2009 In Review - Part 1, The Gigs

Tuesday 29th December: I am going to have to split my review of the past year into at least two (and possibly three) installments this time. Happily, I received quite a few of 2009-released CDs for Christmas, including one that has a very good chance of making it into my top five, but have yet to find time to listen to any of them. So, rather than delay the whole thing, I'll start by covering the gigs I saw over the year.

First, the boring statistics. Apart from the fact that I know I didn't review Stealer at The Terrace on the 18th of December (it should have been Chantel at the Roman Bath, but bad weather caused the venue to suggest she cancel), I'm taking my blog entries as gospel so the following figures have been compiled from them.

Over the year, I...

Attended 37 gigs - I have counted trips to the Roman Bath after other gigs had finished as a full gig.
Saw 72 performances by 65 individual bands/artists - I have counted "lite" versions of Breathing Space and Parade as separate to the full band.
Visited 7 different venues (all in York) - The Duchess was in first place with 16, followed by The Roman Bath (11), Fibbers (4), The Grand Opera House and The Punchbowl (2 each) and The Terrace and The Basement Bar (1 each).

So, who did I see and what did I listen to? As usual, I managed to cover a wide variety of musical genres, from blues to pop, garage to heavy metal, prog to folk. I bands who looked as though they were still at school right through to septuagenarian performers. I even paid to see two tribute bands. This year was a little odd in that I seemed to go to more than the usual number of gigs on my own, without the rest (or any) of the Friday-nighters - there seemed to be a number of bands playing who I definitely wanted to see but didn't fit with the tastes of the others. I think that, if our tastes were to be represented as a Venn Diagram, we would each have large individual circles, with medium crossovers into each other. Fortunately, for me anyway, some of those gigs turned out to be some of the most entertaining of the year. Also fortunate was the fact that I liked the vast majority of the acts I saw. Indeed, there are very few that I wouldn't want to see again (although there are one of two), while there are others, mostly new discoveries, that I would make a point of seeing again.

From the list of gigs I've attended, it's difficult to pick the "best" - some of them were so different to others that it's not fair to compare them. Instead, I'm going to pick five of the most entertaining and explain my reasons. So, in no particular order...

Jan Akkerman and his band - The Duchess: The 62-year-old Dutch ex-Focus member wasn't the oldest person we saw this year but he did treat us to over an hour of superb guitar work. This was pretty much an on-spec attendance for me. I vaguely remembered Focus from back when I was at school but knew very little about them. This was the only concert I went to this year with no vocals but Mr Akkerman certainly knows how do make his guitar do the singing.

Parade and Josh & Co - The Duchess: Although I was looking forward to Bryan Josh's performance of his 2008 debut solo album, this gig was more notable for the support band. Parade are another in the ever-expanding family of groups related to Mostly Autumn, put together by ex-member Chris Johnson and including current members Gavin Griffiths and Anne-Marie Helder (also both from Panic Room), as well as two local musicians that Chris has played alongside for years. Their set (and album - bought without hesitation at the gig and strong contender for album of the year) shows what a talent Chris is and he has put together a band that I hope stay together for a long time.

Nick Harper - The Duchess: Another on-spec gig. I knew nothing of Mr Harper and attended purely on the basis of his write-up on The Duchess's whats-on listing. While not enjoying his first support act as much as I maybe should have done, second on stage was Anne-Marie Helder who showcased some of her own acoustic work. Nick himself was superb, both musically and comically, and managed to wow the audience by changing a broken string without stopping playing (something it is rumoured he does deliberately). A very entertaining gig.

Gun - The Duchess: Again, Gun had somehow bypassed me but their write-up suggested I would like them so off I toddled. This was an almost perfectly put together gig in that the three bands ($lash Vega$ and Morpheus Rising were in support) were just similar enough to fit together on the bill while being just different enough to provide some variety. While the now defunct $lash Vega$ weren't completely my cup of coffee (I don't drink tea), Morpheus Rising's set evoked memories of listening to the likes of Saxon and Iron Maiden during my school days and were, quite frankly, superb. (They only missed being my final gig of the year because I was too tired to go out that evening.) Gun apparently had not bypassed a lot of people as the Duchess was reasonably full of their fans. Overall, a very good gig which did more than a little to remind me of my early concert-going, when heavy metal was pretty much the only music I listened to.

A Night for Heroes - The Duchess: The tribute night to Howard Sparnenn, who passed away in 2008, a Night For Heroes was put together to raise money for the Andrea's Gift charity and consisted of a number of bands that he had personally been involved in. It might not have been the best gig musically, but emotions certainly ran high that night and once again proved that musicians and fans can, together, do a lot for any cause they choose.

There were, obviously, other highlights - Chantel McGregor trying to ride Andy's bike after one of her gigs springs to mind. There were also some fantastic new discoveries, like The Engineers, 98Pages and Ezio. For me, 2009 was a very good year for gigs and looking at the listings out already for 2010, it looks as though that level is at least going to be maintained.

Almost Time To Catch A Breath

Sunday 6th December: ...and as the weekend draws to a close, another three of us head of to the Duchess to attend the final gig of "Mostly-fest". This is one of those rare occasions when I can convince my wife to go to a gig with me as Breathing Space are a band she likes.

At least that's who we were expecting. No support act had been mentioned or otherwise advertised. So, it was a bit of a surprise to find that, very late in the day, Chris Johnson and Anne-Marie Helder had been booked as openers.

Those of you keeping up will recognise those name as two of the members of The Parade, who also opened here on Friday evening. Tonight, the duo performed songs from the band's album The Fabric, acoustically and for the first time (you couldn't tell...).

For this set Chris played guitar and Anne-Marie played, errrm, an egg and a banana. I knew she was talented but, but, a banana??? Yes, and there's untampered photographic proof opposite. Both of them sang and the acoustic versions of the songs were just as good as the full band versions we heard on Friday. It really is a cracking album (I managed to grab a few words with Chris to tell him so and got him to sign my copy) and it must have been hard to pick which tracks to play, but they certainly managed to pick some of my favourites, including Cut, The Dogs, The Diamond and the excellent Start Again.

This was a set of brilliant musicianship, tinged with more than a dab of humour (most of it involving the banana - you can guess). Chris and Anne-Marie obviously enjoy being on stage with each other as there was an over-riding sense of comfort and friendship in their performance. An unexpected and very pleasant start to the evening.

So, to the final act of the weekend. Breathing Space were performing the last date of their Below The Radar tour, promoting their third album of the same name. We've seen the band so many times (although this is only the second time that we have paid for a ticket - not that I'm complaining) that watching them perform is getting to be like slipping into a comfortable, if somewhat loud and increasingly hard-edged, dressing gown. As with my last posting, there is little to add to any past reviews, so I'm going to fill a bit of space up with some photos.

Blasting onto stage with a triumphant version of Forgive Or Surrender, the band performed many favourites from the first two albums, including Wasted All The Time, Coming Up For Air, Searching For My Shadow, the sublime Belief (which can now never be sung without bringing a tear to the eye) and a incredible version of You Still Linger, which ended the first set with a superb instrumental section. Mixed in with these were a number of songs from the new album (obviously). Some of these were already vaguely familiar - I hadn't bought the album until tonight but the band had played some of the songs the last time we saw them in the Roman Bath and the "light" version of the band had also performed some acoustically in the Punchbowl a few weeks back.

Songs from Below The Radar included Paul Teasdale's Clear, and the Sparnenn/Jennings penned The Night Takes You Home and Questioning Eyes. I'm sure there were more but, once again, my memory fails me.

However, every track, no matter what album it came from, sounded brilliant (possibly due to my proximity to the stage and speakers) and the larger stage area and sound system in the Duchess allowed the band a lot more freedom to express themselves than the Roman Bath.

Livvy's voice, while still losing the vocals behind the music at times, seems to get clearer every time we see her perform. The Jennings brothers are near-maestros on the keyboards, while Teasdale's bass-playing is excellent (if a little funky in one place). Cassells' drumming provided the perfect base for the songs (and it was nice to finally see a different drummer during the weekend) and Bryan Josh once again played guitar almost in the background, coming forwards for just a few solos when required rather than dominating the stage as he does with Mostly Autumn.

The gig ended on a somewhat bizarre note. Almost as the final note of encore song Questioning Eyes faded from the speakers and the band moved forward to take their bows, the lights went out and an alarm started sounding. (To be honest, if it was a fire alarm, it was a little ineffective - I could hardly hear it until somebody pointed it out to me and nobody seemed to make a move for the exits...). The end result was the band taking the applause and cheers in almost total darkness. I would love to know what happened when it was resolved but, alas, I left in a rush in a vain attempt to catch the last bus home. Debbie had left earlier to relieve our babysitter who was expecting us home at about the time the gig actually finished and I ended up paying a taxi-fare.

So, to summarise the weekend I would have to say it was totally and completely awesome. Despite the number of crossover artists in the four bands we saw, it was incredible how different the music from each was from the others. From the guitar-led prog rock of Mostly Autumn to the keyboard-led Breathing Space, with a mix of both in The Parade and a bit of a harder edge to Josh & Co, between us we managed to see some pretty impressive performances. But then, I would say that, wouldn't I?

It may have ended up costing me a small fortune in tickets, CDs, drinks and transport but would I do it again?

Of course I would. In a heartbeat.

A Mostly Pleasant Autumn Evening

Saturday 5th December: ...and, as bands continue to morph into other bands, the Mostly Autumn themed mini-festival continues as three of us (again not the usual three, although the usual three for this particular gig) make our way through the damp evening to York's Grand Opera House for the Mostlies themselves.

In the case of this gig, we more or less knew what to expect. But there was to be a couple of surprises. After getting my lost (probably thrown away) ticket reprinted by the lovely "Rocky K" in the box office, we decided to head directly to our seats as there wasn't long to go until the advertised 8pm start. As we had our tickets (including my nice shiny new one) checked, we could hear the strains of Pink Floyd's Another Brick In The Wall coming from the auditorium. Good choice of music and, if last year was anything to go by, just a recording being played to entertain those who took to their seats early. So, imagine our surprise when we got through the door and found a duet on stage, belting the song out (errm, somewhat incorrectly due to a couple of technical issues, but they admitted to that). There was a man on guitar and a woman on bass and, technical issues aside, they played well. I'm not sure what the second song was - it sounded like a Floyd song but not one I recognised. I've tried to Google the lyrics I can remember but only come up with something by Stephen Stills and I don't think it was that one. At the end of their set, they did announce their name but, being honest, not very clearly and none of us caught it. It was a shame, really, that there was no notification of any sort of support act as we would probably have made a bit of an effort to get their earlier. (Late edit, a combination of posts on the Mostly Autumn forum reveal that the duet was The Secrets, the lady was original MA singer Heidi Widdop and that they would be on stage from 19:15...)

Then, to what I assume is a standard entry, Mostly Autumn took to the stage. Five of the line-up had been seen as part of at least one of the acts we had seen the previous night. (Chris Johnson joined some of them on stage for one song later on, making a total of six crossover artists.) It's a little hard to add anything to the review I posted last year. This is the annual Christmas show for York so is probably a little different to other gigs throughout the year.

With the Mostlies, you pretty much know what you are going to get. The ladies will look stunning, the playing will be superb and Heather's voice will be clear and emotive. With no studio album release in 2009, there was no new material to showcase so, for the most part, the two-part set contained the staples from their back catalogue. In fact, there was quite a crossover between the songs performed last year and the ones performed tonight. There were differences (or my memory is failing me) between the two years but I couldn't accurately document them. The first set almost matched the track listing on Live 2009, part 1, although Shrinking Violet was in the set but not on the CD.

The second set started with the ladies (including Heidi from The Secrets) and Chris Johnson performing Silent Night, a cappella - the first of tonight's seasonal songs. I don't think any of us could remember all the songs performed after this if we tried but it was less like the track listing on Live 2009, part 2 than the first set was to part 1. Nonetheless, it included the staples and missed some favourites out.

It's the encore when the Christmas part of the show takes off properly, with versions of the likes of Faerytale Of New York and Merry Christmas Everybody performed while Heather, in the slinkiest "Santa" dress you are ever likely to see, runs around trying to put Christmas hats on the rest of the band. (Strangely, Iain Jennings' red woolly hat made him look more like Bennie from Crossroads than anything Christmas-linked...) Again, Heidi took to the stage to perform alongside Livvy on backing vocals and I think a heavily disguised Chris was playing guitar during the final song. Being a Christmas show (and, probably, being a Mostly Autumn show), there were humorous moments. There was also one rather large sombre moment. I'll come back to that later.

It's more or less impossible to comment on the band's performance. Anybody who knows them will know that they play and sing brilliantly, those that have never experienced them may well wonder how a ten-year-old band that they have never heard of could be that good. I've now seen them twice and thoroughly enjoyed both times. I'll almost certainly see them again and I'll almost certainly enjoy them as much next time. For me, at least, their music is that good. As an aside, I was missing one studio album, which I was planning to pick up that evening. Checking the web-site earlier in the day, I was a little dismayed to find that it was listed as "Temporarily out of stock". I still visited the merchandise table as there was other things I intended buying. There, on the table, was the CD I was looking for. In surprise and despite it having the title on the cover, I asked the guy behind the table, "Is that The Last Bright Light?" "Yes," he replied, "it's the last The Last Bright Light." I snapped it up before anybody else did. How lucky???

Now, about sombre bit. And I apologise in advance if I offend anybody here but it's my blog and these are my opinions....

Quite early on, Bryan had announced that the band had a very special guest coming on later and towards the end of the second set and just before what turned out to be a rendition of Heroes Never Die, the band melted off the stage and were replaced, without any introduction by a man who started talking about Afghanistan and our forces out there. He introduced the special guest - 25 year old Lance Bombardier Ben Parkinson, recently announced Yorkshire Man of the Year for 2009. Ben suffered horrific injuries in Afghanistan and was joined on stage by his mother and commanding officer in a few minutes which couldn't help but tug at the heartstrings. There was talk of the conditions facing the forces in Afghanistan and details of the charity Help For Heroes, before Mrs Parkinson was presented with a large bouquet of flowers and Ben was presented with a framed Heroes Never Die t-shirt. We were informed that there would be collecting buckets for the charity as we left the gig and Bryan was asked to dedicate Heroes Never Die to a number of soldiers from Ben's regiment who had lost their lives in service to their country.

Now, I have no issues with most of that. I have supported the charity in a number of ways over the last few months. I'm not political and, despite knowing two people (one army, one RAF) who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq recently, my opinions are basically formed by BBC news reports. I support the fact that our troops are over there while thinking, with my limited knowledge, that there are probably ways that things that could be made better for them. I sympathise with the injured and the families of those who have not returned. I had absolutely no problem showing my support for Ben and his colleagues with the rest of the audience and would almost certainly have dropped some cash into a bucket if I had simply seen it on the way out. I also understand that music is a powerful tool for raising awareness of charitable issues.

However, I also believe that there's a way of doing these things. If you went to Live Aid, you had no right not to expect to be preached at by Bob Geldof. Unfortunately, this felt a bit like hijacking a Christmas show by one of my favourite bands to get a message across, especially since there seemed to be no link between the band and the introduction-less man, except that he had sent his brother two MA CDs while was posted over there. I still put cash in the bucket and I still have all the same feelings I listed above, I'm just a little disappointed in the way it was done.

Anyway, enough soapbox ranting (and apologies again for any offence caused). Overall, this was an excellent gig and continued what is turning out to be a very good weekend.

Bryan's Company and Chris's Parade

Friday 4th December: The Countdown to the festive season has started and tonight is the beginning of a weekend of three gigs in three days for me. All of them are related in some way to York's most famous prog-rock giants Mostly Autumn, so this weekend can only be described in one way - Mostly Awesome!!

Tonight there's three of us (just not quite the usual three) attending the Duchess for one of a very limited series of shows for which Mostly's Bryan Josh has put a band together to perform his 2008 solo(ish) album Through These Eyes. More of that later.

First up, however, were Parade. Chris Johnson has been a busy boy since the last time I saw him perform. Not only has he put together this band, featuring Anne-Marie Helder, Gavin Griffiths, Simon Snaize, Patrick Berry and Chris himself (basically the band seems to be one possible outcome of a crash involving the tour buses of Panic Room and Hazzard County) but he has also managed to write, produce and release the band's debut CD, The Fabric. This is the band's second live show together (the first was also supporting Josh and Co) and I'm going to set my stall out straight away and say that they were superb.

The music was guitar-and-keyboard rock and the influences were probably many but while certain things were vaguely tugging at the dark recesses of my memory, very little results were forthcoming. Roj described the ending of one song (The Diamond, I think) as "like the dark chocolate version of Fleetwood Mac, while the lyric style of Cut reminded me a little of something by The Beautiful South. What was impressive was the diversity of material - no two songs sounded the same and they all sounded brilliant. With Anne-Marie and Chris switching around between lead vocals, guitar and keyboards (for one song both played keyboards, for another they both played guitar) and with Bryan Josh himself replacing Simon for one song, there was enough variety to keep even the most jaded music fan happy.

There's no doubt that the band is made up of some very talented musicians and the songs showcased that those talents - Simon produced some excellent guitar work, Gavin was brilliant on drums, it goes without saying that Anne-Marie's voice was stunning and, it has to be said, Paddy's bass-playing was leagues above what he ever did with Hazzard County. I have implied in a previous posting that Chris Johnson might have thought himself too good or too big for some of the acts he has previously worked with. I suspect he may have found his place as frontman for Parade. Not only does it allow a release for his undoubted creativity but, if they can perform this well so early in the band's career, there is a good possibility that the band can go on to bigger things. The only problem is, possibly, the commitments some of the members already have. While Paddy had dropped off my radar since the last time I saw the Hazzards, I believe that Simon is working on an album of his own. Gavin is drummer with Panic Room, Fish and played on the first Josh & Co album (of which there are supposed to be more to come) and Anne-Marie already performs with Panic Room, Mostly Autumn and solo (and there really should be a solo album sometime soon).

Personally, on the strength of tonight's performance, I hope they manage to find time to work together again. This was a very entertaining opening act and one that I would have been more than happy with if they had been the headline. I even bought the CD. On first impression, although I've only managed to listen it through once, at varying volumes and in the car, the live act seems to do what it should do with the recorded material. That is expand it and give the musicians a chance to cut loose. Hopefully, a fuller review will follow if and when I get time. In the meantime, however, it is my fervent hope that this Parade managed to avoid the rain for quite some time.

Strangely, when Josh & Co took to the stage, there was very little change in line-up. Ian Jennings had replaced Anne-Marie on keyboards, Bryan Josh had replaced Simon Snaize on guitar and Livvy Sparnenn was there to provide backing vocals. On the album, Bryan plays everything but the drums (and flute on one track).

The album itself, which came very close to being my favourite release of last year, deals with the idea that you can push your dreams back out through your eyes and step into the resulting dimension to meet the inhabitants of your dreams. Verging on a concept album, the songs relate Bryan's adventures in that dimension until he finds the one person who can bring him home (Livvy, I assume...)

That being the case, it's hard to perform the album without doing it all the way through and in the order the tracks were released on the album. So, as an introduction and as the band took to the stage we got what I assume was a recording of Merry She Goes. Then Bryan introduced the ideas and launched directly into Land Of The Gods and The Appian Way. What followed was an almost word for work performance of the album from beginning to end.

I say "almost". There were some small differences like different words during Through These Eyes (the original doesn't have a reference to Lee Van Cleef sticking his pistol up Hitler's backside...) and the "super-band" introduced at the end of that track was missing John Entwhistle and Freddie Mercury. However, Jimi Hendrix and John Bonham were introduced, which led to cover versions of All Along The Watchtower and Rock and Roll (the latter with Livvy on vocals, harking back to her guest appearances with Freeway). There was an extra song, which I didn't recognise from the album and, in hindsight, I think one or two tracks may have been left out of the performance. We did, however, get a second (sing-along) rendition of The Appian Way by way of a sort of encore (the band didn't actually leave the stage).

The songs themselves showcase Bryan's unquestioned poetic heart and, while there is undoubtedly a resemblance to the output of Mostly Autumn, his solo work shows what can happen when his creativity isn't tempered a bit by Heather Findlay, producing in places a harder edge to the songs.

This was, as expected, an excellent performance that was well received by the audience. Overall, a brilliant start to the weekend

The Last High

Saturday 28th November: ...and it's a "tear-in-the-eye" evening for York music fans as The Yards play their final gig at the Duchess. Roy and I (sometimes referred to as the B-team) are attending to say "Hail and farewell!" to one of York's finest bands.

First up, though, are The Federals. We've seen them before (during our first visit to the Duchess) and, as a package, they aren't really my thing. I can't remember whether any of the songs they played tonight were on the set list the first time we saw them but, looking back on the post for that night, my overall opinions hasn't really changed. Their songs are short, sharp shocks to the system, with some pretty good musician-ship. Unfortunately, there is little variation in style or content. The band also need a good lyricist - currently their songs are pretty much one-line repetition, with little or no meaning and the words are more shouted than sung. More punk than garage, in my opinion, and I'm not a big fan of either. As I said last time, The Federals are good at what they do, it's just that what they do isn't for me.

But, we weren't there for The Federals, we were there for The Yards. Frontman Chris Helme set out his stall early one by stating that, although this was their final ever gig, they didn't want it to be a sombre occasion and that they were aiming for their best gig ever. They then started the first of two sets, featuring their more mellow output. This gave us what seems to be a rare chance to see guitarist Chris Farrell standing almost still and hear Helme's incredible vocals with clarity (if only the place wasn't half full of people who had turned up to chat - honestly, if they want to talk to each other, why bother buying a ticket for a gig???)

Intermittently throughout the evening, the band was joined by guest musicians (Alan Leach, drummer from Shed Seven, on a rather large bongo drum, and two ladies whose names I didn't catch on violin and cello) as well as being permanently joined by backing vocalist Andrew Stone (or, possibly, Stowe - apparently a talented singer-songwriter himself but, I'm afraid Google has let me down info-wise...) With keyboard-player Jon Hargreaves also providing vocals, this gives their songs an almost unique harmonic and the strings added an extra dimension to an otherwise fairly standard rock gig.

Speaking of rock, the second set featured the band's heavier, louder output. With songs from both studio albums, as well as at least one from the live gig in York Minster a few years back, we were treated to what was, essentially, The Very Best of The Yards, including my favourites Cars and The Devil Is Alive And Well And In D.C. (written when the world was a bit sh*t...). There really wasn't a duff song in the two sets and, with the heavier stuff we got to see Farrell cut loose a bit with the guitar (although not as much as the first time I saw him perform).

Was it a fitting farewell? Well, it was a really good gig but, for me, it lacked something, I don't know, "monumental" maybe. I mean, there was nothing bad about it but I can't help but think that the occasion was getting to the band a bit and that they weren't perhaps giving their all, despite Helme's comment at the beginning. It was a better-than-good gig, it just wasn't a great one.

And so another chapter of the York music story closes. Was it a big chapter? Perhaps not. The Yards had been together seven years and only released two studio albums. They seemed, to me to play only intermittently. While I haven't been gigging in York for too long, I've only managed to catch them twice (and missed them twice). They did, however, produce one of my favourite "local" albums in Imperial Measures - a worthy addition to any music fans collection. And how many bands can boast that they have played York Minster twice?? So, in the long run, the closing chapter may not be a big one, but there's little doubt in my mind that it was an important one. Charismatic frontman Helme has already release a solo album and there was a promise that there was more to come from all the band members. There has been no mention of why the band are splitting up so I can only assume that it's a friendly break.

R.I.P. The Yards and good luck in your individual endeavours.

Midweek Blues

Wednesday 18th November: It's a mid-week trip for the three regulars this week as an act we have have previously seen supporting Johnny Winter is headlining at Fibbers. We were also joined by a Fibbers debutante and potential new regular.

First up was Ryan Spendlove, a man with a blue guitar (so Roj was impressed) and a clear, very strong voice. He was previously frontman for the Blueskins - the only band I've ever come across who are/were based in Gawthorpe. His set started strongly, with tracks called as Medicine and Bye Bye. Then came something I assume was called Lies (or, possibly, Lies Lies) and which seemed to turn him into a West Yorkshire version of Billy Bragg. Lyrically amusing, but perhaps a little shouty, this track was, for me, the last highpoint of the set. Not that the rest was bad, you understand, it's just that the songs started to sound a bit samey. Internet search results indicate that Ryan is a Blues guitarist. I'm not going to argue with them but his music didn't really fit in with my (albeit somewhat limited) experience of the Blues. A reasonable start to the evening.

Next on stage was Fox'N'North - members of Vudu-Blues band Hijak Oscar. Now, Andy was with us tonight and he's not exactly enamoured of Hijak Oscar so we weren't paying as much attention as we maybe should have been. To be fair, though, they certainly fit my definition of the Blues a bit more than Ryan Spendlove did, albeit with a little bit more harmonica than is necessary. From what I heard, they didn't sound too bad and the set was certainly better than when we saw the full band at The Duchess a few months back. They finished with Dylan's Rock Me Mama, a favourite from the Hazzard County days, which gained them extra respect from me.

Finally, Ian Siegal and his band (Andy Graham on bass and Nikolaj Bjerre on drums). Ian definitely plays the Blues and plays them well. The last time we saw him, we didn't know what to expect. Having heard him, though, we knew we were in for a treat. Ian's occasionally humour-laden lyrics are performed with an incredible vocal range which belies his deep, gruff speaking voice. His guitar playing is superb, mixing bottle-neck and traditional styles. This tour is to promote new album, Broadside (Mojo magazine's Blues album of the month and, if Ian is to be believed, soon to be announced Blues album of the year) so most of the tracks are from that album. There was one, however, that I thought I recognised from the last time we saw him. Unfortunately, I didn't catch any of the titles.

Ian and his band performed a well-crafted set - building to a show-ending crescendo, leaving the reasonably sized audience clamouring for more before Ian takes to the stage to perform a solo track from his The Dust album (not one he wrote but one that, according to the author, he performs like he wrote). Finally it's the full band again with and incredible final song. Throughout the set, Ian shows a very dry wit, commenting on the size of the audience and the luxurious Travelodge that the band will be staying in before their next gig, amongst other things.

This was, as we expected, a highly entertaining and well-performed gig. I just have one criticism - if you are touring to promote and album, should you not have it on sale at the gig?

I Want A Bike...

Friday 30th October: The Chantel McGregor Band is, as I have said before, an act that I would go out of my way to see. So, it's a surprise to find that tonight's gig at the Roman Bath is only the second time this year that I've managed to catch one of their gigs. (I know I missed their last visit to York as it clashed with my visit to the York Beer Festival and I think the previous one clashed with another gig.)

There's little I can add to what I have already posted about Chantel's prodigious talent with a guitar but I have to say that tonight's set was, in my opinion, the least impressive that I have seen by her. That's not to take anything away from Chantel - she played as brilliantly as ever - it's just that there was a lot of the set that I wasn't familiar with and some of my favourites were missing. Yes, we got songs from the likes of Hendrix (Red House and Voodoo Chile), Jethro Tull (Living In Past), Ten Years After, Joe Satriani (Up In The Sky) and Joe Bonamassa (Mountain Time), but where was Clapton/Cream, Steve Vai and Fleetwood Mac??

Hey ho, I guess if she played the same set every time, I'd be complaining of too little variation.

I'm beginning to get the impression that Chantel is getting a loyal following at the Bath (as she seems to have at other venues) as the applause tonight was mixed with cheers and howls of appreciation. But there are still people who, until tonight, were yet to experience one of her gigs. Members of York's own Morpheus Rising were in tonight's audience and I have it on good authority that the wife of one was "blown away". It was interesting (and slightly amusing) to see the looks on the faces of some of the casual punters who wandered in, heard the music and then noticed who was playing it.

After another excellent set, we headed outside for our usual round of banter and despite Andy telling us at least three times that he had to head off, he was just getting round to unlocking his Brompton as Chantel, her band and parents left the pub. For some reason, she thought it would be a good idea to have a go on the bike. So, much the our amusement (and that of band members Martin and Alex) and the apparent consternation of her parents, Andy dutifully lowered the seat (twice!) and off she wobbled around St Sampson's Square. "Can you play guitar while doing that?" shouted Martin from his car. We have a suspicion that she may well be able to, with just a little more practice.

Bands In The Basement

Tuesday 27th October: Tonight it's a first trip to the Basement Bar for me, to see my current favourite "local" live band. As it's name suggests, the bar is in the basement of York's City Screen cinema. It's a strange set-up, with the stage area being almost as big as the audience area. The are a few tables, lit with candles (very intimate), including one which is almost on the stage itself, an impression only heightened by the fact that you have to go around or over the barrier separating stage from audience to get to it. Roj and I, both getting somewhat used to going out during the week, positioned ourselves at a corner table and settled down for the evening's entertainment, with me for one hoping that the hour's delay in opening the doors didn't mean that I had to rush off to catch the last bus home.

First up were two fifths of Sheffield band Dave Woodcock and the Dead Comedians, namely Dave himself on guitar and vocals and Chris Saunders on guitar. They are playing a series of gigs to promote Omaha High Low, their album due to be released in November. Dave sings with an almost growl, painting pictures with his lyrics and producing songs which could be the North England equivalent of Springsteen's quieter, more parochial output. Highlight for me was City Lights (which is lucky as it is also the only song title I can remember...) Chris's backing guitar almost gave the impression that he was ad-libbing as, at times, the two sounds didn't quite seem to match up, but they always worked. An enjoyable, if not standout, set and it would be interesting to hear the full band line-up.

Next on the bill was Boss Caine or, more accurately, GT Turbo, from York. (Confused? The explanation is on the linked MySpace page.) Categorised as Americana, Country and Blues, this is a singer/guitarist with a rich, deep, mellow voice and songs about hard drinking and drugs. Again, like the first act, his songs evoke images of Northern life - Smoking In My Backyard was a standout for me. Other songs tonight included Lady Macbeth, Sweet Sorry Surrender and a cover of Has Anybody Here Seen Hank (originally by The Waterboys). This is the first time I've caught this act but, hopefully, it won't be the last.

Finally, the band we had turned up to see - a cold-ridden, Leeds-based Hope & Social. I have waxed lyrical about H&S's album, Architects Of This Church, before and still urge anybody who hasn't bought it to do so. Tonight's set was comprised mostly of songs from that album, although there was one that I didn't recognise. Although they didn't perform the full album, the songs were proper live (by which I mean extended) versions, including one which was preceded by the strains of Prefab Sprout's When Love Breaks Down. There wasn't a duff song in the set but the instrumental ending to Sunlight Hold Me was incredible. Along with the welcome return of comedy interludes (I'm never sure whether these are rehearsed or ad-libbed), audience participation is encouraged at H&S gigs and tonight we sang along with gusto to the chorus of Red Red Rose and (without encouragement) joined in impeccably with the "whoa whoa" section of Looking For Answers (performed acoustically by Simon on guitar and vocals and Rich on backing vocals, as the performance had gone on longer than they were allowed to use the PA system.) For a band whose various members were either dosing themselves with Strepsils or in imminent danger of having to rush off stage (you really don't want to know...), this was another superb performance, retrospectively tinged with a little sadness when I found out that it was bass-player Jason's penultimate gig with the band.

For anybody interested, I didn't miss the last bus, but I did have to run further than I currently find comfortable in order to catch it!

Everybody's Gone To The Duchess

Sunday 11th October: I know what you're thinking - Sunday is a family day, right? I agree and, being honest, there aren't too many acts that I've been tempted to break that unofficial rule for. Good job I've got an understanding family as tonight I'm on a solo outing to the Duchess.

Support tonight was from Jonathan Jeremiah (and MySpace), man and guitar from London. Rakishly good-looking, he reminded me a little of Russell Brand, but with talent. Unlike the similar mid-week act, Mr Jeremiah had an incredibly strong voice and knew how to work both the microphone and audience for maximum effect. His set consisted of two songs that he announced were covers - one that only one one audience member recognised, the other James Taylor's Machine Gun Kelly. The rest were, I believe, his own material with titles such as Happiness and Sweet Sunshine (according to his "music lawyer" you need a weather song). The guitar-playing was good and the songs livened up the crowd well, as any good support act should do.

But, I'm guessing, most of us were there for the headline act - Nerina Pallot (and, again, on MySpace). Nerina's 2006 album, Fires, is one of those that sits in my collection, gathering dust until such time as I remember it's there, play it and fall in love with it all over again. Currently touring to promote her recently released third album, The Graduate, she's listed as Rock/Pop/Alternative on MySpace. I would add a touch of folk-pop to that list.

Unfortunately, I didn't see too much of her during the gig. After being alerted that she was coming on stage by applause from the front (it was a reasonably big crowd for the Duchess and certainly bigger than the seven people who saw her when she last played York, eight years ago), I caught a brief glimpse before she failed to appear in front of the microphone I had set my sights on. Had she fallen? Was she, in fact, a midget? No, it turns out that Nerina was playing keyboards of to the side of the stage for most of the set, rising to play guitar for just a couple of songs - the wonderful Everything's Illuminated and Everybody's Gone To War. The latter was brilliantly rocked-up for the live performance.

In between songs from both The Graduate and Fires, Nerina proved to have a great rapport with the audience and a very dry wit. Her speaking voice comes across as a bit dreamy, a bit dippy, a little spaced-out, totally different to her fantastic singing voice. "I seem to have lost a shoe," she announces the first time she stands up. Then, "I've found it now." On another occasion, "You're all very quiet. I hope I haven't brought the mood down by singing about a disastrous love affair." (sic). She also kept her band members (bass and drums) on their toes by changing the set list around at whim.

After over an hour, Nerina announced that it was time to end and that she would be finishing with a medley of songs from her favourite singer-songwriter, before launching into a story about editing her own Wikipedia entry to spice it up a bit. She seemed a little upset by the fact that some killjoy removed the "fact" that she was the love-child of Elton John and Kiki Dee after just twenty-four hours. There followed the medley consisting of Your Song, Benny and the Jets and Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting - strange, really, as I had been mentally comparing Nerina to Elton John during the set.

After a short, obligatory time off-stage, Nerina returned to play a two-song encore, accompanying herself on the keyboard. I didn't recognise the first song but the finale was the Ivor Novello nominated Sophia, beautifully sung and a great end to a fantastic gig. Definitely worth a Sunday evening out.

Mid-Week Technical Drawing

Tuesday 6th October: It's not often we venture out during the week but Roj had been sent a recommendation for tonight's headline act at Fibbers. They are Engineers and are about to support Porcupine Tree. That was enough information for me to decide to go along. Well, that and the fact that they had album of the week in the Sunday Times a short while back. (It's worth pointing out that I don't read the Sunday Times and had picked that little fact up from a magazine advert for the album...) More on them later.

When we arrived the first act was already on stage (and seemed to have more than a few friends in the audience). I'm afraid I wasn't concentrating too much and didn't catch his name but it was another man-and-guitar act. He played a couple of covers that I recognised - Talking Heads' Psycho Killer and (I think) Queen's Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon (although we both thought it was The Kinks at the time). Other than those, there wasn't a great deal to hold my interest. I've said it before and, no doubt, I'll say it again, but it takes a lot of courage to perform on stage in front of any sort of audience. So I take my hat off to the guy and, if by some slim chance he reads this, I apologise for not being able to at least name him.

Leeds four-piece Sketches took to the stage next and upped the noise level a tad. Three guitarists with a drummer hidden somewhere in the dark at the back of the stage, with two of the guys sharing vocal duties. The guitar playing was, at times, incredibly atmospheric and reminded us a little of Coldplay, although I thought they were brasher and louder. Whatever their influences are, they sounded pretty good (and it helps that the Fibbers sound guy seems to mix the instruments a lot better than you used to get in the venue). The lyrics were a little indistinct but the overall effect was something that I could get used to.

And so to the band we were waiting for. The Engineers have been around for years but, due to a restructuring of their original record company, only released their second album Three Fact Fader this year, four years after their full debut release Engineers. As I said above, they are about to support the excellent Porcupine Tree and it was on the basis that they would probably sound a little similar to them that I decided to see them. Billed as a five piece (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards and drums) they were joined on stage by a second, female, vocalist. I'm sorry to say that I haven't been able to find any reference to her on any of the band's various web-sites but, to make amends, here's a

(fairly poor) photo...

Given my comments above about the sound mixing at Fibbers, it's a little hard to understand why this band's keyboards were mixed so loud that you could barely hear the guitars behind them (literally - both guitar and bass were, unusually, placed at the back of the stage). However, I'm assuming it was right otherwise what would be the point of a sound-check?

It may just be that the Engineers' sound was just too big for a venue the size of Fibbers. The music hung heavy in the air, keyboards as thick as fog and drums pounding at the audience. The guitars were there, it just took an effort to pick them out. The vocals, it has to be said, were muddy for the most part and indistinct at best but that didn't seem to matter. Space Rock? Psychedelia? Shoe-gazing? Atmospheric Rock? Industrial Rock? Who cares?? Bloody good would just about cover it. "We're going to calm it down a bit," said lead singer Simon Phipps about halfway through the all too short set, before trying to project his vocals through a song that ended with a blistering instrumental. Calm indeed...

I don't think I've heard anything like the Engineers' sound before but I certainly hope I get a chance to hear them again. Superb.

Progessively Different

Saturday 3rd October: It's the start of a busy week gig-wise, as I'll be attending three in just eight days.

Tonight it's a rare trip (these days) to Fibbers to see Idle Jack And The Big Sleep, who I've never heard of but Roj has heard good recommendations for.

Taking to the stage first, with very little fanfare, were Lost From Atlas, a three-piece originally from York but now based in Leeds. We started their set sitting off to one side, with a restricted view but were soon drawn to the main floor area by the stunning sounds coming from the stage. Intricate guitar playing alternated with finger-smashing chords. A small drum-kit provided some of the most interesting and inventive drumming I have ever seen - how many other drummers play cymbals which are resting on the drums? Or play the drums with cymbals?? And, it was all held together by some subtle but effective bass.

There was very little audience interaction. The band briefly introduced themselves about halfway through their set. That could have been after one track or four such was the change in styles during each track ("tracks" rather than "songs" - there were no vocals). Both Roj and I were reminded of Ishtar, but Lost From Atlas are more structured than them.

A few days ago, in a discussion at work, I put forward the argument that true progressive rock should always include a keyboard. After seeing this band, I retract that argument. Their performance tonight provided a soundscape which would fit any prog fan's dreams. An album is due in November, with the launch at Fibbers on the 14th. I suspect we'll be there. Very highly recommended.

Imagine, if you will, what you would get if you crossed two fine head-banging guitarists, one sullen bassist (who you might vaguely remember seeing before but can't think where), one drummer who pounds the skins so hard that he is in constant danger of losing his glasses, a flamboyant showman (who himself looks like a cross between Mark Bolan and Slash). Got that? Right, add in a small brass section (two trumpets and two trombones, I think) and then a smidgeon each of theremin (link added for those, like me, who have no idea what one is...), banjo, stylophone and megaphone. Can you imagine what you have ended up with?

Well, the answer is Idle Jack And the Big Sleep and you can probably see my problem in describing their style. From the items above you might think "Chaos" and, in a way, you could be correct. Certainly some of the songs performed tonight were a little on the unstructured side, but that's not to say they weren't good. In fact, after a start which left me wondering what the hell was happening on stage, I found myself liking Idle Jack a lot more than I expected to. The performance veered towards the weird side of prog rock but, undoubtedly, it was progressive.

It wasn't perfect - most of the time the brass section worked but just occasionally it seemed to be intruding a little into the music and vocalist Robert Loxley Hughes sounded a little flat and shouty in a couple of places - but it was incredibly good overall. The band was formed in 2005 and their relative longevity shone through in an assured performance. Yet another band to add to the watchlist.

Tonight cost just £5, a price I would happily have paid to see either of the bands individually.

Don't Panic!

Friday 18th September: Tonight it's a trip to the Duchess for what was, for me, the most anticipated gig of the year so far, with headliners Panic Room having released my favourite album of last year. Before them, however, were two support bands that we hadn't seen before and knew very little about.

First on stage was Satori from York. Their set had begun when I arrived (after keeping Roj and his niece waiting outside for a short while due to a hole in the road on my trip in) and I think it's fair to say that they grabbed our attention right from the start. I'm sure that, at one point, vocalist Stewart King said that this was their first gig. Whether that was actually as Satori I'm not sure - the MySpace link above is tagged Stewart King and the album, called Satori, is released as Stewart King. (Maybe King's going the Iain Jennings, Breathing Space route...) Anyway, it was a very assured performance which included some varied songs, incorporating straight and melodic rock with a hint of blues influence. I don't think there was a duff song in the set and King's vocals, helped by a dose of reverb, came across as clearly as any I've heard at the Duchess.

Both Roj and I were so impressed with Satori that we splashed out the princely sum of £4 for a copy of the album. (Discussing limits of what we would pay, prior to wandering over to the merchandise area, we had settled on £10 - they really were that good). Satori, the album, is currently the soundtrack to this posting and, despite being a very quiet production is almost as good as the live set. Containing mostly songs that we heard tonight, it highlights the variety which was on show. Highlights for me are Embodiment Of Fire (which really reminds me of something else, but I can't quite put my finger on it), Nothing Can Grow Here, (the sublime) Runaway and If You're Going Through Hell, Keep Going. The band line-up on the album is different to the band that played tonight, with King himself apparently playing the majority of instruments, P. G. Branton (tonight's drummer) playing on just four of the eight tracks and Paul Teasdale (Amberstone, Breathing Space) playing bass on S.A.R.

This was an excellent start to the evening and the album is definitely worth checking out (I know I can bang on about this at times but these small, unsigned, local artists often need all the support they can get and can you really go wrong for £4?)

Next on stage were Harrogate rockers Kasiuss and they upped both the energy noise levels. Satori may have set tonight's bar but, for me, Kasiuss leaped over it. As, ever, I will point out that the rest of the group (we had now been joined by Andy), while liking Kasiuss, preferred Satori. Harder and heavier than the openers, but with some superb keyboard sounds occasionally rising through the crashing guitars, these guys had energy to spare and really seemed to enjoy playing. Unlike Satori, I had heard of Kasiuss before, but only because I knew that they had supported ZU2 a few weeks ago (and are scheduled to do so again in April). A couple of people mentioned a potential Muse influence but I'm a bit behind when it comes to listening to them, so can't comment myself. Sadly, there is no recorded material available at the moment, but they are apparently going to be producing something soon - something else to add to my wish list.

And so, looking like elder statesmen of rock compared to the support bands, Panic Room took to the stage. Would they be worth the wait? One of the things I was worried about was whether the band would be able to reproduce the mix of styles and influences prevalent on debut release Visionary Position. I needn't have been. Although the set list was quite heavily biased towards the second, as yet unreleased album Satellite, the tracks that they did play from VP included some of my favourites - Apocalypstick, full of Eastern Promise, and seemingly Terminator inspired Elektra City are both epic tracks and, while the latter was a shortened version lacking the free-form jazz piano ending, both were played brilliantly. Indeed, the new tracks showed that Satellite will have as much, if not more, diversity. There's more science fiction in Dark Star, I Am A Cat sees Anne-Marie Helder at her most provocative and encore song Satellite featured some superb guitar work from Paul Davies. An added bonus was Blood Red Sky, from Anne-Marie's solo E.P. The Contact. The tracks above aren't the full set list - just the ones I can remember. My only gripe - where was the brilliant Firefly???

For all the power of Panic Room's music, this was a very quiet performance. There was little movement on stage, with the band seeming just to get on with the job of playing their music. Only Anne-Marie put on a true performance, gesticulating during vocals and moving about stage when not playing guitar (including a twelve-string for the encore). In some ways this almost seemed to put her in the limelight, with the rest of the guys being just her backing band. That's a shame as they are incredibly talented musicians. I'm sure that it's not an intentional impression and that they are aware of it - after all, it's a bit difficult for Gavin (drums) and Jon (keyboards) to move around stage a lot - but maybe Alun (bass) and especially Paul (guitars) should come out of the shadows a bit more.

In spite of that, though, this gig met and exceeded my expectations and my anticipation was justified. Panic Room are as good live as they are recorded and we were lucky to have support bands of the calibre of tonight (bands that could easily headline any normal Friday at the Duchess).

Musical Purchases

Thursday 17th September: What's this? A mid-week posting? Yes, I have realised that I've been a bit lax in blogging this year. Unless I've been to a gig, I've not had much to say and little time to say it in. So, I thought I would share my thoughts on some recent CD purchases. For the most part, these won't be reviews (partly because I haven't actually listened to some of them yet) but a bit of a ramble around my reasons for buying. So, in no particular order...

First up is Architect Of This Church, first release by Hope & Social (although they have released albums under their previous name of Four Day Hombre). If you want it to be, this could be bargain of the year - the album is available for download for just 1p or as a physical CD for just £2.95 from here. You can pay more if you feel so inclined and, as these guys are one of my favourite and one of the most entertaining live acts around, I decided to pay £5 for the CD. Most of the songs are familiar from recent live shows and, therefore, the album was almost instantly accessible to me. The opening track, Living A Lie, does sound a bit like a cross between Coldplay and the Kaiser Chiefs and I think I have referred to the overall Coldplay similarities when reviewing H&S gigs but that isn't to say that they don't have their own identity. This is a cracking album, recorded in the crypt of a church and highlights include King Of Spain, San Francisco, Looking For Answers and the sing-along song from live performances, this time performed with a full choir (the title escapes me...) These guys are brilliant performers and really deserve supporting. Go on, click the link above and buy the album - for those prices, you really can't lose.

Next up is Porcupine Tree's latest offering, The Incident. This was a bit of a shot in the dark for me but, potentially, another bargain. I generally say that prog rock is my favourite genre of music but I have recently come to realise that I'm basing that statement on a very narrow knowledge of both the music and what bands actually perform it. The Prog specials put out by Classic Rock magazine are opening my eyes to a whole slew of new (and old) bands and this is one of them.

As the opening (and title) track of this album ended up at fifty-five minutes in length, the album itself ended up as a double CD and, with a handy little pre-order code, I managed to get it for just £6.95. It arrived just yesterday and I have had a chance to half-listen to the first CD. It's probably my preconceptions but I have to say that it's not what immediately springs to mind when I think of prog, although that may be that my ideas are still mired in the past Golden Age of the genre. On first pass, this album sounds like a cross between the prog metal musical offerings of the likes of Dream Theater (although I've only heard one track by them) and the vocals of lighter prog. It's almost as thought Steve Wilson's vocals are too light for the music, but it seems to work. This one needs listening to properly and when I get the chance I suspect it will be a grower.

Bruce Springsteen is another of my favourite live acts, but from a different era - when I still bothered to see big bands in stadium concerts. Working On A Dream is his latest studio album, released with very little fanfare, early this year and, in past times, would have been an instant purchase for me. However, I haven't been that impressed with his recent albums as they seem, to me, to lack the punch of his mid-80's to early-90's albums. Consequently, I waited until I could pick this one up cheaply. Today it was in one of HMV's 2 for £10 offers. I've not heard any of this one yet and, being honest, I'm not sure I'm that excited about it. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells is, almost certainly, his most famous album and now over thirty-five years old. This is the 2000 remastered release. I've been aware of this album since I was at school and, while I know I have heard bits of it, I don't think I've ever heard it all the way through. Again, though, it has been covered in the Classic Rock Prog specials and is probably one of those albums that should be in most (if not all) collections. Being in the 2 for £10 offer gave me the perfect excuse to add it to mine and I am looking forward to hearing this one.

Somehow, Thunder have completely bypassed me - despite being British, playing heavy metal/rock and being around for about twenty years (although just disbanded). I have, however, seen their drummer, Gary "Harry" James perform live with Breathing Space at the Night For Heroes gig and fellow blogger and gigger (bligger?) Roj raves about them having brought his daughters up on a semi-strict diet of their music. (Apparently there were tears after the disbanding announcement. His daughters were a bit upset as well...) Anyway, still in HMV's offers section, I could pass on an opportunity to purchase The Very Best Of Thunder, a 3CD set of hits, B-sides, classic album tracks and live favourites. I'm guessing I'm going to like this one.

Queen were always one of my favourite groups. There's no denying that Freddie Mercury had a fantastic voice and that Queen as a whole produced some of the best and most varied music out there. I was lucky enough to be offered tickets for what turned out to be their final tour and the Wembley gig was my first experience with stadium gigs.

I've not heard any of the material that "Queen" (Brian May and Roger Taylor) released with Paul Rodgers but I heard good things about the live shows. The Cosmos Rocks will probably end up being the last album to feature new music by "Queen" and I can't help think that I'm going to be at least a bit disappointed when I listen to it. But, being a bit of a completist (although most of my Queen material stuff is on vinyl and I don't have a record player...) and at just £3 I'm willing to take that risk.

Finally, and the soundtrack to this posting, comes The Last Waltz by The Band, and another confession that I'm a bit musically ignorant.

We used to see a band called Hazzard County a lot. They were a blues/rock/country covers band and experts Roj and Andy used to play "spot the original artists" whenever we saw them play. They used to perform a few songs by The Band, all of which I liked and I kept thinking that I should add some of their stuff to my collection. However, every time I saw a CD I put it back as I couldn't see Bob Dylan in the line-up and assumed it was another band called, errm, The Band. Today, I picked up this CD saw that one of the tracks was Up On Crickle Creek - one of my favourites from Hazzard gigs - so I bought it. On closer inspection, and with guidance from another fan at work, I finally realised that Dylan wasn't actually a full member...

The Last Waltz was a live performance by The Band in 1976 and was billed as the end of their touring career. Filmed by Martin Scorcese (oh great, something else I've go to track down...) it is seen as one of the best concert films and features guest appearances from just about everybody who was anybody at that time - Eric Clapton, Emmylou Harris, Muddy Waters, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison and many more (including Dylan).

The second CD is just about halfway through as I type this and, it turns out, Up At Crickle Creek is the only song I have recognised from the Hazzard gigs. There are other songs I recognise, including a version of Who Do You Love and the whole thing is superb.

So there you go, a run-down of my some recent purchases. A fairly eclectic mix, I think you'll agree.

Close to the Gates of Delirium

Saturday 12th September: When it comes to playing 70's prog-rock, I tend to dig into my CD collection and pull out some Genesis or Pink Floyd. I have a handful of Yes albums but, despite Close to the Edge being one of my favourites of all time, they don't seem to get played as much. Thinking about it, I find that strange. Yes are, after all, quintessentially prog with twenty minute songs often with symphonic structures, sometimes bizarre changes of timing, cathedral-like keyboards and incomprehensible lyrics sung with multi-layered vocals. I like them but, for some unfathomable reason, I hardly ever play them.

Like most bands from that era, the chances of seeing them live are slim and the chances of seeing a classic line-up are slimmer still. Arguably, if you saw the current line-up of Yes, you could be mistaken for thinking that you were watching a tribute band with Rick Wakeman's son playing keyboards and Canadian Benoit David, recruited from tribute band Close to the Edge, standing in for an ill Jon Anderson.

Tonight, however, it was the gigging B-team attending the Duchess for Seyes, a less well-known tribute band from the North West of England. To be honest, it's a good job we decided to go, as our attendance may just have pushed the audience over twenty-five people.

Seyes consist of Phil Bernia (vocals), Tim Locklear (guitars), Tim Rothwell (drums), Pete Greenwood (bass and vocals) and Chris Bradshaw (keyboards and vocals) and they had an impressive amount of equipment dotted around the stage. I counted eleven different guitars, including one slide and one double-necked twelve-and-six string. Despite the vast array of equipment, however, they were perhaps the most uncomfortable-looking band on stage, with Bernia looking decidedly nervous and Locklear at one point looking as though he had only just remembered that he should be playing a different guitar at that time. Being fair, Greenwood looked to be very composed and seemed to be conducting the rest of the band whilst playing some excellent bass.

For me, one of the best aspects of Yes was always Jon Anderson's somewhat unique voice and Bernia, despite his apparent nerves, managed to reproduce his tones pretty well. Was he aided electronically? I don't know (and I'm not sure I care). With Greenwood and Bradshaw sharing backing vocals, the multi-layered effects were reproduced superbly. Locklear was more than adept on the guitars while Bradshaw's keyboards included the soaring church organ sounds that make Yes tracks somewhat unique. Nestled away at the back of the stage, behind the biggest drum kit I think I've seen at the Duchess, Rothwell drummed his heart out, sometimes managing to hit so hard that you felt the vibrations.

While being a tribute to a band that produced such complex music may not be the easiest thing to do, one upside may be that you don't actually have to learn too many songs. Tonight's performance lasted just under two hours (including encore) and consisted of just nine songs. I didn't recognise the first song (and couldn't remember any lyrics to look it up when I got home) but the rest of the set consisted of I've Seen All The Good People, Close To The Edge, And You And I, Siberian Khatru (Yep, the whole of the CttE Album), Gates Of Delirium (celebrating Relayer's 35th anniversary), Heart Of The Sunrise, Roundabout and Starship Trooper.

I may not have been the most knowledgeable Yes fan in the very small audience but I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. Having only ever heard studio recordings, I can't say whether the band reproduced the live sound accurately but I did hear one other audience member remark to his wife that their rendition of Close To The Edge was not a bad effort. Certainly by the time they started playing it they seemed to have lost a little bit of the nerves. The Starship Trooper encore was superb and seemed to include and extended instrumental section that showed just how good these musicians really are. It may have been that I knew most of the songs but, after what seemed to be a poor start, the sound seemed to be mixed as well as you can get at the Duchess, with all the instruments being heard individually and Bernia's vocal being very clear.

This was an assured performance of some incredibly complex music which, being honest, deserved a much larger audience. In some ways I hope that the lack of attendance was simply due to this being a tribute as, in my opinion, Yes's music is equally as enjoyable as that of the other giants of 70's prog. Now, if only I could remember to play the CDs more often.

Simon Says...

Friday 28th August: It's the weekend of the Leeds and Reading festivals and, with so much musical talent on show just twenty miles away who does the group plump to go see?

(Well, being honest, one self-confessed Little Boots fan hasn't been seen for a few days so he may well be camped out in a muddy West Yorkshire field...)

The rest of us, however, look through the slim pickings of the What's On listings for York and decide to forgo the overblown festival performances and take a chance on Simon Snaize at the Punchbowl. At least, that was the plan - regular readers may remember that any deviation from one of our norms usually ends in some sort of disaster. The full plan called for Roj to call in and checks out the talent on show at another venue and to let the rest of us know by text if that was a better option. Things started to go wrong for me when, halfway between bus-stop and Punchbowl, I realised that I hadn't picked my phone up and seemed to be taking a turn for the worse on arrival at the Punchbowl, slightly later than I anticipated to see that Dave Keegan was down as playing there and there wasn't a Roj or Andy in site.

(Just to point out that I'm not saying Dave Keegan wouldn't be worth seeing just that if you expecting one act and get another, it can thrown plans a little awry.)

So, thinking I may have missed the all important text, I bought myself a drink and settled down to see if the others turned up. It turned out that Simon and Dave were playing as a duet that night so, when the music started, I shuffled through into the performance area to at least catch the beginning of the act before deciding whether to move on. A few minutes later I was relieved to be joined by Roj, who confirmed that this was the best option and that he had texted Andy to let him know. So, where was Andy???

That question was answered a few minutes later when Roj received a phone call from Andy who was standing outside the Punchbowl, wondering where we were. For those of you unfamiliar with York's various watering holes, it's worth pointing out that there are two Punchbowls in the city centre, roughly at opposite ends. Andy joined us after a brisk walk through the evening air and arrived with a bit of a thirst. I love it when a plan comes together.

So, what about the (other) entertainment? Simon and Dave are both past members of Hazzard County, a covers band we used to see regularly after gigs at Fibbers. Now, however, they play acoustic guitars and perform a mixture of similarly styled covers from their Hazzard days and their own songs. Tonight covers included Woody Guthrie's California Stars (a Hazzard favourite) and songs by various New Zealand singer songwriters (apologies for being so vague but I also forgot to pick up pen and paper...). At least some of the original songs will, presumably, be on their forthcoming album. There was also a song based on a poem be Henry Longfellow but I can't remember whether it was a cover or an original.

They play together superbly and harmonise their vocals beautifully and tonight's set was totally live, with no electronic aid. At one point Roj and I found ourselves wondering where the violin track was coming from before realising that Dave's guitar had some sort of built-in effects doohickey. Whatever it was it sounded great and had us fooled for a few minutes.

During a break in their set we were treated to three songs by one of the audience (obviously it was planned - not just some bloke who got up and decided to sing). If his name was ever thrown, I'm afraid I didn't catch it. He explained that the first song was inspired by the Fleet Foxes and, it has to be said, it did sound a bit similar. But then, so did the other two. He was OK, but needed a bit more volume in my opinion.

Quite early in the evening, I overheard one audience member saying something along the lines of, "forget the crap that's on X-Factor, this is real talent." I can't help but agree. Overall, this was a pleasantly entertaining, if slightly less than musically memorable, evening.

A Small Intake of Breath

Friday 14th August: Crikey! It's been over a month since my last post, which means that it has also been over a month since I went to a gig. I have to admit that, in my opinion, the live music scene in York is a little bit in the doldrums at the moment - even looking at the Duchess's What's On list for the rest of the year there are only a handful of bands that I am actually looking forward to seeing. Although, I was chatting to Bryan Josh during the break, asking him whether there were any plans to perform his solo stuff live in York and it turns out that the first weekend in December is going to be quite busy - Bryan Josh at the Duchess on the 4th, Mostly Autumn at the Grand Opera House on the 5th and Breathing Space at the Duchess on the 6th.

Tonight, however, it's a cut down attendee list (myself and Roy) out to see a cut down band (Breathing Space unplugged , a.k.a. Iain Jennings and Livvy Sparnenn) playing a mostly acoustic set at the somewhat intimate venue that is the Punchbowl. It was reasonably busy, meaning that the area reserved for live music was quite full with some very familiar faces in attendance, including family and friends of the performers. Unfortunately, from where I was standing Livvy was perfectly hidden by a speaker.

This was the first unplugged set the duo have performed and they as much as admitted that they probably hadn't rehearsed as much as they should have done, leading to the use of cheat sheets for some lyrics. Apart from that, however, it was a superb performance. Livvy's voice, not having to fight against the sound of the rest of the band (or, perhaps, the acoustics in the usual venue) was stunning and came across as stronger than normal. My only criticism is that it came across as just a little too strong on a couple of occasions during a cover version of Fields of Gold.

Iain's keyboards, in this case more piano-like than synthesiser, are always brilliant and tonight he showed that he can play both his own compositions using a different style and some more-than-competent cover versions. Tonight was also the first time that I realised that keyboards themselves can be used to keep time during a performance (obvious in hindsight but I'm musically incompetent, remember...) and there were more than a few times when I found myself playing along with Iain (on my leg) where I would normally be doing something similar to the drum line.

Overall, we were treated to nearly two hours of music which added a new dimension to the existing catalogue and provided an insight into the new album (sadly not available tonight, despite the hope of being able to pick up a copy being the main reason I decided to go out on my wedding anniversary...) It's probably not a surprise that the set leaned heavily towards Beneath The Radar, with six songs from it being performed. Perhaps more surprising was that we also heard six covers and only a total of five songs from the first two albums. It may still be too soon the band's career to suggest an album in the format of Bon Jovi's This Left Feels Right, but it may well be an option in the future. The full set list, with sources and a few notes, was:

Coming Up For Air (Coming Up For Air); Clear (Beneath The Radar - the only song from that album written by Paul Teasdale and also available on the cover CD of Classic Rock Presents Prog issue 3); Dusk (Beneath The Radar); No Promises (Breathing Space); You've Got A Friend (Carole King); Belief (Breathing Space); Lantern (Beneath The Radar - performed live for the first time tonight); Fields Of Gold (Sting); Here Comes The Rain Again (Annie Lennox); When I Hold Onto You (Coming Up For Air); Rain Song (Coming Up For Air - in my opinion, the best performance of the night and originally performed by Livvy and Chris Johnson when they supported Mostly Autumn); Autumn Leaves (Eva Cassidy); The Night Takes You Home (Beneath The Radar); Never Make Your Move Too Soon (Bonnie Raitt); Drowning (Beneath The Radar); I Can't Make You Love Me (Bonnie Raitt); Questioning Eyes (Beneath The Radar).

Coming Up For Air

Saturday 11th July: It's been a bit of a strange week, really, with Tuesday being the strangest day.

(Regular readers, please bear with me here. I suspect this is going to be a meander. I think there's a point that I'm trying to get to and, you never know, I might even manage it. New or occasional readers, please don't let this post put you off - I'm not normally this bad...)

I left work on Tuesday feeling mentally exhausted. I had been looking at a particularly knotty problem for two straight days without getting anywhere (and still haven't solved it). There was also quite a lot of tension within the team, something that I was trying to stay out of but, when you work in such a small team, it's sometimes difficult to avoid things. On top of that I had volunteered for what turned out to be a bit of an emotional battering from a friend who was/is going through a bad time. Not that I minded, you understand - I had offered an ear and a virtual shoulder and was glad that I have been able to help in whatever small way. (I should also mention that if said friend is reading this and isn't happy being mentioned they should let me know - there's always the edit button...)

So, as I said, I left for home feeling drained. Then, roughly halfway home, a song came on the i-pod. Written by keyboard player Iain Jennings for Mostly Autumn's second album and in memory of his mother, The Gap Is Too Wide is my favourite piece of music. It's an achingly beautiful song about loss with a second half instrumental that somehow manages to convey sadness and joy in equal measures. Just a few minutes into the song I suddenly found myself in tears. Luckily there was nobody around.

Now, I'm not normally an emotional person. I rarely get stressed and I definitely don't normally wear my heart on my sleeve like this. Hmmm, I wonder if this is the start of a mid-life crisis...

Anyway, The Gap (as it is affectionately known), although being a Mostly Autumn song, has been the regular encore song for Breathing Space - Iain Jennings' new band - every time we have seen them. And tonight, a full contingent of us (including Debbie - Breathing Space are one of the few bands we both like) were at the Roman Bath to see them again. Would I find myself coming over all unnecessary and make a fool of myself? Say tuned...

When Debbie and I arrived, York centre was still full of that afternoon's race-goers and we had to queue to get into the Bath. With the sound check in full flow and audible outside, it wasn't long before a large group of people left the pub and we were allowed in, to find Roj already inside. A nifty move by Debbie soon found us couple of tables close to the stage area and, with the music forcing the racegoers out, we were set.

Breathing Space are in a bit of a flux at the moment, having lost guitarist Mark Rowen and Saxophonist John Hart earlier in the year, Liam Davidson (Mostly Autumn) had been standing in on guitars but he is currently unavailable so Bryan Josh (also Mostly Autumn) is on guitar duties at the moment. It has to be said that a guitarist of Bryan's standing could easily have overshadowed tonight's performance but didn't - his performance was subtle and almost understated and the man himself almost faded into the background during most of the set. That's not to take anything away from the music, however. When solos were called for, they were of the man's usual high standard.

In fact, the whole band was on top form (although I can't tell where Iain's keyboards end and brother Ben's start) and this was an excellent performance - by far the best Breathing Space gig we have seen at the Bath. Livvy looked incredibly relaxed and, although she never seems to get the best of the audio in this venue, her voice soared. It was also nice to see her smiling so much as she can sometimes, in my opinion, look a bit too serious on stage.

We were treated to a nearly two-hour set of songs mainly from the first two albums, but sprinkled with new songs from the soon to be released Below The Radar. These appeared to be a bit rockier than previous songs, perhaps not surprisingly given the band's revised emphasis on guitar and keyboards (the reason Hart left the band). Although difficult to tell from a first hearing, it sounds as though the new album could well be worth waiting for.

Some of my favourites were missing and I wonder whether we'll hear On The Blue Horizon (written by Rowen) again. However, it's hard to criticise when the likes of You Still Linger, Belief, Coming Up For Air and Searching For My Shadow are included in the set. All are brilliant songs, written and sung from the heart.

With the end of the gig fast approaching, it was time to steel myself. The band announced that they had finished and the usual cries for more ensued. After a very short time, with everybody back on stage, Livvy announced that they would do one more song. One from the new album. Shock! I can't remember the title but it was a superb way to end the gig - a fusion of vocals, keyboards and guitar (obviously with the backing of Barry Cassels on drums and Paul Teasdale on bass) that seemed to go on forever and yet still finished too quickly. One more reason to anticipate the new release.

...and then it was time to get removed from the Bath. We finally braved the rain to run and shelter in a shop doorway, just before an increasingly irate bouncer decided to throw us out. There followed the usual insults, a round of Tommy Cooper jokes, music discussions and remembrances as we watched the band pack their equipment into cars and drive away. Eventually, I caught sight of Iain Jennings and wandered over to ask whether The Gap had been put to bed as the band's encore. It turns out that they are simply resting it, wanting to end gigs on a bit more of a lively note. Given the significance of the song to the man himself, I hope he didn't mind me telling him the story of how it affected me this week, even if it did mean us both getting rained on.

Breathing Space next play York on the 6th of December, at The Duchess as part of a tour to promote the new album. I'll definitely be there.