Billy Bragg

Billy Bragg is an incredible entertainer. I went in knowing very little about him and his work and came out knowing I would see him again and again (and that I need to beef up my music collection.) He is so witty, comical, and genuine, and of course - incredibly talented. And the boys in the band accompany him splendidly (and are a crap ton of fun to talk to after the show...they are, however, not very good leg wrestlers)

Thrilled to see a rare US performance from Billy Bragg. Set was full of witty, intelligent songs and commentary on current political issues. Always a pleasure!

Always a pleasure to see Him perform! Witty and intelligent commentary on contemporary world issues .

Billy Bragg played at the Birchmere on June 24. The first hour was Woody Guthrie songs in a tribute to 100 years since his birth. The selection was mostly of unknown Woody songs, some of which were stirring, some of which were mediocre. The last 40 minutes were filled with Bragg songs. He seemed to be going through the paces on them until he hit Levi Stubbs Tears and There Is Power In A Union. Of course, there was the witty and political banter by Billy between the songs. The concert would have been better if Billy had put more energy into the set of his songs and had played a few more of his old chestnuts.

Excellent Show. Informative, entertaining and impressive.

Billy Bragg is still as powerful as ever. His guitar skills have only improved with time. Exhilarating and inspiring one-man show, full of hope, optimism, strength, and solid advice about the importance of staying connected to and involved in our community. The Uptown Theatre in downtown Napa provides incredible acoustics, a clean and inviting concessions and reception area, great seats, and an intimate environment with the performer.

Billy Bragg never disappoints, he is politically in your face through his music and dialog. He is the voice of conscious that we all can benefit from listening to. Great Show. I still can't believe he played Napa...Nice job Uptown for getting him here.

Billy Bragg played the Vogue Theatre in Indianapolis, IN on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 and was one of the most engaging, intimate and impressive shows I've seen this year. This was my first time seeing Billy Bragg live and I will definitely go see him again. Playing a variety of favorites, he kept the crowd up and singing along and was genuinely connecting with everyone. Darren Hanlon opened the evening and is a great talent as well. I'm sure he gained several new fans, including me. If you have the opportunity to see this tour - do it.

What else can be said? It doesn't get any better than a guy on a stage with only his Telecaster, an amp and a distortion pedal along with great songs! His stories between songs were funny, insightful and poignant. Overall incredible show.

I've been a Billy Bragg fan for the past 18 years. This is the 3rd time I've seen him live and I have to say, "what a disappointment". The music remains solid but we were forced to sit through at least 7-10 minutes of pro-socialism, anti-republican party rhetoric between EACH SONG. I have don't really care what your political views are -- support whatever you like, but we came to hear Billy sing, NOT TALK. In two hours, he sang maybe 12-13 songs. That equates to 50% of my concert experience consisting of being preached to about fascism, socialism, the Tea Party, Glen Beck, Sara Palin, Barack Obama, Tony Blair, the IMF, World Bank, G20 nations, the Labour Party, etc, etc, etc. For an artist with so much talent and so many great songs, all I could think throughout the duration of the concert was "SHUT UP AND SING". Sadly, I think this will probably be my last Bragg concert.

The Ark is one of the best venues anwhere for this type of storytelling musician. As always, Bragg gave a top notch performance. Strong sexy vocals. The notes from his guitar were as emphatic as his message. Sad the night had to end, but wait, it didn't. Everyone in that audience took away something that will change how they change the world. -Thank you Billy

An excellent concert in an amazing venue. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Bill Bragg is not only a singer, songwriter,musician par excelllance, he has a repoire with the audience that most musicians can only hope for. Between songs, Billy weaves stories about topics from soccer to politics - always with an eye to illuminating a better way forward. His message is simple. We can make a difference when we realize that we have the power, together, to make a better world. His songs and words beautifully and sometimes plaintively describe a world where social justice and peace trump greed and hostility. As he says in his song, Must I paint you a picture?

I guess I should have anticipated it, but I was unprepared for the amount of political commentary he gave. I found myself thinking, "shut up and sing!" I left wondering if he sang as much as he talked. When he DID sing, it was great. And The Ark is a great venue. But I will not go to another of his concerts.

Sultry, sexy, and a socialist. It was a great show in a great venue!

Amazing and inspiring. Great songs and stories for a perfect concert!

incredible solo show. played mainly older stuff. billy stayed around after the show to meet fans, sign stuff, and take pics. really nice guy.

Great show. The Max Bell concert hall is a nice venue, comfortable seats, great acoustics. Billy put on a fairly predictable and solid set. His vocals were very smooth, seems he is learning to sing a bit after all these years. Great music, good message, a little politics thrown in. Billy always makes sure to bring back some of his old songs and a few of the ones you always wished you could hear live. Openers were Ron Hawkins and Kris Demeanor. Hawkins had a great sound, really reminded me of some early Bragg stuff. A bit of a country flavor at times, but tons of emotion and well written original songs. I bought his CD at the show I was so impressed with him. Demeanor is a unique act. He is a bit music and a bit of spoken word artist. I actually googled him up after the show, he has some pretty cool accomplishement so far. The guy won or was in the running for some serious awards. He was quite entertaining, at times humorous, and in the moments when he would step out of his character and let his guitar take over, he was a great musician and singer. He did a tune called 'DoubleDown' that with a little commercial polish could launch this guy.

After over 30 years, Billy Bragg can still bash them out and bring tremendous soul to his love songs. He remains one of the great singer songwriters of the past quarter century and gives his all in live performance. Great banter with the crowd.

Billy Bragg and Joe Henry put on a heartfelt, spirited show as they took us on a journey through a slice of Americana. Like watching two great performers busking at a train depot!

This "show" was a big disappointment. There was mostly talking and taking breaks from the "performers"...... the music was secondary to their egos, and to the typical lame Seattle audience, including Dow and his posse.

Billy comes back to the Neptune and, as always, he's incredible. I liked the pace of the show and the fact that both Billy and Joe had their own 'mini-sets'.

I have seen billy bragg at least 3 times previously and loved his shows but this was awful and disapointing. 95% of the show was from his latest album of covers about trains and hobos and americana. If you like that album you'll love this. However if you want to see billy do billy's songs you are going to be very unhappy. I have been to hundreds of concerts and never seen a show so ignore old material and focus on one album like this.

Billy Bragg always presents and excellent show. He knows his folk music but has a bit of a punk flavor. Bragg is dedicated to Americana music, and clearly loves the country. Birchmire is general admission. You sit at tables, typically with strangers. The best seats are grabbed early, so get there early and enjoy a reasonable dinner.

Love both performers, great musicians in their own right and wonderful together. Loved the premise of the album: Tribute to American train songs. And recorded in old tratin stations. Recommend the album and seeing these guys in person!

I am always happy when I go to a show and the performance is better than expected. Billy Bragg has a great stage presence without even mentioning his balladeering. Truly an enjoyable evening!

Great solo show with Billy Bragg who played an excellent set - all my favorites. I most enjoyed his witty commentary & rabble rousing between songs; he's got a great sense of humor and is a dedicated agitator who inspires others to take action. Thanks to Billy for returning to Portland - please come back soon! And thank you to whomever was responsible for bringing him; good on ya!

The Big Nosed Bard of Barking delivered the perfect 20 song set. He is a political commentator and comedian with an arsenal of killer tunes dating back over 30 years - simply the best.

It was brilliant! Haven't seen Billy for ages and enjoyed him as much as I did years ago. Nice to see an event so well attended even if they were mostly old fogies. A night to remember and happy to hear a lot of the old songs from years past. Thanks to Billy and to whoever was smart enough to bring him here.

I'm a huge longtime fan of Billy Bragg (from 80's to now) and loved, loved, loved this show. The set list reflected the fan base in attendance -- a great mix of old and new. Billy's commentary between songs was witty, funny and from what I could tell from all around me; greatly enjoyed. His voice is so strong yet nuanced and emotive. Seeing him appear backed with the talented artists that make up this touring band in such an intimate venue was so great. He stayed around to meet and greet his fans too. Such a talented artist!! In my opinion, this show could not have been better.

Billy Bragg brought his voice and power to the Birchmere, playing classics and new music. And excellent show by a great showman.

There's always something nice about a Billy Bragg concert, but this one was pretty sleepy. He played a buch of songs from his new record which is kind of down tempo. It was perfectly nice and all, but I can't imagine anybody left thinking that it was really fun or great.

First time seeing him and his refreshing honesty about what it means to be a part of humanity. What a wonderful human being. Wish I knew more of them!

I have to say that I was very disappointed with the concert -- I didn't go in with high expectations but was hoping to leave the evening inspired or enlightened and I left feeling frustrated and disappointed. I obviously knew Billy Bragg was politically outspoken (which I appreciate and is one of the things I love about him) but I didn't think that 70% of the concert would be preaching whilst the remainder was music. While it is great to be politically outspoken, it shouldn't be the lead act at a concert.

Great show. First time seeing Billy Bragg. I was surprised that he played with a full band. I was sort of expecting a solo show. I liked him playing some solo electric guitar songs from his back catalog. Kim Churchill was a bonus. It is nice when the warm up act does not bore you to tears.

Billy Bragg has a great voice and clearly enjoys being in front of an audience, but his performance on Saturday night at Town Hall would infuriate any music lover. I share most of Billy's political views, but I don't go to concerts to hear simplistic, puerile rants about health care and activism and gay marriage. Sing more, lecture less, Billy. You came off as a tedious high school teacher who can't even illustrate his cant with interesting anecdotes. The glee over Margaret Thatcher's death is in extremely poor taste, and do you have any idea how many times you said: "I'm a" or "I'm not a"...(country singer, folk singer, punk, etc)? Seriously, buddy, you've become so narcissistic. Not one love song!!!! I would feel I'm owed an apology and a refund for sitting through that tendentious twaddle, but I really appreciated Kim Churchill, so at least Billy follows through on his interminable sermons and shows generosity to promising young talent that needs such help. But I don't know if I'll risk another Billy Bragg concert, because, if I want repetitive, reductive political views, I'll stay home and watch CNN.

Billy Bragg is a polished performer, offering his views on society through music and verse.

Fine time. Great place to see him and we had a clear view of the stage. Most of the audience seemed to be genuine people and real fans of Mr. Bragg. if I understood more of his accent I might have been better off but it gave us more to argue about later. The band seemed really included in a nice way. Would see him now every time he's in town...

Billy Bragg's performance was GREAT. However, your SOUND SYSTEM sucks. It was very difficult to hear both the songs that he sang as well as his comments. My wife and I also had the same problem of hearing at the performance of Dr. John.

This may be the 5th time in the last 20 or so years I have seen Billy Bragg in concert. It was great. He gets better as he gets older! I did miss hearing my union song though.

I first saw Billy 20 years ago in Melbourne, Australia! He's arguably even better these days! Great band and sound as well. Highly recommended.

Excellant entertaining evening. Quality performer with plenty to say

We went to see a night of wonderful music and instead was subjected to political ranting.

From the opening act - Kim Churchill - to the final encore this was a great show. Bragg took the stage with 4 musicians and brought the goods. I have seen him perform with just a guitar in the past so the vibe of the show was different. He played a nix of old and new with stories between songs. If you are a rabid fan it was tremendous. If you are new to Bragg, you will leave entertained and enlightened. Catch him if you can.

What an amazing gig. I last saw Billy Bragg way back in 1990 in Australia and he was sensational then, as he was Saturday night. As is his way, you feel that you are sitting at a bar chatting with him about social issues with a lot of humour mixed in. His musical performance was amazing too. The first third of the gig was Billy and his band. The second part was just Billy and his guitar and then the third part was Billy and his band again. The set list was a great mix of songs from his latest album "Tooth and Nail", as well as his early stuff, including "Milkman Of Human Kindness" which is always a treat live. Post show is amazing too. Bill stands in the foyer and greets, chats, has photos taken and signs stuff for each and every fan! He doesn't rush you through and seems genuinely pleased to meet each person. At this concert he was out in the foyer for well over an hour and a half, which given the length of the concert, all the prep work, not to mention sleeping in the back of the tour bus right above the axle, he must be absolutely exhausted, but this does not show in any way, shape or form and he is happy, attentive and absolutely a man of the people!

Billy was as talkative and political as ever, a given if seeing Mr Bragg. Not for the conservative-minded. He threw in a few funny jokes and anecdotes. His energy and passion are still evident. Time hasn't affected his voice and his band was superb. A great balance of old and new songs. Fully engaged with the audience. Exceeded my high expectations

It was really good would have preffered to hear more old songs but overall a great time!

Billy is a down to earth, amazing man who speaks for the "little guy". It amazed me that he hung around after the show to meet the fans and never did so begrudgingly.