Review: William the Conqueror – Glee Nottingham

We sat vaguely seated in rows in a hushed dim-lit red, bar queues all gone. Those with tables had settled with drinks and high burgers and in my case a pad and a pen. I’d not done my usual level of homework, I was open to whatever came.

William the Conqueror was playing support, playing a stripped set of himself, his guitar and a bass drum at foot. He sat semi-cocked poised for tuning, he moved, gently rocked as he sung. A gentle well worn Americana came over, words of tobacco and whisky at night clung to half-plucked acoustic like the smoke that should have been there. We know this road, we know where it goes, the simple dull thud of bass drum providing a pulse instead of addition. Opening song short and sweet and too short to break sweat, I secretly feared amongst fans that this was the template for everything next. Nothing unpleasant – just – nothing unknown.  We’re in Dylan country now.

But while we stayed in the country we moved around states, stepping toes across borders and picking up tricks as we moved through the songs. More subtle flavours come on into the mix, voice and delivery, never too far from safety but start to lean in and out of ‘Last Great American Whale’ Lou Reed and occasional gruff before heading back into their staples. Guitar strum-drum features remind me of Cash – of the simplest tracks from the American albums, epically albums one and two.

I get glad that we’re moving. And I get glad we’re moving so slow from the centre that I have chance to pick out the changes. Five songs in and a sincerity shows, images more believable than the ones that we know get thrown in amongst new styles of picking.

Words of religious restrictions, impatience and failures cling to guitar out of Cohen’s first album, and while it only appears for what seems like a moment, I’m offered a glimpse of some other wherever. Word structures change too, types of rhymes used start to vary and stretch and again back to Cohen with ‘Harbour / Brought ya’ matching in my mind to ‘Do ya / Hallelujah’. And even though fully competent from the start, it’s like watching a writer grow up. I wondered if songs were played in order as written… or was it a confidence gained through the set? A joke was made about dangers of overdosing on Dylan and I’m glad we moved out of that threat.

I’m glad I was open. I’m glad he opened up. And I’d like to see how this all fits in full line up. And I wonder what flecks and inflections come next.

– Will Wilkinson

William the Conqueror played at Glee Club, Nottingham on November 8th.

Find more information @ www.williamtheconqueror.net