Review: Bert Jansch
Neptune Theatre 31-3-01
Gareth Kemp enjoys a husband and wife act

The gig starts promptly at eight o’clock and it quickly becomes obvious why Neil Young once described Bert Jansch as "as much of a great guitar player as Jimi Hendrix was, Bert Jansch is the same thing for acoustic guitar". Bert sits alone on the stage with just his acoustic guitar - no band to hide behind, any mistake exaggerated. But this is a flawless performance which includes ‘Born and Bread’, ‘Black is the colour of my true love’s hair’, ‘Kingfisher’ and ‘Back Home’, a song about his Scottish roots.

For the first twenty minutes of the set Bert sits aside an empty chair leaving the audience to ponder on who will join him on stage; will it be one of his newfound friends, Johnny Marr or Bernard Butler? In fact he is joined by his wife Loren Auerbach who assists him on vocals. In his first Melody Maker interview in the sixties Jansch said of his music; "I have no message", but this is certainly not the case. Bert and Loren together sing ‘The quite joys of brotherhood’; Bert explains the song is about what man has done to nature, Loren chips in saying its "a lament for what mankind has done to nature". At times it feels a little strange watching a man and wife converse alone on stage but luckily no tiffs ensue. Other songs with a very contemporary "message" include; ‘In search of the whale’, a song about whaling and ‘Needle of death’, a story about heroine addiction.
Each song is interspersed with anecdotes and reminiscences about the early days, the sixties and trips to Morocco, as well as much comical and cheeky banter from a typically scouse crowed. At one point it threatens to turn into question time!

Bert does two intimate sets and covers the full repertoire of old and more recent songs, satisfying the old devotees and his more recent recruits (myself included). There have been no tricks; just a living folk legend on stage with an acoustic guitar and the audience at his feet.