Sounding Like Summer–Gibson’s, 27/05/13

What could be better, on a typically rainy Bank Holiday Monday, than sitting inside and listening to a bunch of talented musicians playing a free gig? Except, today wasn’t a typical rainy Bank Holiday – it might not have bee quite as warm as the last couple of days, but the sun was still out. But, there was a bunch of talented local musicians playing a free gig so, after a morning in the sun, we headed along.

As an aside, a small part of that morning in the sun was spent sitting outside listening to Andy Doonan (along with Sam Smith and Ellie Parker) busking in the centre of York. I’ve seen Andy play live twice recently and really like his own stuff. During the time we were listening he only played covers (as, I guess, most buskers do) from the likes of The Killers and Maroon 5. A good start to the musical day but not a patch on his full performance. People were dropping money and I saw at least one person buy a copy of his CD, but it’s a shame that more of those people don’t see him at a full gig. Still, I guess that could be said for a lot of artistes.

This afternoon’s family-friendly “Sounding Like Summer” mini-festival at Gibson’s Bar had been organised by the boys from Pelico, who had invited a handful of bands down to play. To be honest, it didn’t seem to have been advertised very well and,presumably due to the vagaries of feeds on Facebook, I had only heard of it through one of the other bands on the bill. When we arrived, the bar was nearly empty and there was a vague feeling that this was going to be another of those poorly attended gigs that York is infamous for.

However, by the time Dream Of Apollo took to the stage the place had filled up nicely and there ended up being quite a crowd. Indeed, compared to all but one of the other times I’ve seen this band, this seemed to be the most attentive and appreciative audience I think the band have had, a fact that seemed to be borne out by the big smiles they flashed as the applause came at the end of each song. This afternoon the current four-piece acoustic line-up were joined by Antonio who, playing with the band for the first time, provided some nice improvisational violin lines which added even more layers to the songs. This was especially notable during the lovely Hold Me and All For You. A shorter than normal set inevitably led to some of the usual songs being dropped and along with Someday, Children Of The City, Regrets Of The Devil and Sandman – which, I noticed for the first time, now has a beautiful lead-out from Sarah on cello – the band included two covers. I like their versions of Jolene, with Winston featuring more heavily on vocals, and Folsom Prison Blues but, personally, I would have preferred to hear more of their own stuff. Having said that, I have yet to be disappointed by any Dream Of Apollo performance and today was no exception. It was nice to see a few of their CDs and other merchandise being bought at the end of the set, as well.

“We’ve got a Soundcloud”, announced Leo from Leo And The Dandelions, perhaps in response to the fact that Dream Of Apollo have an album. To be fair, they don’t seem to have been around long enough to record and album and there’s very little information out their about them. A two-piece, with Leo on guitar and vocals and an unnamed young lady with a gorgeous smile on cello and backing vocals, they performed a set full of songs which somehow contrived to be lively and chilled out at the same time, something particularly emphasised by Mary Anne, with its slow-then-poppy make-up. My favourite song of the set was Filthy Like The Rain, in which the cello became more prominent, while Misunderstood contained hints of 60’s folk-pop. Even Lead By Example, introduced as an “angst” song and starting off with a slightly darker sound than any of the others, became lighter in tone once Leo’s distinctive vocals – higher than expected but not unpleasantly so - started. New song Catch 22 was followed by Gold Or Sand which featured lovely backing vocals from the cellist, and set finished with the lightest and brightest song, Peace & Loving. I’m not sure how you would classify the music of Leo And The Dandelions or even who to compare them to (which could be seen as a good thing) but their set was enjoyable and the music near-perfect for a Summer sound.

The Patron Saints are a young band who seemed to bring along their own fan-base. Confusingly, lead singer Jess Kelly explained that they were without their lead guitarist today, which saw them being down to a three-piece. However, they seem to be a five-piece normally and, with drummer Connor Dale on rhythm guitar today, it seems that both guitarists (Tom Parker and Declan Gough) were absent. The line-up was completed by Joe Kennedy-Pinnock on bass. Today’s set comprised of a mix of covers and originals. I didn’t hear the titles of the first but I’m fairly sure it was something about dragons, while the second was Prima Donna (Marina and the Diamonds). Jess has a strong voice, but it was occasionally drowned out by the music. She’s also very still on stage, but manages to act out some of the lyrics simply using her hands in a very understated performance. An original, written by the absent Parker was lively, with an almost rock and roll opening. I’d like to hear the full band version. It was followed by covers of Ben Howard’s The Wolves and Taylor Swift’s The Story Of Us and then Fallen, written by Dale – a slow starter which eventually sped up nicely and featured some confident guitar-playing, at one point verging more on lead than rhythm, from the drummer. Fallen sequed into Get Lucky without me noticing and my only complaint would be that it ended the set a little weakly, the ending being a bit too repetitive.

A trip outside to visit the barbeque for some much needed fuel meant that we missed the first song of Pelico’s set and they were in full flow when we got back inside. Well, almost. Somebody started Who You Are in the wrong key, resulting in a restart. Pelico’s only cover of the set, Elbow’s One Day Like This was followed by an acoustic version of Holes, from their album Smile, and the three-way vocal harmonies of The Feeling. Continuing the day’s theme of different line-ups, the band had an added member on various brass instruments. His trumpet during Funny How Thing Change gave the song an almost Mariachi sound, while the same instrument added a Yorkshire brass band feel to new song Only So Far Now which, in places, was a much quieter song than most of their others. With the audience encouraged to clap along, the set was completed with Sleeping On The Floor, another song which showcases the superb vocal harmonies of Brian, Ash and Nick. With their infectious folk/pop sound Pelico embody Summer music – they are light, lively and very easy to listen to.

Unfortunately a combination of having to be somewhere else and the misunderstanding that Pelico were the last band to be playing, we missed the set from Minster Conspiracy, a York rock/punk band made up of eleven to twelve year olds. To them, we apologise.

Overall, this was a great afternoon of music and a nice way to showcase some of the smaller (although one or two might not like the adjective) local bands in a venue which suited their sound. Well attended by people who, mostly, seemed genuinely interested in the music, these sort of things should be encouraged.

Andy Doonan–The Basement, 10/05/13

Tonight sees me on a rare trip to one of York’s smallest ticketed venues to see a headline act that grabbed my attention a few weeks back when he supported Blackbeard’s Tea Party. The Basement, situated under the City Screen cinema, was reduced to standing room only as a reasonably impressive (and, as was mentioned a couple of times during the evening, very polite) crowd were treated to four acts for the measly entry price of a fiver.

First up was Antonio Panzera a young man with a guitar whose playing style and vocals somehow evoked a nostalgic image of an old wireless. Their was a sort of old-fashioned quality to his performance that I could quite put my finger on. The songs themselves were, in general, short and sweet and, to me, not really classifiable – a hint of country on a couple, perhaps, the rest slightly quirky in a nice way. His vocals were clear, with slight changes of tone throughout the set and, while all the songs were definitely “his” there was enough variation to keep the set from sounding samey. Antonio is a man of few words, rarely introducing his songs but thanking the audience between them and it was only with the final, eleventh, song of his short (in terms of time) set that he became more loquacious, explaining that his capo normally falls off during this song. Initially, given what had come before, it was hard to imagine why that would happen but, given the frantic strumming and fingers flying across the frets right next to the capo, it soon became apparent and it would perhaps have been more accurate to say that it often got knocked off. Luckily, this time, the capo survived.

Antonio had provided a nice start to the evening, but Zac Pajak really made me take notice. He started his set, appropriately enough, with one of the first songs he wrote, referred to simply as “the harmonica one” and there was an Americana feel to it. The harmonica was ditched for I’m With You, a song which Zac looked too young (he’s a stone’s throw off twenty but you wouldn’t know it to look at him) to be singing, with its references to being drunk and having his clothes removed by a woman. Strangely, the song’s abrupt ending almost seemed to take him by surprise as much as it did the audience. A cover of Wonderwall (Oasis) was, quite simply, brilliant – stripped back to just vocals and acoustic guitar and somehow sounding slower than the original it was no less effective and, if anything, vocally more emotional. Another cover followed, this time The Stereophonics’ Dakota, before he returned to his own songs. Rest Assured was, in style, more chart botherer than Americana but no less listenable for it. I’m fairly sure he introduced the next song as a cover, one he had only been learning in the preceding week, but I didn’t hear what it was. The snatches of lyrics I noted are leading me towards Ben Howard’s Keep Your Head Up, but I’m not as certain of that as I am that, whatever it was, it was sung beautifully. This set finished with Zac’s newest song – Sunshine – which was both simple and ambitious at the same time, lovely overall and almost haunting in places.

Next up were Busk ‘til Dawn who, as their name suggests, are a busking band comprising of (according to their Facebook page, which was created on the same ay as this gig…) Toby Burras, Toby Domoney and Beth McCarthy. Their set was made up completely of covers, starting with Chaka Kahn’s Ain’t Nobody which immediately showcased their great vocal harmonies and tight guitar playing and gave a nice interpretation of the song. OutKast’s Hey Ya followed and there was a lot of personality in the performance, with the stage area being brightened by Beth’s huge bright smiles. I knew You Were Trouble (Taylor Swift?) wasn’t helped by a misbehaving microphone stand which mean that one of the Tobys was constantly having to adjust his position to sing into it, while Teenage Dirtbag, introduced as one of those songs you can’t help admitting to liking, was punctuated with humorous sound effects. I doubt that The Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s Californication and I’ll Be There For You by The Rembrandts are often played back to back, but they were tonight. Before their final song, Biffy Clyro’s Justboy – the only “serious”song the band play – one of the Tobys ended up begging for somebody to take the mic off him, after advertising that the band were available for birthdays, weddings and, bizarrely, funerals, much to the amusement of the audience. The overall impression that I got from this set was of a band who enjoy doing what they do, nice slightly off-the-wall interpretations of songs that I (mostly) knew and that they are a band that if you did see busking you would probably stop and take notice.

Apparently Andy Doonan turned down an invitation to take part in this year’s series of The Voice UK. As an outsider and only a peripheral viewer of the program, I’m in too minds about that – good on him for having the conviction to plough his own furrow but I suspect he would have done quite well on it. When I saw Andy performing at The Duchess a few weeks ago, my first thought was that his voice reminded me of somebody else. It still does, I still can’t place it and it’s still great, clear and full of emotion. Playing pretty much the same set as at the Duchess, just mixed up slightly, he opened with the brilliant single Here You Are (available as a free download here) and, if anything, the smaller venue made his vocals sound even better than at The Duchess. Remember The City Lights sees Sam “he plays about ten instruments” Smith move from keyboard to guitar while Andy himself provides harmonica parts for the song. Backing vocals during covers of The Killers’ Mr Brightside and Kings Of Leon’s Be Somebody are provided by Ellie Parker and Andy’s brother Joe. Ellie also provides some lovely backing vocals during Right Now, which also sees Sam playing a nice, increasingly intricate guitar line. Jenny is a really nice song, with great layered vocals from Andy, Joe and Sam eventually being joined, once again, by Ellie. It’s a shame this one was dropped due to time constraints last time out. Stumbling was once again introduced as a “happy, sad song” and again features Andy and Joe’s great vocal harmonies. The rest of the band took a breather during Bullet, a brand new song just two weeks old. While the backing vocals of the other songs add layers, this one shows that Andy can more than hold his own. The gentle guitar of the start eventually builds to something more powerful but never overpowers his vocals. Sam returned to second guitar duties for the more upbeat Hometown before Andy switched to keyboards for Sky On Fire, another of his soft-rock ballads and, arguably, the song with the fullest sound. Andy launches his new EP at The Duchess on the 10th of August – sadly a date I can’t make, otherwise I would definitely be there.

Hope And Social–Fibbers, 28/04/13

Two acts, diametrically opposed in terms of tone, that I will never tire of listening to share tonight’s bill.

Much is made of Boss Caine’s somewhat dour demeanour and miserablist air but, in my opinion, he is one of York’s finest songsmiths and quite probably the city’s hardest working troubadour. So much so that, unless you are able to get to one of his regular open mic nights (Sundays at Dusk), it’s getting harder to catch him play a local gig as he is more likely to be found travelling the length and breadth of country (keeping Megabus in business while simultaneously raging against the fact that the default number of passengers on their website is zero) to various venues and festivals. He must be doing something right as he was recently featured, live in session, on Whispering Bob Harris’ show on Radio Two.

Tonight there’s something different. It’s not just that the cap that seemed permanently fixed to his head (but which has now, I believe, been lost) has been replaced by a hoodie. Nor is it the bemused grin he flashes when, before starting his set, he is suddenly assailed by a loud blast of feedback. No, it’s the fact that the normally solo Dan Lucas, heart and soul of the Boss Caine “brand”, has been joined on stage by two other, un-introduced as far as I can remember, musicians – one on double-bass and the other on violin. The latter in particular brings a superb atmosphere to Ghosts And Drunks, a typically downbeat song about walking the streets in the wee small hours. I can never understand how people can listen to A Kind Of Loving and still think that there is nothing lively in Dan’s repertoire – maybe it’s just that even this more upbeat song is performed in what has been described as his “heartbreaking baritone”. Well, there’s nothing he can do about that but the song always gets my foot tapping anyway. The sound tonight is, I think, the best I have ever heard during a Boss Caine performance (we can even hear what Dan is saying between songs – the sound guy must be working miracles) and, for a change, he seems to have attracted a particularly attentive audience. There’s still chatting back at the bar but most people are paying him the courtesy of listening and the songs are getting the appreciation they deserve. With two and a half albums now released, Dan is varying the set quite a bit and I think this is the first time I have heard Man Overboard played live. Some songs do remain the same, though, and Self Medication Blues segues, as usual, into Murder On My Mind, during which the double-bass is used to provide a particularly dark backdrop to  an already dark song. Just when I think I know all the Boss Caine songs, Dan throws in a surprise with one I haven’t heard before at all – something about Lady MacBeth – which will, presumably, feature on one of the two new albums he has in the pipeline (three if you count the acoustic, fully solo one being worked on at the moment). The final song of the set, the brilliant Leaving Victoria, sees the band joined on stage by Rich Huxley who adds electric guitar and backing vocals, grinning as he cheekily changes the chorus to Leaving San Francisco to another song that benefits from the almost improvisational violin line. This has been one of the best Boss Caine performances I have had the pleasure to see and hear and even one of his harshest critics admits to me that the addition of the extra musicians went a long way to improve the experience.

Hope And Social could never be described as dour, downbeat or any related simile. They put the fun into live music and it should be law that everybody has to see them perform at least once. Even Andy, who has generally avoided them since they regenerated, Doctor Who-like, from their previous incarnation as Four Day Hombre, has decided to give them another chance tonight. Unfortunately, while we moved to the very front of Fibbers, he popped out to make a phone call and, except for a brief glimpse, that was the last we saw of him until the end of the gig and so we couldn’t gauge his reaction during the set. As the band set up, frontman Simon tries valiantly to get the whole audience to move away from the bar, closer to the stage. Not for the usual reason of filling in empty space – Hope And Social always seem to attract large numbers – but, presumably, simply because it’s a better way to experience the band.

After opening with Cotton Wool, Simon announces that the next song might include an impromptu segue, before asking the rest of the band if they know what a segue is. Although I have been right at the front for other Hope And Social gigs, this is the first time I have been at Rich’s side of the stage and he is brilliant to watch. For most of Swaddled In Dark Clouds he seems to play guitar on one leg, the other foot hovering indecisively over his rack of pedals and buttons, frequently stabbing down at one as if trying to find out what effect it gives. The band’s instruments always seem that little bit more battered than others and tonight Simon’s keyboards have a “thing”, sometimes cutting out and needing a wiggle to get it going again, as happens during One Way Home, the first of tonight’s sing-alongs. Before Sleep Sound, Simon takes time out to thank Boss Caine for his support slot, mentioning the then upcoming radio appearance, which prompts the usual brand of ad-libbed banter with references to the voices of Dan and Whispering Bob blowing speakers, Dan needing to work on his top end a bit more and a threat that if he becomes famous before them that they will hunt him down. There’s another Rich-revelation during the song – he sings on tip-toes. Motorhead’s Lemmy used to sing into a higher microphone in order to, I believe, stretch his vocal cords and achieve his distinctive vocals but I’m not sure what effect stretching his ankles achieves for Rich. While you often get insights into the various band members’ illnesses or embarrassing situations, you rarely get an insight into their personal lives. So it comes as a slight surprise that Simon introduces Family Man with a story of how, when they first played Fibbers over thirteen years ago, he met a girl and how they are still together. Hope And Social often give the impression that they don’t actually know what they are doing (how much it’s true can only be speculated on) and the usual (semi)organised chaos seemed to take over at the beginning of Boxer’s Blood, with Simon forgetting that he was supposed to be playing guitar rather than keyboards. Most of the brass section were given a break during this song, with just James involved, hunched over a glockenspiel showing how versatile you have to be to be in this band. I didn’t even notice him move but Simon pitched up in the middle of the audience, as usual, for his solo acoustic rendition of Looking For Answers, another song which makes the audience an extra member of the band while at the same time, giving their ears a rest from the lively onslaught on stage. I always wonder what a first time fan thinks as the rest of the audience join in without any signal or encouragement, but I know from experience that at least one ended up thinking it was one of the best songs he’s ever heard. Back on stage, James takes over the keyboards for Sleep Sound, only to be asked how much of the song he actually wants to play this time. Apparently, the previous time he completely forgot his section. This time he seems to get through it okay, and Simon’s vocals can only be described as beautiful. "Do you want to hear us play a song we’ve never got all the way through?” asks Simon. Of course we do, and we get the ragtime jazz sound of By The Morning Dew at the end of which he proclaims, “That was alright, actually.” Like we ever had any doubts. The keyboards start playing up again and we’re told that they are “f*cked”, Rich rips into Simon for saying that’s “like a metaphor” only to be get the obvious reply – “f*ck off, clever arse” – straight back, much to the delight of the audience. This is a band made up of a bunch of good friends, totally comfortable with banter and mickey-taking. It’s just one of their man charms. Pitching Far Too High sees the brass section playing colour-coded hand bells, seemingly concentrating hard and being directed by James all while jogging on the spot. A handful of the audience foolishly join in with the exercise, exhorting the band to “C’mon” during an extended musical interlude. It’s almost a challenge to see whether the band can extend the song longer than they can keep jogging. Next comes the revelation that James desperately wants to cover Madonna’s Material Girl (and has been seen composing an arrangement for brass in the back of the tour van). He gets his opportunity, along with the rest of the brass section and, briefly, Rich on vocals. There’s more brief cover bursts during Rolling Sideways as somebody (I can’t remember who) plays a snatch of Apache during a chaotic instrumental section and Simon decides to sing snatch a couple of choruses of Blue Pearl’s Naked In The Rain. It’s like a particularly unrestrained practice session in front of an audience and, let’s face it, that audience are lapping it up. The set seems to be going quicker than expected and Simon asks what we want to hear next. Somebody shouts for Ghostbusters, Roj gets an acknowledgment from Simon as he asks for Mr. M, a reference to their Four Day Hombre days. Eventually Back To The Green is settled on – “One of ours and we know it. A double win…” Even then, they can’t resist messing about, John slips in a snippet of Feeling Hot Hot Hot on saxophone and there’s a snatch of Free Nelson Mandela.

There is, of course, an encore. Simon once again goes acoustic, foregoing a microphone and moving to the very edge of the stage accompanied by Rich, who straddles the stage barrier, and bass-player James on violin for Eurospin, with the audience once again knowing exactly when to pitch in with the repeated “Hold your chin up high” and quite happy to keep going, changing the volume at Simon’s direction. “One more,” comes a shout from the back of the audience and the band oblige with Saints Alive. James takes to the keyboards again with Simon, playing guitar, staring at him incredulously as he bashes the already fragile instrument to within an inch of its life, necessitating running repairs and, eventually a sort of resignation from the frontman as he brings his foot down on it. Luckily James’ fingers weren’t in the way. Whether the keyboards survive remains to be seen.

I’ve said it before, but no write-up (especially one of mine) can possibly do a Hope And Social gig justice. All it can do is give you a flavour of what goes on. The best way, the only way, to fully appreciate just what a unique experience one of these gigs is is to get yourself down to one. I’m almost willing to bet that you walk away with a smile on your face.