A Long-Awaited Return

Saturday 14th March: It's my second gig of the weekend - a welcome and much anticipated return to the Roman Bath for my current favourite guitarist, Chantel McGregor and her band, Martin Rushworth on drums and Alex Jeffrey on bass (Lincoln J. Roth having moved on a few weeks ago).

Although recovering from illness Chantel managed to charm and enthrall us for another two-hour-plus set of classic rock and blues, consisting of old favourites and new tunes. (Well, new to me anyway.) OK, so there was no Clapton/Cream this time, which severely curtails my ability to put names to the songs, but Fleetwood Mac, Robin Trower, Steve Vai and the ubiquitous Jimi Hendrix were all featured, probably along with others that I didn't hear introduced.

It may have been because of the recent bout of tonsillitis, but there seemed to me to be more guitar solos and less vocals than usual. In fact, the set list (recovered afterwards by Roj) contained more songs than were actually played. However, while Chantel's vocals are a lot better than adequate, I would guess that most people watch her live to see and hear her stunning guitar work. Technically superb, she plays with an ease that seems to cry out, "why do others make this look so difficult??" Tonight's solos were nothing less than brilliant and surely prove that, while still a covers artist, Chantel has the ability to play (if not write) her own material. Unfortunately, the Bath having the layout it does (and me not being the tallest in the world) I barely got a view of the stage area. However, I did see the incredible fret-work during Hendrix's Red House - safe to say I've never seen anybody play the guitar in quite that way before and can only echo the comment of the old guy behind me when, at the end of that track, he said, "She's incredible. Why is she playing pubs?"

What is, perhaps, only slightly less incredible is the fact that today was Chantel's birthday. Still only twenty-two, she chooses to celebrate by entertaining us?? Somebody should point out that, on birthdays, the treats are supposed to flow in the direction of the celebrator...

It's difficult to review a gig like this without focusing on Chantel, to the detriment of the other two members of the band. Martin's drumming was, as ever, excellent but I find it hard to comment on the bass-player without actually seeing them play and thus being able to link finger movements with the actual bass-line. It may be damning with faint praise to simply say that Alex's bass-playing was good enough that I barely noticed it. If you see what I mean...

I have said before that one of the pleasures, for me, of attending local gigs is discovering new music that you rarely get to hear anywhere else. Conversely, one of the pleasures of seeing Chantel play is discovering older music (and musicians) that have bypassed me. Eventually, this could end up costing me fortune - I have already, after tonight's gig, ordered Steve Vai's first five albums and I haven't even started on Trower or Joe Bonamassa yet. I wonder if, one day, I will be playing a CD by Chantel herself. I have no idea whether her ultimate plan is to play and record her own material but I hope so. That way, when she becomes even more famous, I can say, "Chantel McGregor? Yeah, I was a fan of hers when she just played covers in pubs."

"Just...?" Hah!

A Rocking Album Launch

Friday 13th March: ...and the start of a busy weekend for me, music-wise.

Tonight, I've managed to get my pass signed to allow me to attend the launch of 98Pages' debut album, Broken Homes And The Halfway House, at the Duchess despite already planning to go out tomorrow night for the very welcome and much-anticipated return of a current favourite.

First up at the Duchess was Astrae, a six-piece from York. I'm afraid that they didn't do a lot for me. It may be a deliberate plan but this appeared, to me, to be a band in desperate need of a cohesive identity. By that I mean that, rather than looking like a band, they looked like six individuals who happened to be sharing a stage. With a mixture of visual styles which encompassed big hair and eye makeup (James A Hutchinson, lead-singer/guitarist), unruly samurai top-knot (Jack Beavers, guitarist) and clean-cut (pretty much everybody else) and a musical style that mixed the vocals of The Cure with the heavier aspects of the likes of Metallica, the end result struck me as more than a little discordant. Stunning violinist (yes, there was a violin) Jo Wherry seemed to be aiming for dark and broody but succeeded in sultry, while Hutchinson leaped about stage like a jack-rabbit, narrowly avoiding the rest of the band and only just missing having his eye taken out by Wherry's bow - antics for a bigger stage, perhaps. In hindsight, it might simply have been the vocals that put me off this performance but, at the time, the music wasn't doing anything to float my boat either. It may be that the band suffered from the rather high volume being employed at the Duchess tonight but, I'm sorry to say, I don't think I'll be going out of my way to see them again. Sorry, lads and lass.

Next on stage were Bolton-based foursome To The Bones and, initially at least, they seemed to be more my cup of tea - a hard, heavy, industrial sound of clashing guitars and drums with a much more mainstream vocal style reminiscent of the heaviest of heavy metal. Unfortunately, after a few songs it became apparent that there wasn't a great deal of variation and that heavy was, at least tonight, the limit of their repertoire. Don't get me wrong, I can quite happily listen to the likes of Motorhead, but only in small doses and I prefer bands who mix it up a bit style-wise. To The Bones debut album Duke Type A has, apparently, garnered some pretty good reviews and during this set I was tempted to make a purchase. Eventually, though, I decided that I probably wouldn't actually play it enough to justify buying it. Definitely better than the first band and I'm glad I have experienced them live but, again, I doubt I'll see them again soon.

Finally, the band we had come to see. 98Pages are a York-based trio who I've not managed to catch before, although Roj and Andy have seen them at least once and have recommended them. Not that we always agree... Anyway, this was the launch gig for their album, and that generally means I'll take a gamble and see what a band are all about. Being honest, I like telling people at work that I'm attending an album launch - it evokes thoughts of canapes, free drink, mixing with stars, etc. Whereas, in reality, it generally means a small merchandising table from which you can buy the album the day it becomes available. You still have to buy your drinks and the closest you get to canapes are bags of Walkers Ready Salted, although you can often have a bit of a chat with the band, if you so desire.

Anyway, 98Pages are a more traditional rock outfit than the other two bands on tonight. Live, they evoked in me memories of both The Mexicolas and Black Stone Cherry, although the former may only have been because there were three of them on stage and the latter because bass-player Jason Brooks looked a little like BSC's lead singer... Lead Guitarist Martyn Fillingham broke a string during the very first song and played most of the rest of the set semi-acoustically. I have no idea whether this changed the sound much from what was planned but it certainly didn't make it any less enjoyable. The songs were catchy, blues-based and, at times, with a hint of Southern Rock and there wasn't a duff one in the whole set. Another impressive live performance that reinforced my enjoyment of heavy rock, something which had, until fairly recently been dwindling a little.

At the end of the set, we wandered over to the merchandise table and were pleasantly surprised to find that the eleven track album was on sale for a mere £5. Bargain! Obviously, a bought a copy, although I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. Once I have, I'll try to post a review here.

As usual, we headed to the Roman Bath after leaving the Duchess. Tonight's Bath-band was Copowt, a self-proclaimed party-band from Copmanthorpe. Given that I was also going out on Saturday, I decided to leave early, after just two songs, so can't really comment on them.

Yet To Reach The Summit

Friday 20th February: Blimey! I nearly forgot to blog...

After the relative disappointment of last week's four bands for four quid, it was time to try again. Tonight saw us taking a rare trip to Fibbers to see The Summits, a band that I have previously been recommended and was looking forwards to see. So much so, that I even took Debbie along.

We arrived just before Jonny Dobbs took to the stage for a one-man acoustic set, but managed to not catch his name when he introduced himself. A quick scan of the running order put that to rights and also started alarm bells ringing - The Summits were not on it. (Subsequently, I have been informed that Mr Dobbs often plays with or alongside the Summits at the Melbourne pub, and a bit of investigation shows that they were also supposed to be playing Fibbers two weeks earlier but, t seems, had to drop out due to illness, so I assume the same applied tonight.)

Anyway, Jonny looks a bit like a certain James Blunt and, in style, sounds a bit like him too, just without the annoying voice. His songs were pleasant enough, if a tad simple-sounding and it was only with the last one that he introduced a mix (nay, indeed a melange) of playing styles within the song itself. He certainly got my foot tapping and, so, the evening was off to a good start, despite the disappointment of the main act not being there.

Next up were Seven Heroes, a foursome from Hetton-le-Hole in County Durham, although lead singer Dan Gibson seemed a bit embarrassed to announce that fact, which he only did after a bit of prompting from the audience. Not heavy enough to be full-on rock and too mainstream to be classed as indie (whatever that actually means these days...) they are likened, on their own website, to The Killers, The Cars and The Undertones. Being honest, I haven't heard enough of any of those to comment. I can, however, say that they were blooming good, with enough variety to keep things interesting in their all-too-short set. Quite early on, I had to have a wander round the audience to get a different view of the stage as I couldn't work out where the keyboard player was standing. After a few minutes, I realised that there wasn't one. It seems that David Smith, on lead guitar, played with some sort of device which made his guitar sound like keyboards (sort of Keane in reverse...) Whatever it was, it sounded good and the evening was getting better as it went along.

Seven Heroes have, apparently, completed work on their debut album - another one for me to look out for.

Finally, we had Modern Day Chicane, a slightly older looking and much more local band from somewhere called York.

Slightly heavier and louder than Seven Heroes is about the best I can do to describe them (it doesn't help that I'm writing this nearly a week after the event and I don't take notes...) I quite enjoyed the music, although it has to be said that the songs did sound slightly samey all through the set. There wasn't anything too adventurous and the vocals were a little muddy but, overall, there wasn't a great deal wrong with the music. I have to say, though, that I preferred Seven Heroes.

After the lights came up at Fibbers, we did the usual and headed off to the Roman Bath. Tonight's fare was Flashback, a retro three-piece, again from York, who specialise in the "beat" music of the 60's, as well as a bit of witty banter between songs. I'm afraid that this type of music, whilst inoffensive to listen to, does very little for me. I have probably heard a great deal of it, but almost certainly wouldn't buy any. Flashback were entertaining enough but, it has to be said, Debbie enjoyed them a lot more than I did.