Ray Davies at the Royal Albert Hall

Ray Davies
Dead Flamingoes
Royal Albert Hall, 4 October 2012

I was surprised when Dead Flamingoes walked on stage, not only because I didn't know there was going to be a support act, but also because I recognised both members. Firstly, I had seen James Walbourne last year supporting Laura Cantrell and then Kami Thompson, the daughter of British folk legends Richard and Linda Thompson, I saw supporting Elvis Costello a couple of years back.

Laura Cantrell at Monto Water Rats

Laura Cantrell
James Walbourne

Monto Water Rats, 26 January 2011

I wish I could say I discovered Laura Cantrell on John Peel's uber-cool recommendation or first heard her voice drifting from the radio on his hugely influential radio show, he was afterall the man who introduced her to these shores and called her debut, Not The Tremblin' Kind, his favourite album "of the past 10 years and possibly my life". But in reality I came to the Laura Cantrell party rather late and through the recommendation of a Flaming Lips-loving friend. It was just after her third album came out, Humming By The Flowered Vine, around the time Laura had her first child which has meant that she hasn't toured in five and a half years and I missed the boat in order to see her live.