Morpheus Rising–The Duchess, 15/03/13

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.

When I first heard about tonight’s gig, at the back end of last year, it was my first “must see” gig of 2013. Morpheus Rising and Also Eden had previously shared the bill in York at Fibbers for the late-2011 release of the former’s debut album – Let The Sleeper Awake – which, unsurprisingly, made my top ten of that year. That night, I also picked up also Also Eden’s full back catalogue and, while their 2011 release – Think Of The Children – didn’t quite make my top ten, it wasn’t far outside it.

Not long before the gig, however, it was announced that Also Eden had had to pull out due to circumstances beyond their control (presumably the collapse of the Y-Prog weekend in Sheffield, which the band were due to play on the Saturday). My heart sank a little more when it was announced that Bastrad had been recruited as a replacement on the night. I had seen them twice before, both times supporting Morpheus Rising and, while past reviews showed that I was warming to them, they didn’t exactly fill me with as much excitement for the evening as Also Eden.

My main criticism in the past seems to have been that the vocals were a bit strained. This time out, there had been a change in the line-up, with guitarist Martin Drury taking over vocal duties and Steve Bull replacing previous vocal Tristan Fayers on bass. There is a youthful exuberance to Bastrad’s performance and it sort of straddles the line between fun (which, let’s face it, is the raison d’etre for most local bands – of any that think they are going to make lots of money and fill arenas, most are sadly deluded) and something bordering on immaturity. The first couple of songs were heavier than I remembered, mostly noise with a lot of running around stage and posturing. By the third song, however, I was becoming a bit more interested. This one opened with a bass line before continuing with pounding drums and some nice guitar work which made it slightly more atmospheric while somehow a little darker. The noisier, heavier sound soon returned, but with occasional glimpses of more interesting, melodic guitar work poking through. Also unusual was a lively drum solo courtesy of Martin Durrant, which led into a short instrumental section – I can’t think of many (if any) other local bands who have attempted, let alone made work, as long and impressive a drum solo as this one. Supernatural High was the first song title I made out (why do so many bands struggle to speak clearly between songs?) and the song itself had another nice bass line and some great fast vocals which, even if a little repetitive, proved that Bastrad have moved on since the last time I saw them. Another instrumental followed, this time a solo guitar was eventually joined by drums. Personally, I enjoyed it but the audience seemed to be becoming more ambivalent and a bit restless. The high energy Drive, a song I remembered from last time out, increased the tempo on stage again before the appropriately named Adios ended the set.

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Bastrad

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Honestly, I enjoyed Bastrad’s set more than I expected to. Overall, they are possibly too far towards the heavier side of heavy metal, but this line-up seems to have overcome the vocal problems and tonight’s performance was, if not exceptional, at least entertaining. The band have an album (well, mini-album, according to the event details) launch coming up at Fibbers at the end of May and, you know what, I’m quite tempted.

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Damien Sweeting and Pete Harwood from Morpheus Rising

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Tonight is the eleventh time I have seen Morpheus Rising and I freely admit that they are one of my favourite York bands (even if that is an ever-growing number). There is a kind of nostalgic appeal – I have mentioned before that some of their obvious influences, the likes of Iron Maiden and Saxon, are the sort of bands that first got me into music. Tonight’s line-up saw Andy Gooby (“Spare Andy” or “Stand-in Andy”) taking Andy Smith’s place on bass, presumably on a temporary basis. He has done so in the past and, whatever the reason, it doesn’t seem to upset the balance or camaraderie of the band – there is always a feeling of them playing with such ease and enjoying being on stage together. Pete, tonight sporting one of the new Morpheus Rising hats and, therefore, looking slightly comical and (it has to be said) gnome-like, plays guitar with a cheeky abandon while Daymo always appears more intense and contemplative. The two of them effortlessly trade guitar sections but it is when they play together and alongside each other that you can see just how tight they are, with fingers flying across the frets and across the strings in near-perfect union. Gibbo’s drumming is, as usual immense, but having the dual role of master of technology which, to say the least, isn’t behaving as well as it could do tonight, seems to be perturbing him just a little. Whatever gadget the band uses for their backing tracks (it looked like an i-Pod from where I was standing) seemed to crash, leading to tonight’s version of Fighting Man being performed without strings before help from off-stage was called to fix the problem. Simon’s vocals still seem to be growing and tonight, he had completely ditched the slightly nervous laughs which have punctuated his between song banter in the past, and I hadn’t noticed how off-putting they were until they had gone.

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Pete Harwood, Simon Wright and Damien Sweeting

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But the best news? Peppered throughout a set of favourite tracks from Let The Sleeper Awake were the first new songs I have heard. Say Something had to be restarted due to mistakes in the first attempt but when it eventually got going it featured some nice wah-wah effects from Pete. It’s not radically different from anything on the first album, but just different enough to show progression. In some ways, especially from the snatches of lyrics that I heard clearly, Nameless sounds even more like Iron Maiden than any of the band’s other tracks while Bending Light has a bit more of an experimental sound. It includes an unusual guitar riff that I can only think to describe as “tinny”, although that makes it sound unpleasant and it’s far from that, as well as a section which Pete played by running some sort of gadget across the strings. I have no idea what it was or what it does (or even how to Google it) but it sounded nice. Mix these in with “classics” like Daylight, Quench Your Thirst, Fear Of Nothing, Gypsy King (with the usual exquisite guitar from Daymo), In The End, Save The Day, Shades Of Grey and the wonderfully grinding Lord Of The North and you have a great set. There’s no grandstanding or over-the-top posturing, just a nice, clean performance with occasional nods to the fans – Pete flings used plectrums into the audience (sadly my catching skills let me down and, despite the one thrown in my direction ending up at my feet, I didn’t react quickly enough to pick it up first) while Gibbo hands over his drumsticks (and flicks sweat into the crowd!) at the end of the set. Technical issues and mistakes notwithstanding, Morpheus Rising just keep getting better. Hopefully new tracks mean a new album is one the way. In the meantime, you can catch them live in York supporting prog band Panic Room on June 29th or Austrian rock band Cornerstone on August 9th, both at The Duchess (or at other venues across the country – see the website for details).

May–A Round-up Part 1

Thursday 30th May: Quite frankly May has been a bit of a ridiculous month for gigs. I had been to seven in the first three and half weeks, decided not to go to one because I couldn’t really justify it and only missed another because I was working away.

I have already posted reviews of the first two but for a number of reasons haven’t had a chance to get round to the others. Now, with memories fading, nice weather meaning I’d rather be outside reading a good book and, in all honesty, a feeling of being a little “wiped out” in terms of putting together reviews (me with writers’ block… who’d have guessed) I find that I’m falling further and further behind. This blog was never intended to be as detailed as it has turned out and, while I’m grateful to the number of people who read it and, in some cases, like my work enough to share it, every so often there will be times that I can’t keep up. So, in order to fulfil its primary purpose as a record of my gig attendances, I’m simply going to round-up the rest of the month in a couple of smaller, less detailed posts. So, without further ado…

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Friday the 11th saw me at the Duchess for Morpheus Rising’s first gig since their triumphant tour to promote their debut album earlier in the year. It’s too soon after the album release for any new material to have been completed (if even started) so the set is still comprised completely of tracks from Let The Sleeper Awake. Changing around the running order serves to freshen up the performance in some ways, helped by the fact that the musicianship is superb and that the band clearly enjoy playing live. Even Andy Smith, who normally lurks at the back of the stage (both when playing with Morpheus Rising and with Mostly Autumn) seems happier coming forward and interacting with the rest of the band. Once again, we were treated to some entrancing and intricate guitar work but I think this was the first time we have also heard Damien provide vocals during the album’s title track.

Support came from Four Stones Deeper – a four-piece femme-fronted rock band with a slight difference in that the power guitar-playing seemed to come from vocalist Amy Humphrys. I can’t find much about them out there, but I believe that Amy’s brother Luke plays bass while Joe Garlick and Tom Reed complete the line-up. Tonight’s performance suffered slightly with the vocals which, despite being powerful enough to be heard above the music, were a little flat to start with, but the melodic/thrash mix was different enough to be interesting. The six song set included one cover, but I didn’t catch the title. Overall, the playing was tight, with Amy looking very relaxed and handling the changes of musical style with ease. Also bill was BastRad, who also supported Morpheus Rising at their last York gig. I was slightly more impressed this time around, although Tristan Fayers’ vocals are still a little strained in places. It was a slick performance, loud, energetic and powerful.

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Saturday the 12th and I’m “next door” at Fibbers for a band who I’ve only heard about, not heard anything by. When I arrived, the support – two ex-members of the headliners, whose names I never got – had already started. A broken microphone was making the vocals sound as if they were coming from a very dusty record and it was hastily replaced between songs, just in time for there to be no more vocals, just virtually indecipherable introductions to the tracks and a bit of between song banter between the performers, one of whom played a variety of hand drums and the other acoustic guitar and wind instruments that I didn’t recognise, accompanied sometimes by backing tracks. The music was, in the main, mellow and laid-back and occasionally had a kind of Eastern sound to it. 

Ozric Tentacles took to the stage with a plea from bass-player Brandi Wynne for somebody to “turn that dreadful music off”, referring to the background music that had been playing while the acts swapped over, before she engaged in an increasingly frustrating fight to liberate herself from her Fibbers VIP wristband. The Ozrics are a space-rock (think ambient rock with added ‘droid and space battle sound effects) or psychedelic instrumental rock band from Somerset who have been around, in one form or another, for nearly thirty years. I didn’t know what to expect from this gig, but ended up thoroughly enjoying it. With an animated backdrop which cycled through a mesmerising kaleidoscope of images and with the band occasionally disappearing behind a bank of smoke, onto and through which was projected the best light show I’ve seen at Fibbers (apart from the three banks of incredibly bright lights which seemed to have been strategically placed to blind as many of the audience as possible). The performance was tight, a set full of incredible instrumentals in which everything was played with a calm precision and no histrionics or posturing and no hint of any two tracks sounding similar. Towards the end of the performance, the band was joined by the guitar-player from the support, who played flute and seemed to also launch into some spoken vocals (poetry?) to the apparent wonder of Ms Wynne and possible confusion of anybody standing around me as I couldn’t hear a thing he was saying. Was the microphone even on?

Perhaps the strangest part of the gig, however, was the audience, which pretty much filled Fibbers. Parts of it looked as though they were auditioning for a low-budget zombie movie, with blocks of people simply swaying along to the music, while others could only be described as dancing their hearts out. All-in-all, it was like being at a hippy rave.

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Friday the 18th and I’m back at the Duchess. Opening proceedings tonight was Jon Amor Blues Group and I don’t think I’ve heard the volume cranked up so high at any previous Duchess gig. Frankly, in places it was too loud and, from where I was standing there appeared to be a fair amount of distortion in the sound. One song, Angel In A Black Dress, looked as if it contained a guitar solo, judging by the facial expressions and posturing coming from Mr Amor himself. Personally, I couldn’t make it out. A few of the songs sounded more like Rock ‘n’ Roll than Blues to me, but what do I know? Eventually, towards the end of the set, something seemed to click and during She Thought I Was An Eagle we finally got to hear some audibly clever guitar work. Unfortunately, by the last song the vocals were almost completely swamped by the music. Despite the sound problems, the band showed promise. Their debut album is gathering good reviews and I wouldn’t be averse to seeing them perform again, just with the volume turned down a few notches.

Until recently the only thing I knew about It Bites was their mid-eighties hit, Calling All The Heroes. I didn’t even know they were still together (albeit with the inevitable line-up changes) until Prog magazine covered their latest release, the concept album, Map Of The Past. Of course, when any band covered by that magazine play York, I’m almost certainly going to go along. Coming onto a stage adorned with artefacts representing the album’s concept (an old clock, an oil-painting, a globe) to the sound of a radio being tuned in, the band eased gently into the set with Man In The Photograph, performed simply on accordion and with no small degree of audience participation. It seems that I was in a minority in not having heard the new album yet (something I have since put right). What followed was, more or less, a play-through of the album leaving me with no doubt that It Bites had indeed morphed into a prog / rock fusion band, with influences ranging from Genesis to Runrig. It also left me wondering where everybody in the audience was when perhaps better known prog bands play York. The band left the stage after just over an hour which, I originally thought, was a slightly disappointing set compared to other gigs. They soon returned, however, with new frontman John Mitchell asking, “Shall we do some old stuff?” much to the delight of the crowd. The back catalogue seemed a bit faster and lighter than the somewhat darkly toned new material and, I think, much of it was taken from the band’s previous album, The Tall Ships. The audience, me excluded, seemed to know all the songs that were played, including the one from the final encore. The “hit”, however, was nowhere to be heard.

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A Rising Return

Saturday 28th January: It’s the end of January and I’m on my fourth gig of the year already. If I can maintain this average, records could be broken. Tonight it’s a solo outing to the Duchess to see a homecoming gig from a favourite band.

“WE! ARE! LOST EFFECT!” barked Dave Wells from behind both his keyboard and an impressive amount of hair that, at times, turned him into a more than passable double of Cousin Itt from the Addams family. At first glance and first listen, Lost Effect appear to be heavily influenced by the Scandinavian Death Metal scene – Dave’s death growls bring to mind the heavier moments of Opeth, while the facial hair sported by Steve Wells (guitar) and Shaun Wainman (bass) give them a look of Norwegian fisherman (all that’s missing is a couple of cable-knit sweaters). But once you get past the near-brutal guitar and pounding drums (courtesy of Pete Rutherford), there is a whole lot more going on. Dave’s growling ends up being used sparingly while still being an integral part of the set, while his keyboard playing gives the songs a more symphonic, melodic and, in some places, progressive sound. Even better is the centre-piece of the band. Visually, vocalist Emily Burt could give a fair few of the current crop of femme leads a run for their money and, more importantly, vocally she plays the likes of Tarja Turunen (ex-Nightwish) or Amy Lee (Evanescence) at their own game. It’s a shame, then, that she looks so uncomfortable head-banging along with the rest of the front line – it might just be the lack of numbers watching them, but despite a stunning performance, she occasionally looked as though she wished she was anywhere else. Despite being in places a bit too extreme for my tastes, I found myself liking this set overall. I didn’t catch many of the song titles – Dave’s speaking voice is a heck of a lot quieter than his growling one – but I think that, among the set, we got Wolves, Archangel and something that might have been called Embrace The Silence, which ended the set with a superb assault on the ears. I’m not sure I would want to see Lost Effect as a headline act (yet, perhaps) but I certainly wouldn’t shy away from seeing than as a support act.

Bastrad were described by Simon Wright (and if you don’t know who he is, read on…) as possibly being the new Judas Priest. That didn’t help me much as, I have to admit, I don’t really remember the old Judas Priest. Looking about as far removed from a rock band as it is possible to – vocalist Tristan Fayers was sporting a pencil-tie… – they are another twin guitar band but one with a slightly lighter guitar sound than Morpheus Rising but with the same powerful and, during One Thousand Tears Of Pain, staccato drums. Fayers’ vocals seemed to struggle a bit during some of the quieter moments, during the more melodic Lost In Mind (again, I’m struggling to remember song titles) for example, but there was no denying his overall power. A much more lively band than tonight’s openers, their music at times came across as a little chaotic but always worked, especially during the fast and furious Drive, which was a great way to end a set.

It was at this point that I stopped taking notes. I’ve seen Morpheus Rising, tonight’s headliners, a fair few times now. Their debut album, Let The Sleeper Awake, was one of my top ten albums of 2011 and tonight saw them returning to York for the last gig of the tour promoting it. You only have to compare the backs of the two tour t-shirts they have produced to see how far this band have some since 2010. While that year’s tour saw them play ten dates spread out over more than a month (and including two in York and one at a forces festival), this year saw thirteen gigs in seventeen days, taking the band across the UK, with gigs in Wales and Scotland. I’m told that the tour was a great success and the band looked to be really enjoying themselves on stage tonight, with Pete and Daymo trading smiles during their guitar solos, Gibbo sending forth huge grins from behind the drum kit and even Andy cracking a rare smile or too when venturing forward from behind the speaker stack. Simon was in particularly manic mode, stalking across the stage between vocal sections, filming the audience and producing his distinctive laugh. Musically, they were as good as, if not better, than usual and now that we’ve had a chance to hear recorded versions of the songs, the live versions seem somehow more complete. You can’t beat live music but, in my opinion, it always helps you appreciate it when you have heard cleaner versions of the songs. There’s not much else I can say about Morpheus Rising – my regular reader will know that I think they are brilliant. Tonight’s set contained no surprises, concentrating on tracks from Let The Sleeper Awake and ending with the band’s anthem, Lord Of The North which now not only has a video but has also provided one of the two props used tonight – a huge Morpheus Rising flag which threatened to do some damage to the ceiling of the Duchess when Simon waved it during the encore. (The other was a horn which, apparently, had no special meaning but had been blown at least once during each gig of the tour. Drinks provided by the audience during the set don’t, in my opinion, count as props.) A superb live act, and now with a more than decent debut album under their belts, it seems that Morpheus Rising are hell-bent on getting better.