Wednesday 29 December 2010

2010 In Review - Part 1, The Books

Wednesday 29th December: I didn't get round to writing about my year of reading last year so I'm going to get it out of the way first this time.

As most people who know me are aware, I have had a huge "to read" pile of novels, biographies and short story collections for some time now and, therefore, rarely buy new books of those sorts, relying on birthday and Christmas presents to help me complete series that I have already started. That means that I can't have a favourite book published in he last year and the following is limited to what I read in 2010, whenever it was published.

In the last year, I finished thirty-five books, with a final one expected to be completed before the end of the year. I also received eighteen, meaning that the pile should have reduced to ninety-three by the start of 2011. As usual, most of my reading has been science-fiction or fantasy (or at least related to the genre) with only a small-press history of female comic characters - the excellent, if somewhat fannish, Supergirls, by Mike Madrid - being even slightly removed.

Getting the disappointments out of the way first, I have to mention Kate Elliott's Crown Of Stars saga, an ambitious seven volume fantasy series which I found very dense and lacking in action, with a cast of characters that you needed a notebook and family tree to keep track of. Consequently, I seemed to take forever to read it and, if reading becomes a chore, it's obviously not enjoyable. My biggest disappointment, however, was Shelters Of Stone (2002) - the fifth volume of Jean M. Auel's prehistoric Earth's Children saga (in which lead character Ayla seems to invent everything from the domestication of animals to sex). It's been a while since I read the fourth volume (Plains Of Passage, 1990) and the huge gap in publication may have contributed to the fact that all that seemed to happen in this volume was that Ayla and Jondalar finally arrived back at the latter's home cave and reiterated everything that had gone before, before setting up the final volume, due next year.

In terms of fantasy, I'm not going to choose Neil Gaiman's Stardust as my favourite of the year, primarily because I have read it before, albeit in a different format (it was originally published as four "comics" and later collected as a trade paperback, both released by DC Comics). Nor am I going to choose the solid Soldier's Son trilogy by Robin Hobb, which I enjoyed immensely, but only because I read a rare single-volume fantasy by somebody much less prolific, which was superb. War Of The Flowers by Tad Williams may not be completely original but it has enough new ideas in it to be a refreshing read. Part urban fantasy, part "fish out of water" story and part Faerie tale, it provided a new take on the world of the Fey. Exciting in places, scary in others and, it has to be said, obvious in some, it did what a good book should do - kept me entertained (and, at times, amused) for the whole read and I would recommend it to anybody with even the slightest interest in fantasy.

Science fiction has been going through a bit of a boom period recently and I am now catching up with some best reviewed books of the last few years, as well as some older ones. I finished reading my stack of SF Masterworks some time in 2009, so I didn't read any of the so-called classics this year. Perhaps the biggest surprise was Stephen R. Donaldson's Gap cycle, which I completed after reading the first, rather slimmer, volume some time ago. Donaldson has a reputation, I believe, for unlikeable characters and the first volume put me off reading the rest a bit as it contained both the physical and mental rape of one main character by another. So, when I finally got hold of the remaining volumes, it was with some trepidation that I started reading them. Unfortunately, there was still a lot of nastiness but, as the story went on, the target character grew past it and I became somewhat inured to it (perhaps a sign of good writing or perhaps a sign of numbness, I'm not certain) and from struggling through volumes two and three, by the time I'd finished all five, I realised I'd read a cracking if flawed space opera. Indeed, it's space opera that dominates my favourites of the year. Peter F. Hamilton is one of the new British masters of the genre and the first part of his Commonwealth duology, Pandora's Star was almost a sure thing for my book of the year. However, because I don't like selecting parts of a series as my favourite - it's the whole or nothing - it was let down by the second volume, Judas Unchained, which, although containing more action, was more of a struggle to get through, again due to the number of characters and the factions they represented. Hamilton also seemed to have forgotten that having distinctive names helps those of us with limited thinking power to keep track - I mean, three characters called Ozzie, Orion and Oscar... come on! Also, towards the end, the action got a wee bit too complicated and I struggled to keep up with who was wear, fighting with whom and for what. So, my favourite SF novel goes to Matter, the 2008 entry in Iain M. Banks' Culture series. I'm not a huge Banks fan and have found some of his Culture stories frankly dull. This one, however, was brilliant in its weaving together of two stories which eventually came together as one with an ending that was unforeseen and yet, in hindsight, extremely obvious.

My overall favourite book of the year, though, is one I haven't even read yet....

I'm a sucker for coffee-table style books on various subjects, especially the history of American comics. This year was DC Comics 75th anniversary and Taschen published the massive (so big it comes in its own carrying case and would probably cause our coffee table to collapse) 75 Years Of DC Comics: The Art Of Modern Mythmaking in celebration. With text by Paul Levitz, who has been associated with DC for over 35 years, this is a treasure trove of rare art and photos from the entire history of the company. My copy of the book arrived today and I spent most of the afternoon browsing through it and trying to stop the drool from falling onto it. It's a lovely thing to look at and I'm sure that the text will live up to expectations. Well worth the price. (Don't ask...)

Sunday 12 December 2010

A Breath of Fresh Air

Sunday 5th December: While it's not quite the mini Mostly-fest of last year, today sees Iain Jennings taking advantage of the fact that Mostly Autumn played York last night (and, possibly, that some of the crossover fans are still in York) to organise an afternoon gig for Breathing Space. So Debbie (who, for some reason, was under the impression that this was to be Livvy's farewell gig) and I find ourselves at Fibbers for a rare afternoon out together.

Support today was provided my Marc Atkinson who I've seen once before, who performed on one of my favourite albums of the last couple of years and who has one of the best biographies I have ever read. Having being involved in a number of projects over the years, it seems odd to me that Marc has weaved around the sort of "stardom" experienced by the likes of Bryan Josh without actually making it as big. Having said that, both his biography and his attitude when performing both seem to show that he is happy with his lot and it may just be that he prefers to more grounded and, for want of a better word, local than Mostly Autumn.

The last time I saw Marc he was performing acoustic covers in The Terrace. This afternoon, he mined his own material to give us a thoroughly enjoyable (still acoustic) set. Sadly, due to what seems to have been an incorrectly advertised start time, we missed the first song, but the second came from Gabriel, one of Marc's previous bands, while the next came from his much anticipated Riversea project (the album of which, he informed us, is due to be released at Easter next year, with many guest appearances). Other newer songs were the reminiscing of When We Were Five and Through A Mirror Darkly, while Clockwork Man dated back to 2006. For his final song, Marc reverted to a cover and produced a very good version of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb (perhaps a brave choice given the Worst Band Ever video which has been doing the rounds on the internet, but I'm happy to say that this afternoon's version was infinitely better than that one...) Despite some guitar problems - apparently you shouldn't re-string guitars on a cold day - which seemed to both frustrate and slightly embarrass Marc, this was a very varied and, as I say, enjoyable set. The vocals were very clear and the choice of songs complemented each other. The first time I've heard Marc's own material and it impressed me enough to buy both of his available albums.

The departure of Livvy Sparnenn from Breathing Space (and, indeed, Bryan Josh from the live shows) had necessitated the second line-up change of the weekend. Replacing Bryan is Adam Dawson (who regular readers will know that we have already checked out), while Heidi Widdop is now the lead vocalist. Again, I have seen Heidi before, opening for Mostly Autumn last year as part of The Secrets. It had already been said that Heidi's voice was completely different to Livvy's and that this was leading to a new sound for the band, but I hadn't realised how much of a change it would be.

The band opened with Run From Yourself, my favourite track from Beneath The Radar, but the track sounded more rocky than normal, something that was to be reiterated with the new material that was to be peppered throughout the set. Before that, though, we took a trip back to the original Breathing Space album for a version of No Promises which featured some wonderfully atmospheric guitar work from Adam. Heidi then took up an acoustic guitar for the new song Unnatural Disaster, before Adam stepped up to perform vocals on Silver Skies, one of his own songs which has been revamped as a full band version, and an excellent version it is. Next up was Searching For My Shadow, proving that all the previous albums were fair game for the new line-up (and surprising me as I thought this track might have left the band with Livvy). Again, it sounded as though the track had been reworked slightly to provide for Heidi's stronger voice. The title track from Beneath The Radar was followed by When I Hold On To You, from Coming Up For Air and then another new track (the title of which I didn't hear). Finally, we got the second rendition of the weekend of Questioning Eyes and hearing the two so closely together showed just how different Heidi and Livvy's voices are - both superb versions, but very different. After a brief respite, the band returned to the stage for an encore and, in my opinion, a very welcome return of The Gap Is Too Wide - lovely to hear it live again.

This wasn't a perfect set. Heidi was struggling slightly with her voice and the sound was a little dodgy. At first I thought that the latter was due to my standing right next to one of Fibbers' main speakers (which, I can confirm, can give you the impression that it is driving a spike through your eardrum) but somebody who was standing at the bar has also criticised the sound. It seemed fine for Marc's set but didn't seem to cope too well with the increased volume of Breathing Space. Despite that, it was a really good performance and, despite the band being off the radar, let alone below it, for a few months now (at least locally) with very little news or updates being released, it bodes well for the future. The new, rockier sound is brilliant, Heidi's voice will be even stronger once her chest is better and Adam's playing was good enough to give any of the previous guitarists a run for their money. Given the number of new tracks played, a fourth album can't be far away and I, for one, can't wait.

Friday 10 December 2010

Mostly New

Saturday 4th December: ...and it's time for the now annual trip to see Mostly Autumn at York's Grand Opera House. Much has already been said, by better writers and critics than me, about the line-up change resulting from Heather Findlay's departure from the band and with Go Well Diamond Heart marking a return to form for one of my favourite bands I was really looking forward to tonight's gig. Overall, I have to say that it lived up to expectations. However, some of the following may seem a little controversial.

The first set started with an instrumental introduction while album covers and photos of band members, past and present, were projected onto a screen above the stage. I think I can understand why this was done - the message seemed to be that the band were experiencing both a departure and a new start and that this was a new chapter in their history - but, at around fifteen minutes long, it did start to overstay its welcome just a little and I almost breathed a sigh of relief when the band finally took to the stage and started playing Deep In Borrowdale, the rocker from the new album. What followed was a mix of songs both old and new, including two from the second disc of the special edition of Diamond Heart (The Sound Of The World and the superb Ice) and the live staple Spirits of Autumn Past. I had a vague feeling that this set was a bit more Bryan-centric than previous times when I had seen the band and this seemed to be confirmed by watching the That Night In Leamington DVD the next day. (Although it is possible that the Leamington gig, given its significance as Heather's swansong with the band, was more tailored to her and that I just have a bad memory.) Livvy only really seemed to really front Passengers and Questioning Eyes, a personal song that she has brought with her from Breathing Space. One highlight of the set was a guitar solo from Liam, used to introduce one of the songs (I forget which - there's that bad memory again) and give most of the rest of the band a few minutes off stage. This solo seemed a little more intricate than those of Bryan and if it is the sort of thing that can be found on Liam's recent solo album I will definitely be seeking out a copy.

After a short break the band returned to the stage and started the second set with Fading Colours then continued with most of the remaining songs from the standard release of Diamond Heart, including the lyrically challenged Something Better, For All We Shared and the title track, during which some effective light effects were added to the sounds of war to provide a somewhat harrowing backdrop to the song. Back To Life showed that Livvy has, indeed, got a superb voice and was the best song she performed all night. In fact, she seemed to almost be finding her voice so far into the evening as this was followed by Slow Down (from Bryan's solo album, Through These Eyes) for which she provided some stunning backing vocals and, shortly afterwards, she performed Evergreen very well. As usual, the main set ended with Bryan's dedication to his father, Heroes Never Die but the band soon returned for an encore which included Forever Young and the brilliantly performed When The War Is Over, before regaling us with the usual Christmas songs and, from Livvy, an unaccompanied version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

As usual, it's a treat to see arguably one of York's biggest bands perform in their hometown. I'm never sure of the Opera House as a venue but maybe that will be put right when York's Barbican opens again next year. I couldn't help thinking, though, that this year there was just a little something missing. Livvy isn't bad. In fact there's very little wrong with her performance except that she doesn't seem to have the vocal power that Heather had (something I think I've also mentioned when reviewing Breathing Space). One thing that did strike me was that, when Heather sang, I never really noticed Livvy or Anne-Marie's backing vocals but, when Livvy was singing tonight, it was easy to pick out Anne-Marie. It might just be a matter of time or it might be that the sound mix and, indeed, set list is being tweaked to make up for the new singer. Don't get me wrong, I'm not pining for Heather to come back - Livvy isn't Heather and there will, inevitably, be a change in the band dynamic - but I certainly can't agree with the person sitting somewhere nearby who, when Bryan jokingly said, "some of you will have noticed that Heather isn't with us tonight" was heard to mutter, "thank f*** for that."

Friday 3 December 2010

Sonic Engineering

Tuesday 23rd November: On of the joys of going to gigs either on-spec or on somebody else's recommendation is that you occasionally come across a band that you wouldn't hesitate to see again. Hence tonight's solo outing to Stereo.

It's not often that I've seen a band from outside the UK play in York, so it was a bit of a surprise to find that Freaky Age, tonight's first support, were from Belgium. They play in the time-honoured choppy guitar style and their first song reminded me a bit of One Night Only. The start of their set was a bit disappointing. Despite having their own sound engineer the mix seemed all wrong. The vocals were drowned out by the guitars and the guitars themselves were almost indistinguishable behind the too loud drums. It wasn't until the third songs in, Never See The Sun, that I managed to catch a title, let alone any of the lyrics. The introduction to the next song was just guitar and vocals and, without the battle of the sounds, I started to make out that the vocalist did have a good voice. Throughout the first half of their set, some interesting guitar noises threatened to surface above the rapidly becoming tiresome drums and backing vocals were non-existent - you could see mouths moving, but could hear nothing. It was a bit of a relief when, starting with the sixth song, the drums faded a bit into the background, the guitars were allowed to come to the fore and I started to hear lyrics with some clarity. Where Do We Go Now spent four weeks as a Belgian number one in 2008 and was slightly more "pop" than the rest of the set. This was followed by a cover of Pinball Wizard and a final song which I didn't get the title of but was the best of the set. The band are all young - nineteen or so, but have already released two albums and toured across mainland Europe. There was a lot of enthusiasm and energy on stage. It's unfair to write them off on the basis of poor sound and the second half of an unusually long set for a support act was hugely enjoyable.

Second to take to the stage were York's own The Blueprints, who are billed as "alternative/indie/new wave", which either means all the same thing or that they don't quite have a distinct style. Their first song was light and airy while the second started off much darker and added keyboards to the mix before lightening up again for the main section. Staring At The Sun was, for me, just a tad too repetitive, Skylines was a much slower, less bouncy, more melodic song while the next was true rock and roll. Spectrum Versus Commodore must be the only rock song written for the 1980s geek generation while So Melancholy was anything but. Their final song was, again, the best - heavier and louder than the rest. There wasn't quite as much energy on stage, but there did seem to be what can only be described as in inherent "cheekiness" in the performance, helped by a small amount of barracking (and, in the end a minor stage invasion) from members of fellow York band The Buccaneers. Like many local bands, The Blueprints aren't exactly my type of thing, but are well worth seeing perform live.

Engineers aren't exactly a York band but I believe that Mark Peters does live here. They have had a major line-up change since I saw them at Fibbers last year. Mark has moved from bass to guitar and vocals (and is also the main songwriter), Daniel Land now plays bass and Matthew Linley plays the drums. Keyboards are provided by Ulrich Schnauss who is now a full time member after previously playing live with the band. Original member Simon Phipps, on vocals, guitar and bass, completes the current lineup. Despite the membership changes, their sound has stayed more or less the same. Engineers weave the individual instrument sounds together, crafting music that hangs in the air, music that you can almost touch, that envelops you and is almost hypnotic. So hypnotic, in fact, that I couldn't actually say how far into the set we were before a song was played that could actually have been said to liven things up. Most of their songs simply sit there, refusing to be moved, resonating in a bass-line that vibrates the floor. Despite touring to promote the third studio album, In Praise Of More, tonight's set comprised of songs from all three albums. One song, simply announced as "from our first album" opened almost discordantly and was a little jarring before it settled down, but this was the only blip in an otherwise superb set. Whether you describe their style as shoe-gazing, ambient or prog (they were recently covered in Classic Rock Presents Prog) there is no doubting that Engineers are excellent.

Tuesday 16 November 2010

A Hazy Memory

Tuesday 16th November: A bit of a strange posting this one. I haven't been to a gig recently and haven't had the time to listen to any recent CD purchases properly enough to make notes for a full review. (Bang goes the plan to review all of my 2010-released purchases.)

I am, however, currently listening to a CD that arrived in the post on Saturday and there's a bit of a story behind my purchasing it (which is probably of absolutely no interest to anybody, but when has that ever stopped me putting fingers to keyboard...?

Recently, I was skimming an issue of Classic Rock Presents Prog magazine and came across a gig review for a band called Haze, who had played the Peel in Kingston. The review caught my eye as I remembered seeing a band of the same name in York some time ago, while I was still in school. The review ended with:

"It beggars belief why they never quite got the breaks earlier on in their career, and it's a real shame because Haze should have been as popular if not more so than their counterparts during the early 80s: their neo-prog influence should have enjoyed far more success. Yet to see this band still tread the boards after over 30 years - albeit as sporadically as they do nowadays - should make anyone's musical journey that little bit more complete."

It couldn't be the same band, could it? My memories of the gig in question really boiled down to the facts that I went with a group of friends, we were at the front of a backroom of a pub, the crowd showed their appreciation by "whooping" rather than (or perhaps as well as) applauding and the band themselves reminded me a bit of Rush, in looks if not in music. I also remembered that I bought a cassette on the night. Yes, even as a near virgin gig-goer, I still couldn't resist spending money on the musical media of the time...

A quick search of the internet and I found the Wikipedia entry for Haze (band) but nothing really jumped out at me as conclusively linking the review with the band I remembered. In fact I was beginning to doubt it, as I had it in my head that the band I saw came from Bradford, while the Wikipedia entry was for a Sheffield band. I'm not one to give up easily, though and so clicked on the "official site" external link, where I couldn't help but notice that the band's logo looked very familiar. And there were gnomes on the site. Hang on, didn't the cover of the cassette have a gnome on it???

To cut a long story short, the two bands were in fact one and the same and Haze had experienced a degree of success back in the 80s, self-releasing two albums and touring extensively in an old ambulance. Unfortunately, lack of genuine success (and the writing off of the ambulance) eventually led to Haze splitting up after ten years, although they do, obviously, reform now and again for anniversary gigs and the like.

Even before I had confirmed that it was the same band (final confirmation coming during an email conversation between myself and bassist/keyboard player Chris McMahon, who not only remembered which pub it was, but the name of the cassette - The Cellar Tapes, which puts the date that I saw them play somewhere in 1983 and, therefore, one of my first gigs - and the fact that the "whooping" originated in either York or Nottingham) I had decided to order a copy of the double CD recording of the 30th anniversary shows, recorded back in 2008, mostly at Sheffield's Boardwalk. And it's that CD that I'm currently listening to and thoroughly enjoying.

Strangely, although I can't have heard The Cellar Tapes for something like twenty years, I recognised the second track of the CD - Turn Around - as being one of the tracks from it almost immediately.

The CD itself is an excellent live recording, one of the type that leaves everything in, including the banter, and is therefore, an full and accurate account of the gig rather than a watered down, edited version. The music is superb, maybe not quite as prog as the other bands around in the 80s (those that I know, anyway). There are some vague hints of Rush, especially around some of the keyboards sections, but there is also a more folky element supplied by the flute of Ceri Ashton, which also, somewhat inevitably, reminds me of Jethro Tull, especially during Train. There's an energy and confidence to the performance that belies the fact that the band rarely now performs (as Haze, anyway - the members do perform as Treebeard, an acoustic, more folk flavoured band). There is also a relaxed feel to the whole thing, evident in the slower numbers and between songs camaraderie. The audience doesn't sound huge but is definitely appreciative even if there doesn't seem to be any evidence of "whooping". Apart from Turn Around, nothing is immediately recognisable to me but, overall, it's definitely my kind of music. According to the liner notes, the song selection spans the whole thirty years, not just the Haze era. Hearing it, I can't help but feel a bit nostalgic for that 80s gig and would echo the sentiments expressed in the magazine review. Haze definitely deserved more success than they got.

Sunday 31 October 2010

Stringing Us Along

Wednesday 27th October: An unexpected email from Andy leads to an unplanned night out at Stereo.

Andy himself had yet to arrive when the first band, Patchwork Grace, took to the stage. It must be something about bands from Nottingham as, like Baby Godzilla a few weeks back, they did nothing for me on the basis of this performance. The MySpace page linked above states their genre as "rock" and there are citations from Kerrang, but tonight's set was acoustic and comprised of vocalist Tori Tea dressed like a gangster's moll and sitting between guitarist Christoph Marrizon and bassist Scott O'Conner (drummer Dan Rolfe was absent from the full line-up). The seated performance and simple guitar work provided for a less than dynamic set and, while Tea's voice sounded as though it could have been strong, on this occasion it came across as just a little monotonous. None of their own songs stuck out for me and the best part of their set was a cover of Love Cats (The Cure). It's perhaps unfair to judge them on an acoustic performance (the only one on their list of upcoming gigs) and maybe we'll see them back in York as a full band sometime.

Andy Finally arrived as the second band were starting their set. I got the impression that Boys Off The Bench were a relatively new band and nothing in my research for this post suggests otherwise. Their MySpace profile has only existed since July this year and only lists brothers Luke and Adam Henderson (vocals and drums respectively) as members, although there is mention of them being joined by bassist/guitarist Kenny. Tonight, however, there were five members on stage - Kenny, not being able to play both guitar and bass at the same time had been joined by a second string-man and there was also an electric piano, which proved to be the lead instrument in most of the songs while the guy tinkling its ivories also provided backing vocals, leading to some nice harmonies particularly during Bugle Boy. Overall, Luke's vocals seemed a little tentative and hesitant and it didn't help that the drums were mixed too high during You Make Me Smile which made the lyrics difficult to hear. Ravens, however, was a fantastic song - lyrically almost post-modern folk and ending with some incredibly dark drumming which superbly complemented the imagery of the song. Following this with a bright and breezy pop song and a vocals-and-keyboards-only number meant a varied and interesting set, while the final song, When Nothing Else Matters, was a thoughtful, intelligently written number and the best song of a very good set.

Leeds based Eureka Machines are another band with differences between tonight's line-up and full membership. Tonight we just had Chris and Dave, both doing vocals and guitar (one might have been a bass, I wasn't watching closely enough...) Apparently, they wish they had proper "rock-star" names. Well, Chris, without too much effort you could change yours to Chas... Anyway, billed as Rock/Punk/Pop with more citations from Kerrang and a track on a past Classic Rock cover CD, tonight was another acoustic set with a nice line in banter and songs which, perhaps unintentionally, managed to raise a smile. As did Dave's somewhat unnerving doorman stance, including piercing stare, when he had little to do and his dragging a chair on stage and sitting looking bored when Chris decided to do a song on his own. Despite some degree of audience apathy, the boys played a mixture of their own songs, including the excellent Story Of My Life (which was the Classic Rock CD track) and covers. "Who wants to hear the best song ever written?" asked Chris to no reply. "Nobody," he sighed before asking again and getting one "Yeah" from a woman in the audience. So, the duo left the stage to sit on the woman's table and serenade her with Wichita Lineman (Glen Campbell). Apparently, the second best song ever written is A-ha's Take On Me, which was also played tonight. Overall, a very enjoyable set which, in this format, would be highly recommended to fans of Hope & Social, of which there was more than a resonance of in the performance.

StringerBessant is comprised of Gary Stringer and Jack Bessant, both formerly of nineties Brit-rock band Reef. I don't remember the band and so went to tonight's gig with no preconceptions. However, it's hard to imagine two people less likely to have been in a successful British band of the nineties, with Gary looking like a surfer dude and Jack perhaps having wandered in from a remake of Grizzly Adams, in which he was playing the lead. Nor would the music have given you any clues. Jack played acoustic guitar and harmonica and occasionally sang while Gary sang, occasionally played guitar and provided a rhythm section by playing tambourine (or his knees). As with The Union, a few gigs back, I got the feeling that I had crashed a private party. Most of the audience seemed to know the songs, which were from the recently released album The Yard, with Wild Day and Give Me The Keys - two completely different songs, the former slow, the latter bouncy - getting particularly good reactions. A lot of the songs were quietly introspective and almost brought a lump to the throat, particularly in the vocals. Both guys have strong voices, just different from each other to be complementary and they gave us an incredibly involving set which was topped off by the vibrant encore Cross The Valley. It's safe to say that I'll be ordering a copy of the album soon.

Friday 22 October 2010

Adam Again

Friday 15th October: Weekends in York are still providing sparse fare in respect of new music to tempt us to the city's bigger venues. Thankfully, while the "clubs" are failing to entice, those pubs which try to drag the punters in by providing musical entertainment (albeit generally in the form of covers bands) are still providing ample opportunities to see some good acts. Tonight it's a rare full complement, including one new-comer, on an even rarer visit to the Punchbowl (Stonegate version) to see someone who is rapidly becoming a favourite.


I suppose, if we were to be totally honest, none of us would have known about Adam Dawson if he hadn't been chosen as Breathing Space's new guitarist. Although he plays regularly in York, it's generally not in a combination of venues we frequent and the nights we frequent them. Tonight, though, is the third time I've seen him, in a third different venue. It's not just the music, either - Adam seems happy enough to take time to speak with the punters and comes across as a genuinely nice guy.

The Punchbowl is a bit of a strange venue for music. The acts perform in one of its three rooms. In fact the room that doubles as a dining area and that people have to walk though to get to the back bar and the, errm, conveniences. The former means that the music doesn't start until food has stopped being server and eaten and the latter means that it can be quite a busy thoroughfare. Tonight, as Adam started his set, all the tables were taken and my usual standing spot was occupied. In fact, by the time we had all turned up I found myself standing through the doorway of the back bar, listening to the music rather than watching the performance and directly in line with the Table.

Why the capitalisation? Well, for me at least the Table has taken on a degree of notoriety. The smaller of two tables directly in front of the stage area it seems that every time I've seen an act at the Punchbowl it has been occupied by people who are determined to shout at each other over the music. Tonight was no exception but it was slightly embarrassing when I pointed out the Table to Adam while chatting to him during his break only to have him tell me that the occupants were friends of his. You know those times when you wish that the ground would open up underneath you...?

Anyway, as the second half of the set started, the occupants of both of the tables in front of the stage had moved, meaning that we got a chance to sit down, a much better view and less shouting. For all its faults, the Punchbowl does serve a very good selection of real ale and is a pretty good venue for music.

I realise that I've yet to mention Adam's performance. The set comprised mostly of songs we've heard him perform before and which are becoming familiar, even if I can't remember what some of them are called or who sang them without resorting to noting down lyrics, hoping I can read my won writing when I got home and Googling. Tonight a mixture of technical difficulties and a voice suffering from a week of teaching meant that Adam felt the need to apologise for a below par sound and to choose carefully which songs to perform. Not that it was too noticeable and it was still a thoroughly entertaining evening.

We were even treated to three of Adam's own songs - two more than last time. Along with the ubiquitous Lazy Susan, his latest single, we got I'm Coming Home and the beautiful and emotional Silver Skies, another track from the single, as the encore. I'd like to think that it was my request that got the latter played but it could just be that he was planning it anyway.

A more or less complete set list for tonight is:
Forever Lost (The Magic Numbers), unknown, Cannonball (Damien Rice), Dream Catch Me (Newton Faulkner), Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol), Hey There Delilah (Plain White T's), Sewn (Feeling - not sure about this one), Rule The World (Coldplay), Poker Face (Lady Gaga), Use Somebody (Kings of Leon), Lazy Susan (Adam Dawson), Streets of London (Ralph McTell), Shine (Take That), I'm Coming Home (Adam Dawson), Little Lion Man (Munford & Sons), Sloop John B (The Beach Boys), Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen), Silver Skies (Adam Dawson)

Friday 8 October 2010

Union Meeting

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday 1 October 2010

Parading, In Spades

Saturday 25th September: After the disappointment of Tuesday's very late cancellation of Oceansize's gig at the newly refurbished Fibbers, which would have seen all of us out, tonight it's a solo outing for me to Stereo to get a second dose of some of the band members from last Saturday.

Tonight's support act, In Spades Inc, were only playing their second gig and, in some ways, it showed. There was an air of nervousness surrounding Stewart King's self-depreciating banter, almost as though he was apologising for the band turning up. He needn't have worried. While their music couldn't be said to be completely original, there was something just a little bit different about it which made it interesting and entertaining. Their forty minute, seven song set (including one cover, which I recognised but, for the life of me can't remember...) contained a nice mixture of material from the slow, haunting opening of Hurricane, which eventually built to a much louder climax, to the brash heaviness of Sucker Punch. But it was the guitar work that really caught my ear - each song seemed to contain an intricate piece of guitar, from either King or fellow guitarist Adam Brady, which sometimes didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the music but in all cases enhanced it.

This may have only been the band's second outing but, in researching this post, I realised that we had, in fact, seen another of King's bands, Satori, supporting Panic Room at the Duchess almost a year ago to the day. Both Roj and I enjoyed that performance so much that we bought the album that night. In a strange piece of symmetry, I picked up two copies of In Spades Inc's free EP preview tonight, one copy of which I have passed on to Roj. I don't think I could honestly say that I liked tonight's performance as much as I did that of Satori, but i certainly wouldn't be averse to seeing In Spades Inc again. Definitely one to watch out for.

...and now a confession. In order to remember thoughts and set-lists at gigs and to help write these posts, I make notes on my phone. Tonight there was a human/technology interface failure (I forgot to save the note I made for the headline act and subsequently managed to inadvertently delete it while the phone was in my pocket) which means that the following review is based solely on my somewhat poor recollections.

Parade are (or, possibly, were - their website says that they are changing their name) another band that we saw last year and so impressed us that we bought the album. One of the loose family of bands centred around Mostly Autumn, Parade was, at the time, made up of current MA members Ann-Marie Helder and Gavin Griffiths, past member Chris Johnson and two long-time collaborators of Johnson, Paddy Berry and Simon Snaize. Tonight ex-Yards guitarist Chris Farrell stood in for Snaize, whose name is strangely absent from the above website. Anyway, The Fabric ended up being one of my top five albums from last year and, therefore, I wasn't going to miss seeing them live again.

Tonight's set featured most, if not all, of the songs from The Fabric, including all my favourites - the epic The Diamond, the nasty The Dogs, pop-tinged but very rocky Start Again and the fantastic Feedline - along with an encore comprising of an acoustic song which I feel I should remember and a full band version of Science and Machinery. Chris Johnson played an acoustic version of the latter last Saturday. It's a song which appeared on the special edition of Mostly Autumn's Heart Full Of Sky album but which, apparently started life years before with Chris J, Chris F and Paddy, providing a nice link with tonight's line-up.

As expected the musicianship was superb. Chris Farrell played some incredible guitar, Paddy's bass was superb, at times making even the floor vibrate and Gavin's drumming was brilliant. Anne-Marie performed some pretty impressive vocal gymnastics - particularly during the wordless ending to High Life - despite apparently having voice problems during the whole of both this (very short) tour and the Panic Room one she had just completed. She and Chris perform some wonderful harmonies, which are just one of the high points of the album and live performance.

There is a reliance on technology, with a laptop tied into Anne-Marie's keyboards in order to produce some of the more unusual sounds. (There are enough pops and whistles on the album to make R2-D2 wonder if it contains a message for him...) Normally, for me, this would be enough to make me a little sceptical about the quality of the music - is it being "played" or just reproduced? But, somehow, I can forgive Parade this extravagance. Maybe it's because of the pedigree of the band members.

Anyway, the whole performance was brilliant and the whole band seemed to be enjoying themselves, playing off each other and practically pushing each other around while still managing to make wonderful music.

Hopefully, whatever the future holds for the band, they will continue to make and play such quality music.

Friday 24 September 2010

Scream And Panic

Saturday 18th September: These days, if there's a band that I like playing York it doesn't matter if any of the gang are going to see them. If I've got nothing else on, I'll go on my own. Tonight, it's the third visit to our city by Panic Room and nothing was going to stop me keeping my 100% attendance record.

First support came from Scream Arena, another band I'd seen before. Tonight they were a lot less flamboyantly dressed than last time and gave the impression that they weren't trying as hard to project an almost archetypal image of a rock band. Yes, vocalist Andy Paul still looks like a singing Slash, but those of the rest of the band who were, last time out, rather flamboyantly dressed had toned down their appearance this time. Musically, pounding drums and crashing chords were mixed with some intricate solos and sometimes ear-piercing vocals to produce some pretty good heavy metal, which I enjoyed more this time than I did last. Admittedly, the lyrics were hard to make out most of the time, but that's not unusual with live music. In this case, the vocals somehow seemed to be clearer when Paul was backed by other band members. The first time I reviewed the band, I wasn't that impressed. This time, I found myself liking them more. Maybe familiarity, in this case, breeds enjoyment. House of Pain remains the standout song, but the rest of the set wasn't half bad.

Chris Johnson has more than one link to Panic Room and associated acts so it was, perhaps, no great surprise to see him on stage tonight. A talented musician, song-writer and singer, past member of Mostly Autumn and current guiding force behind Parade, Chris generally performs solo with an acoustic, albeit effects-aided, guitar and tonight was no exception. He played songs from his solo career (Luckiest Man Alive), from Parade (the wonderful Dogs and Come Alive) and one he wrote with Mostly Autumn (Science And Machinery, which appeared on the special edition of the Heart Full Of Sky album - sadly not the version I own). All were played with energy, a clear voice and a seeming reluctance to make eye contact with the audience. Not that that matters - this was another good set from one of York's most multi-dimensional artistes.

Since the last time I saw Panic Room, they have had a slight line-up change. Bass-player Alun Vaughan has left the band to pursue other bass related activities and has been replaced by Yatim Halimi, and, it has to be said, I don't think I've ever seen any string member of the rhythm section enjoy himself as much as Yatim did tonight. Dancing, singing backing vocals and jumping around stage, all the time wearing an ear to ear grin, he was fantastic and much more "front of stage" than Alun ever was. That's not a criticism of Alun, just an indication of how different the two performers are.

This being the Satellite Tour, much of tonight's set-list came from the band's second album. But mixed in with the likes of Freedom To Breathe, Yasuni, Dark Star were a sample of songs from Visionary Position. Anne-Marie Helder performed Elektra City superbly, using hand gestures and subtle changes in head position to accentuate the "technological" side of the song, while Reborn and Apokalypstick were welcome returns. There was a small part of the set where the vocals seemed to go a little muddy and, indeed, Anne-Marie herself sounded just a little hoarse for a while in the middle. Given the amount of effort she puts into her vocals, however, that's perhaps no surprise. I have to say that The Fall was, for me, spoiled a little by the vocal effects used during it, but that was a minor blip.

Panic Room recently recorded a song for a CD to be given away with an issue of Classic Rock Presents Prog magazine. In celebration of the reunion of Emerson, Lake and Palmer at this year's High Voltage festival, a number of modern prog bands were asked to record cover versions of ELP songs and Panic Room chose Bitches Crystal. Sadly, legal matters mean that the CD has yet to see the light of day (and may never do so if I read a comment in the latest issue correctly) but the band have decided to add their song to the current set-list. I'm not at all familiar with the original, but tonight's version was brilliant. Like most PR songs, it was atmospheric and bordering on epic, with key parts for all the musicians and great vocals.

As usual, the musicianship was astonishing, with Paul Davies' guitar-playing being, at times, nothing short of astonishing. Unlike some prog rock bands, there's no over-reliance on keyboards - Jonathan's playing adds dimension to the songs without being intrusive - and Gavin's drums were, as ever superb. Yatim even managed to provide a small bass solo during the encore of Satellite, without resorting to playing funk as some bass players are wont to do. Panic Room are one of my favourite bands and seem to get better every time I see them.

Monday 20 September 2010

Late Night Socialising

Wednesday 15th September: Time for a midweek outing to Stereo to see a couple of favourites...

...but first, it's Marbled, who I last saw supporting Fish at The Duchess. I freely admitted that I wasn't taking much notice that evening and my over-riding memory was of an angry tone (I'm fairly sure it wasn't directed at those of us who were chatting at the back, but you never know) to both his lyrics and his guitar playing. So, I was quite surprised to find that tonight's act was primarily of a much softer nature with a mixture of styles, including some clever finger-picking. The vocals were much more subtle than I remembered, with only his final song being what I would describe as "shouty". Licking Electricity was somewhere in the middle of the two extremes and was my favourite song of the set. He also came out into the crowd and played The Beat Goes On, a fully acoustic pop song about how rubbish music was in the 60's, when people just went to gigs to scream at the band. A pleasant start to the evening, if not completely to my tastes.

Next up was Gary Stewart, the only act on tonight's bill that I hadn't seen before. Or had I? He did look slightly familiar. I'm sure it will come back to me... Gary started off with In The Pines, a nice little bit of delicate guitar backed by a singing voice which, at least partly due to his Scottish accent, sounded a bit more folky than most acts we see. Jekyll And Hyde was a harder, foot stomping song, while Maggie Oh was a much faster piece. Three songs and we already knew that he had variety. Joined by Rich Huxley for the third song, we also saw a bit of humour and banter coming out as well. Rich also played on Take Me Down but then left the stage for Behind The Door which was, in my opinion, too repetitive. All the songs so far had come from Gary's debut album, Boy Cries Wolf, which was released just this week. His final song, which doesn't appear on the album (and whose title I missed) featured some much more powerful guitar-playing and echo-enhanced vocals. It was also my favourite song from the set.

(Addendum - I bought Boy Cries Wolf on the night and am happy to say that, with the vocals on Behind The Door being shared with Ellen Smith, of Ellen And The Escapades, the repetitiveness is diminished and it's a much better song.)

GT Turbo, tonight in his Boss Caine persona (or is it always that way? He has so many names, I get confused.) is another favourite of mine. The only problem I have is that his songs are so good and so easily imprinted on my memory that it can feel as though you are hearing the same set over and over, even when he varies it. So, it was with some pleasure that I heard him play a completely new (to me) song, Father Time, last time I saw him. Tonight it got even better with two more new songs. At least one of these, Devils On Dean Street if I heard correctly, will be on his second album (due any time now and not soon enough). Only one song, the lovely Sweet Sorrow Surrender, came from the debut album, while Dead Man's Suit and "She Laughs At All My Jokes" (not the real title, but if you've heard it, you'll know the song) are two of his staples. For the final song, "a cautionary tale about cocaine", he was joined by Tim Fox on harmonica, providing a nice symmetry to the set as the opener, the aforementioned Father Time, featured Vin North on the same instrument. This was another brilliant, if short, set from York's very own Boss.

Finally, though, it was the band that we'd all come along to see (no offence to the others...). But who is the little guy taking up position on the drum stool? Well, it's none other than Gary Stewart. No wonder he looked familiar - it was just the lack of blue blazer and drumsticks and the addition of a guitar which had prevented us from recognising Hope & Social's drummer. That explains why Rich knew so many of his songs. Now, by this time, we had moved forward quite considerably and, in fact, made up part of the front row of the audience. Because of that, I didn't use my mobile to take any notes - partly because it would have looked a bit rude and partly because I didn't want Simon to see me and think I was texting somebody. So, titles of songs played tonight are sadly missing from this review. I can, however, remember that there was a good mix of songs from both albums (Architects Of This Church and April - both available at whatever price you want to pay from the above link) with, perhaps, more from the first album than last time we saw them.

It has to be said that, tonight, the band were on fire, playing louder, heavier and faster than I ever remember them doing in the past. Rich was practically dancing across his effects pedals, while Ed seemed to use every extremity (and more than one elbow) to play his keyboards, barely sitting in his seat. Banter was thrown around the stage like their lives depended on it with any slight mistake (and there were a few) picked up and mercilessly exploited and any chance for p*ss-taking taken without hesitation. Once again, with a small stage, large band (although the brass section was down to just two tonight), number of instruments and the amount of bouncing and spinning going on, it's somewhat amazing that nobody got injured and that nothing got broken, such was the enthusiasm on show tonight. Sadly, there were no kazoos (I'd lost mine but two of the gang had brought theirs along) but we did get the audience singalong during the usual acoustic version of Looking For Answers, which is always nice to both hear and be a part of. Hope & Social are never disappointing and tonight was easily the best gig of theirs that I've been to. A thoroughly entertaining evening which, thankfully, went on well beyond the advertised finish time.

Tuesday 14 September 2010

Playing In The Wood

Friday 10th September: I know, I know... It's been a while. Sadly, for the best part of a month my only exposure to live music was a Turkish trio who "serenaded" us during a meal while on holiday. I would have reviewed them, but I don't generally like writing bad reviews. (Although one band that I recently expressed some dislike for added the review to their Facebook page and took some degree of pleasure from what I had written when, perhaps, the most favourable part of the review was that I seemed to be the only person in the room not to like them. I guess any publicity is good publicity.) Anyway, normal service has now been resumed.

Adam Dawson must be doing something right. The new guitarist for Breathing Space - now fully integrated after appearing on stage at the Cambridge Rock Festival (which none of us attended) - not only managed to drag all four regulars away from our usual venues, so much so that one of us couldn't even find the place without help, to see him play tonight but an optional plan "B" of heading back to familiar haunts at the halfway stage was quickly abandoned.

Tonight he was playing the Royal Oak, in a much smaller room than the Roman Bath, where we first saw him. The smaller room meant a much more intimate gig, while the presence of a group of Germans, attired in some form of traditional dress and drinking from a four-pint glass boot (!), led to a much more fun and light-hearted evening. This despite one of our continental cousins seeming to be under the impression that he was at some sort of hoe-down (!!).

Adam himself played a similar set to last time, playing both six and twelve string guitars, mixing the modern with the not-so-modern and the familiar with one or two that I didn't recognise. He even turned his hand to a couple of requested songs that he wasn't overly familiar with himself, bravely playing along while everybody else in the room tried their best to remember the words to Bowie's Space Oddity and The Eagles' Hotel California, adding even more fun to the proceedings. He only admitted to playing one song of his own, current single Lazy Susan, but I have a feeling that the first song played was Omniscient Scarecrow from his 2003 album - I didn't recognise it as anybody else, but it did sound naggingly familiar and definitely had the word "scarecrow" in the lyrics...

At the end of the evening, which stretched well beyond the advertised 11pm finish, we chatted with Adam and he informed us that, although it may currently seem quiet on the Breathing Space front, they are rehearsing every week, as well as writing for the fourth album and that things are progressing nicely, albeit with a slightly different sound to past output. While there may not be a tour until into next year, the band have recently been booked for a CRS gig in Rotherham.

A (more or less) full set-list for tonight is:
The song that may, or may not, be Omniscient Scarecrow, Mumford and Sons (Little Lion Man), The Magic Numbers (Forever Lost), Lady Gaga (Poker Face), Kings of Leon (Use Somebody), Ralph McTell (Streets of London), unknown, Damien Rice (Cannonball), Snow Patrol (Chasing Cars), Turin Brakes, unknown, Eric Clapton (Tears in Heaven), Mumford and Sons, Newton Faulkner, Adam Dawson (Lazy Susan), Take That (Shine), Bob Dylan (Tambourine Man), Beach Boys (Sloop John B, I think...) David Bowie (Space Oddity), Pink Floyd (Wish You Were Here), The Eagles (Hotel California), The Beatles, The Dubliners (Wild Rover), The Kinks (Lola, Dedicated Follower of Fashion), Eric Clapton (Wonderful Tonight)

Tuesday 10 August 2010

Rock In Stereo

Friday 6th August: It's only my second ever trip to Stereo, so I think I can be forgiven for not realising that the music being played in the front bar wasn't the same as that being played in the performance area.

So it wasn't until Andy stuck his head round the door that we realised that tonight's gig had actually started and that Oli Stevens-Vallecillo, of heavy metal band Mantra, was on stage for an acoustic set, accompanied by a second guitarist (Cat, I think he introduced her as). The first song we heard sounded, musically, uncannily like Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead Or Alive but was, as far as I could tell, an original. Oli has a powerful, rumbling voice, which made whatever he sang very clear and he plays guitar with a mixture of intricacy and effects. Apparently he teaches guitar around York and it has to be said that his students are lucky to have such a clever player as their tutor. Adding a second guitar resulted in some lovely harmonies and Cat also provided a bit of extra vocals on a couple of songs. All the songs seemed to be originals, apart from a very nice cover of Man In The Mirror, which took away the pop trappings of the original and resulted in a much more interesting version. Thoroughly enjoyable, I could have listened to Oli all day.

I last saw rock band Raw Deal supporting The Tygers of Pan Tang at Fibbers in May and enjoyed their set. Tonight, they were joined by new bassist Michaela (whether that's permanent is unclear - both MySpace and Facebook still list the bass position as TBC), who looked naggingly familiar to me, but I can't remember or work out from where. Tonight, the whole band seemed to be more assured and confident, with guitarists Dan and Phil certainly living the rock and roll dream, both with their looks and antics on stage. Steph is a charismatic front-woman and, while her vocals are still sometimes drowned out by the music, has a fantastic voice. Jake on drums is good without being intrusive and, together with Michaela's bass, provided a nice background to the music. The only criticism I would have is that Michaela sometimes looked a little lost on stage and tended to fade into the background when Dan and Phil moved together into their rock stances. To her credit, she did seem to realise this towards the end of the set and started moving out of their shadows. I can't say that I recognised any of the songs from the previous time, but tonight's performance sounded, to me, an order of magnitude better than at Fibbers. I'm afraid I only caught two song titles, but they were both from very good songs - Stalker Song and Breakdown.

Right, cards on the table time... I can usually find something I like in a band's performance and there are very few bands that I definitely wouldn't see a second time. However...

Hailing from Nottingham Baby Godzilla, a four-piece (although with only three on show tonight) psycho-blues/post punk band, just aren't my thing. Displaying an almost total lack of subtlety, an over-reliance on feedback and a too showy performance the band mixed a fast and furious musical performance with screaming, unintelligible vocals to produce a head splitting noise. When they started their set, the place had emptied and, two songs in, I wondered whether everybody else already knew what was just dawning on me. However, word soon seemed to spread and the room started filling up again and everybody but me seemed to be enjoying the performance. Me, though, I like to at least have a chance of hearing the music and understanding the lyrics, not watching the drummer do a headstand over his drum kit or wander among the audience playing the cymbal until the stand falls apart. Sorry, but not for me.

98Pages, on the other hand, I do like. This is the third time I've seen them and, it has to be said, they are a superb live act, performing no-nonsense rock and roll in short, sharp and rhythmic songs. Tonight's (very short) set comprised of a lot of new or, at least, unfamiliar songs, with Goodbye JoJo being the only one that I recognised from before. There's very little speaking between songs as the boys let their music do the talking. A very polished performance and, hopefully, the new material means that a second album is in the offing.

Sunday 8 August 2010

Bones, Smoking and Ashes in the Basement

Friday 30th July: Tonight it's a solo (get it? No? Bear with me, you will...) outing to the Basement to see a gig that came highly recommended by a certain D Lucas.

The evening opened with three songs from Peter Marshall & The Lomos, who were playing twenty-four gigs in twenty-four hours around York, raising money for SASH. Now, the endeavour itself is a brave enough thing to attempt but when you are basically gate-crashing a gig which is almost the complete opposite of your own style of music, it takes on a much higher degree of courage. However, the comedy stylings of this due managed to raise a few chuckles, an appreciative round of applause and, most importantly, a bit of cash. Well done, lads.

Next on stage was Joe Solo (now do you get it?), an untraditional folk singer from Scarborough (via somewhere a little further North-East, if his accent is anything to go by). An ex-punk, Joe was, according to his wife, destined to be a protest singer because he was always moaning. Strapping on or inserting (into his shoe...) various bits of percussion and adding a bit of harmonica imbues Joe with a bit of a one-man-band vibe and added a bit more interest to the man and guitar act. Coming across between songs as unassuming and slightly bewildered, Joe has a distinctive singing voice and the songs performed tonight were good enough for me to buy copies of the two CDs he had on sale. Highlight was a true modern folk song, written by Graham Moore, called Tom Paine's Bones, about this fellow.

The ever-reliable and always excellent GT Turbo was next up with a short set comprising of Leaving Victoria, Sweet Sorrow Surrender, Smoking In My Backyard, Dead Man's Suit and a new song (to me, anyway) Father Time, for which he was joined by Vin North on harmonica. I was going to say that some of my favourites were included but, being honest, I've yet to hear song from GT that I don't like. There's not too much I can add to what I've said about GT in the past - his songs show variety, are brilliantly written and instantly catchy. I urge you to at least give his album, The Ship That Sailed, a try.

Finally tonight's headline act, Otis Gibbs, took to the stage. He'd been wandering around the inevitably small crowd, shaking hands and taking requests during the evening. I can't possibly do justice to the man by trying to summarise the bio from his website so, if you are interested, click on the link above and head for the Press Pack. Looking like a cleaned up hobo (no offense, Otis) and sounding like a rougher, acoustic Springsteen, Otis treated us to a set of wonderful alternative country style songs, mixed with some comic asides about growing up in what he thought was an artist colony ("it turned out we were just hillbillies..."), playing at an anti-war rally and being born ("I came out bearded, tatooed and asking for my hat") . Songs included I Walked Out In The River, The Town That Killed Kennedy, Where Only The Grave Are Real and Kansas City, from his new album Joe Hill's Ashes (duly purchased and loving it...), as well as Small Town Saturday Night, the brilliant Caroline and One Day Our Whispers. The inevitable encore was performed unplugged and off stage, with Otis wandering around the audience while playing. Superb.

Sunday 1 August 2010

Rocking in the Grass

Wednesday 28th July: A few weeks ago a work mate came up to me and said something along the lines of, "There's a sh*t band playing York soon and I think you'll want to see them..." At the time, I wasn't sure whether that was a comment on my musical tastes, but it turns out that he meant that most other people thought they were sh*t and that he actually liked them. It also turns out that they were already on my radar from the What's On listings and so plans were hatched, tickets were purchased and tonight we find ourselves in a much fuller than usual Duchess. Either everybody was here for the support band or the main act weren't considered that bad after all...

Said support was The Jokers who hail from Liverpool. Although initially looking a bit like a gimmick act - vocalist Wane Parry stares and lurches around stage liked a stoned zombie, while bassist Joker Jet plays the entire set wearing a mask and guitarist Paul Hurst is a Rick Parfitt look-a-like with a small amount of makeup around one eye (I couldn't see whether Neil Wardleworth on drums was wearing makeup) - they ended up impressing both of us. Apart from a brief rendition of Helter Skelter all the songs played were their own. Most were of the classic rock/metal style but others had a hint of T-Rex style glam rock about them. In fact, The Jokers could be the missing link between glam and metal, which isn't to take anything away from them. If I had one complaint it would be the proverbial one - the sound mix wasn't up to the band's output, with the music drowning out much of the lyrics during the songs but, strangely, Parry's incessant attempts, between songs, to get the crowd going being slightly overwhelming. The Jokers may not have fulfilled their stated aim of creating the world's greatest rock and roll band, but they are a long way from being the worst support band I've ever seen.

It could probably be argued that Hayseed Dixie (it took me a while to realise the joke) are a gimmick band. Hailing from Deer Lick Holler, Appalachia (don't look for it on a map...) the band formed in 2001 and released their first album, A Hillbilly Tribute To AC/DC that year. Since then they have released a further seven albums, containing a mixture of their own songs and covers of rock classics (and the odd pop song) re-interpreted in a bluegrass style and henceforth known as Rockgrass. Proclaiming to sing songs about drinking, cheating, killing and hell - with an emphasis on murder and death (and with several threats that tonight's audience might not make it out alive) the band treated up to a nearly two hour set of musical greatness.

Mixed in with the likes of Centrefold, You Shook Me All Night Long, Black Dog, Walk This Way, Ace of Spades, Bohemian Rhapsody, Bad Moon Rising, Fat Bottom Girls and Highway to Hell, were songs about tolerance, alien probes (yes, that sort...) and corn liquer, usually introduced in Southern preacher style with an amusing observation or hilarious story (including the funniest Take That story, which actually started out as a tale of how much the band drinks, you are ever likely to hear) and much face pulling and wild-eyed staring. Funniest song by far was I'm Keeping Your Poop, although Alien Abduction Probe was a close second.

Unlike most covers bands, who just re-play the songs, the fact that Barley Scotch (vocals, guitar and fiddle), Reverend Don Wayne Remo (banjo, vocals), Deacon Dale Reno (mandolin, guitar, vocals) and the wonderfully bearded Jake "Bakesnake" Byers (bass, vocals) manage to so successfully reinvent the classics in such superb style shows what good musicians they are (kind of like Les Dawson on piano, without the bum notes). The fact that they drop in a song called The Merchandise Table Is Next To The Stage just before ending the set goes some way to show their mentality. That fact that I'm now kicking myself for not wandering over to see whether they had brought any CDs on tour shows how much I was entertained.

And what a way to finish the evening...an encore of Duelling Banjos, with banjo and guitar and including a brief foray into Freebird. Superb and very highly recommended for any fans of rock music. Even if they are a gimmick band, and I'm not convinced about that, Hayseed Dixie put the music back into fun. We cheered, we hollered, we Hell Yeah'd, we drank and we danced (in fact some people there even seemed to have started their own hoe down...) but, most of all, we had a good time.

Monday 26 July 2010

CD Review: Adam Dawson - Lazy Susan (single)

Monday 26th July: At just over three and a half minutes Lazy Susan, the newly released and incredibly catchy (I found myself singing it at work the day after first hearing it) single from Adam Dawson is by far the most radio-friendly of all the singer-songwriter's physically releases. (His previous, the album In The Beginning from 2004 is much more pastoral, almost contemplative.) Immediately bringing to mind 60's pop, you can easily imagine the song being performed by the likes of the Beatles. The short but complementary electric guitar sections, which naggingly remind me of something that I can't quite put my finger on, add an extra flourish to the almost simplistic main tune - a mix of acoustic guitar, Hammond organ and drums, all played by Adam himself. Don't be put off if that description makes it sound a bit of a strange melange. Everything works together to produce a superbly melodic song which, along with the accompanying video, tells the story of how a young party-goer finds herself re-evaluating her life. Light, airy and instantly likable.

In what can only be a strange coincidence, the second track, Mirror Mirror, opens with the type of simple, repetitive keyboards reminiscent of some of Iain Jennings' songs. (Adam is about to join Iain's Breathing Space as their new guitarist.) This wonderfully atmospheric song would fit right in with some of related band Mostly Autumn's output which is, perhaps, no surprise given Adam's past guitar teacher. But that's not to take anything away from Adam's writing - there's nothing wrong with showing your influences, especially when they lead you to produce something as beautiful as this.

Although not mentioned anywhere on the CD, I believe that Silver Skies is dedicated to Dirk Macrae, former frontman of The Asylum Seekers (one of Adam's former bands), who died suddenly in 2006. Without being too sentimental, this is a lovely tribute to an absent friend and a song which will soon be performed "full band" (as Adam has stated it was always meant to be) by Breathing Space. In the future, this version may only be seen as having historical interest but it rounds the highly enjoyable single off in style.

This review was based on the physical release but all tracks are also available from itunes.

Track Listing:

1: Lazy Susan
2: Mirror Mirror
3: Silver Skies

Credits:

All songs written and performed by Adam Dawson
Engineered by John Spence at Fairview Studio
Lazy Susan video directed by Paul Richardson and featuring Roxanna Kilmaszewska as Susan

Sunday 25 July 2010

Falling From Paradise

Friday 23rd July: After a recent couple of quiet acoustic gigs, tonight it's time for a bit of loud metal goodness as I meet up with Roj and Lynn to finally catch up with a band that Roj has recommended a few times.

When I arrived, Fibbers looked packed and it was four deep at the bar - a good sign as gigs in York rarely come close to selling out and a big crowd is, generally, a prediction for a good gig. I was, however, a little surprised by the amount of tattoos on view, mostly on young women. We took up position towards the back, not the best place to experience bands but probably a lot less sticky than being at the front, given the heat.

First to take the stage was Frantic Alice, an energetic four-piece from Milton Keynes. Although showing nice use of various fringes as elaborate head-banging accessories and some potentially excellent, although swamped by the rhythm section, guitar solos, I'm afraid they didn't do too much for me. Vocally, they were just the wrong side of shouty, not hiding their punk influences at all. Frontman Jakk Spence's frequent use of the f-word got a little irritating at times - I'm not averse to swearing, but he just went a bit too far. Their songs, however, were different enough from each other to keep the set varied and, even from the back, Spence's vocals were clearer than some bands we have seen. Would I pay to see them again, probably not, but only because they weren't my "thing".

The Fallen are a twin-guitar five piece from York who I haven't come across before. That's a shame, really, as I enjoyed this set a lot more than the first (despite the somewhat 80's styles on show from some members of the band. Headbands? Eye-liner?? Really...?) A more generic style of rock, their best song tonight was the melodic Ghosts, which wasn't actually representative of the rest of their output. Johnny Fallen's vocals were less clear, but more powerful than those of Spence and the songs a little less varied but, when something sounds good, why vary it too much? An entertaining, if no brilliant set, and I particularly liked the synchronised headbanging.

We did move forwards a bit for Heaven's Basement, finding a clear area about halfway closer to the stage and positioning ourselves for what would turn out to be an assault on the eardrums... In a good way. Normally a five piece, but tonight down to four due to one guitarist breaking his finger playing football and with a stand-in vocalist after the departure of Richie Heavenz in February. (I'm a little unclear who the vocalist was - the paragon of truth that is Wikipedia states James Sinclair, but HB's own pages say they are still auditioning. Johnny Fallen, of the Fallen is mentioned as touring with them but I think that was earlier in the year.) Anyway, opening with a machine-gun like drumbeat, HB certainly entertained for their all too short set. For me, Sorry was their best track, while hard-hitting Paranoia featured the broken-fingered guitarist and Never Gonna Stop (at least, I think that was the title) showed the band are just as good with the slower numbers. Being one guitar down didn't seem to hamper the band - this was a full-throttle performance and one of the best rock acts I've seen for a while during an, overall, entertaining evening.

Tuesday 20 July 2010

Breathing In

Monday 19th July: Two weeks ago I hadn't heard of Adam Dawson, although over the past few years he has played with at least three bands (the first when he was just 14 years old) as well as a solo performer. However, it was recently announced that he would be joining Breathing Space as their new guitarist so, tonight, Andy and I are at the Roman Bath checking out a solo show by somebody who, while not on the verge of major stardom, is probably about to get recognised (and scrutinised) by a relatively large and passionate group of music fans.

Although a multi-instrumentalist, Adam's solo act (tonight, at least) is that of yet another in the ever growing crowd of man-with-guitar or, in this case, two guitars, acoustic with added effects. While I was expecting that, I can't say it filled me with joy and anticipation. There have been too many times when such a performer, usually a singer-songwriter, has failed to grab my attention or entertain me. It turns out that this wasn't going to be the case tonight.

Adam's set comprises of acoustic, cover versions of songs ranging from artists as diverse as Coldplay (Viva La Vida), Snow Patrol (Chasing Cars), Kings of Leon (Use Somebody), Pink Floyd (Wish You Were Here), Take That (Shine), Steve Harley (Come Up And See Me), Oasis (Wonderwall), Turin Brakes (Underdog), Chuck Berry (Johnny Be Good), Neil Diamond (I'm A Believer) and, errrm, Lady Gaga (Poker Face), mixed with a handful of his own songs, including Silver Skies, I'm Coming Home, new single Lazy Susan and my favourite on the night Behind The Light.

I'm happy to say that the original songs were good enough that they fit right in with the rest of the set. This was no bland performance - the songs were catchy and different enough to stand out not only from the covers but also from each other. These may have been stripped down, acoustic versions of the full songs but they were extremely good versions.

Being a Monday, the Bath was a lot emptier than we normally see it and, therefore, a lot quieter, which meant that it was easier to hear the vocals. For the most part these were incredibly clear, especially on the quieter numbers, but there were a couple of times when they became a little muddy (particularly during the Snow Patrol number). Although it was during the quieter numbers that Adam seemed to shine vocally (one of my favourites from his covers was a really nice version of The Plain White Ts' Hey There Delilah), his guitar playing was superb throughout, with the mixture of styles required for the different songs all being performed more than adequately. During the set there was a couple of really smooth segues - I'm A Believer into American Pie and Brown Eyed Girl into a Beatles song (the title now escapes me), the latter being done so smoothly that I didn't even notice until he started singing...

During a break in the set, I took the opportunity to chat to Adam and found him to be a genuine, affable bloke who exudes a slight air of controlled excitement at the prospect of joining Breathing Space. He told me that they had already worked on turning Silver Skies into a full band version and that there would, inevitably given the new line-up, be a slight change in direction.

While tonight may not have been the best indicator of how Adam is going to fit in or perform in the band, given the polarity of styles, it was a thoroughly entertaining evening during which my foot tapped and I sung along. A good selection of songs, performed well to an appreciative, if fluctuating audience - what more can you ask for?

Wednesday 14 July 2010

Something Fishy

Tuesday 13th July: Looking back to when I first started listening to music, there was a time when I was quite possessive (some might say anal) about some of the bands I liked. I'm not sure that I had even heard the term "prog rock" when I first heard Yes, Pink Floyd, Rush or Genesis, but they were among my favourites at the time and, despite all being of a genre, they all sounded different. Then along came a new band which, to me at the time, seemed to be trying to emulate the sound of Genesis. I can't say that I ever disliked Marillion, but I certainly never embraced them. In fact, metaphorically, I barely stepped forward to give them a peck on the cheek. I was aware of them (it was hard not to be) and I bought a 12" picture disc version of Lavender, but that was it. I never followed them and, until recently, I couldn't tell you when Fish left them or who was in the current line-up, let alone the names of any of the more recent albums.

Then, earlier this year, I spotted some of their albums in a bargain deal on play.com and, with my renewed (and growing) interest in prog, decided I had to buy them if only so my CD collection contained a valid historical cross-section of the genre. Imagine my surprise when they arrived and I gave them the usual cursory play only to find that I actually really liked them. One of them, Misplaced Childhood, is actually turning out to be one of my all-time favourite albums.

The similarities to the output of Genesis are still there. Fish's vocals still remind me of something halfway between Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins and some of the lyrics could have escaped from the Foxtrot era - I defy anybody to listen to "A train sleeps in a siding; The driver guzzles another can of lager" without thinking of that classic album. The way that the tracks of Misplaced Childhood merge into each other, with nary a break anywhere on the album, is reminiscent of the various live medleys that Genesis are so good at and that are one of my favourite things about their output.

But there's also so much more, including another influence that I only spotted the last time I played the CD. Does the opening of Heart of Lothian sound like Rush to anybody else? Quite frankly, the music is superb and grows in power as the album progresses. And Fish's vocals? Well, with maturity comes the realisation that he was never just a Gabriel wannabe. From the rumbling Scottish accent of the spoken word, through the lightness of tone in Bitter Suite and the suppressed power of Heart of Lothian right through to the outright anger during parts of Blind Curve, there's so much range and not a bad performance on the whole album.

Even if I hadn't reconsidered my opinion of Marillion, I would almost certainly still have been at The Duchess tonight, to see Fish perform an intimate acoustic set of (mostly) his solo material, which I hadn't previously heard any of. There are just some people that I have to see when they visit this fair city, whether I know much about them or not...

Support came from Marbled and I'm ashamed to say that I didn't pay too much attention, as I was chatting with local celebrities and their friends and family, mostly about Fish and Marillion but also about music in general. Thankfully, one of them was also willing to escort me to the merchandise table and spend my hard-earned for me, pointing out which of Fish's output was worth buying having been given a quick idea of what I already liked, while everybody else at the table played "spot the newbie". Having now listened to all three CDs that I bought I can't decide whether it's a good job or a shame that I didn't have more cash with me (the missus probably wouldn't have been impressed if I'd turned up with more or less the whole back catalogue but, then again, I would have had more or less the whole back catalogue...) Anyway, I can't tell you too much about Marbled, except that he was another "man with guitar" act, came across as a bit angry in parts but otherwise sounded OK.

Then, as pretty much the whole of the surprisingly small audience moved forward, fish took to the stage and belted out Chocolate Frogs with no accompaniment. For the rest of the two hour set, he was joined by Frank Usher (guitar) and Foss Paterson (keyboards) and we were treated to acoustic renditions of the likes of Shell Suit City, Miles de Besos, Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors, Lady Let It Lie, Speaking In Tongues, Family Business, Just Good Friends and lots more, from what seems to be a varied cross section of the man's solo output.

In between songs, Fish showed what a humorous, self-effacing and, well, talkative person he is. Songs were introduced by the stories behind them, such as the bitter-sweet memories of falling in love in Chile for Miles de Besos, or the reasons for writing the likes of The Pilgrim's Address (a song which must have had special resonance for at least one of tonight's audience). Other gaps were used to give Fish's opinion on the World Cup performance of the English football team or for him to, basically, take the mickey out of his own personal life and failed relationships. Whatever he was talking about, though, he held the audience captivated. This was by far the quietest gig, in terms of unwanted audience, noise that I've ever experienced (apart from the encouraged heckling). And what an experience it was - the stripping down of the songs to their basics, along with Fish's superb vocals meant that practically every word could be heard while the music was an absolute pleasure to listen to. As for stage presence, I don't think I've ever seen anybody command a stage as well as Fish did tonight.

The set finished with the only two songs that I knew - a rendition of Kayleigh which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and nearly brought a tear to my eye, and an almost as good version of Lavender. Then after a short time off stage, the trio returned to perform Lucky with enthusiastic audience participation.

All in all, this was an absolutely brilliant, thoroughly entertaining performance. It may have been the first time I've seen Fish, but I fervently hope it won't be the last. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a couple of back catalogues I need to peruse...

Monday 12 July 2010

They Think It's All Over...

Friday 2nd July: Hello, all - it's been a while, hasn't it? I haven't been away. Quite the opposite, in fact. The World Cup has kept me more or less glued to the settee and a lack of interesting (to me, anyway) gigs in York hasn't provided me with much incentive to get off my backside and get out. Nor have I had much chance to listen properly to any recent CD purchases. So, not a lot of point in blogging, unless I was to join in the general condemnation of the eleven or so over-paid English footballers who seemed to believe that the trophy would jump into their hands if they simply turned up to the games. Better luck next time lads. What? This was the last chance for some of you? What a shame! Maybe whoever is in charge next time should look to use some Championship players - at least they'd wear the shirt with pride and, probably, put a lot more effort in. Rant over...

...as is the World Cup itself. In a strange, Doctor Who-like temporal phenomenon I'm writing this over a week after the above date and music can, once again, become a big part of my life. As I type, I'm listening to Prognosis 9 - one of a series of CDs that come free with the Classic Rock Presents Prog magazine and serves as both a sampler for a variety bands, only a small fraction of which I've heard of, and an incredible piece of subliminal advertising. I swear I can hear, "buy the album this comes from," in the background of a lot of the tracks. It's probably time to lock the credit card away for a while.

But I digress (twice already, I think). I did forgo one football match for a trip into the city for much musical goodness. In order to give Debbie a night of from what must have seemed to her to be "endless bloody football", I met up with the gang at the Roman Bath to see the ever-excellent Mojos. The reasons were many - I'd almost forgotten what the rest of the guys (and gal) looked like; I needed some fresh air; Debbie wanted to plump up the settee cushions; I always enjoy the Mojos and, more importantly, we had tickets for upcoming gigs to swap around. The latter has now been completed with the indispensable help of a stamp, an envelope and a postman...

We've seen the Mojos a few times now and they never fail to put on a varied and entertaining show. Tonight was no exception. The Bath was incredibly warm and the band had all opted for shorts, proving that talent and sartorial elegance don't have to go hand in hand. (Guys - if you are reading this, and I know you have in the past, I'm joking...) We had positioned ourselves close to the door, which gave us access to the slight cooling breeze and a good view along the stage area but, perhaps, not the best sound as we were behind most of the speakers and next to another. Tonight's set was comprised of old favourites from the likes of Dire Straits (Money For Nothing and the superb Sultans Of Swing), Kings of Leon (Sex on Fire), Whitesnake (Here I Go Again), and Toto (Hold The Line), alongside some that don't really float my boat such as The Kaiser Chiefs (I Predict A Riot) and some that I'd not heard them cover before including a more than passable attempt at Muse's Uprising.

Sadly, there was an inordinate amount of funk in the form of Jamiroqui and Queen (not that I'm averse to Queen, but One Vision is the funkiest rock song I can think of...) and disco/soul, with Chic and Jackie Wilson. Although the latter's Higher And Higher did get me and Andy a mention from lead singer John when he spotted our backing singer style dancing (damn that alcohol stuff), which was strange given the rather more attractive sight that was more or less directly in front of the band all evening. Overall, though, there was more for me to like than not and it was another very entertaining evening from one of York's best covers bands.

Sunday 6 June 2010

Battling Bands

Sunday 31st May: 2010, and the last weekend in May sees a major music competition, a multitude of bands descend on one venue and play their hearts out in front of a large, screaming audience in order to gain the votes of a panel of experts, resulting in one being crowned winner with prizes including some high-profile gigs.

No, I'm not talking about Eurovision. That was last night. Tonight is the final of the Fibbers Battle of the Bands contest. To be fair, the two events are fairly similar. Except BotB is a lot smaller than Eurovision, there's less cheese, a lot less Lycra, very little silly dancing, a lot less (I would hope) political voting and an act from the UK has a very good chance of winning.

Oh, yeah, and the music is orders of magnitude better.

As I understand it, bands reach the final through a series of knockout heats and semi-finals, during which it is the audience which votes for the winners. So, the more fans, friends and family members the band brings along, the more chance of progressing. I think one finalist is put through by a judging panel. This year, this method resulted in five very different bands making it through to tonight's final.

Sadly, Kill The Captain had to drop out at short notice. A shame as I'd not heard them before. Some other time maybe.

The running order was decided on the day and first to take to the stage were The Littlemores, a band I had seen and enjoyed earlier this year, despite their music not being to my usual tastes. Ska-like, I stand by my earlier description that they sound like The Jam gone pop. As last time, they were joined on stage by multi-instrumentalist Ben Crosthwaite, who added the accordion to the previously featured trumpet. Ben adds a different dimension and a large degree of originality to the band's songs, which deal largely with aspects of youth and contain a degree of humour. My favourites from tonight's set were For The Lads, which tells the "story" of a young man who ends up joining the BNP, to the disappointment of others and something whose title begins with "O" (I'm writing this a week after the event and can't read my notes...) which featured the aforementioned accordion and some strangely Santana-like guitar-playing. The overall feeling is one of fun and The Littlemores had their large and somewhat vocal support bouncing.

It was all change in the audience as the next band took to the stage and fans of Scarborough boys The Shadracks moved to the front. If the Littlemores embody fun, the more traditionally indie sounding Shadracks could be said to represent cheekiness. There's lots of Cheshire Cat grins and more than one audience-involving gimmick, such as getting a volunteer to play tambourine on stage or keyboard-player Joe running into the audience with a small hand-held keyboard. Sadly, the vocals weren't as clear and the songs a little less memorable, but the set did include a reasonable drum solo (not something you see very often from local bands). It was, however, another very good performance.

Third up were Lost From Atlas and regular (hah!) readers will know that I really like this band. (In fact, they were one of the two reasons I was here tonight.) Unusually, the Atlas boys broke up their set a bit so that Danny could speak although, to be honest, he did look a little uncomfortable doing so and I can't help but wonder whether they thought it was expected of them to engage with the audience a bit. I'm fairly certain that there as some new material in the set which was another excellent one from an outstanding band who were described by tonight's host (Alexander King who, it has to be said, did a particularly good job as compere) as "bewilderingly good".

Finally, and with quite a disparity in age to the rest of tonight's acts, Maybe She's A Clone took to the stage. Described to me as "loud guitar rock", they are listed on the link above as "rock / emo / indie" What is emo anyway?? This was another new band to me, despite knowing one of the members. They follow the twin guitar pattern of one of my favourite local bands but manage to sound very different. Although I thought I detected a little Southern Rock (a la Black Stone Cherry) in the first song, that soon disappeared and the overall impression I was with was something more akin to The Engineers as, even without keyboards, they managed to produce a similar soundscape. Again, the vocals, shared throughout the band, weren't that clear from where I was standing but the riff-driven guitar-playing was superb. Highlight for me was the brilliantly melodic Breathe Again.

And then, after a short deliberation on the part of the judges, the results were announced. Perhaps a little unfairly, the acts were announced from three to one, leaving fourth place somewhat unrecognised. The full order was:

4th: Maybe She's A Clone
3rd: The Shadracks
2nd: Lost From Atlas
1st: The Littlemores -a result which went down well with what seemed to be the majority of the audience.

Personally, I wouldn't have ranked the bands in that order. Based purely on personal taste, Lost From Atlas would have been winners, followed by Maybe She's A Clone, The Littlemores and, finally, The Shadracks.

That's not to take anything from any of the bands - despite two of them not being my "thing", all of them were thoroughly entertaining and, overall, it was a fantastic evening.