Tuesday 28 February 2012

A Five-sided Gig

Thursday 23rd February: “You won’t like them,” I was warned by a colleague when I told him that I was going to see tonight’s headliners. “Their music is really complex.” To be fair to him, he did then say that “complex” wasn’t really what he meant (perhaps correctly, given my love of the beyond-simple genre of prog-rock) but that he couldn’t really decide what he actually did mean. Anyway, time would tell. But before that…

A few years ago, Suzy Bradley worked in the same building as me and I knew that she was a musician but, until tonight, I hadn’t managed to see her perform either solo or with her band. Suzy Bradley and the Morning After are comprised of Suzy herself on vocals and acoustic guitar, David Martin on electric guitar and Lucy Blakeson on cello – an unusual combination of instruments to say the least. Together, however, they worked and from them we got a nicely varied set. Starting with Neverland and then Sleeping Beauty, with the two guitars working together to give a nicely mellow sound before they were reined back to allow the cello through towards the end, there initially seemed to be a fairy-tale vibe going on, but I Don’t Know Why was a much livelier drinking song which was enhanced by some great vocal and facial expressions from Suzy. Vocally, Dust To Dust was archetypically folk while Dark Days (which was originally performed while Suzy was with a previous band) was a slightly rockier number with the electric guitar used sparingly but to eerie effect in places before bursting into life for the body of the song. The set ended with Suzy performing Blue as a solo and, again, it was very folky but showed that she has a very good, powerful yet subtle voice. (There was one other track, but I forget what it was called.) Overall, this was an extremely entertaining performance of modern folk and it was very well received by an audience who sat in rapt attention throughout – something you don’t often see for a support act.

The softly-spoken David Hughes seems, from comments on his website, to be a regular fixture on tours with tonight’s headliners and is, perhaps a slightly more traditional singer than the previous act but one that combines a degree of wit and humour into his set. Preceding every song with a story about its origins, he proceeded to entertain us with Two-stroke (written when he discovered that Bert Jansch’s Blackwater wasn’t about David’s local river but a much smaller one in Ireland), The Ballad of Jazzie B (from a musical he is working on that tells the story of hip-hop’s real beginnings in early twentieth century Essex), Thoughts And Prayers (a folk song about Facebook) and You And I Both Know It Had to End (his tribute to a certain type of 60’s songwriter and the genre of songs about the women they met on the road, which ended with the marvellous lyric “by the time you get to Tesco, I’ll be gone”). I didn’t catch the title of his final, much livelier song, which he performed with a soon-to-be-familiar backing group, but there still seemed to be a humorous tone to it. It almost seems an unfair comparison, but the person that sprang to my mind while watching David’s set was Mike Harding but, it has to be said, the humour was nowhere near as blatant and the songs not of the same style. This was a much gentler performance of songs which, along with the stories behind them, painted whimsical pictures and brought forth wry smiles.

My aforementioned colleague might have been slightly surprised by the line-up of Jacqui McShee’s Pentangle. The original version (simply Pentangle) that he remembered consisted of vocals, drums, double bass and both John Renbourn and the late Bert Jansch on guitar, both of whom I suspect he was slightly in awe of at the time. The current line-up, however, eschews guitars completely and consists of Jacqui McShee (vocals), Spencer Cozens (keyboards and vocals), Alan Thomson (bass) and Gary Foote (saxophones and flute). Usually Gerry Conway plays drums but was not behind the kit tonight for some reason. All of the band have played alongside some of the most famous musicians on the planet. I was expecting some sort of folk rock but, perhaps due to the lack of guitars, the set was more a sort of folk jazz fusion, with the beanpole figure of Foote especially looking as though he had just stepped out of a Parisian jazz club. On that note, the Duchess had once again been set out with tables, chairs and candles, giving the venue a laid-back club-like demeanour tonight. Without guitars Thomson’s bass took on a more prominent role, with the keyboards and saxophones becoming the lead instruments, providing a lighter backing to the vocals than most other acts I have seen. The opening song sounded familiar to both me and Andy but, while he couldn’t remember what it was the only thing that sprang (incorrectly) to my mind was the opening Simple Minds’ Belfast Child. Jabalpur was written, before the advent of Google Earth, about an apparently mysterious Indian city which the shrinking world has removed some of the mystery from. Once I Had A Sweetheart was a modern arrangement of a traditional English song and really showcased near-septuagenarian McShee’s still incredibly strong and emotive vocals, while another song whose title I didn’t hear showed just what a lovely language French is when sung. Shock And Awe was possibly the most jazzy song of the set while whatever it was that opened the second half of the set contained an extended instrumental which allowed each individual instrument (and musician) its time in the spotlight. During the remainder of the set we got, amongst others, one song with Cozens on vocals, a very traditional folk song and one with Scottish origins, the latter being a song in which it was entirely possible to lose yourself in the music. There was also a two-song encore, the first of which Andy recognised and the second which reminded me more of lounge music than either folk or jazz. Overall, this might not have been my usual choice of gig but it was one that I ended up enjoying a lot, thanks in no small part to McShee’s ageless voice and some wonderfully timeless music.

Afterwards, I visited the merchandise stand and, after purchasing a few CDs, got the latest release signed by McShee. I told her what my colleague had said, which both made her laugh and seemed to shock her slightly as she told me that was insulting to me and that he didn’t know what he had missed. You can be certain that I passed that on. 

 

Friday 17 February 2012

Zombie Invasion

Friday 10th February: I can’t think of many gigs I’ve been to in York where there has been a “Hollywood celebrity” in the audience…

Stolen Earth are seemingly on an ever-steeper upward curve. After a handful of gigs in 2011, a debut album is due in June, with a launch party planned at The Duchess on the 16th and a further few promotional dates, including a second appearance at the Cambridge Rock Festival, already announced. Before all that, though, they seem to be warming up by providing support for a number of bands/artistes who have their roots in the late 60s and early 70s, having already appeared with Roger Chapman (Family, Streetwalkers) and with upcoming gigs with Curved Air and Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash. Tonight saw them play a short but enthralling set of just four songs. This was the first time they have performed at The Duchess but the sound was superb, which bodes well for the album launch. Heidi’s vocals, still soulful, were somehow more silky and were showcased brilliantly during Tuscany Sun, while John’s keyboards were more prominent than I remember them from the previous two gigs but never swamped the overall sound. Given the wintery weather outside Into The Virgin Snow seemed a very appropriate choice of song and Perfect Wave appeared to be just that, with the song seemingly rolling out from the stage in, well, waves before Adam once again launched into his quite simply stunning guitar solo.

I freely admit that I’m not a big fab of 60’s pop music – too much of it sounds very similar to me (although, I have been chastised for saying so…) – and when Andy started getting a little excited that Colin Blunstone was going to be playing York, my first reaction was, “Who?”. I don’t think I would even have been able to come up with The Zombies if I had been asked to list bands from that era, but I did know She’s Not There, perhaps their most famous song. During tonight’s two-part set (with, it seemed, a rather long break) we were treated to songs from throughout Colin’s near fifty year career, included with the aforementioned She’s Not There were solo efforts I Don’t Believe In Miracles, Caroline Goodbye, Misty Roses and Time Of The Season. There was also Old And Wise, which he recorded with The Alan Parson Project and covers What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted, Tracks Of My Tears and On The Air Tonight. The sheer range of his career meant that I was entertained, rather than bored as I could have been if it was just sixties pop. Colin’s voice is still near crystal clear, especially between songs when he fired off entertaining and insightful snippets about most of the songs he performed and made light of his age and forgetfulness. While not exactly lively on stage (he is, after all, in his mid sixties, perhaps not quite as young as some of his publicity shots imply) he remains a strong vocal performer and is surrounded by a talented band – Pete Billington (whose varied keyboards were a highlight for me), Pat Illingworth (drums), Chris Childs (bass, also of The Union) and Tom Toomey (guitar, also a Zombie). This might not have been high on my list of gigs to attend this year, but it ended up being more entertaining than I expected.

…and the “Hollywood celebrity”? A certain David Gest was spotted. Apparently you can’t open a door in York without bumping into him at the moment.

Friday 3 February 2012

A Rising Return

Saturday 28th January: It’s the end of January and I’m on my fourth gig of the year already. If I can maintain this average, records could be broken. Tonight it’s a solo outing to the Duchess to see a homecoming gig from a favourite band.

“WE! ARE! LOST EFFECT!” barked Dave Wells from behind both his keyboard and an impressive amount of hair that, at times, turned him into a more than passable double of Cousin Itt from the Addams family. At first glance and first listen, Lost Effect appear to be heavily influenced by the Scandinavian Death Metal scene – Dave’s death growls bring to mind the heavier moments of Opeth, while the facial hair sported by Steve Wells (guitar) and Shaun Wainman (bass) give them a look of Norwegian fisherman (all that’s missing is a couple of cable-knit sweaters). But once you get past the near-brutal guitar and pounding drums (courtesy of Pete Rutherford), there is a whole lot more going on. Dave’s growling ends up being used sparingly while still being an integral part of the set, while his keyboard playing gives the songs a more symphonic, melodic and, in some places, progressive sound. Even better is the centre-piece of the band. Visually, vocalist Emily Burt could give a fair few of the current crop of femme leads a run for their money and, more importantly, vocally she plays the likes of Tarja Turunen (ex-Nightwish) or Amy Lee (Evanescence) at their own game. It’s a shame, then, that she looks so uncomfortable head-banging along with the rest of the front line – it might just be the lack of numbers watching them, but despite a stunning performance, she occasionally looked as though she wished she was anywhere else. Despite being in places a bit too extreme for my tastes, I found myself liking this set overall. I didn’t catch many of the song titles – Dave’s speaking voice is a heck of a lot quieter than his growling one – but I think that, among the set, we got Wolves, Archangel and something that might have been called Embrace The Silence, which ended the set with a superb assault on the ears. I’m not sure I would want to see Lost Effect as a headline act (yet, perhaps) but I certainly wouldn’t shy away from seeing than as a support act.

Bastrad were described by Simon Wright (and if you don’t know who he is, read on…) as possibly being the new Judas Priest. That didn’t help me much as, I have to admit, I don’t really remember the old Judas Priest. Looking about as far removed from a rock band as it is possible to – vocalist Tristan Fayers was sporting a pencil-tie… – they are another twin guitar band but one with a slightly lighter guitar sound than Morpheus Rising but with the same powerful and, during One Thousand Tears Of Pain, staccato drums. Fayers’ vocals seemed to struggle a bit during some of the quieter moments, during the more melodic Lost In Mind (again, I’m struggling to remember song titles) for example, but there was no denying his overall power. A much more lively band than tonight’s openers, their music at times came across as a little chaotic but always worked, especially during the fast and furious Drive, which was a great way to end a set.

It was at this point that I stopped taking notes. I’ve seen Morpheus Rising, tonight’s headliners, a fair few times now. Their debut album, Let The Sleeper Awake, was one of my top ten albums of 2011 and tonight saw them returning to York for the last gig of the tour promoting it. You only have to compare the backs of the two tour t-shirts they have produced to see how far this band have some since 2010. While that year’s tour saw them play ten dates spread out over more than a month (and including two in York and one at a forces festival), this year saw thirteen gigs in seventeen days, taking the band across the UK, with gigs in Wales and Scotland. I’m told that the tour was a great success and the band looked to be really enjoying themselves on stage tonight, with Pete and Daymo trading smiles during their guitar solos, Gibbo sending forth huge grins from behind the drum kit and even Andy cracking a rare smile or too when venturing forward from behind the speaker stack. Simon was in particularly manic mode, stalking across the stage between vocal sections, filming the audience and producing his distinctive laugh. Musically, they were as good as, if not better, than usual and now that we’ve had a chance to hear recorded versions of the songs, the live versions seem somehow more complete. You can’t beat live music but, in my opinion, it always helps you appreciate it when you have heard cleaner versions of the songs. There’s not much else I can say about Morpheus Rising – my regular reader will know that I think they are brilliant. Tonight’s set contained no surprises, concentrating on tracks from Let The Sleeper Awake and ending with the band’s anthem, Lord Of The North which now not only has a video but has also provided one of the two props used tonight – a huge Morpheus Rising flag which threatened to do some damage to the ceiling of the Duchess when Simon waved it during the encore. (The other was a horn which, apparently, had no special meaning but had been blown at least once during each gig of the tour. Drinks provided by the audience during the set don’t, in my opinion, count as props.) A superb live act, and now with a more than decent debut album under their belts, it seems that Morpheus Rising are hell-bent on getting better.