Stolen Earth–The Duchess, 16/06/12

“I’m glad there’s a crush barrier,” said Nick Hall as he and Michelle Plum (formerly of Chumbawamba) took to the stage as Plumhall. I assume he was referring to the, at the time, disappointingly small crowd, rather than a worry that those leaning against the barrier might try to storm the stage, but you never know. Joined tonight by Charlie Daykin on keyboards, Plumhall played an entertaining mix of acoustic songs with nice harmonies both vocally and from their guitars, with the keyboards augmenting the sound superbly. They were also one of the most engaging support bands we’ve seen, entertaining the audience not just with their music but with between song banter – starting a competition to find out who had travelled furthest to get to tonight’s gig, as well as inviting us to come up ideas for their back-up plan of “dual tribute bands” (to which we added Barry Whitesnake and Guns and Rose Royce). The nine-song set was mostly original but also contained two covers – Silence Can Be Gold (Waking The Witch, another of Michelle’s previous bands) and Won’t Give In (The Finn Brothers). My favourites of the set were one that I didn’t catch the title of but which saw Michelle playing solo guitar with Nick providing backing vocals during the second half and Nick’s own, powerful (almost angry) Never Forget My Name, written during a recent visit to South Africa where he came across a museum of slavery. Plumhall next play York during the York 800 Mor Music Festival on 7th of July.

…and, finally, it’s here. The launch gig for Stolen Earth’s debut album – A Far Cry From Home – and, after, a number of support slots over the last few months, a chance to see them headline again on a bigger stage. In fact, one of the most noticeable things was the amount of room the band had given that they weren’t crammed in between other equipment, giving those not restricted by their own instruments more freedom to roam. Being the album launch, the band played every song from it (nearly in order, with just Tuscany Sun and Into The Virgin Snow being reversed), but opened with one track that didn’t make the album – I Live, if I recall correctly – and also included Clear, written by Paul Teasdale for Breathing Space’s last album. There was also the first performance of a new song, tonight performed without the rhythm section, with Adam on acoustic guitar and John providing some very subtle keyboards and vocals from Heidi and Adam, it came across as a little bit folky with a hint of Fleetwood Mac. Apparently it is a work in progress and may evolve into something more but, as it is now, it’s quite lovely.

The overall performance was as strong as ever. As usual both Adam and John played with a calmness that belies their skill, although John’s keyboards are still a little lost in the mix (it’s a pleasure to hear them properly on the album, which has been produced superbly and has a much cleaner and clearer sound than the live performances). Paul and Barry work hard as rhythm section – Paul, in particular, had a nice bass section, which I don’t remember hearing before, in the middle of the set-opener. Heidi’s vocals came across a lot better tonight (which might be down to me having heard the album a few times prior to the gig and, therefore, knowing the lyrics better) and she survived a head/microphone clash after a late grab for a floor-based plectrum with dignity and, apparently, confidence intact. The audience had swelled from the beginning of the evening as well and, it is perhaps testament to the band that some of that audience had travelled so far for this gig – I know from personal experience just what a trek it is from Norfolk and if it was true that one person had come up from Penzance then he has my admiration… Perhaps strangely for an album launch gig, the question of “who’s got the album?” from the stage was greeted with a near-universal affirmative. But, then it was funded by those who pre-ordered and, I would guess, a lot of the audience will have been hardcore fans, especially given that this was a hometown gig. Stolen Earth take to the road over the next few weeks, with a mini-tour taking in Hartlepool (last night, as I type), Norwich, Wakefield, Bilston and culminating in a performance on the main stage at the Cambridge Rock Festival. My guess is that they’ll pick up a number of new fans along the way.

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.

May–A Round-up Part 2

Thursday 31st May: The second and final part of my round-up of May’s gigs, featuring slimmed-down reviews. For an explanation of the sudden (and hopefully, on my part anyway, temporary) change in format, see the last post.

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Saturday the 19th. My lift to tonight’s gig had had to change his plans, so it was either drive myself – which wasn’t really an option given that the gig was in a real ale pub – or cycle. Thankfully the weather held and, after a small amount of cajoling from one of the band, I made an almost last-minute decision to attend. It might have been the rush to get out that caused me to turn up at the wrong pub. It was only after I’d ordered a pint in the Fulford Arms, and noticed the poster advertising a different band to what I was expecting, that I realised that I should be at the Waggon And Horses and that I didn’t actually know where it was. Thankfully, the barmaid was able to give me directions (I’d practically cycled past it already…)

Dream Of Apollo were playing the Waggon’s regular Saturday night acoustic slot. It was a slightly smaller line-up than normal, with drummer Jamie missing and Rhys, newly returned from his Antipodean nuptials, playing the first acoustic bass that I remember seeing. It was, possibly, a bad night to attempt to play music in a pub, with a number of people watching the Champions League final in the main bar. (I had, I’m a little ashamed to say, already given the match more attention than I had given to David Breslin, who provided support tonight.) The band played in a smaller “room” to one side of the pub and, I’m told, that it would have been easier to hear them properly if I had been in the room itself, rather than standing in the doorway. Most of the songs, however, are familiar enough to me now that I don’t have to hear them fully, so I was able to keep half an eye on the football, which eventually finished during the band’s break, much to the delight of a portion of the attendees. Peppered among the familiar were a couple of new songs – All For You and Your Loving Arms – as well as a couple of songs I hadn’t heard for a while, including the wonderful blackly comedic Dead Pets. The band battled gamely against the football while it was still on - bringing to mind a previous evening when they played a pub gig while Andy Murray played tennis on the TV – before eventually being allowed to shine during the second half of their set.

The Waggon itself looks to be nice venue for acoustic music. Those that were there for the music were friendly, even if some of them appeared to be there more the atmosphere, spending more time talking about who else they had seen perform that week than actually listening. Again, I’m told I could have avoided that by going into the room itself. Unfortunately it is, perhaps, just a little too far off the beaten track to consider it as a regular venue.

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Thursday the 24th was the first evening this year when two gigs I fancied clashed. I decided to forego Girls With Guitars (the description sounds better than the name) at Fibbers and, instead, see another long-established prog group at the Duchess.

This being a band who started out in the seventies, it seemed almost inevitable that Stolen Earth would be supporting. With hands presumably still aching from signing two hundred copies of their debut CD, A Far Cry From Home, the night before the band took to what must have been an incredibly hot and sticky stage (the May heatwave was making the Duchess feel something akin to Hell) and, once again, seemed to hold the audience entranced. It might simply be that fans of the bands they are supporting “get” what Stolen Earth are doing musically but this band seem to get a much better reception from the off than most other supports. Tonight’s set had, again, been tweaked slightly from the previous time we saw them. Highlights included Soul In A Jar, with Adam teasing notes out of both acoustic and electric guitars, and Silver Skies, the sound for which was much better than at Fibbers a few days ago. From the third song onwards, just after she asked for more vocals in her monitor, Heidi’s vocals hit top form, with the lyrics coming across much more clearly. Maybe it’s just that I’m getting more familiar with the songs. As usual the set ended with the brilliant Perfect Wave, which got a near-rapturous response from the crowd, almost certainly due in no small part to the very Pink Floyd-like instrumental section.

I’m fairly certain that, many years ago, I had an album by Dutch proggers Focus on tape. If I remember rightly, a friend of mine had bought it, didn’t like it and gave it to me. It must be about thirty years ago, but that album was probably Moving Waves, containing the (in)famous yodelling track Hocus Pocus, and was probably my first dalliance with prog rock. From tonight’s crowd it seems that not only are Focus still a big draw but that their fans cover a wide spectrum – from the usual middle-aged beer-bellied men right through to more attractive, younger women who looked barely old enough to be drinking.

Taking to the stage to a kind of science-fictional choral opening, the band played an energetic, mostly instrumental set, although some compositions also featured founding member Thijs van Leer, now in his mid-sixties and apparently as mad as a box of frogs, on vocals, even if said vocals, for the most part, weren’t words. Yes, there was yodelling. For most of the set, van Leer sat behind a battered old Hammond organ, with “Focus” spelled out on it in black tape. Alternating between two microphones, depending on what effect he required, he played the organ and flute (occasionally at the same time) while frantically and wild-eyed conducting both the band and the audience. The rest of the band were all allowed their moments to shine – Menno Gootjes on guitar was incredible throughout, moving from studious calm to a finger-flying solo with ease, Bobby Jacobs performing the very best bass solo I have ever heard and, being a fan of good drumming, I was more than pleased that Pierre van der Linden performed two solos, a shorter one at the end of one song and a proper one towards the end of the set. Putting the set together from throughout the band’s history, including the forthcoming Focus 10, we were treated to an hour and a half of superb, if slightly quirky, music which, despite having its roots in the seventies, still sounds incredible today. As the band left the stage, the audience shouted for more but Van Leer himself returned to the stage to apologise that there was no time for an encore due to the venue having to get ready for a “pop-show” (he meant the following club night). Disappointment all round.

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And that’s it. May 2012, overall the busiest month I have had for local gigs (so far…) And there could have been more – apart from missing Girls With Guitars, I chose not to see Blackbeard’s Tea Party (supported by the incredible What The Cat Dragged In) and Only The Young (who some friends will be enjoying even as I write this) and missed Cryptic Age’s album launch due to having to work in Scotland that day.

As far as I know, I’m only going to three gigs in June, and each is separated from the next by at least a week. So, with a bit more free time, hopefully normal service will be resumed soon.