The Union–The Duchess, 08/06/12

I’m not sure how The Duchess managed to get chosen as the venue for The Union’s only festival warm-up gig this Summer but I’m glad it did because they are rapidly becoming one of my favourite live acts.

The (specially invited) support tonight came from Leicester’s hard-rockers Skam, a band who know how to connect to and, from the way that the space filled in around me a few songs into the set, draw in an audience. Seemingly with influences as relatively diverse as Whitesnake and Black Sabbath and occasionally sounding like a heavier version of York’s own 98 Pages, Skam played an energetic set of quality rock. Vocalist and guitarist Steve Hill punctuated songs with forays away from the microphone for some slick guitar solos while bassist Matt Gilmore’s facial expressions gave the impression that he was either in pain or, perhaps, was experiencing slightly too much pleasure. The band are rounded out by (X)Ray Peverill, who plays drums with energy and gusto. All three supply vocals and, it has to be said, a nice line in synchronised head-banging. The set comprised of songs from their debut album – It’s Come To This… – and included the single No Lies, which can also be found on the cover-mount CD which comes with the latest issue of Classic Rock magazine. The band not only stayed around for The Union’s performance but, afterwards, seemed to be selling a fair few copies of the album, as well as taking time to sign them and chat with new fans, always nice to see. Hopefully, they will be back this way soon. Peverill told me that they would play at any venue that would have them. When I pointed out to him that that smacked slightly of desperation he replied with, “That’s because I’m a drummer…” Very self-effacing.

With a slot at Download (or, given the atrocious Summer weather, should that be Downpour?) the next day, The Union came to York in two pairs – one managed to arrive ahead of time and, apparently, sat sipping tea before tonight’s gig while the other broke down on the motorway and had to wait to be rescued. Not that it showed in the performance, which included The Union staples – cool and calm bass from Chris Childs; bombastic drumming and, eventually, t-shirt removal from Dave McCluskey; brilliant guitar from Luke Morley; and superb vocals, which managed to be powerful without being overbearing, from Pete Shoulder (once again sporting his pseudo-Victorian urchin/toff combo of waistcoat, undershirt and top-hat). The set came in at just under an hour – slightly disappointing – but, given the usual lack of banter between songs, still managed to comprise of a good selection of songs from both albums, including Blame It On Tupelo, Siren’s Song, Saviour, Easy Street and an encore including a cover of Proud Mary. As usual, The Union gave a no-nonsense, highly enjoyable performance. There was a feeling, after they played here earlier in the year, that it wouldn’t be too long before the band moved on to bigger venues, so The Duchess should be applauded for managing to carry on attracting such relatively big-name bands. Long may it continue.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen

Wednesday 19th October: I’m afraid this entry will be a bit brief because, I’m ashamed to say, I completely forgot to review tonight’s gig. That’s no reflection on the evening, though.

I arrived at the Duchess just as Mad Dog, a three-piece from London, were starting and the first thing that struck me was the fact that vocalist (and guitarist) Tommy Smith had more than a slight hint of Robert Plant in his voice. The lyrics were a tad repetitive, but Roj eventually pointed out that they reminded him of York’s own 98Pages so that’s possibly no bad thing. The music, however, was an excellent mix of rock and blues and certainly got the crowd’s attention. Each song was applauded and cheered as though the band were already a favourite, despite this being their first tour and the debut album not arriving until next year. A brilliant opening performance from a band who, apparently, only arrived at the venue just before they were due to go on stage. The van breaking down? Very rock and roll…

Fighting Wolves, on the other hand, seemingly failed to get the crowd’s attention. People were listening but the songs weren’t being greeted with as much enthusiasm. At one point, the vocalist (I’m not sure which one – the above link lists three) commented that it seemed that the crowd wished that they and Mad Dog had played in reverse order. It was a bit of a shame really. Despite, perhaps, being slightly too heavy and the vocals a bit too screamy, for tonight’s bill there wasn’t actually anything wrong with the music. In fact, they reminded me a little of Black Stone Cherry. The performance was a little less slick than that of Mad Dog, with a bit too much messing about and some barely audible jokes (I assume) between songs. I didn’t get many of the song titles but would say that Wait One Minute was a very good end to an under-appreciated set.

Last year, The Union’s debut release was one of my top five albums so there was no question about going to see them again. Touring to promote their second album – Siren’s Song – they gave a no-nonsense performance, letting the music do the talking. Very near to the end of the set, Pete Shoulder commented that he thought that he’d hardly spoken to the audience. Indeed it was so - beyond a “How are you all doing?” and a handful of song introductions, barely a word was spoken. And when the music is this good, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I didn’t buy the new CD until after the gig, so didn’t know most of the songs played tonight but, alongside those new songs were a handful I remembered from the first album. My memory of all the songs played has failed me but Lillies sat comfortably alongside the likes of Siren’s Song and Blame It On Tupelo. Near veterans of the industry, Shoulder and Luke Morley along with bass-player Chris Childs played and sang superbly but special mention has to go to drummer Dave McCluskey – he really does play brilliantly, slamming the sticks down from above head-height and seeming to put his whole upper body behind his performance. It was only two songs in that his incredibly energetic performance necessitated the removal of his top and a head dowsing from a handy water bottle. And he does all this with a near constant grin. Overall, a top notch performance from a band that I can only hope continue to grace York with their presence. 

Union Meeting

Thursday 30th September: ...and I finally get to see the inside of the newly refurbished and, in some quarters, somewhat maligned Fibbers. Somebody has turned the inside around, made it a bit roomier (although I'm told that part of it was curtained off tonight) and made the decor a bit brighter, with a long bar selling expensive drinks (I didn't bother) and a sound system that, at least in part, looks as though it has been stolen from the TARDIS. It certainly seems to be easier to see the stage, with random walls and pillars having been removed, but the stage itself seems a bit smaller and I couldn't help but wonder how some bands I saw at the pre-refurb'ed version, particularly the seven-piece The Reasoning, would fit onto it. But that's for the future. What about tonight.

I wasn't too far down the queue when the doors opened but the first act, Boss Caine, had already started his set when I got through the doors. Must be a new tactic, starting the first act just minutes after the doors open (and, personally, I think it's slightly insulting to any first act). Dan (the Boss) Turbo, arguably the hardest working musician in York, who seems to be everywhere at the moment, performed pretty much the same set that he did in support of Hope & Social a couple of weeks ago. A mix of new and old songs, but with only one, Sweet Sorrow Surrender, from the first album. The few people who had made it in when he started gave him a pretty good reception but as the place filled up and the ambient noise level rose he struggled to make an impression, especially when calling for a round of applause for Tim Fox, who once again joined him on harmonic for Devils On Dean Street. I got the feeling, towards the end of his set, that he wasn't really enjoying himself. Not that that made any difference to his music, which was as enjoyable as ever. It may simply have been that the crowd wasn't right for GT's style of playing - after all most of them would have been hard core rock fans.

Speaking of fans, there seemed to be two distinct sets there tonight. As Ricky Warwick took to the stage, a portion of the crowd stepped up to fill the empty area in front of the stage and we took the opportunity to move with them, ending up directly under the air-conditioning unit. (I can confirm that the leak I'd heard about had been fixed and that the unit itself worked very well, pumping extremely cold air directly onto me for the next thirty or forty minutes...) But I digress.

Belfast-born Ricky is soon to be touring as lead singer of Thin Lizzy (perhaps the ultimate tribute band) and tonight performed edgy, acoustic rock songs at least two of which came from his third album, Belfast Confetti (the title track and Arms of Belfast Town). Jesus Loves You seemed to be a favourite with the audience, but I can't find it listed on any of his albums and there was an (almost) humourous song which seemed to be based around memories of Dickie Davies and World of Sport. His new single, The Whiskey Song, also featured as did a cover version of Motorhead's Ace Of Spades. His guitar-playing was energetic and at times verged on raucous, and his voice was superb and a little reminiscent of somebody who I can't quite put my finger on. I'm reasonably certain that Ricky was originally down to headline tonight's gig but was dropped to second place simply because he was playing acoustically, while the new headliners were playing full band. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing him again and, while I probably won't get the chance, would certainly consider catching him with Thin Lizzy.

As Ricky left the stage, a strange thing happened. Most of the audience seemed to move away, meaning thtat we managed to get even closer. I ended up just two people from the front, with an absolutely superb view (and no cold down-draft), something I had never achieved at the old Fibbers.

Last year, Thunder announced that, after twenty years, they were retiring from recording and touring as a band in order to spend more time on their individual activities. The Union is the first of these that I have come across and features Luke Morley (ex-Thunder) and Peter Shoulder (ex-Winterville) sharing guitar and vocals, if not evenly. For the tour they have been joined by Chris Childs (also ex-Thunder) on bass and a drummer introduced simply as "The wee Scotsman". Playing most, if not all of the songs from their self-titled debut album, they treated us to a set full of rock which proudly displayed its Southern Blues and Country roots. Highlights included the subtle Lillies, which invoked an "Awwww" response from the female portion of the audience when it was introduced and the slow, melodic Saviour. That's not to say that the ballad-like songs were the best - there was an incredibly epic live song towards the end of the set (I didn't catch the title) while Black Monday somehow evoked images of Speakeasies. Even the catchy sing-along, This Time Next Year (The Union's anti-X-Factor song but perhaps their most commercial), somehow managed to stick in my mind. The band's encore consisted of their own Come Rain Come Shine followed by a cover of Proud Mary, which featured a guitar duel between Morley's blood-red Gibson and Shoulder's black Les Paul, during which the two men could, at times, barely keep a straight face. Superb music and a fantastic voice, somehow reminiscent of Springsteen and Clapton at the same time, this was one of the best gigs of the year so far.