (guitar), Mick Wilson (bass, melodica, vocoder and backing vocals) and Paul Comerie (drums) the set opens with the mischievous ‘Toad Of Toad Hall’ from his last outing Story Tellers Part Two.

The forlorn ‘Match Girl’, from the same album is a virtuoso performance supported just by just some exquisite Hammond Vocoda from Mick Wilson. ‘Hygge’ = lifted from The Depths Of Winter (2017) is equally moving, and perhaps the standout track from Story Teller’s Part Two, ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’ is impressively delivered with some tasteful guitar work from Andy Wilson (even if it does cry out for an Andy Latimer cameo).

‘The Ballad of Longshanks John’, one of the more upbeat tracks The Depths Of Winter, recounts the events leading up to the death of Robin Hood, while the India flavoured ‘Tiger In The Butter’ from Cocoon (2014) sees the band shift into top gear with Jones impressively playing keys and guitar (simultaneously!).

Two more tracks from Cocoon = the quirky ‘The Merry Vicar’ – befitting of Jones’ eccentric English gentleman’s sensibilities, and the poignant ‘A Visit To Chigwick’ (his homage the 1960s children’s TV series Chigwell and Camberwick Green) round off an all too brief set.

That brevity is compensated = to some degree = by the inclusion of the nicely shot promo videos (even if they are all available on YouTube). But as regards the concert footage – the playing throughout is marvellous, the performance nicely shot and edited (if clearly on a budget) and the sound excellent. ****

Review by Pete Whalley

Album review (Story Tellers Part 2, 2018)

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