Reviews
“Marty Willson-Piper is a music veteran having been a key member of “The Church” in the eighties and “All About Eve” in the nineties and now plays a pivotal role in the band “Noctorum”. As a solo performer however he has never played Edinburgh before this magnificent concert last week.
This very talented artist [a fountain head of talent as a songwriter and performer] presented a master class of twelve string guitar playing in a generous two and a half hour set at this legendary music venue. As in recent years Marty was accompanied by his wife Olivia on violin. The two as musicians spoke as one, each anticipating every musical cadence and improvisation that the moment commanded. Interspersed with funny stories of life in the music business Marty is as articulate personally as he is on guitar. We were entertained to a wide ranging review of his back catalogue from “Forget the Radio” to the enchanting and heartfelt performance of “Forever”, dedicated to long term fans Marianne and Billy Bailey.
I attended this concert with a blank canvas. I left a fan of the music but also of the delightfully open and educative Piper’s. Most people aspire to live their dream. This lovely couple do so openly and with joy in the best traditions of talent sharing. They are the real deal! A goldmine of delight.”
— Seamus Doran (Edinburgh, UK)
“Marty, on a well-loved and battered Takamine 12-string semi-acoustic guitar held together with copious amounts of gaffer tape, and wife Olivia, on violin and wearing a lovely pair of cowboy boots, mixed songs from Marty’s long and varied career with extended spoken word interludes and banter with the intimate, seated audience of loyal and long-standing fans.
Sometimes seated themselves and sometimes standing, the married couple presented their lyrical and beautiful songs to the appreciative audience, interspersed with spontaneous on-the-spot stream-of-consciousness song writing based on conversations with the audience and tangential observations from Marty and Olivia, musings, observations and expositions, and tall tales from Marty’s long music career. An entertaining raconteur, Marty’s topics of conversation, tall tales and shaggy dog stories included bucolic pastoralism; the best way to fill up empty space in your house; descending chord progressions in songs; onesies and womble suits; whether there was anyone famous from Leek; local radio interviews – leading to discussing Stoke-on-Trent and the Six Towns that comprise it; touring with The Cult, Italian police with machine guns and the exact sartorial definition of good and evil as far as the Italians are concerned; Venice sinking under water; having a near death experience when a plane he was on suffered a catastrophic engine failure on an internal flight in Australia; Bryan Adams; Prog Rock – Olivia hosts and curates the Night Of The Prog festival in Germany – Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets, with Gary Kemp on vocal duties (how and why did this happen?!?); telephone calls with David Gilmour and asking him to produce and guest on an All About Eve album, then being starstruck upon seeing him in the studio and asking him daft questions; disclosure on who actually played the famous bass line to Money; and skiing and song writing with Madonna!
During the interval, dedicated vinyl collectors and fans of Marty’s previous bands got their rare records signed, before the second half of the set commenced. Marty has often been photographed in a Big Star t-shirt, and he and Olivia ended the set with a cover of Thirteen from Big Star’s #1 Record, after which Marty and Olivia left the stage to well-deserved applause. As ever, Marty, Olivia and the Foxlowe would like to thank everyone who came to the show, and we hope to see you again soon.”
— Giles Metcalfe, Foxlowe Arts Centre (Leek, UK)
“And so to the heart of London’s swinging Clerkenwell, where former The Church, All About Eve, The Saints and current Anekdoten guitarist Marty Willson-Piper is paying for his Roy Harper ticket by initially doing an acoustic gig, which has blossomed into a short UK tour. Downstairs at The Betsey Trotwood is not a big room, and so lends itself ideally to the sort of intimate soiree we are about to experience. Accompanied by wife Olivia on vocals, fiddle and octave violin – who brings great depth, atmosphere and warmth to proceedings – Marty swaps between twelve string guitars (one of which appears to be principally gaffa tape) and brings us a wide ranging selection from his back catalogue of seventy-odd albums, collaborations, productions and guest spots including a handful from The Church’s Heyday and a very creditable Farewell Mr. Sorrow, in between rambles, reflections on mortality, and a reading. It is terrifically enjoyable, and it’s almost impossible not to be swept into MW-P’s intimate world of hand-crafted stage lighting, guitar geekdom and genuine affection for the form.”
— Skirky, The Afterword (UK)
“Wednesday, 20th March 2019. The Foxlowe, Leek is buzzing with anticipation in the bar area, until someone signals to come into the concert room. The scene is stunning; a full room of a seated audience accompanied by tealights on the tables and a few drinks on the go. The lights dim. The show begins.
Witty brilliance shines through with comments on life and society, paired with beautiful mesmerising acoustic goodness and deadpan jest delivered wonderfully. Marty Willson-Piper has the audience eating out of his palm, with his relaxed nature and his ‘inside secret stories’ on his world of music and a career in the industry spanning out decades. Olivia’s occasional one liners of humour make for beautiful team work in capturing the audience. The audience is chatting with them, shouting out answers to Marty’s questions. It’s as if he’s having a private conversation with the whole audience, making the music that they both play even more enthralling. We’re all hanging on every word, every note.
Marty-Willson Piper and Olivia Willson-Piper are a couple where music fills their blood and lifts their spirits, making you feel every word and emotion as they play. The music is phenomenal – real and raw – and talent oozes from the sound of their performance. The whole show is a journey and it’s difficult to drag yourself away. The music is flawless – the arrangements match the atmosphere of the show perfectly; the lyrics are clever, true and timeless and the overall sound is out of this world. It’s a gig not to be missed.”
— Liv Tyde, 6 Towns Radio (UK)
“In their heyday, with chart topping hits like “Metropolis” and “Under The Milky Way”, Australian neo-psychedelic/dream poppers The Church became a staple during the MTV Era of the 1980s into the early ‘90s (when MTV actually played music videos back-to-back). Saturday, a small gathering of devotees were privileged to a rarified event. An intimate performance by Marty Willson-Piper (co-founding member of The Church) accompanied by his lovely bride Olivia Willson-Piper on violin. The newlyweds, on a cross country trek, made a stop in The Old Pueblo. The venue: The inviting living room of close friends. I must say, in this context, to hear Willson-Piper’s rich, resonant voice sing “Spark,” a song that he penned off of Starfish (Arista, 1988), while slashing away on twelve-string acoustic guitar was just too much to bear. Overstimulated neurotransmitters flooded my brain with epinephrine, unable to fully process the surreality and sheer awesomeness of the moment, resulting in a Cheshire cat grin that remained affixed long after the final chord rang out.”
— Xavier Omar Otero (Tucson, AZ, USA)
“Truth is indeed stranger than fiction in this strange world of ours. Sometimes the impossible happens. Sometimes, unexpected treasures do, indeed land on your doorstep (literally). Last Saturday evening, we were visited and charmed by a travelling minstrel and his beautiful bride. What followed was a night of enchantment, melody and magic that I will never forget. Thank you Marty and Olivia Willson-Piper for filling our home with your very special brand of ethereal, spellbinding, mellifluous wonder. It was as beautiful as it was surreal. To have followed the career of such an exceptional musician and to have held him in such high regard for so many decades, to watching in awe as he painted the air with mesmerizing, haunting melodies and poetry in the comfort of my own home, was a full circle, very personal experience for me.
It’s not every day that we are given the opportunity to meet and spend quality time with our heroes. You will always be my favorite guitarist of all time, Marty. Your violin was heavenly, Olivia Willson-Piper. Congratulations to you both. I wish you both much prosperity and bliss!”
— Dennis Rhodes (Tucson, AZ, USA)
“Die ersten Akkorde spielt Marty Willson-Piper noch hinterm Tresen. Denn es ist eng im Café: Alle Stühle im hinteren und vorderen Raum sind besetzt, Menschen sitzen dicht an dicht. Und schon nach wenigen Minuten ist es kuschelig warm. „Mein Deutsch ist nicht das Gelbe vom Ei“, startet Marty den Abend. Und wechselt ins Englische. Doch er wisse mehr über deutsche Bands als irgendjemand sonst im Raum, denn: „Es ist das Land dessen Musik ich am meisten liebe.“
Auch wenn ihn Einflüsse des Psychedelic Rock („The Church“) geprägt haben, ist sein Solospiel doch dem Singer-Songwriter-Stil verbunden. Die Kompositionen des Engländers zeichnen sich durch sanfte Melodien aus, die durch das klare Geigenspiel seiner Frau Olivia verstärkt werden. Seine Texte sind teilweise äußerst poetisch. Die Inspiration dazu holt sich der nicht Sesshafte („Ich habe keine Katze, kein Auto, kein Heim“) auf seinen Reisen durch die Welt. „Alles, was man kennt, bemerkt man nicht mehr“, sagt er. Weshalb er immer mit offenen Augen durch neue Orte und Landschaften gehe. In den Texten ist das Psychedelische seiner „The Church“-Zeiten oft zu spüren. Zum Beispiel im Ausdruck einer „Pralinenschachtel voller Angst“ oder „verrauchten Illusionen in Reliquien-Museen.“
Marty Willson-Piper machte sich vor allem mit dem Spiel seiner 12-saitigen Gitarre einen Namen. Und das sowohl bei der australischen Rockband „The Church“, wo er mit 22 Jahren als Gitarrist einstieg und 35 Jahre blieb, als auch mit der englischen Indie-Band „All About Eve“. Er spielte zudem mit Musikerinnen wie Aimee Mann und schnupperte am Punk bei der australischen Band „The Saints“. Vielfältigkeit. Oder „thinking outside the box“, wie Marty es nennt.“