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 It’s not just that the cap that seemed permanently fixed to his head (but which has now, I believe, been lost) has been replaced by a hoodie.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.

Best Of York

Wednesday 25th April: A few weeks ago I was chatting to Rhys Bevan (bass-player with Dream Of Apollo) and, without any hard evidence to back up my statement, I put forth the argument that the music scene in York wasn’t in a particularly healthy state. By that I meant that the small local bands seemed to be few and far between, certainly on evening when I was being tempted out to gigs. Not that long ago Friday nights saw three or four locals playing Fibbers for a few quid on the door. We might not have heard of most of them (or heard again of half of them) but there were many gems and few that were bad enough that we wouldn’t consider seeing them again. Recently, at the two “major” live venues at least, local bands seem to have been replaced by larger touring ones (which I’m not complaining about) and locals seem to have been relegated to occasional supports slots. Again, I stress that the above is a general feeling on my part, with no researched evidence to back it up.

Tonight, my faith in the local talent was reinforced.

Last year, Connor Devine put out a call for artists who would be interested in appearing on an album that he was putting together as part of his music production course at York St John University. Not only would the album be a showcase for local musicians but would also raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support. The album – Best Of York - was launched tonight with a gig at the Basement Bar featuring four of the bands from the album.

My regular reader will, by now, have realised that I am a big fan of Boss Caine, who opened proceedings battling against a cold and the usual problem of gig-going talkers. (As an aside, I will probably never understand why people spend money to attend a gig, then talk all the way through it. It’s annoying. To actually stand directly in front of the person playing, right in their eye-line and to talk constantly throughout their set, isn’t just annoying. It’s both rude and disrespectful. One day I’ll be brave enough to say something, for now I’ll just hope that the idiots read this and somehow realise I’m talking about them…) Ahem, anyway… tonight Dan filled his too-short set with songs from his forthcoming second album, including three that I hadn’t heard before. Opening with the jaunty Kind Of Loving before being joined on stage by Vin North for the much more sombre Ghosts and Drunks (his track on Best Of York) and then the first new one which was about his friend and fellow song-writer, Mark Wynn and, I think, was called Song For Wynn. Dan is quick to acknowledge the talents of others and this song is just another way of him doing so. The next song was also new and if it was announced by title, I missed it. This one was in the more morose style that sometimes gets Dan labelled as “miserablist”, whereas the next – Left Hand Luke And Eleanor Louise – was more upbeat and showed that Dan can find lyrical inspiration in the strangest of places, in this case somebody who dropped into the regular open-mic night he hosts at York’s Dusk bar (Eleanor Louise was the guy’s guitar). The set finished in upbeat, if slightly morbid, style with Dead Man’s Suit. As I said, I’m a big fan and Dan never fails to entertain. Tonight was hardly going to be an exception.

It’s only a few weeks ago that I saw Suzy Bradley and the Morning After for the first time. The unique blend of Suzy on vocals and acoustic guitar, David Martin on electric guitar and Lucy Blakeson on cello was a breath of fresh air then and, if anything, their set tonight was even more entertaining. Starting with Stop Bothering Me, a Suzy-solo which showed what a quintessentially English-folk voice she has the set moved on with a second song in similar style but with the cello and some very Shadows-like guitar adding extra body and giving a much fuller sound. Until The Dawn, their track from the album, was followed by the rockier I Don’t Know Why, in which a small section of cello-string plucking provided a touch of near-funk. The set was building nicely and Bare was followed by Stay With Me which is more folk-rock and, itself, builds to a superb climax. Striving For Perfection was much slower and quieter while the second Suzy-solo, Something Blue, returned the set to it’s more traditional folk style before Suzy performed the final song, It Doesn’t Matter To Me, not only solo but a cappella and in a much deeper voice than used for the rest of the set. As with the last gig, Suzy’s pleasure at performing shone through in her expressions and the songs played tonight allowed each of the trio to show their worth to the whole.

Katie And The Questions are usually Claire and Katie with a backing band. Tonight, however, there was only one female singer and I don’t know which it was (although, I’m going to assume it was Katie). Even the band makeup was, from memory, different to that listed on the Facebook page – that line-up includes one keyboard-player and a bass-player, but I’m fairly certain that there were two sets of keyboards and no bass tonight. Although they list influences from the sixties to the noughties, tonight’s performance seemed to me to be heavily influenced by the former. Everything from the retro-pop sound to Katie’s look and understated performance seemed, to me, to come from the decade of my birth and wasn’t something I thought I’d enjoy that much. I was wrong – from You’re Not Here, through the slightly rockier but still pop-edged Elizabeth Jones and Don’t Talk, with its increased use of keyboards, I found my feet tapping along to the music. The slightly darker Strangers Dub Remix (currently available as a free download from their Soundcloud site) was followed by something which I think was called The Picture Remains The Same, then Katie’s favourite track, a more disco-like track whose title wasn’t announced. The set finished with Perfect Life, the band’s song from the album, which is so new that Katie had to refer to the lyrics throughout. This was a new band to me and I enjoyed them more than I thought I would. Overall the songs were bright and catchy and even guitarist Alex’s occasional slight dalliances into something more akin to rock solos seemed to enhance the pop sound rather than detract from it.

What The Cat Dragged In are another new band to me and little did I know how impressed I was going to be by them. Few of their songs were introduced by title, even though there was no small amount of between-song talking amongst the band, the confusion of which somehow ended up being more endearing than annoying. The opener was atmospheric while Emily Lies, this band’s album song, had a quirkiness that couldn’t help but bring The Cure to mind. The third, much faster song, saw lead singer Emily and backing singer Alice (sisters. I think) almost sparring against each other in a vocal sense. By now Emily had pointed out that tonight’s drummer was a stand-in who normally played guitar (presumably not for this band) – he did a superb job, throwing rhythmic curveballs throughout the set (I’m sure they were deliberate). Next up was a new song, with much merriment before it as Alice remembered what Emily had told her it was about. Shame they didn’t share the explanation with us, apart from “it’s the most political song I’ve written”. In this case, “written” meant wrapping her own words through the Oranges and Lemons nursery rhyme, ending with “Here comes the candle to light you to bed; Here comes the statement, it's written in red; Here comes the taxman to collect your debt; Here comes the hangman to chop off your head”. Not only political but deliciously dark and twisted and the whole thing sung in a delightfully angry style. It was back to the quirky, clipped vocals for the next song while Emily left the stage area and weaved seductively through the audience while singing the next and then the set ended, all too soon, with one of those songs which, rather than a recognisable tune, is comprised of slightly chaotic noise (think the end of Springsteen’s Thunder Road). In my experience almost totally original, fresh, exciting and entertaining, What The Cat Dragged In impressed me in much the same way that Dream Of Apollo did a couple of years ago, with a very assured an unexpectedly good performance. I’m hoping to catch them again soon.

Overall, this was an extremely good gig and one I would have been happy to attend even if it hadn’t been the album launch, or for charity. And it certainly went a long way to proving that York still does have talented musicians. You might just have to look a little bit harder to find them. But what was it with (or without) shoes tonight? Of the four lead singers, only Dan kept his on. But Suzy and Katie performed barefoot, while Emily performed in stocking feet. Must be a girl thing…

As to the Best Of York album itself… I’m hoping to find time to review that soon.

York Guitar Weekend

Saturday 16th October: This weekend saw the first of what is hopefully going to be an annual event. Sponsored by MOR Music and raising money for half a dozen local charities, the weekend saw a number of free gigs at venues around the city, all with free entry, showcasing locals bands. A few bands that I like or had members that I knew were due to play so, in order to break the monotony of decorating, I decided to take the family out to sample some live music.

First off we headed to The Red Lion in Merchantgate, where a convenient raised area in the beer garden had been rigged up as an outdoor stage. Thankfully, the day was blessed with some unexpected and quite warm sunshine, so the idea of a beer garden was quite pleasant. Events seemed to be running a little behind schedule as we aimed to get there in time to see a colleague’s band but, in fact, arrived just as All The Spies who entertained us with a set of covers (they are, apparently working on their own material) including Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol), Stuck In The Middle With You (Stealer’s Wheel), Sex On Fire (Kings of Leon), Hearts On Fire (Bryan Adams) and Here I Go Again (Whitesnake), along with a few others that sounded familiar but that I couldn’t put a name to. The band played well and entertained between songs as well. Vocals were shared between bassist Trev and drummer Adam (and were better when they sang together) while Si concentrated on the guitar work. A pretty good start to the afternoon. 

Next up were L&P Blues (“Leon and Paul. It’s easy!”). Leon plays various guitars while Paul sings and plays various harmonicas and, between them, they gave us an hour of classic blues tracks including Big Boss Man, Baby What You Want Me To Do, Pride and Joy, Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out, Police Dog Blues, Talk To Me Baby and many more. Artists covered included Stevie Ray Vaughan, B B King, Elmo James and Ray Charles. We even got one original – Ultra Smooth, written by Leon. This was the duo’s first official gig and they were very entertaining. Keep an eye out for them.

Holly Taymar took to the stage next. Lovely voice but she wasn’t really getting the attention she deserved from the audience and it was a little difficult to pick out her songs. I did hear her introduce one as being called Toes. Almost certainly worth checking her out another time but, unfortunately, we had to be moving on.

With the sun setting, we were heading off to Fibbers where I seemed to have arranged special dispensation for 9-year-old Elizabeth to be allowed into the usually 14-and-over venue in order for her to see where her Dad spends quite a few of his evenings. On arrival we kitted her out with a pair of (glow in the dark) earplugs and, after a brief chat with members of Morpheus Rising, settled down to listen to the music. Sadly Fibbers was pretty much empty, a sad indictment of the local live scene with people seemingly unwilling to venture out for something new even when the gig is free.

I had deliberately picked a time when a couple of acts I knew and liked were performing and so we started off with Boss Caine who, despite an early broken string gave us half an hour of some of his best songs, including Ghosts And Drunks, Dead Man’s Suit, A Kind Of Loving and Everybody Loves You More When You’re Down On Your Knees. The album The Ship That Sailed is one of Elizabeth’s favourites and she was keen to say hello to Dan when he had finished and even happier when he remembered her from when I introduced her to him a few weeks ago.

Our final act for the day was Morpheus Rising. Again it was a shortened, just thirty minute set but they guys gave their all, despite the small crowd (it had grown slightly but mainly by the arrival of the next couple of bands.) Performing Lord Of The North and Fighting Man amongst others, the band gained a new fan in Debbie who said that she would consider going to see a full gig.

All We Are Saying Is Give Peace A Chance

Sunday 4th September: The last day of the school holidays and, contrary to the forecast I had seen, the sun was shining this morning. After having my first suggestion for an activity vetoed (due to the the possibility of having to walk through a field of cows) I tentatively put forward the fact that there was live music on in Rowntree Park this afternoon. Surprisingly, the family thought it was a good idea to head down.

In fact, it was the York Peace Festival which, now celebrating its 25th anniversary, provides a mixture of music, activities, and fund raising through the afternoon and early evening, spreading itself along the length of the ornamental lake. The music itself was divided across two main stages – the Arena and the One World Stage (with enough distance between them that you couldn’t hear the acts on one while standing at the other) and a smaller Backyard Cabaret Area, which provided some more “off-the-wall” acts than those of the main stages.

There were specific acts I was hoping to see but we started by having a walk around and Elizabeth was soon entranced by Scrap Value, in the Backyard Cabaret. As the names suggests, they produced percussion music, using “scrap” – pieces of pipe, empty water cooler bottles and what looked like table tennis bats, amongst other things. They were, it has to be said, quite entertaining, producing some unusual noise from everyday objects, but we didn’t have time to watch for long as one of the bands I wanted to see was about to start on the Arena stage.

I’ve seen Falling Spikes three times now and their brand of psychedelic shoe-gazing seems to get better every time. Strangely, the sound for their set today was the best I've heard it and the music came across very well, despite the outdoor setting. I can only remember one song played (I wasn’t taking notes) and that was Shotgun. The band obviously had friends/fans in the audience as a few people got up to dance, staying towards the rear of the concreted area, despite being urged forward by frontman Alexander Peck. It being a festival, it was almost inevitable that the rain would come. And it did, a fine drizzle starting halfway through the set, forcing umbrellas and, in one case, a parasol up and waterproofs on but failing to dampen the spirits of those watching. Despite not being an upbeat band, the Spikes’ set got a warm reception from the increasingly damp crowd.

The next band on were We Could Be Astronauts, were formed last year from the remnants of Hijak Oscar and Idle Jack & The Big Sleep. I hadn’t seen them before today but had heard some positive things about them and, I hav eto say, they were a bit of a revelation. With flamboyant and energetic frontman Robert Loxley Hughes almost seeming to channel Robert Plant (in looks, if not in vocals) they rather appropriately play in a style reminiscent of seventies rock, without making it sound cheesy. Highlight of their set for me was the emotional and near-epic Lost At Sea. There’s a CD in the offing and, if that is one of the tracks on it, there’s a good chance that I’ll be adding it to my collection. It’s perhaps testament to their performance that the crowd, which had diminished between acts at least partly due to the increasingly heavy rain, had swelled considerably by the time the set was done. Debbie, who (let’s face it) isn’t the biggest music fan around, declared them her favourite act of the two so far because Hughes seemed to “have more about him than the other guy”. I think it’s apparent that she doesn’t really appreciate the more introspective aspects of the likes of Falling Spikes. On the basis of this performance, though, I will be trying to see these guys again.

Next it was over to the One World Stage, so Elizabeth could finally get to see one of her favourite acts perform live. No, Justin Bieber hadn’t made a surprise appearance at a small local festival (a la Elton John in The Vicar Of Dibley…) Instead it was Boss Caine, whose songs she has liked since the first time I played his (their?) album The Ship That Sailed. In a short (but very sweet) set we were treated to A Kind Of Loving, Dead Man’s Suit, Ghosts And Drunks and (Everybody Loves You More When You’re) Down On Your Knees. Again the sound was handled very well. It may have been that we were standing (at Elizabeth’s behest) closer to the stage than anybody else, but the vocals and guitar both came across as very clear. Elizabeth declared this as her favourite act of the afternoon and was only slightly disappointed that none of the songs came from the album and, therefore, that she didn’t know any of them. She did have an opportunity to say hello to GT himself earlier in the afternoon but actually went a bit shy (either that or she was starstruck…)

We didn’t really listen to any other acts as closely, although you could hear them as you were wandering around the park. The only other one I feel I could comment on were, according to the programme (and assuming the running order was correct), Atlantika. The programme notes stated “Funky deep house band with uplifting vocals, sampled dance beats and live drums”, which didn’t make them sound that appealing to be honest. However, if it was them that preceded Boss Caine, they actually sounded pretty good and, despite what the quote leads you to believe, also included live guitars and, as far as I could hear, very little sampling.

Other, non-musical, highlights of the afternoon included Elizabeth trying to boil a kettle using just pedal-power (apparently it took three hours of combined effort last year); me continuing to prove that coconut shies aren’t as hard as they look (I’ve had three goes in my entire life and knocked a coconut off twice – hence I’m now retiring…); Local celebrity-spotting – as well as members of bands who were performing we saw Bryan and Livvy from Mostly Autumn and Heidi from Stolen Earth; the largest and stickiest (it must have been the organic sugar) candy floss you will ever lay eyes on; and bumping into Rachael from Coffee On Demand, thereby ensuring we got decent cups of coffee throughout the afternoon. In fact there was almost too much to do – we were primarily there for the music and didn’t look at much else but could have watched dancing, puppet theatre and many other things if we had the time. It may have been damp, but it was certainly enjoyable. Elizabeth got her first taste of “proper” live music and seemed to appreciate, as well as enjoy, it.

And wouldn’t you know it, just as we left the sun came out.

A Quiet Friday Out

Friday 22nd July: Musically, it was quite a busy evening in York. The DV8 Festival had taken over the regular major venues for the whole weekend leading to, presumably, a horde of black-clothed Goths descending on the city. Over at the Knavesmire, Blondie were (was?) providing a post-race concert for those interested in the Sport of Kings. And that was on top of all the usual pubs, bars and smaller venues that are increasing eager to entice punters in by putting acts on. Personally, I’m not a creature of the night (I only spotted a handful of Goths as I made my way around – maybe it was still too light for them at eight-thirty…) and have very little interest in watching horses run around as a pre-cursor to my musical entertainment (although I wouldn’t have minded seeing Blondie). I am, however, by self-admission a tight Yorkshireman who prefers good, reasonably priced beer, free-entry gigs and supporting local talent. And so it was that Andy and I convened at The Golden Lion to see, in my humble opinion, one of York’s best singer-songwriters, all-round nice guy and, as described to me recently, legend of the York music scene, Mr Dan Lucas, tonight performing (as seems to be the norm these days) as Boss Caine.

Now, given the circumstances, tonight could have gone one of two ways. I have to say, I was expecting the pub to be overrun by drunken race-goers, in which case the music would almost certainly have been drowned out by chatter and hysterical laughter, making the whole thing a bit pointless, or the revellers. As it turned out, however, it was very quiet. Not just the pub but, from glances outside, the city centre itself. It may have been busier elsewhere, but I suspect that the staff of the Lion have rarely seen a less full pub on a Friday evening in what we are currently laughingly calling Summer. A few people who knew Dan personally passed in and out, with one woman singing along to all the songs played while she was there. But it seemed that very few people had turned out specifically to see him, a fact part-attributable, perhaps, to a friend’s up-coming wedding and a need to save money for it. Unfortunately, while this meant a slightly more intimate (if that can be used to describe a few people in a reasonably large area) gig and that we could hear the music much more than I expected to, it also resulted in a bit of a muted atmosphere and, at least before his set started, a seeming reluctance on the part of Dan to actually get going. After all, it can’t be fun playing to a near-empty pub.

Once he did start, however, we got another excellent performance. Dan has an unfair reputation of being a bit of a miserablist when it comes to his songs and, being honest, some of them aren’t going to drag punters in off the street. Tonight’s two-part, nearly twenty song set, however, contained a lot of his more up-beat, more jovial songs mixed in with some of the more serious ones. Complimenting songs that, these days, feel as familiar to me as a comfortable pair of shoes, there were a lot I didn’t recognise and even a scan through the (hastily amended) set-list afterwards didn’t really help me identify them. I know we got, amongst others, Kinda Loving, Dead Man’s Suit, Smoking In My Backyard, Self-medication Blues, Your Drunk Baby (a.k.a Lovesick Blues?) and the wonderful Joe Solo written Ghosts And Drunks. There were some fantastic vocal inflections during Murder On My Mind, evident anger in both the playing and singing styles during the anti-government, Everybody Loves You More When You’re Down On Your Knees, humour and light-hearted lyrics in a song about a drunken wedding and a heart-felt tribute to a country singer (I didn’t hear which, but research suggests Gram Parsons) in something that may have been called Be My Grievous Angel. Perhaps best of all, however, was a rendition of The Life In Your Years – one of my all-time favourite songs which always stirs up contrasting emotions in me. Sadly, looking through the songs on the set-list that had been crossed out, I note that the brilliantly varied set could have been made even better (for me, anyway) by the addition of Sha La La and the superb Leaving Victoria. I guess you can’t have everything.

It also seems that big things may be beckoning over in America. Apparently, off the back of some Arizonan pod-cast, Dan got his first U.S. radio air-play with what he thinks was Dean Street Devils, another song he played tonight. There’s even talk of “discovery” by Johnny Cash’s niece/manager and the prospect of a tour over there, if all the financials and paperwork can be sorted. Unfortunately, work on a second Boss Caine album has been put on hold for a while, until certain key personnel are available again. Probably quite selfishly, I hope the album happens before the U.S. stuff as it is apparent from tonight that Dan has a wealth of great material that I wouldn’t mind being able to listen to whenever I want to.

The Boss Hopes To Take A Gambell And Gaines A Superb Gig

Friday 25th March: It’s a sell-out at the Basement tonight as a favourite band (with all ages, judging by the audience) returns to York to headline what is being billed as an extravaganza. Sadly, one of the support acts, the excellent Dave Woodock and the Dead Comedians had to pull out at nearly the last minute, leading to a change in the line-up.

Standing in for the Dead Comedians, but further down the bill, is Rob Gambell, ex of Hijak Oscar and currently hailing from Canterbury. Playing acoustic guitar, Rob opened with a folky, country number which turned out to be a cover of William Elliott Whitmore’s Take It On The Chin, following that with what I think was another cover – Ben Harper’s Power Of The Gospel – and then If A Letter Makes It Better (Krissy and the Jackdaws). Switching to his own compositions, he sang Mama, I’m OK then Bucket and finished with another cover – Townes Zan Vandt’s If I Needed You. Rob used a variety of guitar styles and had a nicely clear voice along with an affable, almost nonchalant stage persona. The overall impression was of somebody singing around a campfire rather than at a gig. Personally, I found his covers to be more enjoyable than his own songs, despite the slightly humorous lyrics of Bucket, a song about loving somebody enough to look after them, which seemed to involve making sure they had something to throw up into. A pretty good start to the evening.

Rob was followed by Andy Gaines, ex of Cardboard Radio and The Runaway Sons and now a solo artist (and, I think, creative photographer and designer). No less affable, but slightly more bumbling (in the nicest possible sense of the word – “I have an EP for sale, but I have no idea where you can get it from. Just search for my name on the internet, something will come up…”) Andy seemed to be constantly trying to hide a huge grin underneath his extremely floppy fringe and was clearly having fun on stage. There was a nice mix of styles in his songs, most of which I didn’t catch the titles of. A “country-ish” number was followed by one that I can only describe as Billy Bragg sings about York. The Lights People Leave On was a jangly, catchy little number, while The Hand You Once Held was a passionate, almost angry song both musically and lyrically and was, in my opinion, the best of the set. He finished with The More Things Change, a much gentler folky song. Given Andy’s contributions to music around York, I’m surprised that this is the first time I have actually seen him perform. Hopefully, it won’t be the last. Oh, and for anybody interested, the EP is available from here.

I have waxed lyrical about Boss Caine a few times in the past but usually it’s GT Turbo/Dan Lucas performing solo under the name (presumably to avoid confusion when trying to sell CDs at gigs). Tonight, however, we were promised a few guests, making it a performance more akin to the musical collective of the name. GT started the set on his own with the song that I still don’t know the title of, but which I think is probably The Kind Of Loving (or something similar) before playing a brand new song – Ghosts And Drunks - which had been written for him by the wonderful Joe Solo and which will feature on the next album. It was a lovely yet melancholy tune which, like the best of GTs songs, both paints a picture and fits him perfectly. Another old song – Dead Man’s Suit – followed before Adam Rogowski, over from Russia, joined him on stage to provide a second guitar during Dreamer, a song which benefited from the harmonies of the two guitars by sounding more like the album version. (Roy commented that it was the best song of the evening up to that point and, as far as I know, didn’t revise his opinion.) Andy Gaines and Dom Smith then joined the pair for a welcome live debut (at least for me) of the brilliant Santiago, followed by another favourite of mine, Leaving Victoria. I have to say that I’m not sure whether the occasional sounds coming from Dom’s keyboard or Andy’s slide guitar (?) added anything to the songs, but I’m never going to complain about hearing them live. Everybody Loves You More When You’re Down On Your Knees (dedicated to “the prick currently running the country”) was another new song to me and included Vin North on harmonica, then Andy returned to the stage for the more upbeat Sha La La, a song which is at least partly about the demise of Cardboard Radio. Much was made tonight (albeit somewhat less than seriously) about the downbeat and, perhaps, depressive nature of GT’s songs. Admittedly, about half of tonight’s set was somewhat less than upbeat but, to me anyway, even the downbeat ones aren’t necessarily depressive and while some may be about the sadder parts of a life lived, they do show that it is possible to come out the other side and, maybe also show the cathartic effect of writing. Whatever, the songs remain some of my favourites of recent years and the makeup of tonight’s set, with its mix of new and old, regular and rarely heard provided a freshness to an artist that I never tire of seeing perform.

Another band that I never tire of seeing are Hope&Social who, even while recently performing more or less the same songs (new ones are just around the corner with the promise of a third album to be released in May) maintain a freshness and originality with their humour and what can only be described as on-stage antics. Opening the set with Living A Lie, with the audience joining in the frantic clapping opening, Simon seemed to forget that he, usually, performed a middle section on the keyboards, turning to stare at the brass section before exclaiming, “Do I do this bit?” Staged? Who knows. Bloody funny? Definitely! And that really set the tone for the rest of the evening. Pitching Far Too High was followed by a reminiscence of Simon hitting one audience member in a rather private area with a soup ladle (something which resonated with me given how close I was sitting to the business end of Rosie’s trombone…) A superbly extended version of Sunlight Hold Me included such delights of Rich seemingly trying to play guitar while cavorting around like somebody seen under a strobe light, Ed playing the keyboard with his palms and Simon managing to somehow prevent his microphone falling over without actually handling it. Compared to the set so far, Ripples Rock My Boat was performed uneventfully, which is not to say not brilliantly (if you see what I mean), although it might have been during it that a shout of “Zumba” (apparently “really good” in South Yorkshire) from the audience totally confused Simon. Normal service was soon resumed though when, during Red Red Rose, Simon felt the urge to get the audience involved in a Mexican wave backwards and forwards across the room, with Rich adding the suggestion that, at one end, the audience shout “Zumba, zumba” while at the other they shouted “Ooo, ooo”. Not only did we all comply but, in true pantomime fashion it developed into a competition between the two halves of the room and was soon followed by more audience participation as Simon got everybody responding to chants along the lines of, “I say Zumba, you say Ooo ooo. I say Zumba, you say Ooo, ooo, I say Zumba, you say <insert audience shouting “Ooo, ooo” here>”. Believe me, it works better when you are there. There was more to follow as the now ubiquitous acoustic version of Looking For Answers had us joining in the backing vocals for the chorus without any prompting – it has always been as much a song from the audience as it is from the band. Rich and his banjo weren’t quite ready for the beginning of A Darkness Now Is Coming which, somehow, led to Simon singing the first verse of Bon Jovi’s Living On A Prayer when Rich did start playing, before eventually giving up and singing the correct song. Add to that Ed playing an impromptu solo on his broken amplifier, matching hilarious facial expression to sounds something akin to dolphins singing while Simon Goff practically collapsed in hysterics, and James playing the trumpet between his legs (and seemingly to experience some dizziness afterwards) and you have yet another unique performance of a familiar song. The set ended with Marching On Through before continuing (or ending again) with an inevitable encore which was the only song of the evening that none of my group recognised. I’ve said before that you don’t see a Hope&Social gig, you experience it. They seem to get better every time I see them and, inevitably, this was the best so far. Truth be told, I doubt I’ve done it justice. If you fancy trying out their music, both albums are available on the above link on a “pay what you want” basis. Alternatively, if you read this and know me, ask and I’ll copy them for you (the band actively encourage it). Both albums are very good but, to be honest, the best way to experience Hope&Social is to see them live.

2011 – A Personal Preview

Friday 25th February: With no plans to attend a gig this weekend (never fear, though, I have one planned for Monday…), I thought I would treat my faithful reader(s) to a preview of which albums I’m looking forward to so far this year, along with one or two that I hope will see the light of day sometime in 2011.

So, in no particular order, here are my “must buys” so far…

First up is Out Of An Ancient World, by Marc Atkinson’s Riversea. I’ve seen Marc play live a couple of times and have both his solo, acoustic albums, but this has all the hallmark’s of a big project. Ex-York resident (and biggest Dr Who fan… ever!) Marc will, once again, be playing acoustic guitar and has been joined by Brendan Eyre on keyboards, along with a whole host of guest’s (from the York area and further afield) to provide the rest of the music and backing vocals. I’ve heard just the one track, played live back in December and haven’t taken advantage of any of the preview clips available on MySpace or dotted around Facebook but, with the project billed as acoustic/progressive/rock, as well as with the amount of talent to be found in the project, there’s something about this album which is calling out to me, helped in no small part by the stunning cover by Ed Unitsky. Out Of An Ancient World was due to be released around Easter time, but I think that may have slipped slightly recently.

Marc is also involved in Sangreal, the second release from the new, third version of Mandalaband. This album sounds very much a concept piece, as were the first three, and tells the story of the Holy Grail as seen in the Romano-Spanish version – the history of the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper (as opposed to the King Arthur version). Marc seems to have upped his contribution from the last album, providing lead vocals for five or six of the fourteen tracks and backing vocals for others. The album also includes the last song Woolly Wolstenholme (Barclay James Harvest) recorded before his death last year. The previous album, BC – Ancestors, was one of my favourites of recent times and the newly re-mastered re-releases of the original 70s albums may sound a little dated now compared to the prog rock being released today but that doesn’t matter to me (after all, I’ve only just discovered Camel and Caravan…)

I like to think that I’ve been a fan of Chantel McGregor from the beginning of her career but I know that, although I first saw her live while she was still playing The Roman Bath, with no entry charge, she had been performing for quite some time. On a personal note, she was the first artist to put a link to this blog on her website, an act that I was honoured by. The pocket prodigy plays guitar like nobody else I have seen and now, after completing her degree, she has had the time to concentrate on writing her own music and has recently been recording her debut album which is due for release in April. Some of the new songs have already made it into her live set and sat comfortably with the Hendrix, Cream, Trower, Fleetwood Mac, Bonamassa, etc. covers that she was known for performing. With details of the recording being blogged on a daily basis, we are promised the likes of a “13 minute epic”, a “swampy, bluesy thang” and “progging it up a bit”. The only downside is that we won’t get Chantel’s rambling monologues, usually about dresses, take-away food or equipment malfunctions, between songs. (Unless she goes down the Seasick Steve route, of course…)  If you are a fan of the blues, this is one album you must look out for.

The first and, so far, only time I saw Haze play live was back in 2003, in the Bay Horse (now Stereo) in York and they were, therefore, my initiation into the world of live prog-rock. A magazine review of a more recent gig jogged my memory and alerted me to the fact that they were still around, if only sporadically. I had a brief email conversation/trip down memory lane with bass-player and vocalist Chris McMahon before buying a copy of a double live CD from their 30th anniversary tour, only to find that some of the songs had been lodged in the back of my brain for all those intervening years. Now performing more regularly  as Treebeard, a more folky, “heavy wood” ensemble, Chris recently decided to write a new Haze album, their first studio album since 1987’s Stoat And Bottle, although an album named Haze was released in 1994 by World Turtle (Chris and his brother Paul) and contained material that would have been on Haze’s third album. A new album so soon after I get in touch? Coincidence? Almost certainly, but I’m still looking forward to it.

As the year goes on, there are bound to be other releases that I look forward to as eagerly as the ones above, they are just the ones I know that are on the horizon. I also know that Hope & Social have started work on their third album, but that’s as much detail as I have at the moment.

If I could have a wish list, however, it would probably include the following (some of which may be in the pipeline already):

A second album from Boss Caine – it’s hard to imagine a better album than last year’s The Ship That Sailed but if main man GT Turbo can put together another mix of old and new and manage to include some of my favourites from his live sets, it might just be possible.

A debut from Stolen Earth – formed from the ashes of the recently disbanded Breathing Space and featuring the writers of the new songs we heard live during that band’s final gig back in December Stolen Earth are, arguably, the most exciting new band in York at the moment. I don’t know whether the band has enough output for an album yet, but they are trying to get on the bill for this Summer’s Cambridge Rock Festival and, I’m told, are aiming to put together some demo material to help promote the band.

A second album from Parade, or whatever they are going to call themselves to avoid confusion with the same-named pop band. New material is being written, but a release date (and new name) has yet to be announced.

A second release from blues-rockers 98Pages – they will almost certainly always be better to see live than listen to recorded but the new songs performed recently are part of a batch that have been written with an eye to either release a second album or a series of EPs. My vote goes to the album format.

There’s bound to be more. I’ve concentrated on smaller and, for the most part, local bands, most of whom I have seen perform and some of whom I have become friends with (if only through social networking). Bigger, more “established” bands that I like are bound to be working on new albums and, when they arrive, there is a very good chance that they will be added to my collection, but the ones I have listed are, in my opinion, bands that deserve supporting. I realise I’ve leaned somewhat in the direction of progressive rock but, given my tastes, that’s to be expected. I doubt that any of the albums will be inaccessible to general music fans, though. So, if you like music why not keep an eye out for one (or more) of the albums and try something a bit different?

Designs On Piracy

Friday 21st January: Three weeks into 2011 and tonight should have seen the whole gang making their way to Fibbers for our first gig of the year. Sadly Andy's engine decided to blow up, resulting in him missing a cracking night out. As is usual, I arrived first - except this time, it wasn't just first of the four of us. Apart from band members and staff, I was the first person through the doors and, therefore, could get a better impression of exactly how soulless an empty Fibbers actually is. Granted, it's not meant to be experienced in that way and, I guess, most people don't actually turn up to a gig on their own.

First to take to the stage, after a greeting and a brief chat, was GT Turbo (again under his Boss Caine guise - I suspect so as not to confuse anybody who might be tempted into buying one of his excellent CDs). Being on first is never easy and GT had to contend with the usual swell of noise as the crowd started to grow. Despite a concerted effort from some of the other acts, few people seemed interested in listening, standing instead at the back and catching up with people that they probably hadn't seen for an hour or so. LOUDLY! By now, you probably realise that I'm a big fan and tonight's set, with it's mixture of old - Dead Man's Suit, The Kind of Loving (I'm still guessing at the title of this one...) - and newer - Dean Street Devils, Murder On My Mind, Father Time - was one of the strongest I've seen him perform, even if he was struggling with the sound and general apathy. There was even a brand new song, which may have been called Down On Your Knees, which was introduced as something that he has "big plans" for, and another (which I didn't get the title of) but which was an epic booze and drug-filled "real life" love song. Highlight for me, though, was the first live performance I have heard of The Life In Your Years in what was, I think, a change to the original set-list. For non-regulars, this superb, heart-rending autobiographical song was my favourite of 2010 and I even got a shout-out from the stage when it was played.

I had been telling people that, of the four acts on tonight, I had only seen two before. However, I soon realised that I had, in fact, seen The Blueprints back at the beginning of December, at Stereo. Tonight's set was quite similar to that one, with the first song being performed without Tom Williams on keyboard, before he joined them for the rest of the set. Song-titles I picked up included Breaking Walls, Three Minutes (with its dark opening eventually turning into a more dancey number), Staring At The Sun, the superb City Skylines and Walk Away. As last time, there was a degree of cheekiness, epitomised by vocalist Stuart Allan's mischievous grin, in their playing and a lot of fun on stage and, for some reason, I found myself enjoying their music a lot more tonight that I did last time. If infectious indie pop is your thing, you could do a lot worse than to see these guys.

Last time I saw 98Pages I was a little disappointed - despite being the headliners that night, they performed a very short set which came across as a bit underwhelming. Tonight, however, they were on very top form, proving once again that, however good their debut album - Broken Homes And The Halfway House - is, they excel themselves with their energetic live performances. I'm afraid I have no idea what the first song they performed was, but it had a very definite Led Zeppelin feel, thanks to the riffs. Nor did I recognise the second song, while the third was the band's "anthem", Goodbye Jojo, from the album. I also recognised Only Let You Down, but I'm fairly certain that the rest of the set was new music. Extremely good new music, some of which will, hopefully, be released on a second album soon. (There was also talk of some EP releases, but I'm not a big fan of that format - no sooner have you put one on and sat down than you have to get up to change the CD...) As usual, there wasn't a great deal of interaction with the audience (hence the lack of titles above) as the band let the music do the talking. And a very interesting monologue it was.

So to the only band on tonight's bill that I hadn't see before, The Buccaneers. Perhaps best described as rhythm and blues for the indie generation, they provided the longest set of the evening, with their eleven, mostly fast-paced, songs including Out Of Sight, Singing The Blues (with its rather abrupt ending), Take My Soul, Ride with it's superb solo and slightly more rock 'n' roll sound, the very repetitive Don't Break Down, a nice cover of blues standard Baby Please Don't Go and, best song of the set, The Pistol's Warm (it's your groove that's killing me) - the video for which can be seen on YouTube - with it's metallic sounding guitars and slightly chaotic ending.

I might have switched the bill around slightly but, overall, this was a very enjoyable evening with four very strong acts. In terms of live music, a great start to the year.

Union Meeting

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

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

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

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

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

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

Late Night Socialising

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CD Review: Boss Caine - The Ship That Sailed

Tuesday 20th April: There are few guitar-playing singer-songwriters that I feel the need to see perform live again after seeing them for the first time. Nor are there many whose songs instantly burrow into my subconscious after hearing them just once. Daniel Lucas/GT Turbo is one of the few, certainly in recent times, and I can't help but wish that his gigs and my free time lined up a bit better. On that basis, I didn't hesitate to pre-order The Ship That Sailed, debut album from Boss Caine, the York-based music collective formed around Daniel's songs.

Apparently, the songs on the album were all written over the last few years - this is no "let's write an album" endeavour - during which both the bright lights of London tempted him down South and the lure of his hometown saw him return. And, it seems, those bright lights may have led to more dark times than was to be expected. Indeed, the jauntiness of opener Keep The Homefires Burning belies the sombre mood of the rest of the album which is filled with sad and touching lyrics.

It's not all darkness and depression. The lightness returns, albeit less evidently during Sha La La and there is a degree of hope that love can endure in Santiago. But Daniel draws on lost loves and painful times to produce some memorable and, while sad, never depressing songs. The highs and lows of of his times in London are evident in my personal favourite, Leaving Victoria (which has nothing to do with a woman) and the city also provides backdrops for Cambden Town (a song which goes to a truly dark place when referencing vodka and sleeping pills) and, briefly, Small World. The pain of a relationship that never seems to end is evident in Never Really Gone, while a similar sentiment comes immediately after in Man Overboard.

Sing For Your Sins, the longest song on the album at over seven minutes, also has the fullest sound, with the most obvious percussion and electric guitars. The lyrics for this one paint a picture of a relationship gone sour but not yet ended, while the music builds to a stunning crescendo before falling away to a beautiful ending. One of my few criticisms of the album is that, perhaps, this song outstays its welcome a little lyrically, with the chorus repeated too many times towards the end for my liking. Having said that, it's another of my favourites.

For such an outwardly simple album, it turns out to be incredibly multi-layered, in more ways than one. While I have focused on Daniel's writing talents (and have yet to mention his rich, deep singing voice) the album wouldn't be the same without Boss Caine core members (and producers) Andy Gaines and Sam Forrest and the many guests, all of whom have played in the "band" at some time. I would particularly like to draw attention to Hayley Hutchinson's ethereal backing vocals during This Is Your Life and Rebecca Lowman's cello, which adds a great deal of depth to the sound of Bring Back My Baby.

More evidence of multi-layering (although, I admit, this may only be in my own interpretation) comes with the title track - obstensibly about Daniel's desire but inability to visit Nashville, and how he builds a boat with sails made from "all the letters you sent me". The more I hear it, the more I think the boat is a metaphor for something and the rain which blurs the letters are actually the tears cried while reading them. Maybe it's me reading too much into it.

Fourteen songs, the first of a projected three albums and, while not the style I would normally buy, an beautifully crafted album that keeps finding its way back into my CD player. Powerful, raw, emotional, simple (and, paradoxically, complex), superb and highly recommended.

Track Listing:

1: Keep The Homefires Burning

2: Bring Back My Baby

3: Dreamer

4: Never Really Gone

5: Mon Overboard

6: Cambden Town

7: Sing For Your Sins

8: Sweet Sorrow Surrender

9: Santiago

10: This Is Your Life

11: Sha La La

12: The Ship That Sailed

13: Leaving Victoria

14: Small World

Musicians:

Daniel Lucas - Vocals, guitars

Sam Forrest - Bass, percussion, harmonica, piano, vocals

Andy Gaines - Guitar, banjo, piano, mandolin, accordion, percussion, vocals

Guests:

Mike Newsham - Mandolin, guitar

Adam Rogowski - Guitars

Rebecca Lowman - Cello

Hayley Hutchinson - Vocals

Vinny North - Harmonica

Jack Holdstock - Drums

A Marathon Music Session

Friday 12th March: I was expecting very little to be original about tonight, as the four of us met up at the Basement Bar. I thought we had already seen the acts on show and one of them was solely a covers band. However, it was another charity night, a rare chance to see an old favourite and, for me at least, a fast-becoming favourite. But there was to be a couple of surprises, the first of which was the opening act, which I hadn't seen advertised anywhere let alone come across before.

Steve Kendra is another in the long line of local guys with guitars (and, in this case, a nifty hat). There was way too much talking going on as Steve took to the stage and I'm ashamed to say that some of it was from our little group, so it was a little difficult to hear his songs properly. But with songs about an older Elvis meeting a younger version of himself and about Kendra's own Dad working at Terry's chocolate factory, at least there was a touch of originality lyric-wise. the overriding impression, for some reason, was of a musical version of Ian McMillan (the Bard of Barnsley) and while, on past evidence, it may be unlikely that our paths cross again very soon, I wouldn't be averse to seeing him play again, if only to get the opportunity to listen more closely and give a more informed review.

It's only been a handful of weeks since I last saw Boss Caine, so I thought I knew what to expect, especially as an album is due imminently and songs from it had already been posted on his Facebook page. Tonight's second surprise was that Mr Lucas wasn't performing solo - not the firstime, just the first time that I had encountered it. Joined, at various times, by Andy Gaines, Paddy Berry, Dave Keegan and Chris Johnson, Boss Caine performed familiar songs in a slightly unfamiliar way. "Slightly" only because the album tracks posted to his page are the "full band" versions and so I had heard at least a version of them before, just not live.

The extra instruments give a fuller sound to the songs, without detracting from the Boss's rich, deep voice. (A voice which, in all honesty, is better at singing the songs than introducing them - we struggled to hear what he was saying between songs although, again, that could have been partly due to the ambient noise level.) I don't know whether all the songs performed were from the album, but I'm fairly sure that all of the four mentioned above were played, including Leaving Victoria, one of my favourites. My appetite for the album was whetted even more than before.

We used to see Hazzard County regularly at the White Swan. Then the landlord changed, the pub was done up and the Hazzards seemed to go their separate ways, getting together for much less infrequent gigs. Tonight was one of those events as Dave, Paddy, Simon, Chris and John headlined the gig which was set up to raise money for Shelter, the charity being supported by John's wife as she runs the London Marathon. The music on offer as well as such a worthwhile charity (and the fact that I have very little chance of ever completing a marathon) made this £5 very well spent.

The Hazzards spent the evening playing the usual mix of songs by the likes of The Band, Dylan, Johnny Cash and more, including a fair few that I didn't recognise from previous times we had seen them. Throughout the evening, every swapped and changed instruments numerous times, with four of the band changing between various guitars, drums and tambourine, while Paddy swapped between bass and double-bass and Chris sometimes adding keyboards (I don't remember ever seeing keyboards at a Hazzards gig before) and everybody except Paddy taking at turn at lead and backing vocals.

The songs were lively, as was the audience, many of whom were at least semi-regulars at the Swan (and at least two regulars failed to get in to what was a very crowded and very warm Basement). The music was up to the band's usual high standards and they all appeared to enjoy playing together again. Sadly, from one posting I have seen, this is likely to be their only gig of the year and, shortly after the house lights were flickered (presumably to indicate time to stop playing) and ignored, I had to leave. I understand that the music continued until after midnight and I would expect it finished with something special and, probably, even more lively. Part of me wishes that tonight's gig took place later in the year, when I wouldn't be relying on public transport to get me home.

I don't know whether a final total was announced but I understand that, through entry money and bucket collections, over £600 had been raised by 9pm. Well done to all and good luck to Jayne for the marathon.

Helping Haiti (again)

Wednesday 17th February: After my exertions for Haiti of a couple of weeks ago (when I joined my daughter's karate class for a sponsored fitness session to raise money for Haiti and couldn't walk without pain for four days afterwards...) tonight saw a much more civilised way of parting with a bit of cash to help the earthquake hit island, by attending a money-raising concert in the City Screen's Basement Bar. Five acts, all "single bloke with guitar", acoustic - not my usual fare, it has to be said.

First to take the stage was Andy Gaines, who I think I've previously seen with The Runaway Sons. (Although the link above states that he is now solo, which might be why we haven't seen the Sons for a while.) Andy played just four songs, mostly downbeat although the third, about a drunken fight with a girlfriend, was more upbeat and tinged with humour. The vocals were crystal-clear and the songs entertaining enough - a solid start to the evening.

Next up was Mark Wynn, another singer in the same mold as Mr Gaines. I'm afraid that his vocals were far from clear from where I was standing, although the set wasn't helped by people talking (more on that later) and one couple actually getting up to leave. Five songs this time and, if anything, the first four were even more downbeat than those of Gaines. The fifth, however, was a very much more upbeat bluesy number which, for me, included by far the most interesting guitar playing in the instrumental middle section.

James McKay (I think that link is correct - if anybody knows different, give me a shout) took to the stage next, complete with jerry-rigged guitar (the pick-ups were blu-tacked on to start with and taped on after the first song), glass of wine and burnt thumbs from a pancake day accident. The vocals were back up to scratch for this set which started slowly and built to a nice climax. His best song was, in fact, a cover which he introduced as being by Dave Dondero (again, I'm not sure of the link - partly because James said that he might be touring with Dondero later in the year, but the link is to an American West Coast singer).

I think the next act was Tom Reeve (he didn't introduce himself), who provided a change of pace with some tongue-twisting lyrics, if only in terms of the speed of his singing The Cuckold And The Whore. Tom was, for me, the best act so far - a bit more American Folk than the rest. Grave The Ballad Of John Brown's Corpse is a superb "story" song about grave-robbing and the curse that goes with it, while Jessie was a bitter-sweet song about an eighteen-year-old dog. Alongside the superb lyrics was some brilliant and mesmerising guitar playing, during which Tom's fingers seemed, at times, to fly along the frets. Recommended.

Finally and, unfortunately too late for me to be able to stay for the full set and still catch the last bus home, Boss Caine arrived on stage and, almost immediately, got annoyed with the impolite loudmouth sitting in the audience. (Rightly so, it stopped me from doing it just before I ran off to the bus stop.) I can only remember seeing Mr Lucas once before but tonight he proved that his songs are not only memorable but also as comfortable as a well-worn in pair of slippers - at least three that I heard tonight were not only instantly recognisable from the gig last year, but I found that I could pretty much remember the choruses straight off. There's an album in the offing (and already on pre-order for me) and I really hope it includes the likes of Smoking In My Back Yard, Leaving Victoria (assuming that's the title) and the one about drinking wine. Assuming it didn't go vastly downhill after I left, this was a very assured and enjoyable set.

It is, perhaps, indicative of my knowledge and experience of this type of music that the only name that sprung to mind as a comparison to any of the acts tonight was Ralph McTell. I'm not sure whether the guys would appreciate that and suspect that they (or at least some of them ) would be aiming more along the lines of Bob Dylan.

Unfortunately, tonight saw a very small crowd in which I felt a little out of place as I seemed to be the only person not related to or a friend of the performers. I doubt that the amount raised will raise any eyebrows but, on the basis that every little helps, this was well worth shelling out for and there was at least a couple of acts that I wouldn't mind seeing again.

Bands In The Basement

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

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

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

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

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