2021 Music Roundup

 2021 Music Roundup

by Pete Clemons

2021 an overview

If 2020 was a catastrophic year for the music industry then 2021 was equally as difficult. If not more. So for those involved in it - Massive thanks to all for keeping our spirits high..............

With music venues in the U.K. remaining closed until July 19 live activity hit promoters hard and resulted in fewer performing opportunities for bands and artists alike.

Ongoing restrictions meant a whole raft of ideas being floated including drive in gigs. But none really came to fruition. It also appears that the imitative for livestream gigs didn’t exactly capitalise on the absence of the real thing either. Extensive technical issues seemed to mar many of the events.

Yet despite the problems on the live circuit Coventry bucked the trend with the opening of two new outstanding music venues. The HMV Empire and Drapers Hall. And both, very quickly, began to attract big names. Along with venues like The Arches in Spon End, which again battled every obstacle set before it and The Assembly in Leamington Spa which appears to be booking a whole host of bands for 2022 then Coventry and Warwickshire must be in a favourable position as far as the future of live music is concerned.

Live music

How wonderful it was to see the return of the Godiva festival. And what an unforgettable weekend it turned out to be. Yes there were teething problems with ticketing and entrance. Overall though a great experience. But that was during the early part of September.

By then though we had seen the stop start opening of the HMV Empire. Blues 2 Go take the honour of being the first band to grace its stage on its opening night. They were quickly joined by The Session, Candid and Stone Foundation on that prestigious occasion.

This was quickly followed by a series of indoor and outdoor gigs at the old cathedral and the Assembly Festival Gardens that included Hazel O'Connor, The Session and Candid.

August saw Roddy 'Radiation' Byers in conversation at the Cathedral Ruins and Callum Pickard make his long awaited live debut with his latest project Tarragon at Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa.

Soon after the Godiva weekend we were graced with a gig by The Specials at the CBS arena. And it really was very good. Old songs and new both greeted enthusiastically. No denying that the pandemic had affected gig goers confidence by way of many none showers. But with no adverse affects afterwards it was deemed a total success. As was the whole of The Specials 2021 tour.

October 1st at last gave Barnabus the opportunity to play their last ever gig. And what a performance that was at the Nelson Club, Warwick. The trio of John Storer, Keith Hancock and Tony Cox pulling out the gig of a lifetime. They were incredibly good. Yep, it really was that impressive. Local charities benefited also.

October also saw Peter Knight's Gigspanner perform at St. Bartholomew’s Church Hall on the Binley Road. Peter of course was once violinist for Steeleye Span. And this was Gigspanner's first outing for a good while. The enjoyment of all, particularly those performing, was infectious.

Paul Weller graced the Empire during November. This was a monster of a gig. 30 plus songs in a set that lasted going on for almost 3 hours.

Finally December when I saw Jethro Tull, The Skabilly Rebels, Two Whole Quails, Moonbears, The Session, Danny Ansell and The Institutes all perform in various venues around the city.

From an audience perspective I do feel as though we are seeing a rebirth. Musicians just cutting loose after a long period of being shackled. No longer do some look like they are simply going through the motions. Genuine pleasure at doing what they were born to do has been obvious.

Music released by local artists

The Spon End Opera by Mary Courtney and Christopher Sidwell – Odd Sock: History and merryment all on one disc.

Eddie Mooney and the Grave: Includes Coventry drummer Rick Medlock. Have quietly released a series of quality 45s and on line singles.

The Kidda Band: Nuneaton's finest. Born around the time of punk rock and have recently collected all their back catalogue onto CD. These formats were new to me at least.

The Specials – Protest Songs 1924 to 2012: A celebration of the protest song. And very good it is too.

Albums – Wider Afield

Steven Wilson – The Future Bites: this album had been ready to go for some time. But the pandemic delayed its release. My initial thought were that it had Grammy written all over it. It has since been short listed for two.

The Pineapple Thief – Nothing But The Truth: I mentioned above that livestream gigs had, overall, not been a success. This one bucked the trend. It has since been released on CD and DVD and what an absolute delight it is.

Daniel Wylie – Atoms and Energy: Songs about relationships. Great harmonies too. A real delight.

Plenty – Enough: A lock down project. Covers the first ever releases and early demos by Tim Bowness and his band Plenty.

John Fiddler – Warriors of Love: Attention grabbing blues album with songs about love at the heart of it.

The Fierce and the Dead - Part One: Early EP's together as one CD for the first time. Attention grabbing.

Caravan – It's None of Your Business: the bands first studio release for 8 years. Songs influence by the event and restrictions of the last 2 years. A very good listen.

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Knebworth 76: a long overdue release of one of the finest concerts I ever witnessed.

Losses during 2021 included amongst many others..........

Gerry Marsden

Tim Bogert

Sylvain Sylvain

Hilton Valentine

Chick Corea

Bunny Wailer

Alan Cartwright

Jim Steinman

Les McKeown

Florian Pilkington-Miksa

BJ Thomas

Dusty Hill

John Lawton

Nanci Griffith

Don Everly

Charlie Watts

Ron Bushy

Lee 'Scratch' Perry

Alan Lancaster

John Goodsall

Graeme Edge

David Longdon

John Miles

Michael Nesmith



Apart from the above I will also remember 2021 as the year Adele single handedly clogged up the music media manufacturing plants and the Sex Pistols imploded once again. This time, however, in court. On the plus side, 2021 proved to be one of the best years for British bands and music in the UK charts in over a decade.