Monday 22 July 2013

I'm Moving

22nd July 2013:

Just a quick note for anybody following this blog, or anybody who might visit directly through its URL rather than the links I post on Facebook.

This blog will no longer be updated but, never fear, I am still intending to write reviews of any gigs I attend.

This content has now been moved to Wordpress and can be found at www.NotQuiteMusicJournalism.com

You are most welcome to join me over there and I thank you for taking interest in my ramblings.

Ian

Monday 1 July 2013

Hayseed Dixie–The Duchess, 25/06/13

Photos included in this posting were taken by Marc McGarraghy, whose work can be found on Facebook or the Yellow Mustang website. Thanks, as always, go to him for allowing me to use them.

There’s a minimalist feel to The Duchess tonight and it’s nothing to do with the size of the crowd, but with the stage layout. Instead of the usual array of electric guitars, drums and amplifiers, there are just a few acoustic acoustic instruments lying in their respective cases and one microphone in the centre of the stage. Oh, and an empty fridge…

Soon, Nicole Maguire, dark-haired, dark-eyed and petite takes her place in front of the microphone and, with acoustic guitar, starts her set with (I think) Run With Me, from her debut album What You Really Mean. It’s a simple tune, played in a finger-picking style and delivered in a strong, clear voice which is perhaps just slightly over-amplified tonight. Nicole has been the support for the UK leg of Hayseed Dixie’s latest tour, an experience she describes as “interesting” before asking us to pray for her for the remaining couple of dates. “We have respected you totally,” comes a shout from the back of the stage. “I’m the calm before the storm,” she quips before starting her next song. I can’t remember whether I was noting down song-titles or lyrics, but I’ve got That The Long Way Round for this one and Time Won’t Slow Us Down for the next, neither of which, if they are titles, are from the album. The next one is, though, and it’s the title track and a lovely one at that. “Consider this the quietest song you’re going to hear all night,” she intones before Hard Love and I could listen to her speak with that Irish lilt all night long. This song must be the one people are listening to when comparing Nicole to Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie. The final song of the set, which I definitely didn’t catch the title of, sees John Wheeler join Nicole on stage, playing violin alongside her and, for the next three minutes, they are known as “Hayseed Trixie”. The additional instrument gives the song a bit more musical body and seems to give her vocals a bit extra to sit in front of, making them sound slightly less loud than the rest of the set. (I wasn’t tempted to buy the album on the night but, having heard samples from it since, Nicole’s voice is a lot quieter and softer on it and there’s more of a band than a solo artist feel to it.) As the song ends, there’s much hugging between the two and Nicole leaves the stage, thanking that audience and flashing her beguiling smile.

During the break, after microphone stands have been placed along the front of the stage, it becomes apparent, as if it hadn’t been before, what the fridge is for as the members of Hayseed Dixie start filling it with various drinks. Wheeler himself walks on with a bottle of Black Sheep in each hand, bending down to place them under his microphone and accidentally emptying the contents of the open one under his arm onto the stage… and the electrics. Quickly unplugging a cable and throwing it towards the back of the stage, he towels things dry before plugging back in. It’ll be fine, I’m sure. He looks like he knows what he’s doing. Maybe it’s happened before.

Eventually, with fridge (or beer holder on microphone stand) filled, the band take to the stage and launch into a blistering instrumental opener during which “Reverend” Reno’s fingers and banjo get’s a thorough warm-up. The Dixie’s main attraction is their Bluegrass covers of heavy metal songs, originally primarily those of AC/DC (hence their name) and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap is the first tonight. Equally inventive, though, are their own songs, usually of a humorous nature, and Kirby Hill sees “Deacon” Reno’s fingers flying across the most beat-up mandolin you are ever likely to see.  There’s a break between this and the next song, perhaps to allow breaths to be taken, and John Wheeler chooses to natter away in what sounds to be German before handing his guitar to the Deacon and taking up violin for All Night Long, bow arcing round in circles in-between playing. A fast and furious version of The Cars’ My Best Friend’s Girl and there’s no let up in the frantic pace as it leads into Detroit Rock City, originally by Kiss but, like many of these covers, almost unrecognisable from the original. Next up came something that I’m not even going to pretend that I knew, although I’m guessing it was from the band’s 2011 album Sjt Munchs Drikkeklubb Band, which was almost entirely in Norwegian. After another of the band’s originals, Tolerance, there was just time for a quick stare into the audience from John Wheeler before Ace Of Spades. Wheeler peppers the spaces between songs with various calls for the audience to drink along with the band and seemingly random pieces of chat, the first of which tonight was a discourse on “modern art”, which was followed by a modern art – i.e. freestyle, with a quick snatch of Freebird thrown in to put the Deacon off – opening to Hells Bells. Imagine, if you can, the album version played at single speed,but without the high-pitched vocals. There’s more chat, this time a story about Wheeler being propositioned by a woman in a hotel bar in Norway ("I take it you enjoyed the show…?” “What show?”) before the band play the best killing song in the world, Bohemian Rhapsody, and the best drinking song in the world, Eine Kleine Trinkmusik, as they spread their repertoire into the world of Bluegrass covers of classical works. A version of Black Sabbath’s Paranoid, with the slowest opening ever is followed by Alice Cooper’s Poison after which Wheeler start’s a tirade against the promoter of tonight’s gig. Apparently the sound isn’t what the band wants because, despite letting the promoter know well in advance that they need an analogue, rather than digital, mixing desk, he has failed to provide one because they hadn’t had enough pre-sales, which is more than a little strange given the crowd that the band have pulled in on both occasions that I have seen them. Anyway, because he has been “so cheap”, Wheeler decides to announce the promoter’s email address to the audience, more than once, encouraging us all to berate him, I hate to think what his in-box looked like the next morning, but the band seemed particularly annoyed by the whole thing.

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Hayseed Dixie frontman – John Wheeler

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Alien Abduction Probe, perhaps the band’s funniest song (Unanswered questions tortured me\Like how they unlocked the door\Why’s my rectum sore?\Why do I twitch when I watch E.T.?), and Corn Liquor, inspired by Wheeler’s grandfather, who made the best corn whisky in the world, see the band continue with their energy-sapping set. At various times, each member steps forward, away from their microphone, between the monitors to the very front of stage, allowing the audience to see their fingers flying across the strings, fixing them with stares and mugging for the various cameras and phones pointed at them. Thankfully, bass player Jake “Bakesnake” Byers doesn’t move too far away from his drink – I’m standing right in front of him and, to be frank, he scares me more than a little. Not that I’d try messing with Wheeler either, even if I were sober. Quite clearly, the audience member who decides to start heckling him during his latest discourse – this time into the way different nations swear – is a long way off sober. Apparently he wants the band to play music, rather than speak and when Wheeler’s initial suggestion that he stays at home and listens to records, doesn’t shut him up, he decides on a more direct approach and suggests that they, errrm, meet outside after the show. Eventually the drunken fool gives up and the band play their own She Was Skinny When I Met Her, which leads into the similarly themed Fat Bottomed Girls. They would probably have started it sooner if he hadn’t heckled – c’est la vie…

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Jake “Bakesnake” Byers, “Reverend” Don Wayne Reno and “Deacon” Dale Reno

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There are more originals with the shotgun wedding song Moonshiner’s Daughter followed by the brilliantly titled I’m Keeping Your Poop. As if by design, it takes until halfway through Highway To Hell, the final song of the set, for a string to break and running repairs are made to Wheeler’s guitar off-stage while the audience clamour for more. Returning to the stage, and still re-tuning, Wheeler brags that that band have played nearly a thousand shows over their fourteen year history, pointing out that rarely has an artist who has their big hits played on Radio One had a career that long. Nor, it should be added, quite as energetic as these guys. Returning to the promoter-and-mixing-desk theme, the band play their own Rider Song, which should adequately explain to anybody exactly what it is that they need to on a show – there’s no big rock star demands here, just a case of ale, a case of lager, ice to keep it cold and some specifics regarding equipment. There are many bad cover versions of Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb out there but few anywhere near as good as this band’s version, with its instrumental madness between vocal sections, which sits in the middle of Wheeler and the Reverend’s take on Duelling Banjos, and ends the show on an incredible high. It may be the speed that they play their songs (I have seen one report that there may be a plan for them to play their ten-track AC/DC tribute album through in thirty minutes) but few bands manage to fit in over twenty songs, as well as entertaining (whatever the heckler thought) chat into their sets, and to keep up the level of energy seen tonight. Highly recommended for fans of lively music with an exciting, funny twist.

Thursday 27 June 2013

Mostly Autumn–The Duchess, 22/06/13

Photos included in this posting were taken by Marc McGarraghy, whose work can be found on Facebook or the Yellow Mustang website. Thanks, as always, go to him for allowing me to use them.
It’s probably no coincidence that Mostly Autumn’s Bryan Josh and Olivia Sparnenn chose the Summer Solstice as the date for their wedding. After all, with it falling on a Friday this year, it gives them the whole weekend to spend time together and recover from the big day, right? Wrong. Instead they chose to spend the Saturday evening, with the rest of the band, performing a celebration concert for their fans, friends and family.
As The Duchess filled up with familiar faces The Judge took to the microphone to introduce the newly-weds, who came on stage to generous applause and cheers, Bryan, long hair tied back and beard neatly trimmed, in a long-tailed jacket and Olivia looking stunning in her wedding dress. “She really hasn’t thought it all through, has she?” quips Bryan at one point, to the amusement of the crowd.
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Bryan Josh – Already looking contented with married life
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Launching straight into the set, the band started with Winter Mountain before moving on to Never The Rainbow, Olivia coping well with a boots-and-dress combination that wasn’t, presumable, designed with moving backwards and forwards to and from a microphone in mind. Slowing it down, and giving Bryan a bit of a breather, they moved onto Unquiet Tears, a piano-driven track from the Ghost Moon Orchestra album, which really showcases Olivia’s vocals. After the criticisms of the sound here last weekend, it’s near-perfect tonight. Where I’m standing every instrument can be heard in the mix and the backing vocals from Anne-Marie Helder – playing “all sorts of things” for what is, presumably, a final time with the band – are clearer than I’ve ever heard them. Simple Ways gives way to Changing Fast, during which the lyric “lucky man” sees Bryan throw a knowing glance in Olivia’s direction. The ever-lovely crowd pleaser Evergreen is followed by a departure from the Mostly Autumn back catalogue as Olivia is joined by Iain Jennings - who sneakily adds a few notes from Here Comes The Bride into his introduction – on keyboards and Anne-Marie on flute and backing vocals for Rain Song, more familiar to me as a Breathing Space song than from when Olivia and Chris Johnson performed it when supporting Mostly Autumn. Slow Down, from Bryan’s solo album Through These Eyes follows, with Olivia’s haunting vocals at the end sounding superb. In fact, with Deep In Borrowdale up next, her vocals seem to be getting stronger all the time.
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The newly-crowned Mrs Olivia Sparnenn-Josh
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Drops Of The Sun gives another example of how good the sound can be, with Alex Cromarty’s pounding drum opening seeming to reverberate around the venue. After Nowhere To Hide, Bryan uses an e-bow for the opening to Wild Eyed Skies, producing a lovely guitar sound over a huge bass rumble before Iain’s piano and Olivia’s vocals come in. Passengers, another crowd-pleaser, is followed by The Dark Before The Dawn, during which Anne-Marie’s flute floats gracefully through the rockier song. Olivia asks whether we are all having a good evening - and the resulting cheer seems unanimous – before dedicating her tour de force, Questioning Eyes (the final of which sees Alex going wild on the drums), to her Mum and late Dad, who had made the previous day a day to remember. She’s still going strong, seemingly enjoying every minute on stage, while Bryan has occasionally been taking to a tactically-positioned chair, looking tired or, perhaps, nursing a hangover. Despite him claiming not to have been drinking yesterday, Olivia’s, “Yeah, right!” says otherwise.
After a brief break, the band return to the stage for the somewhat inevitable encore. “What an evening. What a weekend!” enthuses Bryan before playing Heroes Never Die with an incredibly powerful performance. The evening draws to a close with a song that, embarrassingly, I have forgotten, perhaps due to the fact that I was marvelling at the, if anything, even more powerful performance by Olivia who, at times, seemed to be fighting her emotions. Afterwards, with the band taking their customary bows, The Judge and another roadie showered them all with confetti, before the happy couple were able to take their own bows, thanking the audience with their wide smiles and, eventually, sharing a kiss.
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The happy couple.
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I have seen Mostly Autumn every year since 2008 but this is only the second time I have seen them perform away from York’s Grand Opera House. I much prefer seeing them in a “proper” music venue. Not only does it feel more like a rock gig, but it’s possible to get so much closer to the band, giving you the chance to see their performances much more clearly. Personally, this is the best gig I have seen by the band - it must have been the celebratory atmosphere tonight.
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Mostly Autumn – Bryan Josh, Alex Cromarty, Andy Smith, Olivia Sparnenn-Josh, Anne-Marie Helder, Iain Jennings and Liam Davison.
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Sunday 23 June 2013

The Temperance Movement–Fibbers, 19/06/13

I wasn’t going to go to tonight’s gig. I had thought about it but, with tickets already bought for the busiest few weeks of my gig-going “career”, this one hadn’t registered highly enough with me to convince me. Until, that is local troubadour Dan Lucas (you may have seen me enthuse about his work as Boss Caine) mentioned that I would probably like them “ a great deal”. That was good enough for me. The fact that my gig-buddy for the night, Shaun, told me that he had already seen them a few days earlier in Wakefield, been blown away by the performance and was probably going to see them again in Leeds was just icing on the recommendation cake.

Tour support Samuel Taylor, originally from Sheffield, was already on stage when we arrived from the pub, but I think he was still on his first song, so we hadn’t missed much. The former frontman of Dead Like Harry and roadie for Nerina Pallot, who he supported on her 2011 UK tour, has more than a hint of a Dylan-esque nasal tone to his vocals, although Taylor’s are better, less grating. (I’ve never been a big fan of Bob’s voice.) The acoustic guitar and mouth-organ only served to heighten the comparison. His set was comprised of a nice mix of songs – opening slowly before livening things up a bit and then moving on to a a nicely gauged quiet/loud combination. Another of those engaging frontmen, he explained the story behind A Friend And Accomplice – it being inspired by an inscription to a deceased friend in a walking book written by his father – and you could tell that it was a very personal song with the lyrics coming through as highly emotive. A much livelier drinking song followed and then another that was very reminiscent of Dylan before the set ended with its liveliest song, Waiting For Nothing. All too often (although, it has to be said, less so these days) acoustic guitar acts fail to hold my attention. Taylor, though, was different and interesting enough to keep me entertained and provided a nice start to the evening.

When I saw …And The Hangnails a few months back, they did very little for me. Brash and noisy just about summed it up and I wasn’t particularly looking forward to seeing them again. However, the start of their set, slow, quiet and atmospheric, however briefly before the power, noise and shouty vocals came in, grabbed my attention more than I expected it to. Maybe it was the smaller venue, or the more closely-packed crowd (maybe it was even a better soundman) but tonight’s set was a lot more listenable to than last time. I caught hints of 70s blues-rock in the vein of Led Zeppelin (with less subtlety), The Doors and, at one point, Muse. The music was still loud, with frantic, chest-pounding drums and loud vocals. Occasionally, the music gave the impression of a jam-session with odd little guitar snippets being dropped into the main tune. There’s an incredible amount of noise and energy for a two-piece band and I’m not sure whether it was the heat inside Fibbers or just a bit of showboating that led both Martyn and Steven to shed their t-shirts for Fear Only Fear, the last song of the set, but it did get an appropriate reaction from those further forward in the crowd than me. Meet Me By The River, with its more Bluesy feel, remains my favourite song of theirs (and the only one that I can work out the title of) but, despite the set being a bit relentless in its power and a bit too samey overall this was a much better and more entertaining performance than last time.

By the time The Temperance Movement made their way onto stage, Fibbers had filled up nicely and I was getting a similar feeling to when I saw Kodaline here – that of a band that I had only just heard of but who were possibly destined for great things and that, somehow, I’d missed the very beginning of a wave of interest. Initially mixing simple, instantly catchy rhythms with a massive amount of twitchy energy from frontman Phil Campbell – he sang the second song as though somebody was pumping a thousand volts through him - the first impression I got was of The Band. The third song, with it’s harder, heavier sound, saw Campbell producing vocals in style more reminiscent of AC/DC. There was some good-natured heckling from the crowd during a pause between songs had Campbell explaining, “We all shout in Glasgow” before giving us some quite stunning soulful and quiet vocals during Pride, the title track of the band’s EP. One thing that’s evident is that there is no showboating or overblown pomp, but Pride includes a subtle guitar solo which serves to build the song to a brilliant end section which, in turn, leads into Ain’t No Telling, another rockier track in which Campbell returns to his more gravelly vocals. Smouldering was more mellow and subtle with another lovely musical build-up. Unlike some bands, there is very little movement around stage by the guitarists and bass-player, primarily because each one is somewhat tied to a mic for backing vocal duties, but they all still manage to somehow give an impression of movement and a definite feeling that they are having a good time on stage. I don’t think I’ve seen many wider grins than that of Nick Fyffe (bass) and Luke Potashnick (guitar). There’s further evidence that the band are better known than I expected when the audience need little encouragement to sing along during Know For Sure, which segues nicely into the ballad Shine On and more audience participation. Microphones are despatched with entirely for the next song and Campbell, even without amplification, gives a powerfully expressive performance. Trouble returns to the heavy and hard sound, it’s an anthemic sing-along and the closest to grandiose we have got tonight, but it still manages to stay on the right side of overblown.Take It Back sounds like Blues-based Gospel Rock, if that’s even a proper genre “We’re gonna leave you with this one,” said Campbell during it’s introduction, but nobody is fooled and after a short time the band return to the stage to close out a performance lasting just over an hour and give us Serenity, which somehow seems to bring forth a combination of slide and steel guitar sound without either being in evidence.

The Temperance Movement have been described as “Next great rock and roll band”. Dan himself said they are “the best rock ‘n’ roll band in the country at the moment” and Shaun was enthusing about their sound and energy on the way to the gig. I can’t disagree with any of the above. I got the feeling that this is a band on the verge of something which may just bring great rock and roll music back for a new generation, while reminding us oldies of what it used to be like. And with the news that the band have this week signed up with Earache Records and that an album will be released in the Autumn, that “something” might be very close.

Thursday 20 June 2013

The Consortium Tour–The Duchess, 16/06/13

It sounds like a good idea on paper – bands pooling resources, effort and fan bases rather than competing. Touring together to build each other’s profiles and show that bands can work together to bring their music to a wider audience. Then the Consortium Tour hit York… and the hordes stayed away.
I don’t know whether it was because it was a Sunday, the first warm, sunny evening we had seen for a while or because it was Father’s Day. Maybe it was just that the music-lovers of York hadn’t heard of or didn’t know enough about the bands. Whatever the reasons, to say that the band members outnumbered the audience is a bit of an understatement. There were even faces familiar from many other similar gigs conspicuous by their absence. Still, it has to be said, the three bands shrugged off what must have been disappointment and gave their best efforts, both on stage during their performances and off stage supporting each other. Unfortunately, there was more (slight) disappointment to come.
Things started well enough when Ryan James took to the stage, resplendent in his steampunk hat and retro military jacket. Sitting on a cajon behind keyboards and surrounded by various pieces of percussion, Ryan introduced himself as the acoustic part of the evening before launching into a nicely varied and occasionally incredibly moving set, regaling us with tales, as well as songs, of past loves. Essentially a seated one-man-band, Ryan’s music comprised of sparse piano lines mixed with the various percussion and rich, deep and solemn vocals which in places had a degree of “showman” to them. His unintroduced opener was eclipsed by Breathe And Let Go, a “battle-cry to love” which was fast and lively, with an almost Country feel to it and hints of Cotton Eyed Joe in places. Machine featured more of a haunting piano sound while Jerusalem, inspired by an ex-partner who disturbingly and, from Ryan’s point of view, dangerously kept a dark secret, was a powerfully emotional mix of sombre prayer and tribal chant. Whoa, introduced with a story about homophobic bouncers, was designed to generate positive energy and the sparse crowd, helped by the other bands, managed to clap and sing along brilliantly – maybe it was the fact that there was so few of us that made it more difficult for people to drop out. Probably the campest cover version of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face (yes, really…) I will ever hear was followed by Over The River, Trouble and Digging Up The Mountain, the latter about being broke, needing a drink and being angry with God. All the songs mixed simplicity – there were no grandiose musical interludes, the lyrics were generally short and snappy – with complexity in their structure, with rhythmic changes seeming to feature in most of them. River Of Bones had a theatrical feel to it while Serenade returned a lighter tone to the set, a tone which continued into the humorous banter around how to produce the band names -Sankara is pronounced “Shankara”, “We are Not-ter-mine-us,” shouted Maria, from the audience” and “I am Rye-ann Jam-ess…” – and then the set ended with another unintroduced song, this time performed mostly a capella, except for a small amount of percussion and featuring some incredible yodelling that put the likes of Focus to shame. A nicely entertaining start to the evening.
With Noterminus on stage, the military jacket theme was continued and brought slightly more up to date by bass-player Scott Owen-Midlane’s World War One stylings. Without preamble, Maria Owen-Midlane’s wordless vocals built into a scream, with Scott taking over vocal duties just before the music burst into thunderous noise which all but obliterated the vocals which, in turn, looked as though they were getting stronger as the song went on. Yes… “looked”. I have previously enthused about Maria’s vocals, both live and recorded, but tonight they were swamped by the music. I’ve never felt knowledgeable enough to comment on whether the soundman is doing his job properly but, given that two members of tonight’s audience (both musicians) took to social media the next day to lambast his contribution, I suspect that tonight’s sound could, and should, have been much better. One person’s response that it’s difficult to get the sound right in The Duchess unless there are a fair few people to soak up some of it seems to hold water but it’s worth noting that this write-up concentrates more on the performance than the sound. It’s also worth noting that I struggled to hear the titles of those songs that were introduced. The second song of the set saw the guitar riffs drowning the vocals again, but this time those riffs were much darker. As the only front line musician freed from microphone duties, guitarist Paul Reynolds was giving an energetic performance, wandering about stage and engaging in a few power-stances. Not that Maria and Scott were lacklustre when not on their respective vocal duties. Muted Creatures is a towering, dark and moody song but unfortunately the spoken word sections which are so clear on Haselupker’s Ink, the band’s debut album, were just indistinct tonight. There was a lot about the performance that reminded me of The Reasoning, a band that Maria has provided backing vocals for, but of a time before Maria was a member and the line-up was quite different to what it is now. This was especially apparent during Fast One which, with its dual vocals, epic nature and crunching guitar line, was the best song of the set so far but only served as a springboard for the remaining two tracks of the set. They built in momentum and power,  ending the set  with some great dirty riffs, powerful drums from Vinden Wylde and what I can only assume were fantastic vocals.
Sankara have a similar line-up to Noterminus and, therefore, suffered a similar fate when it came to the sound mix. After a quick, “Good evening York”, Gareth Jones went straight into an impressively held wordless cry but, once the music started, his obvious vocal power was once again swamped. “We’re not a Micheal Bublé tribute band, this is how I choose to dress while in a rock band,” he explained after the first song, referring to his suit and tie. Full Flow, from the band’s debut EP Enigma, confirmed that as they launched into a full-fledged classic rock track and followed it with the even heavier In God We Trust, opening track of Guided By Degrees, their first (and current) full-length album. The opening of Enigma saw a change of pace and tone as Gareth moved to keyboards for a piano sound that was allowed to breathe and, being quieter, allowed his vocals to come through much more clearly. Eventually even this song surrendered to the harder rock sound, with the guitars of Jay MacDonald and Paul Wilson coming through stronger towards the end. Doll’s House saw Maria scurrying around the venue trying to find a way back onto stage to perform a duet with Gareth and finally, because of the piano opening and sparse guitar sections, her incredible vocals were allowed to shine in a song which, not surprisingly contained the best and most emotionally powerful vocals of the night, from both singers. There was more piano during Lullaby For A Lost Boy, a song about homelessness with it’s roots, I believe, in Gareth’s day job, but this it eventually gave way to another grinding guitar riff in the latter section. There was more heavy riffage in the next song, which was written by MacDonald and was “about shagging”. Sadly I didn’t catch the title. Chasing The Sun continued the heavy feel, with some brilliantly pounding drums once again from Wylde. (Yes, the bands share a drummer.) The set ended with a song which seemed, from his performance, as though it should have showcased Gareth’s powerful voice before a brief encore of somebody else’s song. It was introduced but, at that point, Maria wandered up to me to tell me I looked like somebody she knew and I didn’t catch the title. Nor did I recognise it. Overall, the mixture of riff-driven guitar tracks and piano led songs meant that this was a nicely varied set, somewhat different to what you normally get from a rock band.
Despite the sound quality, I thoroughly enjoyed this gig. The audience may have deserved better from the venue but the bands, despite deserving a bigger audience, came out and gave their all. I can only imagine how much harder that is than thinking, “well, if the punters can’t be bothered…” The upside of the lack of numbers was that I got to spend some time chatting to Maria (and another audience member, Steve Lord, who had made the trip over from Leeds) who eventually coaxed me back inside to get the CDs I had purchased signed by the bands. She and the others who found time to come out and say “hello” couldn’t have been nicer and seemed genuinely pleased that anybody had turned out to see them. These bands may not come back to York again, but at least I got to see them once.

Tuesday 11 June 2013

Black Lit City–Fibbers, 07/06/13

Three local bands for the princely sum of five English pounds? Always worth a punt, especially if you have seen and enjoyed two of them before. Even better, it actually turned out that there were four bands playing…

First up were The Valmores, the epitome of youthful enthusiasm fronted by Nathan Foley a young Elvis Costello look-alike. Their first song was a bit shouty and repetitive, but energetic enough that drummer Nathan Watson broke a drumstick during it. The two Nathans performed a brief jam session, filling time while guitarist Rufus Genn want off in search of a capo before continuing the set with a mixture of styles. The second song was a sort of punked-up 60’s pop, while I’ve Got The Blues, which about sums up the lyrics and the next track had more of a classic pop/rock feel to them. That latter saw bassist Andy Durham, up until that point possibly the most nervous looking person I have ever seen on stage, move to guitar and vocals which, admittedly, seemed to liven him up a bit. As a frontman, though, he couldn’t match Foley’s easy-going style and confident repartee with the crowd. The melange of styles continued after Foley re-took the mic, with the penultimate song opening with something bordering on heavy before scaling down to a more indie-rock sound while the finale had a very interesting structure. And with that, the shorter-than-advertised set was, inevitably, over too soon. The Valmores may not quite be the finished article at the moment, but they aren’t far off and there is a lot to like even now, especially for those (like me) who like watching drummers, as Watson made some impressive drumming look easy.

I struggled to work out how to categorise the music of Maginot the, let’s say, more mature band that were up next. Opener South America was somewhat funky and fast-paced while Chasing Ghosts, despite its quieter opening, ended up defying my expectations of it being slow and melancholy. Pretty Pretty, a “Monday-morning bus journey love song”, followed and I was still no nearer working out who they reminded me of. Then came “The Job Centre Song”, a light, slightly humorous, maybe satirical and, perhaps, a little political song about how staff in the titular establishment treat their “customers” and the first thought that popped into my head was “Billy Bragg!”. (Actually, I had previously had a hint of Frank Turner, but my experience of his output is limited to his appearance at last year’s Olympics opening ceremony so I wasn’t sure. He is listed as one of the band’s influences, though.) There was more humour apparent in Tip Of Your Tongue, a great song about music and simply enjoying playing it, a sentiment I could empathise with even if not from the same perspective. I wonder how many other songwriters can relate to the lyric “songs are life caffeine in my blood”? Thomas was another engaging frontman, both appreciative of the audience (who, it has to be said, seemed to be standing much further forward and being more attentive that your average crowd) and self-deprecating at the same time – “The problem with you all standing this close is that you can see that I’m basically playing the same four chords. This lot carry me so much.” Another personal song, this time Ink about being “f*cked over” by a friend was followed by Casino, with its background funkiness emphasised by a short bass solo in the middle. Overall this was a very enjoyable performance by a band I’ve not come across before. Maginot say they aim to get people dancing and thinking, with music for self-reflection and good times. Well, I’m not sure about the thinking, but they certainly brought a smile to my face and a kind of rhythmic swaying to my body.

The bands seemed to be flying on and off stage tonight. We were already well ahead of the published schedule when Samatha Cox’s haunting vocals started in what I incorrectly thought was a sound check until the rest of the band burst in. On paper, at least, Faraday Concept should have been my favourite band on tonight’s bill. They are the closest thing to a progressive metal band that I have come across in York – think the darker parts of Dream Theatre and the heavier parts of Opeth, but without Cox’s replacing the more growly tones employed by the latter. Sadly, tonight they were badly let down by the mix and, from where we were standing (right at the front) the vocals were barely penetrating the music. We could see that Cox, brooding and mysterious on stage, was putting a lot of passion and power in, but could hear very little. (Which was strange because the sound for the rest of the bands was pretty much spot on – maybe it was just that Faraday Concept were so different from the rest of them.) The music, on the other hand, was coming through loud and clear. Epic track followed epic track and, by the fourth song, drummer Josh Ridley was soaked in sweat and near collapse, pleading with Cox to “get on with it” as she took longer introducing the next song than he wanted her to. Ollie Brant’s guitar and Tony Ferguson’s bass combined on some pretty stunning and atmospheric instrumental sections, at times the darkness lifted a little and there were hints of Pink Floyd (although, admittedly, that could just have been because I had been listening to them all day). Seven Deadly Sins was the last track to feature Cox’s vocals before she left the stage to the boys for a short instrumental finale, ending a good set which could and should have have been so much better – my review of the last time I saw them makes note of how good the vocals were and they are definitely a lot clearer on the Time EP, which the band are currently giving away at gigs. Hopefully, they will be back soon and will be better served by the mix. 

It’s slightly ironic that Faraday Concept had a very different sound to the rest of tonight’s bill as the last time I saw Black Lit City they occupied the same slot on the bill and I said the same thing about them. A five-piece last time I saw them, tonight keyboard-player Dorin Botez seemed to be missing, which was a shame as last time out the keyboards and guitar seemed to be vying for lead instrument role. Maybe it’s a new line-up – the band haven’t played York for a while and tonight also introduced a new bass player. The “atmospheric, expansive songs” that I remarked on last time seemed to have been downgraded slightly to more snappy pop/rock songs. Somehow the impression was of a party band and Steve Lee’s apparent desire to come across as a Mancunian or, perhaps, a Lancastrian (his vocals had occasional hints of an Oasis tribute band while his general demeanour between songs reminded me a little of Peter Kay) didn’t help. It’s not that Black Lit City are a bad band – they played an enjoyable set and I certainly wouldn’t shy away from seeing them again – but there were, in my opinion, better bands (one on the night and one on paper) on the bill. Once again we were treated to a variety of styles from the soul/funk of the opener to the slower Beautiful Mind with it’s nice guitar line from Alex Staples. A touch of Blues/rock in the middle of the set saw the band stepping up a gear and was followed by the nicely chilled out Wintertime Blues and then something both lighter and faster (I really must start asking for set lists…) before the set ended with Paris To London, which didn’t sound quite as folk-rocky live as it does on Soundcloud.

Overall, tonight was another good-value gig of the sort that you used to get more of when I first started sampling the York music scene. To be honest, you can barely go wrong with four bands for a fiver, but it’s especially good when all four bands are good at what they do. Nice to see another reasonable crowd out supporting local music and also nice to see members of the various bands sticking around to support each other.

Saturday 8 June 2013

Sworn Amongst–Fibbers, 06/06/13

The impression we got when we entered a nearly empty Fibbers tonight was that, apart from us, most of the rest of the audience were members and friends of the bands. If I’m honest, I was only there for one of the support bands and knew nothing about the other two on the bill. In hindsight, I should maybe have done a bit of research.

It might have been the lack of crowd that made Scarborough’s The Antiquity seem reluctant to take the stage and kick things off. After finally being cajoled on, twenty minutes after the advertised start time, there was much shuffling about and lots of warming up from Gary Stephenson on drums before a recorded intro led into their first song. Well, I say song, vocalist Joe McEvoy seemed to be barking (or, perhaps, burping) into the microphone. There was little indication of anything that could be described as lyrics. This style carried on throughout the set, with McEvoy putting so much power into his vocals that he seemed to have to squeeze his body to get extra air out. I’m only guessing but I doubt that these were love songs and were more likely about death, destruction and the need for Strepsils the morning after a gig. The music was thunderous. There was a chainsaw sound effect in the middle of one song. At one point one of the guitarists looked to be doing something interesting, playing along the neck of his guitar, but I couldn’t pick whatever he was doing out of the mix. The blessedly short set of just five songs, all of which sounded very similar to me, was over almost before it started, although there was an unexpected bonus of a brief, somewhat dark, melodic section in the middle of the last song. Andy, who is usually better at pre-gig research than me, couldn’t help but laughing at the performance. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that The Antiquity are a bad band, they just play a style of music I don’t like. That’s not their fault, is it?

Apparently, it’s over two years since I last saw InSpades.Inc. “I think we might stick out a bit,” frontman Stewart King confided in me before they took to the stage. And it wasn’t just the shirt, tie and waistcoat worn by dapper-from-the-waist-up drummer P.G. Branton were a world away from the muscle-shirts sported by most of the rest of tonight’s performers. Ghost In The Mirror set the scene – heavy but not brutal with vocals that were your actual singing, rather than just growling. Andy’s feet were already tapping, a good sign. The music is definitely heavier than I remember but not excessively so, with some of the older songs being re-worked for this set. The previous melodic leanings are still in evidence, though, if not quite so prominent. Each song seems to include an impressive instrumental section and P.G.’s drumming gets more and more frantic as the set proceeds. When Sucker Punch is introduced, I mention to Andy that I like it, then find that I barely recognise it in its new form. It’s still a good song, though. Tempting Fate, with its brief, semi-doom-laden opening seems to epitomise the new direction, while latest single DNR, a powerhouse of a song in recorded form, ends the set in style, showing that metal doesn’t have to be simply a wall of noise and that being able to hear the individual guitar lines is possible.

I’ve learnt recently that, in the right circumstances, “cookie monster” vocals aren’t necessarily a bad thing. Sworn Amongst, with their Cthulhu-inspired stage banners, are practitioners of this particular style but, musically, they provide none of the subtlety of, for example, Opeth. Their music is full of brutal riffs and power-drumming but one thing is certain – however good fans of The Antiquity might think that band is, their near-neighbours from Hull are much more accomplished, have a more mature sound, bags more energy and a lot more stage presence. To my ears, they still produce noise, as opposed to music, but it’s a better noise. It’s heavy but there is music underneath. The problem is that it is relentless, all one level, with little relief. The band are tight and the vocals, while mostly growls to these untrained ears, give the impression that they contain lyrics rather than just sounds. On the rare occasions that songs were introduced, we were able to pick out the titles within the lyrics. There were occasional glimpses of noise-penetrating guitar solos but, apart from those, the entire set was an brutal onslaught with barely a break between songs, impressive in its intensity but, just like the openers, this style of music does nothing for me.

Monday 27 May 2013

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday 25 May 2013

Andy Doonan–The Basement, 10/05/13

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

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

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

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

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

Friday 17 May 2013

Hope And Social–Fibbers, 28/04/13

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday 15 May 2013

Deborah Bonham–The Duchess, 26/04/13

If there’s one thing that tonight’s gig, along with another recent one, has taught me it’s that siblings (or other relations) of more famous musicians don’t necessarily pull in an audience.

When we arrived at the Duchess tonight Scream Arena were already on stage – start times seem to be getting earlier – and we only caught the last three songs of their set. The first opened with a heavy bass and drum but soon morphed into something sounding more like Led Zeppelin, while Forever and Knave Of Hearts each seemed to increase the “rock” sound. Each song was punctuated by guitar solos from, I think, Alex Mullings who also provided some nice backing vocals, along with drummer Mario Bennison, over Andy Paul’s at time impressively ear-splitting screamed vocals. I’ve seen this band a couple of time before but not for over two years and, although I recognised the name, I didn’t recognise them. Looking back at past reviews, it seems that they were growing on me and, while three songs perhaps isn’t quite enough to form a full opinion, there was nothing in tonight’s performance to suggest that they won’t continue to do so. I’m hoping it won’t be two more years before I see them again. At least three brought along a few of their own fans, without whom the place would have been very empty.

Steve Rodgers is the son of Paul (formerly of Free, Bad Company and, in my opinion, an ill-advised attempt to keep the Queen brand live) and, in terms of looks, you can tell. A carpet had been laid out after Scream Arena had left the stage and Rodgers performed the vast majority of his set seated on a chair in the middle of it, with a single glitter lamp adding to the slight “hippy” feel of the layout. After his first song, Freedom, Rodgers introduced his backing band and, making light of the rather sparse audience, asked, “who are you?” The ballad 100 Times was followed by The River, which showcased an apparent spiritual side as Rodgers introduced it as about “the river of life”. The song itself has a nice, almost gentle, rhythm throughout the first section before it suddenly gets livelier. A switch to electric guitar gave Runaway Train a more Bluesy sound, after which Rodgers continued to engage with the audience, asking what was worth seeing in York. Strangely, nobody seemed to be able to recommend anything. Sticking with the electric, Rodgers changed to a finger-picking style of playing for the next song which, with his drummer on shaker and tom-tom and minimal bass showcased his distinctive vocals and, once again, built beautifully. It was back to acoustic for the next song – the first of two that were introduced as “this is called…” before the title was mumbled away from the microphone. Rodgers had a relaxed style and an easy rapport with the, to him, near-invisible audience. After a couple of slower, gentler songs, the next was faster and vocally, with it’s repeated lyric “went down to the river”, had a slightly Gospel sound, while Sunshine had a sort of Indian feel to it, reminiscent of sitar and tantric chanting and, again, giving the act a hippy air. The final song of the set saw Rodgers finally standing up and singing acapella, with more Gospel style vocals and all three musicians clapping along to the rhythm. Rodgers’ easy-going style and strong vocals and the variances in terms of music style, made his set enjoyable but, for me, there was nothing stand-out enough for me to buy the CD that was on sale tonight. Having said that, I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing him again.

I have a reasonably vivid (for me) memory of when I first came across Deborah Bonham. It was 1985 in the sadly-missed Red Rhino Records in York and the sleeve of her debut album, For You And The Moon, leapt out at me in a combination of attractive young woman on the sleeve and a surname that just had to mean she was related to Led Zeppelin’s John. This was, of course, before the days of the internet and, even after buying (and enjoying) the album, it was many years before I found out that she was, in fact, his younger sister. Despite not having played the album for an even longer time (I haven’t had the means to play vinyl for years) her name stayed on my radar and I was disappointed when an advertised support slot at The Duchess last year was soon cancelled. Tonight she was headlining the same venue, her first ever performance in York, and there was little that was going to keep me away. Sadly, there didn’t seem to be the same attraction for many locals and, while the audience had by now swelled slightly, there was still room for some of its members to move chairs up to the stage barrier.

At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking that Ms Bonham is a British, albeit taller, version of Stevie Nicks – the faux-medieval style dress (long and comprised of crushed velvet with flouncy sleeves), the long blonde hair, the bare feet (hence, presumably, the carpet). Once she starts performing, however, there is a big difference. Bonham’s style is Blues-based rock (and nearly a world away from the more mainstream debut album), which shouldn’t have surprised me given the number of times Chantel McGregor has mentioned performing with her at Blues festivals. After a short, rocky opener, she took time to acknowledge the audience, seemingly not phased by the lack of numbers. She seemed quite happy that people had turned out at all and certain that there would be more next time she played York. Since For You And The Moon Bonham has only released three albums, the latest, Spirit, so far only available on this tour. Feel So Alive, from it, and Jack Past 8 from her last album, the appropriately titled (for tonight, anyway) Duchess saw Bonham energetically dancing around the carpet, arms waving and apparently directing her drummer. Pretty Thing was dedicated to a member of the audience who had sent Bonham a card and some wine then there was a change in tone, with I Need Love not only slowing the pace but being much more soulful and emotional both on terms of the vocals and Bonham’s physical performance. It also included a great bass line from Ian Rowley, one of the most chilled out bass players I have come across, playing perhaps the most beautiful bass guitar I have ever seen. Rowley moved to mandolin for Fly, another track from the new album and it was during this song that I noticed that Bonham’s necklace was in the three-circle shape of her brother’s Led Zeppelin sigil. Spirit In Me saw the instrument “musical chairs” continue, with keyboard player Gerald Louis briefly moving to acoustic guitar, while Painbirds saw him back on keyboards which were both more prominent and haunting. Bonham was clearly enjoying herself, flashing wide smiles (and sipping whisky) between songs, frequently reaffirming her gratitude that we had made the effort to come out to see her and explaining the background to some of the tracks. Take Me Down was written years ago but the full version, featured on Spirit, was so liked by the band that they decided to release it as a single, with a video and were excited and pleased to find out that it was number one in Reverbnation’s rock chart, despite feeling that it had more of a country style and by her own admission, not actually knowing what being number one on Reverbnation meant. Grace saw another change in style, this time to a more heavy Blues sound and it became noticeable that Bonham wasn’t afraid to back off to allow band members room to showcase their solos. The brilliant No Angel was a return to the more soulful vocals, this time over Blues music – it was both mellow and passionate somehow mixed into one with Bonham kneeling and pulling the microphone stand down towards her one minute then standing and stamping the rhythm as her vocals got more powerful towards the end of the song. Duchess was the only song that could be said to reinforce the Stevie Nicks image, heavily featuring Louis’s keyboards and powerful drumming while Devil’s In New Orleans was more upbeat and catchy, almost poppy, with Bonham, on tambourine, and those of the band who were free to move about making full use of the stage area. The almost raucous ending of that song was counterpointed by the final song of the set. The Old Hyde, named after the farm she grew up on, was written for lost family members, to celebrate their lives. “C’mon Bonzo,” came a shout from the audience as the keyboard-drenched opening led into powerfully emotional vocals. This truly was a song to lose yourself in and you could almost have heard a pin drop as Bonham, eyes closed, swayed along to a short, subtle guitar interlude. The mood was lifted once again with the encore with the drummer recreating John Bonham’s most famous introduction as the band launched into Led Zeppelin’s Rock And Roll, a fitting tribute performed with unrestrained vocals.

The small crowd proved to be a slight bonus at the end of the night. After a few minutes, Bonham came out to sign CDs for anybody who wanted her to, greeting each person with a hug and taking time to chat with them properly, her only complaint being the lack of light near the merchandise table. A brilliant performance from a true professional and thoroughly nice lady, I hope that she does return to York and that, if she does, more people make the effort to see her.

Thursday 9 May 2013

Dream Of Apollo–Cock And Bottle, 20/04/13

Photos included in this posting were taken by Marc McGarraghy, whose work can be found on Facebook or the Yellow Mustang website. Thanks, as always, go to him for allowing me to use them.

At last, an evening I know a few people (both on and off stage) had been waiting for. Except it wasn’t quite.

After last year’s farewell gig turned out not to be farewell to the band but more a kind of send-off for Vicki as she headed for the bright lights of London, Dream Of Apollo became more focused on recording their debut album. The departure of drummer Jamie Bradley mid-recording did little to slow them down and, after raising their desired target on the PledgeMusic site with weeks to spare, an album launch party was announced. It would be a chance for the band to meet, thank and play to some of their pledgers (those that could make it – some were hampered by being international) and to pass on what those pledgers had spent their money on. Except, when is an album launch party not an album launch party? When there’s no physical copy of the album available at the time. Despite download copies of Alpha being available nearly a week before the CDs were taking a bit longer. Happily, the t-shirts, badges, posters, stickers and key-ring/bottle openers were all available.

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Alpha

The album cover – art by York artist Nell, logos by Lydia Bevan of Hand Drawn Maps

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Did anybody care? I wouldn’t say so. In fact, the evening turned into more of a celebration of completing the album. When we arrived there was already a  party atmosphere. The Cock And Bottle isn’t one of the biggest pubs in York and its seating area was already fairly packed with friends, family of fans of the band, with the band members themselves making their way through the audience greeting as many people as possible. The replacement drummer, who had helped complete the album, wasn’t available tonight which, in a way, was lucky as, with the addition of Sarah Pickwell and her cello, the small stage area was already pretty cramped, with Vicki literally fronting the band by being located on one of the steps in front of the stage.

“We’ve made an album,” shouted Winston from the back of the stage. The sense of achievement, happiness and, perhaps, relief was almost palpable. The sense of fun even more so. After opening song Children Of The City, the audience were told, “You are our soundman tonight, let us know if anything needs adjusting,” just before Sarah was introduced. “More cello,” was the cheeky first request. The first half of the set was made up of (nearly) all the songs from the album, necessarily played acoustically. Rhys took his relaxed style of bass-playing to another level, not only spending the whole evening sitting down and in bare feet but, on at least a couple of occasions, appearing to have nodded off. After a section of slower songs – Sandman, Home, Someday, Too Lost Too Late and All For You Hold Me was announced with “time for a quick one” and Vicki’s short frenetic guitar solo was met with appreciation from the audience and a clashing of glasses from Winston and Rhys, who then relaxed as Vicki and Sarah duetted on a lovely version of Mine (a song I think I had only heard played solo by Vicki before). Regrets Of The Devil and Anatole rounded out this section, the latter accompanied by a shaker “egg” that was thrown into the audience, narrowly missing me (much to the amusement of at least one band member, who them tried to complete her vocals while supressing laughter…)

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DOA Group 200413_framed

Dream of Apollo – Rhys, Winston, Sarah and Vicki

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After the break, the band returned with Jolene, one of their usual covers and then played one of the songs that, sadly, didn’t make the album – the multi-faceted Free is one of my favourites and it was nice to have it dedicated to me. Local gig photographer Marc McGarraghy, another fervent supporter of the band, was given a choice of having either of the next two songs dedicated to him, without knowing what they were going to be. “They’re both good,” quipped Vicki as he tried to decide, eventually picking the first of the two, which turned out to be Folsom Prison Blues, the acoustic version of which, accompanied by country-style yells and shrieks from the audience, builds brilliantly. A cover of Your Loving Arms was, if I remember correctly, performed just by Winston and Vicki and was the last song to feature either of the male half of the act. “The guys have got no stamina,” said Vicki before starting a short solo section with Gregory And The Hawk’s Boats And Birds. By now the whole event, rightly so, had the feel of a private party rather than a gig with good natured banter being thrown in both directions and the atmosphere was, if anything, lightened even more by the final song of the set, the brilliantly bitter-sweet Dead Pets (the album’s hidden track) which raised much mirth with the audience. Finally, an encore of Memories Of You proved that, if you are going to break a guitar string, the last song of the evening is the time to do it.

Alpha can be purchased, as either a physical CD or MP3 download from BandCamp, while the MP3 version is also available from Amazon. Physical copies will also be available at future gigs, including:

May 27th – Gibsons, Micklegate, York

July 6th – Flummoxed Festival, Milton Keynes

Tuesday 30 April 2013

Meat Loaf–Sheffield Arena, 19/04/13

On my last birthday I was asked, if I could only choose one album to play that day, what would it be? It didn’t take me long to reply with Bat Out Of Hell. I gave a slightly flippant reason but, while I admit that I have better albums in my collection, Meat Loaf’s second and probably most famous album is definitely one of my favourites. It’s been in my collection, in one form or another since the early 80s and no matter how long I go between playing it, I can “sing” along to every word. I love the whole rock opera sound of the album, the power, the passion, the emotion. I love the whole cheesiness of it. I own a fair few of Meat Loaf’s albums and I don’t think he’s topped Bat Out Of Hell, even though it doesn’t include the best track written for him by Jim Steinman (that’s Objects In The Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are, from the 1993 “sequel” album, which is the only one that comes close to the original). I have seen Meat Loaf live before, back when I was a semi-regular arena attendee but the announcement that the current tour was to be his last and that the whole of Bat Out Of Hell would be played was enough to convince me to splash out for tickets (yes, plural – we went as a family) for my first arena concert for many a year and, indeed, my first gig out of York since I saw Chris Rea in Harrogate some eight years ago. The previous two dates on the tour had been postponed (one at very short notice) due to an illness that laid all but one of the band low but, a couple of days earlier, tonight’s gig had been confirmed as going ahead.

We arrived early and, after a bite to eat, joined the queue’s waiting in the slight drizzle for the doors to open. Thankfully, it wasn’t too long before we were inside and in our seats – lower tier, front half of the auditorium, good view of the stage. Slightly disappointing was the fact that Elizabeth, who had been saying she was looking forward to the gig, admitted that she wasn’t really that excited. Personally, I think it was just the fact that there was quite a wait before the show started and she didn’t have her phone or Nintendo with her as, once it started, she definitely seemed to be having a good time.

I’m not going to admit to missing arena concerts, but there is a certain frisson when the lights go down and the crowd erupts. Strangely, tonight, this was followed by a recording of When I’m 64 – presumably a reference to Meat Loaf’s advancing age, even though he is actually 65…

The first half of the gig was, effectively, a “best of”, opening with Runnin’ For The Red Light which segued straight into Life Is A Lemon (And I Want My Money Back) which was followed, without a break, Deadringer For Love. The latter was a duet with long-time collaborator and backing singer Patti Russo – her voluminous black curls making her a near-clone of both Cher and previous backing singers. (She may even have been the backing singer the last time I saw him.) Meat Loaf himself didn’t so much look old as tired, his vocals slightly lacking clarity and definitely not as powerful as they once were, although some of that power returned during If It Ain’t Broke, Break It. The hand holding the microphone frequently shakes, at first it seemed that he was doing it deliberately, to produce some vocal effect. As the gig went on, though, he could frequently be seen holding that arm with his other to stop it shaking. Debbie wondered whether he was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, but I can find no evidence. In fact, there are references to it being a deliberate act. During this set, the song were accompanied by videos on a giant screen at the back of the stage – repetitive imagery for the most part, although the video for Los Angeloser, featuring young women in tight police “uniforms” (with slightly less material than the real things) could, perhaps, have been described as slightly saucy. The Giving Tree was the only song of the set that I didn’t recognise as it comes from last year’s Hell In A Handbasket, an album I don’t yet have. (I’m not going to lie, I didn’t even know it existed until researching this post…) Its closing instrumental section led directly into a Justin Avery piano solo which, in turn, led into Objects In The Rearview Mirror. Sadly not only was this not introduced as “the best song Jim Steinman has ever written”, as it was last time I saw it performed live, but it was a cut-down version, missing the middle verse despite being accompanied by what seemed to be the video for the song which included the imagery for the missing lines. This was the first song that Meat Loaf sang while seated on a stool, delivering a passionate performance of an emotional song before upping the tempo again with Out Of The Frying Pan (And Into The Fire) which featured a superb saxophone solo from Dave Luther, with Meat Loaf playing up to the crowd, wondering why every time he indicated Luther, who had come to the front of the stage, he got a bigger ovation that Meat Loaf himself did. The crowd were only too pleased to play along. After just eight songs, but an amazing seventy-five minutes, the band left the stage with the video screen proclaiming that they would be back in fifteen minutes and that Bat Out Of Hell was coming.

As the lights went down for the second half of the set the video screen sprang to life again, this time with details of the Bat Out Of Hell album – release date, number of copies, etc. Avery once again tinkled the ivories before the stage burst into light and the band burst into the introduction to the title track. Meat Loaf wandered onto stage, dressed in ruff-fronted shirt and carrying a red handkerchief. As his vocals started he was joined by a mass sing-along from the audience. Russo was going wild in the background and a huge bat, replete with fiery red eyes was being inflated at the back of the stage. At least one roadie could be glimpsed scurrying around smoothing the kinks out of the giant, outstretched wings. Meat Loaf was giving it his all and the vocal power seemed to be back, even if he was being helped by most of the 15,000-strong crowd. The final note may not have been held for as long, or as steadily, as in the past, but it’s doubtful anybody cared. Between each song video snippets were played, Jim Steinman, producer Todd Rungren, Ellen Foley (the original “Stop Right There” girl), Karla DeVito (who sang the duet live and lip-synced Foley in the video), Max Weinberg (from the E-Street Band and drummer on Bat Out Of Hell) and others gave short recollections of their roles on the album. The screen was also used for the spoken word introduction of You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth, the slightly fuzzy old footage (and big hair) invoking a feeling of nostalgia. During the song the tone of the vocals changed again, rightly becoming more emotive than powerful. The emotion continued as Meat Loaf once again took to a stool and dedicated Heaven Can Wait to the people of Boston, tearfully calling for “less hate and more love” in reference to the horrific events of a few days earlier and, still tearful, thanking the crowd for allowing him, a sixty-five-year old, to come back one more time. The song featured a lovely acoustic guitar section but the emotional content was spoiled slightly by the two Geordie women behind me who spent a good part of it, two-pint drinks in hand, chatting loudly about nothing in particular. It should come as no surprise that All Revved Up With No Place To Go came next, with Meat Loaf seemingly coping well with the ever-faster vocals. The next video snippet had Steinman explaining how he had been challenged to write a simple song, something along the lines of Elvis’ I Want You, I Need You, I Love You. The result was Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad the lyrics of which we were encouraged to listen to closely as it’s a story of two people, not necessarily just the one that everybody thinks. Tonight’s performance was extended to include an instrumental section, played while Meat Loaf rested against one of the raised sections on stage, giving the impression that he was using the break to catch his breath. The crowd was still fully behind him and nobody could have said that he wasn’t giving his all to the performance. It was just that his all wasn’t quite as much as it used to be. More video revelations followed, with DeVito remembering how Meat Loaf used to stick his tongue “right down” her throat during live performances of Paradise By The Dashboard Light. Russo returned to stage for the duet dressed in fifties style and the whole thing was just a bit more noddingly theatrical than I have seen it in the past, with another huge inflatable, this one a bit more saucy than the bat, appearing at the back of the stage. Before the final song, Meat Loaf himself explained that Bat Out Of Hell first entered the charts in April ‘78 at number 9, the highest position it would attain and that, two weeks before tonight, it had re-entered at the same position and stayed there this week. Full of emotion again he declared that the album belonged to the fans who are passionate about it and that he was happy with the fact that there are people who don’t like it because, in it’s own way, that is also bringing out the passion in them. A white grand piano had appeared on stage and, over a gentle introduction, he explained, once more in tears he explained that he thought that For Crying Out Loud was the greatest love song ever written and that he had cried almost every time he sang it. There was no denying the passion he put across during tonight’s performance.

After all that the encore could have been an anti-climax. However, after a teasing piano introduction and with the screen showing the Hammer-inspired video the band  launched into I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That), Russo again taking up duet duties, this time looking even more ravishing in black evening gown and long black gloves. Boneyard followed – I didn’t recognise it as it was an iTunes exclusive and B-side to Los Angeloser – another duet but this time with Avery before an instrumental section which included a brief burst of Freebird. More inflatables appeared dotted around the stage, this time caricatures of the various band members in the form of those long thin men you sometimes see outside car showrooms. During this section, Meat Loaf used a penis-shaped gun to fire t-shirts into the audience – thankfully Elizabeth wondered what was being fired and didn’t seem to notice the strange shape of the gun itself. A final quick burst of All Revved Up… brought the encore, and the night, to a close.

A few people have asked me, “How was Meat Loaf?” and I’ve given them all the same answer. I’m no boxing fan but think back to how you felt when you saw Ali light the flame at the 1996 Olympics. I didn’t quite feel the same way tonight, but I was getting there. As I’ve said, there can be no denying the passion and commitment that was on show tonight and it might be that the tired look was consequence of the illness that had swept the band, but I couldn’t help feel glad, in some ways, that this was a farewell tour. I’m glad I went, I’m glad I took Elizabeth for the experience and we all enjoyed it, but I’m also glad that he’s decided to call it a day and finish with as much dignity as possible.