Pelico Crossing

Monday 16th May: There are some bands that I like so much that not only will I go to see them as often as I can (even if the last time was only a matter of weeks ago) but I will also try to “sell” them to other music fans (and anybody else that will listen or who just happens to be standing in the way of my voice…). Tonight, however, is the first time that anybody has ever listened to one of my recommendations. Hopefully, the headliners won’t make a liar out of me.

Unfortunately, due to a desire for a decent drink and the vagaries of knowing when acts are due to start at Fibbers, Roy, Richard and I missed the start of Nick Tudor’s set. I say unfortunate for two reasons – firstly I like to think that I give all acts an equal listen and secondly because this one was actually very good. Nick himself looks like a cross between Paul Weller and Liam Gallagher and postures a bit like Mick Jagger. Tonight playing with a drummer and bass-player, Nick gave us some pretty good vocals and impressive guitar work. The handful of songs we heard included (and I’m guessing at some titles, here) the rocky Bring Me Down and Tears Roll Down as well as the slower, but equally good, Brick By Brick. The final, epic song of the set started out with hints of Oasis before turning into second half of blistering, effects-laden guitar. Definitely an act I wouldn’t mind seeing again.

It is, perhaps, a little unfair to judge local band Pelico on the basis of tonight’s performance as, from where I was standing (my usual spot, a bit in front of the sound desk), I could barely hear a thing over the noise of the large, ignorant section of the audience who insisted on talking shouting to each other over the music. It’s a shame because, from what I did hear, the band sounded as if they could be interesting. A four-piece comprising of Brian (vocals), Nick (bass, vocals and percussion), Rob (drums and percussion) and Ash (vocals and, unusually, acoustic guitar) they play an indefinable and unusual (in my experience) sort of folk rock, with nice vocal harmonies. Manfully battling on against the ambient noise and looking only slightly annoyed at the lack of attention they were getting, they gave us Passing Places, Sleeping On The Floor, Who You Are and something which I noted down as Fine, but might actually have been Fly, featuring Ash on lead vocals, along with a much more catchy song which may have been called Throw Me A Lifeline. Strangely, between songs they were applauded and cheered by more people than who seemed to be listening, including people standing behind me who can’t have heard a great deal and I can’t help but think that they were, perhaps, the wrong sort of band for tonight’s crowd and that they might, in fact, do better at a more intimate venue.

And so to the headliners and, being honest, the band that the vast majority of the crowd was here to see. Micky-taking, banter, laughs, blue blazers, audience sing-alongs, superb music and an impromptu line-dance from the brass section… Yes, it has to be Hope & Social, back in York to promote their third studio album, Sleep Sound, which was released last week on the usual pay-what-you-want basis (available in physical and download forms from their website and from no good record stores…) and, less than twelve hours later was already number on on Bandcamp. It’s no mean feat to get nineteen people, as well as instruments for an eight-piece band on a stage the size of the one at Fibbers but, opening with Sleep Sound itself, Hope & Social managed it by inviting a choir on stage with them. There was the usual banter between songs as Family Man was followed by old favourite (and, apparently, my daughter’s current second favourite song) Pitching Far Too High and then a return to new material with Rolling Sideways. You could almost see the idea cross Simon’s mind when, instead of taking to the front of the stage to deliver the crowd-pleasing Looking For Answers, he wandered out into the crowd to deliver an excellent acoustic performance “in the round” and show exactly what a superb natural voice he has. After that we were treated to Marching On Through, which was amusingly and almost seamlessly morphed into My Girl and followed by another new song, The Road Never Lies, which not only started a round of “musical instruments” (as opposed to chairs) by having drummer Gary Stewart on keys, but also showed that the band can take you from hilarity to lump-in-the-throat in a heartbeat. Gary also got time in the spotlight when he was allowed to infiltrate the middle of Red Red Rose with Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al, which he sang while also drumming. Abba’s Take A Chance On Me also made a brief cameo towards the end of Red Red Rose. Another new song, Fast Train, ended  a set which had already overrun but there was no way that we were leaving without an encore (“Or we could riot,” enthused Simon, fist pumping) and after a very brief call for “More!” and a quick check with the sound desk, the band returned for the banjo-led A Darkness Now Is Coming before some band members worked the crowd, selling copies of the new album. Despite only including one song from the first album and, obviously, favouring the new material, this was a nice mix of old and new.

I find it hard to describe Hope & Social (I wish I had come up with “A Yorkshire E Street Band”, but somebody else beat me to it) and easy to enthuse about them. All three of their albums are superb, but they are even better (and excellent value) live. Entertainers in every sense of the word, their gigs are always included as highlights in my annual round-up and, while tonight may have been a bit subdued by their usual standards (and definitely compared to the last time we saw them) it was still head and shoulders above most bands. They work hard, they play hard and they have a superb attitude towards music. It’s fairly obvious that I can’t recommend them highly enough and would urge anybody reading this to at least download and try out some of their stuff. You can do it genuinely for free – they don’t even ask for your email address. Oh, and for the record, debutante Richard was impressed and is already talking about seeing them again…

No Longer A Punk Rocker

Friday 29th April: It’s the day of the Royal Wedding and, having spent the day walking in the countryside away from all TVs, I’ve decided to spend the evening inside the Duchess. (I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist…)

Marcus Bonfanti is a half-English, half-Italian, self-taught Blues guitarist (and former guitarist for tonight’s headline act). Tonight he is playing solo rather than as part of a trio. He has already released two albums, with a third on the way and has been nominated for British Blues Awards for two years running – Best Male Vocals and Best Album in 2010 and Best Male Vocals and Best Guitar in 2011. Opening with a deceptively simple harmonica and vocals number, Marcus immediately set his stall out by showing what a strong voice he has. Moving on to the likes of Devil Girl, with its almost shouted lyrics, and What Good Am I To You?, with its much lighter, catchy riff, he also showed how versatile that voice was and how good he was with the guitar. Peppering his act with amusing interludes delivered in a nice easy-going style and thereby providing more entertainment than just the musical performance, he continued with Now I’m Gone Is Your Life Better?, Cookie (I think) and the ironically meant Sweet Louise (for which he apologised to anybody in the audience thus named…) Finishing with Give Me All Your Cash, even more ironic than the previous song given how many times he’d reminded us that he would be selling his CD during the interval, Marcus provided a very entertaining set and turned out to be an addition to the growing number of man-and-guitar acts, not to mention Blues artistes, that I find increasingly engrossing. And yes, I bought a copy of the CD and, while chatting, discovered we had a mutual appreciation for Seasick Steve and abhorrence of people who talk through gigs. Nice, as well as talented guy.

I came across Sandi Thom at much the same time as most other people, when I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker… was riding high in the charts, at a time when I was working up and down the country and generally travelling with somebody who preferred listening to the radio rather than CDs. At the time, I wasn’t aware of the hype surrounding her and her live webcasts. I just liked the song. Liked it enough to buy the album, Smile… It Confuses People, which I also enjoyed a lot. I eventually noticed that she was appearing live near York at the Pocklington Arts Centre and thought about, although never got round to, seeing her perform. Later I bought the second album, The Pink & The Lily, and was disappointed, if not underwhelmed, by it, leading to me not bothering to venture out the first time she played the Duchess and to her disappearing off my radar for a while. However, I never really give up on artists I like and, seeing that a return trip to the Duchess was on the cards, as well as having read good things about her third, very different album, was already planning a possible solo excursion when Roj said that he and Lynn would also be interested in going along.

As the support may have intimated, Sandi has moved more towards a Blues style and, together with her four-piece band, opened with an un-introduced which started out folksy but ended much more powerfully, before treating us to some harmonica playing for Heart Of Stone, which also built to a loud ending. The set continued to be varied, with a more rock-and-roll/country number followed by a slower, more bluesy song which should probably have showcased Sandi’s vocals, except that they ended up being slightly drowned out by cymbals. I’m fairly certain that the set featured songs from all three albums, but I failed to recognise anything from The Pink & The Lily. I did, however, recognise What If I’m Right and I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker from Smile…, despite both songs being heavily tweaked to reflect the new style, the latter being played just on harmonica, with the rest of the band just clapping along. We also got a few covers, including Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain, The Animals’ House Of The Rising Sun and Blues standard Help Me (Sonny Boy Williamson and also recently on Chantel McGregor’s debut album), all of which were delivered in style. Sandi herself played a mixture of acoustic rhythm and electric lead (albeit as part of a duet) guitar, as well as harmonica and the rest of the band (whose names I didn’t note down, sorry…) all played well. Particularly of note was the lead guitarist, who also provided backing vocals and whose facial contortions at times made his playing look painful, and the nice sounds which came from a nigh-on invisible (from where I was standing) keyboard player. There were also guest spots from Bob Powell on trombone and Marcus Bonfanti, who returned to the stage to play harmonica for the Runaway Train encore. It really was an excellent set, mixing country, folk, rock-and-roll and blues to great effect and proving that Sandi (and her band) is more than the hyped-up star of a few years ago. I’m glad I ventured out, may have to re-evaluate The Pink & The Lily and will definitely be ordering a copy of Merchant And Thieves.