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Donovan, The Jazz Café, London

19th May 2006

So, last night I went to see Donovan at the Jazz Café in London. The first hurdle after finding the venue (which wasn't difficult) was getting in. Although I'd booked my ticket a week or two ago, I realised on Thursday that I had no idea if it'd arrived or not. I was fairly sure that it had, and spent almost all of Thursday evening turning the entire flat upside down trying to find it -- going through heaps of papers, searching behind cupboards and bookcases where it might have fallen, going through the bins and recycling piles. It didn't turn up. Thankfully when I phoned See Tickets on Friday morning they agreed to transfer the ticket to a door pick-up even though they said it'd been dispatched on the 12th.

I'd never been to the Jazz Café before and it was really quite cool there. Nice! I got a pint and camped out at the front, sitting perched on the edge of the stage and people-watching. The venue was a lot smaller than I had expected, with the doors to the kitchens at the back of the standing area and upstairs seating for those eating. There was an hour and a half to wait before the music started, but it passed fairly quickly with Kind of Blue playing over the sound system. After a few minutes I saw Donovan arrive with his guitar, wandering through the bar area and off downstairs, untroubled by the fans.

First up was singer Astrella Celeste. She did a nice comfortable set of pleasantly uncomplicated, mainly up-beat folk/pop songs -- all her current repertoire, including Without me, I like it, Run away, my favourite Play along and her forthcoming debut single, Dream. Astrella is, of course, Donovan's daughter; you can see the family resemblance.

Donovan thanked Astrella and got on with his set. He was playing his lovely guitar Kelly and was dressed in a green long-sleeved t-shirt. He looks amazing for his age and he's got so much passion and intrigue, he's like a little pixie with a kind of magic energy about him. The gig was basically to promote the paperback release of his book, The Hurdy Gurdy Man, and as such it was a kind of "best-of" set, interspersed with tales from his past; of travelling down from Scotland to St Albans with Gypsy Dave (who was there, selling merchandise), of hanging out in beat cafés, staying in London and touring with Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.

The set list contained (not all-inclusive and not in order) Colours, The ballad of Geraldine, Sunny Goodge Street, Hurdy gurdy man, Jennifer Juniper, Catch the wind, Universal soldier, There is a mountain, Season of the witch, Guinevere, Sunshine superman -- even I love my shirt and a new one I didn't know, off the forthcoming album. West Indian Lady and Mellow Yellow made up the short encore.

I have no idea if he remembered me from the time I met him at the book signing at Foyles last year -- it seems so unlikely as to be incomprehensible -- but that time I told him a story about one of his songs, and last night when he was singing it he stared right at me -- totally looking at me, very pointedly. I was beaming from ear to ear. He didn't look/sing specifically at me at any other point, so... who knows?

A totally unforgettable gig, spoiled only by a small group of overexcited and very drunk girls who could barely stand up who barged in next to me and spent the later third of the gig screaming adoration at Donovan and jostling me and all the others around them.

Donovan didn't come out to meet fans or sign stuff at the end -- at least not while I was still there, but I didn't hang around for long. Instead I bought a signed CD (#606 of 1000) of newly unearthed and previously unreleased recordings of his from 1964 (sold to me by Gypsy Dave's son) and headed off towards home.

I got home to find that the postman had delivered my ticket while I was out.

[The Jazz Cafe]
London's famous jazz venue... flanked by London's famous wheelie-bins
[Astrella Celeste]
Astrella Celeste
[Donovan]
The very wonderful Donovan Leitch
[Kelly]
Donovan's guitar, Kelly

Photos © urban-spaceman.org