Tag Archives: London

London, Paris, Gothenburg

In late November and early December Luke played gigs at number of locations including Paris, London and Gothenburg  as well as other parts of England.

Here are some notes from those shows.

PARIS
Paris is like a theme park full of the expectations a tourist would
have of it.  At Notre Dame there is a strange interplay between the “merchants” and the tourists.

Checking out the local music

No street players in evidence but no shortage of rich beggars. Much intolerance for one and total acceptance of the other. In the vicinity kitsch shops and very expensive cafes abound. A cup of coffee will set you back ten bucks kiwi.

Saint Michel
Played near the fountain and inevitably got closed down. Strange habit of mine playing anywhere at anytime for anyone who will listen.  I call this practice “meet the police”.

Strange how playing gentle music to people is not tolerated anywhere in the world!

The best Paris gig was at the GREEN LINNET.  Check it out if you are a musician. The owner has a very encouraging attitude and easy to work with.

He told me that Rory Gallagher was obsessive about guitar There was nothing else in his life Hope I don’t get like that Love guitar but its not the center of my life.

I guess the center for me is more about people than music. People are endlessly fascinating.

LONDON
A few days prior to my show there it looked like we would have to cancel. There was a concern that I was not going to draw a crowd!

It went ahead anyway and the result was contrary to expectations.  It was a full house. A great atmosphere in that place.  People I had not seen for decades turned up.

Along with a lot of Londoners who were suitably impressed. Can’t help being a bit proud of the way it turned out.

“Just heard Luke at the Alma. I was worried that nostalgia would have tinted my rosy coloured memories of Luke but he was great! Better than great and better than I remembered.”

SWEDEN

is AMAZING . Played two gigs at Gothenborg University .

Note: If you were lucky enough to see / hear Luke In Paris, London or Gothenburg please write your comments below or send us a review.

Update:London & Paris Gigs

“Luke’s signature song “Mona Lisa” is about someone who gave up all to leave home to get to see Leonardo’s great work “(“through plate glass they let me see her”) only to find himself bemused and confused by all the incidentals.

He wrote the song out of his imagination and now comes to the Northern Hemisphere for the first time to actually play at the Alma/ London* & the Louvre / Paris and sing the very song that made his name on the far side along with a large repertoire of great songs/instrumentals written over a long and successful career.

(Please note: London concert has changed from 13th to 27th of November . – Paris more details to be released but date and location are – Nov 22: Paris at the Green Linnet )

Not a one hit wonder he also is known for classics like “Japanese Overdrive” “Make Room” “Gravity” (co written with Dave Rob) “Fait Accompli” to name a few and more recently his world winning “The Sound” (five star rated on you tube and released on i tunes UK).

Though out of the limelight for sometime he has worked on further styles of playing to exhibit a guitar style unique to acoustic music.

The instrument he plays is an SB (Steve Barkman) which sounds like a sitar-mandolin-guitar and looks like an ancient type of celtic instrument that somehow never got invented until Steve Barkman created
it.

Luke is renowned for keeping it real and working against the odds to bring high art to the people wherever they may be from on the street to in the concert hall.  Check out this website.

Luke is happy to do interviews if anyone wants to call or send email questions – Contact Luke.