Will Varley - Being on your own, sometimes works!!!

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Will Varley delights and entertains in Bath

Will Varley is back on the road, in fact he says he has been on the road for quite a while now and feels a bit guilty about it. He has a five month old baby at home and he is out ‘getting drunk every night’ while his missus is back holding the baby, I do wonder how guilt he really feels though. This personal stories is part of the show, it is part music, part spoken word and part stand up, which is fitting as it is being held in the local comedy club.

His songs are mostly about the World around and how quite frankly it could be better, in ‘Weddings and War’ that “instead of hunting now we go to Tesco’s”. Now apparently this was an issue abroad as they didn’t know what Tesco was, but in the US it was compared with a gun superstore, maybe telling about different cultures and gave him a shock when he went in for a sandwich. It is not always so light-hearted though as ‘Man who fell to Earth’ recalls the 19 year old that fell out of the plane wheel at Heathrow with only £1 and a mobile phone, hoping for a better life.

It is just him, his guitar and his Guinness on stage, but what more do you need, with the great tunes and great stories it is highly entertaining and the time is flying by. Or is it, in ‘Statue’ he questions whether time is moving or standing still, for example if everybody at the gig is experiencing an hour and half, does that mean the gig is weeks long or could every event be going on for ever simultaneously. He admits he doesn’t understand it either, but I am sure we have all been at gigs that felt like they lasted for weeks, this is far from one of those.

We have more songs about the follies of social media including Donald Trump quotes. He seems very down to earth though and while he loved touring the World with Frank Turner he also says how appreciative he is of this audience and you can tell he means it. In fact it feels more intimate than the venue is, feels like the sort of person you would go for a pint with, in fact one member of the audience bought him one and delivered it to the stage.

We get treated to more stories of the state of the World from ‘Advert Soundtrack’ lamenting Sex Pistols selling butter to ‘We don’t believe you Anymore’.  We did have good news in that the countries money worries are sorted in the sounds of ‘I got this Email’, in his best Teresa May impression stating she got an email from “prince of some country somewhere. He said his plan could never fail” so that’s austerity sorted.

I was glad we got the opportunity this time as he is going to take a bit of break to get to know his child (or make a paper model of the Titanic apparently).  He is truly entertaining taking you on a lyrical and at times thought provoking journey.  He ended the set on his best known tune ‘King for a King’ about people’s life cycles almost, poignant yet amusing in places, perfect really as almost a synopsis of the night

Review and Photo's by Jon Cooper

Check Out!, The Video to 'King for a King' Below...