Joe lines up Chichester and Brighton dates as he eyes up the world outside his lockdown shed
Having emerged from his shed – from which he livestreamed daily during lockdown – Joe Stilgoe takes to the stage at Brighton Open Air Theatre for Joe Stilgoe and Friends on October 10.
Gathering together fellow performers from the Hove/ Brighton area, he will he sharing the stage with Claire Martin, Louise Dearman, Drew Mconie and Omar.
“My first gig back was July 28 or 27 at BOAT which I had never played before and which I had not even been to, but it was such a lovely place. It was the first time that most of the audience there had seen live music since March, and it was great.
“I did a few other gigs during the summer, and BOAT asked if I would do another, but rather than doing the same thing, I thought I would get some friends together. It will be me and my band doing our stuff, but joined by guests. It will be a really spontaneous and lovely slice of brilliance. Obviously I am hoping the weather will be good!”
Joe, who will also be playing Chichester Festival Theatre on November 25, is looking forward to the release of a new album at the end of October, one that looks back on his lockdown performances from his
Shed. In all Joe did 67 online “Stilgoe In The Shed” shows to more than 150,000 people worldwide during lockdown. After 60 daily shows, with work just starting to start up again, he followed up with seven once-weekly shows.
“I found that a lot of people whether it was through bereavement or happier news with their dedications were seeing the performances as a platform that could help them in some way.”
Joe enjoyed the routine which it became, time spent
on preparation, time going through the dedications, the admin side of it all… and then the performance.
“When you get times like this – not that we had ever been through anything like this before – it was great to have that connection with music still.
“I think I would have taken time away from the piano. I would have still played it, but not so much. Without the shows, I just wouldn’t have been playing in the same way so I feel really indebted to them.
“And I also learnt so much – about breaking that fourth wall, about talking to the people who were watching. Usually you are a little disconnected with a big audience.”
But the feedback on Youtube was coming in in real time, with Joe able to respond to it: “And I wasn’t afraid to speak. I usually think that because I am a musician, it is not really my place to speak, but I wanted to speak about the things that needed to change. I am political, but I never want to alienate people, but I thought that if people like me and like my music, then they will have the same consciousness as me about speaking up to oppose racism and fascism and all the -isms.”
After 60 shows, Joe swapped to once weekly – and then stopped once the gigs started to happen for real. But as he says, we are still in “desperately uncertain times”: “You have meetings, and people are suggesting things, but as soon as people put an idea up, the brick wall appears, usually for reasons of government restrictions or finance.”
But you’ve got to keep hoping – and at the end of October, Joe will be bringing out his record of the times, his Joe in the Shed album, a new recording of some of the songs he played during his shed concerts: “I asked some of the regulars to the show what were the songs that had meant the most to them and I also thought about the ones that felt that to me like they summed up the whole experience. I came up with a list of 20 and we recorded 17 and we have got 15 on the album. I am an energetic performer, I feel, and I like upbeat music, but on this album there is a bit of a sense that there was not a huge amount to jump up and down about. It has a different kind of feel…”