Radio Gonzo

About six months ago we covered a story about theatre director Colin Watkeys imagining of the opera Fall of the House of Usher by Peter Hammill and Judge Smith. Perforce it was a cut down version, but we sent along none other than Judge Smith, who wrote: “Apparently, Peter Hammill has, on occasion, performed a suite of numbers from the opera. I have never seen this, but the Director, Colin Watkeys, and the performer, Jamie West have followed a similar concept in presenting a few individual solo songs from the opera, linked, in this case, with suitable quotations from the Poe short story. Jamie West is a tall, bearded young man, who plays good, clean guitar and equally precise keyboard. He also sings like an angel. Dressed in skinny jeans and a pork-pie hat, he delivered truly admirable versions of four tracks from the album, a selection of songs which more or less covered the bare bones of the story.” Now a more intricate version is being performed, still directed by Watkeys, and we were so impressed by