Breathing In

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They Think It's All Over...

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

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

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

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

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

Surprisingly Wild Ninjas

Friday 19th February: After a day out around Malham it was a bit of a rush for me but, finally, the regulars are together for the first time this year. We are at Fibbers to see four bands.

Unfortunately, the aforementioned rush and bus times meant that I arrived after the first band and I didn't get their name. That's probably good as the short bit of their set that I did see (about a song and a half) did nothing for me - they were loud, shouty, discordant and the songs sounded a bit disjointed to me.

Disjointed is a word that could also be used to describe Wild Honey's set. In this case, however, it would refer more to the gaps between the songs rather than the music itself. Vocalist Luke Byrne did apologise for the somewhat chaotic changeovers saying that the band "didn't have as many musicians as they would like" but the gap before the final song stretched on for a good couple of minutes, during which some of the crowd seemed to be getting a bit restless. The set opened with an instrumental, which basically set the scene for the type of music we were going to get. Very prevalent was Luke Lunn's trumpet (or, possibly, cornet - I'm no expert) which gave the songs a definite Mexican feel. Byrne's voice immediately reminded me of somebody else and, after a few other suggestions (none of whom I'd heard of) Roj hit the nail on the head with Divine Comedy. To quote from the above link, "We are a group of musicians, using instruments from different countries and cultures to create a unique sound" - maybe not totally unique as the brass reminded me and Andy of The Littlemores but certainly different enough to be enjoyable.

Next up were 3 Foot Ninja and while I would try not to argue with the categorisation of a band, in this case I have to say that they aren't punk. They can't be. I don't like punk! The Ninjas reminded me a bit of The Mexicolas. Although, to be fair to them, that might just have been because there were three of them and they were dressed in black. Thrashing guitars and pounding drums are the order of the day, but with more of a rock vibe than an indie/punk one in my opinion. Good vocals and enough variations in the songs to keep up my interest. They may not have been the headliners tonight, but they did end up being my favourite act of the evening.

The headliners were, in fact, Surprise... Fire who, in another link to the gig where we saw the Littlemores, were the band that couldn't play that evening because they were snowed in. Now, this lot are highly thought of and have already played the Leeds and Reading festivals. For me, though, there was something lacking in the performance and I can't quite put my finger on what. Maybe it was just that I enjoyed 3 Foot Ninja. Maybe it was that the vocals were somewhat swamped by the (admittedly very good) music. It certainly wasn't the lack of energy in the performance - lead singer Joshua Finn made full use of the stage area (as well as the stage barrier and, at one point, the crowd) while the rest of the band played with a relaxed style, despite the rock sound. Maybe I need to listen to some of their recorded stuff to give myself a chance to form a more rounded opinion. Luckily, I picked up a copy of their new EP.

Afterwards, Andy and I headed over to the Roman Bath, where a Blues band were playing (again, I apologise, I didn't get their name). Andy had seen them before and pointed out that the lady playing bass was the wife of the lead-singer and that she usually played double-bass. He wasn't wrong as she switched to the bigger instrument a couple of songs after we arrived. I'm afraid I couldn't tell you whether they played originals or covers - there was certainly nothing I recognised, but I don't know much Blues. They were, however, very good. Hopefully, I'll stumble across them again one day.

Won't Get Fooled Again... and Again...

Friday 29th January: As with last year, it seems to be taking a while for both live music in York to get started and the Friday Nighters to synchronise their calendars. I haven't seen Roj since we all went out for a meal before Christmas and tonight he had a prior engagement with Berwick Kaler's latest pantomime, Humpty Dumpty. (I saw it before Christmas and laughed until I cried.)So, it's just myself and Andy attending Fibbers for a bit of metal.

First to take the stage are Stealer. I failed to blog a review when we saw them at our last get-together of 2009 so they are obviously giving me a second chance fairly quickly. (There's very few other reasons why we would pay to see a covers band.) I've said before that I can take or leave Stealer. It's not that they aren't very good, just that there is too much in their set that I don't like. I'm not a big fan of the AC/DC style of heavy metal (all power and no style in my opinion) and in their usual two-hour set, there is too much of that for me. However, tonight, with cut down set, there was more to keep me interested, although the rendition of Whole Lot Of Rosie, with accompanying stage act, still did nothing for me. Stealer also manage to confound me by playing songs which I suspect I should know (and certainly like) but can't work out who sang them originally.

There seemed to me to be a slight emphasis towards Southern Blues-Rock in tonight's set, which is not surprise considering the links with Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute Aynt Skynyrd and there was a fair few songs that I didn't recognise sprinkled in amongst the likes of Rocking In The Free World (Neil Young), Black Knight (Deep Purple) and personal favourite Won't Get Fooled Again (The Who). It may have been the shorter set or, possibly, the fact that the venue allowed the band to open up a bit more but I enjoyed tonight's performance more than any other time that I've seen the band.

An increased venue size is something that tonight's headline band could do with, as well. In a similar way that Stealer sounded better (to me) after stepping up from pub to dedicated music venue, Morpheus Rising deserve to be playing bigger venues than we have in York in the near future. Their brand of original Heavy Metal reminds me of the days when I travelled over to Queen's Hall in Leeds to see the likes of Ozzy, Whitesnake and Dio. This was the first time I have managed to see the band's full set and it only confirms my suspicion that they could end up being one of my favourite local live acts.

Pete Harwood and Damien Sweeting's twin guitar-playing is nothing short of superb, although it struck me tonight that it is Sweeting's "extra" little harmonies (noticeable on the Original Demos EP but not picked up by me until tonight) that make some of the music that little bit special. Andy Smith's bass-lines are strong enough to effectively punch through the soaring guitars and, while I couldn't see him clearly, I'd be surprised if Paul Gibbons didn't wear out a few drumsticks during the set.

Sadly, tonight, Graeme Tennick's vocals didn't seem to be mixed correctly and both Andy and I struggled to hear them. This may have been the old chestnut of not being overly familiar with the lyrics so failing to "hear" them but unless my memory fails me (and it sometimes does) they were a lot clearer at The Duchess last year. What Graeme did excel at tonight, however, was commanding the stage. Whether wielding the microphone, air-guitaring alongside Pete and Damien or conducting the rest of the band, his performance was immense. For some reason, tonight's audience seemed a little reticent to move up to the stage - I was probably standing no further forward than I usually do at Fibbers but was pretty much at the front of the crowd (except for the Morphettes dancing at the very front). Obviously aware of this fact (the distance to the crowd, not that I was at the front) Graeme took it upon himself to bring his performance to the audience. Not that he left the stage (well, actually, he did vault the barrier at the start of Fighting Man) but he did spend a lot of time at the very periphery.

Vocals apart, this was a superb performance. Songs I had heard before, such as Lord Of The North, Brave New World, Save The Day, Fighting Man and (personal favourite) Those Who Watch mixed with lesser-known ones such as Quench Your Thirst (and with that my memory does indeed fail me...) I couldn't help but raise a wry smile when, at the beginning of Fighting Man, Damien struck the same pose as he does on the song's video - I wonder whether that will be seen as an iconic Morpheus Rising pose.

(Hmm, just had another thought... Given that we started the evening with a covers band, I wonder whether one day there will be bands performing cover versions of Morpheus Rising songs...?)

I'm told an album is soon to be in the works - soon after that I can guarantee it will be in my collection.

As tonight's acts finished, Andy and I wandered over to the Roman Bath to see whether anybody was playing there. The doorman and another punter told us that we would really enjoy Northern Glory. Well, that sold it to us so we went in. As we did so, these four young lads from Halifax were belting out The Lovin' Spoonful's Hot Town Summer In The City, which they followed with a set comprising of covers including This Sex On Fire (Kings of Leon) and Won't Get Fooled Again (The Who, again) and what seemed to be their own material. At least one song, No Smoke Without Fire, was introduced as being written by them, the rest could have been covers of Indie tracks that I didn't know (my knowledge of Indie really is very poor). This was a pretty good performance by a very young band and something different to the normal Bath fare. Dave Tracey on bass appeared to be a bit shy from where we were standing but lead singer Chris Owl used every inch of space available to him and sang with gusto. Northern Glory are definitely worth keeping an eye out for.

I Want A Bike...

Friday 30th October: The Chantel McGregor Band is, as I have said before, an act that I would go out of my way to see. So, it's a surprise to find that tonight's gig at the Roman Bath is only the second time this year that I've managed to catch one of their gigs. (I know I missed their last visit to York as it clashed with my visit to the York Beer Festival and I think the previous one clashed with another gig.)

There's little I can add to what I have already posted about Chantel's prodigious talent with a guitar but I have to say that tonight's set was, in my opinion, the least impressive that I have seen by her. That's not to take anything away from Chantel - she played as brilliantly as ever - it's just that there was a lot of the set that I wasn't familiar with and some of my favourites were missing. Yes, we got songs from the likes of Hendrix (Red House and Voodoo Chile), Jethro Tull (Living In Past), Ten Years After, Joe Satriani (Up In The Sky) and Joe Bonamassa (Mountain Time), but where was Clapton/Cream, Steve Vai and Fleetwood Mac??

Hey ho, I guess if she played the same set every time, I'd be complaining of too little variation.

I'm beginning to get the impression that Chantel is getting a loyal following at the Bath (as she seems to have at other venues) as the applause tonight was mixed with cheers and howls of appreciation. But there are still people who, until tonight, were yet to experience one of her gigs. Members of York's own Morpheus Rising were in tonight's audience and I have it on good authority that the wife of one was "blown away". It was interesting (and slightly amusing) to see the looks on the faces of some of the casual punters who wandered in, heard the music and then noticed who was playing it.

After another excellent set, we headed outside for our usual round of banter and despite Andy telling us at least three times that he had to head off, he was just getting round to unlocking his Brompton as Chantel, her band and parents left the pub. For some reason, she thought it would be a good idea to have a go on the bike. So, much the our amusement (and that of band members Martin and Alex) and the apparent consternation of her parents, Andy dutifully lowered the seat (twice!) and off she wobbled around St Sampson's Square. "Can you play guitar while doing that?" shouted Martin from his car. We have a suspicion that she may well be able to, with just a little more practice.

Coming Up For Air

Saturday 11th July: It's been a bit of a strange week, really, with Tuesday being the strangest day.

(Regular readers, please bear with me here. I suspect this is going to be a meander. I think there's a point that I'm trying to get to and, you never know, I might even manage it. New or occasional readers, please don't let this post put you off - I'm not normally this bad...)

I left work on Tuesday feeling mentally exhausted. I had been looking at a particularly knotty problem for two straight days without getting anywhere (and still haven't solved it). There was also quite a lot of tension within the team, something that I was trying to stay out of but, when you work in such a small team, it's sometimes difficult to avoid things. On top of that I had volunteered for what turned out to be a bit of an emotional battering from a friend who was/is going through a bad time. Not that I minded, you understand - I had offered an ear and a virtual shoulder and was glad that I have been able to help in whatever small way. (I should also mention that if said friend is reading this and isn't happy being mentioned they should let me know - there's always the edit button...)

So, as I said, I left for home feeling drained. Then, roughly halfway home, a song came on the i-pod. Written by keyboard player Iain Jennings for Mostly Autumn's second album and in memory of his mother, The Gap Is Too Wide is my favourite piece of music. It's an achingly beautiful song about loss with a second half instrumental that somehow manages to convey sadness and joy in equal measures. Just a few minutes into the song I suddenly found myself in tears. Luckily there was nobody around.

Now, I'm not normally an emotional person. I rarely get stressed and I definitely don't normally wear my heart on my sleeve like this. Hmmm, I wonder if this is the start of a mid-life crisis...

Anyway, The Gap (as it is affectionately known), although being a Mostly Autumn song, has been the regular encore song for Breathing Space - Iain Jennings' new band - every time we have seen them. And tonight, a full contingent of us (including Debbie - Breathing Space are one of the few bands we both like) were at the Roman Bath to see them again. Would I find myself coming over all unnecessary and make a fool of myself? Say tuned...

When Debbie and I arrived, York centre was still full of that afternoon's race-goers and we had to queue to get into the Bath. With the sound check in full flow and audible outside, it wasn't long before a large group of people left the pub and we were allowed in, to find Roj already inside. A nifty move by Debbie soon found us couple of tables close to the stage area and, with the music forcing the racegoers out, we were set.

Breathing Space are in a bit of a flux at the moment, having lost guitarist Mark Rowen and Saxophonist John Hart earlier in the year, Liam Davidson (Mostly Autumn) had been standing in on guitars but he is currently unavailable so Bryan Josh (also Mostly Autumn) is on guitar duties at the moment. It has to be said that a guitarist of Bryan's standing could easily have overshadowed tonight's performance but didn't - his performance was subtle and almost understated and the man himself almost faded into the background during most of the set. That's not to take anything away from the music, however. When solos were called for, they were of the man's usual high standard.

In fact, the whole band was on top form (although I can't tell where Iain's keyboards end and brother Ben's start) and this was an excellent performance - by far the best Breathing Space gig we have seen at the Bath. Livvy looked incredibly relaxed and, although she never seems to get the best of the audio in this venue, her voice soared. It was also nice to see her smiling so much as she can sometimes, in my opinion, look a bit too serious on stage.

We were treated to a nearly two-hour set of songs mainly from the first two albums, but sprinkled with new songs from the soon to be released Below The Radar. These appeared to be a bit rockier than previous songs, perhaps not surprisingly given the band's revised emphasis on guitar and keyboards (the reason Hart left the band). Although difficult to tell from a first hearing, it sounds as though the new album could well be worth waiting for.

Some of my favourites were missing and I wonder whether we'll hear On The Blue Horizon (written by Rowen) again. However, it's hard to criticise when the likes of You Still Linger, Belief, Coming Up For Air and Searching For My Shadow are included in the set. All are brilliant songs, written and sung from the heart.

With the end of the gig fast approaching, it was time to steel myself. The band announced that they had finished and the usual cries for more ensued. After a very short time, with everybody back on stage, Livvy announced that they would do one more song. One from the new album. Shock! I can't remember the title but it was a superb way to end the gig - a fusion of vocals, keyboards and guitar (obviously with the backing of Barry Cassels on drums and Paul Teasdale on bass) that seemed to go on forever and yet still finished too quickly. One more reason to anticipate the new release.

...and then it was time to get removed from the Bath. We finally braved the rain to run and shelter in a shop doorway, just before an increasingly irate bouncer decided to throw us out. There followed the usual insults, a round of Tommy Cooper jokes, music discussions and remembrances as we watched the band pack their equipment into cars and drive away. Eventually, I caught sight of Iain Jennings and wandered over to ask whether The Gap had been put to bed as the band's encore. It turns out that they are simply resting it, wanting to end gigs on a bit more of a lively note. Given the significance of the song to the man himself, I hope he didn't mind me telling him the story of how it affected me this week, even if it did mean us both getting rained on.

Breathing Space next play York on the 6th of December, at The Duchess as part of a tour to promote the new album. I'll definitely be there.

Bleu'ring The Edges

Friday 3rd July: ...and our current inability to match social calendars continues, as just me and Roj attend the Duchess.

John Mayall - a name that resonates through the historical corridors of British Blues. Back in the 60's, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers launched (or helped to launch) the careers of many a top artist. Eric Clapton, Andy Fraser (Free), Mick Taylor (The Rolling Stones), John McVie, Mick Fleetwood and Peter Green (all Fleetwood Mac) all served terms under Mayall's "incredibly great school for musicians". After moving to America in the 70's, he played with many notable US performers and backed Blues greats as they toured the UK. The Bluesbreakers, under various guises, have been around for most of his career, finally disbanding in 2008 after extensive touring took a physical toll on Mayall. However, he then decided to put together a new band (Rocky Athas on guitar, Greg Rzab on bass, Jay Davenport on drums and Tom Canning on Keyboards), with a more limited touring schedule.

Of course, being the music guru that I am, I knew barely any of that until I started researching for this entry. I did know Mayall's name, though, and when I saw it on the what's on listing, it was an easy decision which gig to go to this week.

The first thing to mention is the man himself. Now 75 years old, he looks and sounds a hell of a lot younger. No sitting through the set, no being helped on stage by "minders". Mayall is active throughout the set and his voice as he introduces the songs is clear on strong. For most of the nearly two hours he alternated between keyboard and various harmonicas, at times playing both at the same time. For one song he played a twelve string guitar. For another, the first of the evening (no support band tonight) he played completely solo.

This is a band that obviously enjoy playing together. Big smiles and acknowledgements of each others performances abounded as each member took their time in the spotlight for a series of dazzling solos including the longest and probably best bass solo I have ever seen, with barely a hint of funk.

I can't remember many of the track names but the set spanned Mayall's career from 1965 up to a track from a new album due out later this year. Nor can I remember how many tracks were played but I don't think we got far into double figures. Each track was more of an instrumental showcase than a lyrical masterpiece and some were in the region of ten or more minutes long. Most were easily identifiable, keyboard-led Blues (the second track of the evening was a lot more jazzy than the rest) but there was, for me, a hint of a prog-rock/Blues fusion, especially in Dream About The Blues - the standout track for me.

I'm beginning to appreciate just how many styles of Blues music there is and this was the first time I've really encountered the lighter side of the genre. Blues that brings a smile to the face, rather than some of the more dour and depressing stuff. There was even dancing!!

So far this year, the Duchess has hosted some top-notch older acts and this was yet another superb show.

Afterwards we headed of to the Roman Bath to catch the second half of the always excellent Mojos. As usual, we were treated to a selection of classic covers including (but, as usual, not limited to...) Robbie Williams (Let Me Entertain You), Dire Straits (Sultans of Swing - a superb version), Guns 'n' Roses (Sweet Child of Mine), Bon Jovi (Livin' On A Prayer), and Kings of Leon. Good music, well played. I even found myself singing and dancing along. I must have checked some of my inhibitions at the door. Maybe it's the Daisy effect... :-)

White Men Can Play The Blues

Friday 22nd May: ...and in attempt to counter the disappointment of not being at Wembley on Sunday I'm taking a punt with two artistes who are unknown to me, although one does come highly recommended (by both Roj and my highly-knowledgeable colleague Phil). We're also not at any of our usual venues - tonight it's York's Grand Opera House. In the Dress Circle. Seated. It's really warm and, to my embarrassment, I find myself nodding off a couple of times.

Tonight's support act is Ian Siegal, a British blues guitarist, with Andy Graham on bass and Nikolaj Bjerre on drums. If there's such a thing as traditional blues, Ian comes close to playing it, to the point that I originally thought he was American. The band's short set was a joy to listen to with some very original guitar-playing styles and an easy-going vocal style. I found it difficult to distinguish the lyrics but I think that was more down to the acoustics of the venue and unfamiliarity with the songs, rather than any deficiency on the part of the band. Bjerre's drumming was simple yet very effective - he's another proponent of the small drum-kit, a la Jan Akkermann's drummer from a few weeks ago - while Graham's style verged on humorous, with a touch of funk underlying some of the bass-lines.

The short support set was over all too quickly, but it was an almost perfect set-up for the main act.

That main act was one Johnny Winter, 65 year-old, Grammy nominated Texan Blues guitarist, and personal guitar-hero of fellow blogger, Roj. As I said, Mr Winter comes highly recommended and the more I hear of the blues, the more I like it, so tonight should be a winner.

The set starts with Johnny's band (Paul Nelson on guitar, Scott Spray on bass and Tony Beard on drums) on stage without the main man. After a short instrumental, Johnny shuffles onto stage, looking as frail as you are ever going to see a live act. He spends the entire set sitting on a chair, playing some kind of small, cut-down version of a guitar. (I'm no expert, but I'm assuming it's the dew-dropped shaped, headless Steinbeger, mentioned in this review which, being professional, is much better written than mine.) Apparently, it's not just his age, but the fact that he damaged a hip while escaping a house fire a decade ago.

Anyway, while he may not be the most dynamic act I've ever seen, his voice is superb (like dark chocolate running over velvet when he speaks, which isn't that often). Again, I struggled a bit with the lyrics and, not being familiar with Winter's history or (being honest) a lot of his musical roots, I failed to spot some of the more famous tracks. Winter plays a combination of blues, rock and rock-and-roll (it's safe to say that I'm not a huge fan of the latter) and plays then well. I have to admit, I found the small guitar to sound a bit strident and preferred it when Winter swapped to a more traditional instrument (a Firebird, I think) for the encore - it had a much cleaner sound. His was a no-nonsense performance - he introduced each song, counted it in and performed it, letting his fingers doing the talking.

From some of the shouts coming from the audience, there appeared to be some long-time fans at the gig. I suspect, but can't be sure, that at least some of them would think that Winter was now past his best. From my point of view, as a "newbie", he was an excellent performer, although possibly not up the standard of the recommendations I was given. Maybe it's the case that legends have to grow, rather than being discovered. I think overall, I preferred Ian Siegal, although I wouldn't think twice if given the opportunity to see either act again.

At the end of the gig, warm, slightly drowsy and in need of liquid sustenance, we headed off to the Roman Bath where the lasers, muscle-shirts and rocks covers of Storm, were in evidence. We've seen these before and they, more or less, perform the same sort of covers as most bands we see at the Bath, but they are pretty good and, although in a different class to the main gig, were a good enough way to finish off the evening.

A Long-Awaited Return

Saturday 14th March: It's my second gig of the weekend - a welcome and much anticipated return to the Roman Bath for my current favourite guitarist, Chantel McGregor and her band, Martin Rushworth on drums and Alex Jeffrey on bass (Lincoln J. Roth having moved on a few weeks ago).

Although recovering from illness Chantel managed to charm and enthrall us for another two-hour-plus set of classic rock and blues, consisting of old favourites and new tunes. (Well, new to me anyway.) OK, so there was no Clapton/Cream this time, which severely curtails my ability to put names to the songs, but Fleetwood Mac, Robin Trower, Steve Vai and the ubiquitous Jimi Hendrix were all featured, probably along with others that I didn't hear introduced.

It may have been because of the recent bout of tonsillitis, but there seemed to me to be more guitar solos and less vocals than usual. In fact, the set list (recovered afterwards by Roj) contained more songs than were actually played. However, while Chantel's vocals are a lot better than adequate, I would guess that most people watch her live to see and hear her stunning guitar work. Technically superb, she plays with an ease that seems to cry out, "why do others make this look so difficult??" Tonight's solos were nothing less than brilliant and surely prove that, while still a covers artist, Chantel has the ability to play (if not write) her own material. Unfortunately, the Bath having the layout it does (and me not being the tallest in the world) I barely got a view of the stage area. However, I did see the incredible fret-work during Hendrix's Red House - safe to say I've never seen anybody play the guitar in quite that way before and can only echo the comment of the old guy behind me when, at the end of that track, he said, "She's incredible. Why is she playing pubs?"

What is, perhaps, only slightly less incredible is the fact that today was Chantel's birthday. Still only twenty-two, she chooses to celebrate by entertaining us?? Somebody should point out that, on birthdays, the treats are supposed to flow in the direction of the celebrator...

It's difficult to review a gig like this without focusing on Chantel, to the detriment of the other two members of the band. Martin's drumming was, as ever, excellent but I find it hard to comment on the bass-player without actually seeing them play and thus being able to link finger movements with the actual bass-line. It may be damning with faint praise to simply say that Alex's bass-playing was good enough that I barely noticed it. If you see what I mean...

I have said before that one of the pleasures, for me, of attending local gigs is discovering new music that you rarely get to hear anywhere else. Conversely, one of the pleasures of seeing Chantel play is discovering older music (and musicians) that have bypassed me. Eventually, this could end up costing me fortune - I have already, after tonight's gig, ordered Steve Vai's first five albums and I haven't even started on Trower or Joe Bonamassa yet. I wonder if, one day, I will be playing a CD by Chantel herself. I have no idea whether her ultimate plan is to play and record her own material but I hope so. That way, when she becomes even more famous, I can say, "Chantel McGregor? Yeah, I was a fan of hers when she just played covers in pubs."

"Just...?" Hah!

A Rocking Album Launch

Friday 13th March: ...and the start of a busy weekend for me, music-wise.

Tonight, I've managed to get my pass signed to allow me to attend the launch of 98Pages' debut album, Broken Homes And The Halfway House, at the Duchess despite already planning to go out tomorrow night for the very welcome and much-anticipated return of a current favourite.

First up at the Duchess was Astrae, a six-piece from York. I'm afraid that they didn't do a lot for me. It may be a deliberate plan but this appeared, to me, to be a band in desperate need of a cohesive identity. By that I mean that, rather than looking like a band, they looked like six individuals who happened to be sharing a stage. With a mixture of visual styles which encompassed big hair and eye makeup (James A Hutchinson, lead-singer/guitarist), unruly samurai top-knot (Jack Beavers, guitarist) and clean-cut (pretty much everybody else) and a musical style that mixed the vocals of The Cure with the heavier aspects of the likes of Metallica, the end result struck me as more than a little discordant. Stunning violinist (yes, there was a violin) Jo Wherry seemed to be aiming for dark and broody but succeeded in sultry, while Hutchinson leaped about stage like a jack-rabbit, narrowly avoiding the rest of the band and only just missing having his eye taken out by Wherry's bow - antics for a bigger stage, perhaps. In hindsight, it might simply have been the vocals that put me off this performance but, at the time, the music wasn't doing anything to float my boat either. It may be that the band suffered from the rather high volume being employed at the Duchess tonight but, I'm sorry to say, I don't think I'll be going out of my way to see them again. Sorry, lads and lass.

Next on stage were Bolton-based foursome To The Bones and, initially at least, they seemed to be more my cup of tea - a hard, heavy, industrial sound of clashing guitars and drums with a much more mainstream vocal style reminiscent of the heaviest of heavy metal. Unfortunately, after a few songs it became apparent that there wasn't a great deal of variation and that heavy was, at least tonight, the limit of their repertoire. Don't get me wrong, I can quite happily listen to the likes of Motorhead, but only in small doses and I prefer bands who mix it up a bit style-wise. To The Bones debut album Duke Type A has, apparently, garnered some pretty good reviews and during this set I was tempted to make a purchase. Eventually, though, I decided that I probably wouldn't actually play it enough to justify buying it. Definitely better than the first band and I'm glad I have experienced them live but, again, I doubt I'll see them again soon.

Finally, the band we had come to see. 98Pages are a York-based trio who I've not managed to catch before, although Roj and Andy have seen them at least once and have recommended them. Not that we always agree... Anyway, this was the launch gig for their album, and that generally means I'll take a gamble and see what a band are all about. Being honest, I like telling people at work that I'm attending an album launch - it evokes thoughts of canapes, free drink, mixing with stars, etc. Whereas, in reality, it generally means a small merchandising table from which you can buy the album the day it becomes available. You still have to buy your drinks and the closest you get to canapes are bags of Walkers Ready Salted, although you can often have a bit of a chat with the band, if you so desire.

Anyway, 98Pages are a more traditional rock outfit than the other two bands on tonight. Live, they evoked in me memories of both The Mexicolas and Black Stone Cherry, although the former may only have been because there were three of them on stage and the latter because bass-player Jason Brooks looked a little like BSC's lead singer... Lead Guitarist Martyn Fillingham broke a string during the very first song and played most of the rest of the set semi-acoustically. I have no idea whether this changed the sound much from what was planned but it certainly didn't make it any less enjoyable. The songs were catchy, blues-based and, at times, with a hint of Southern Rock and there wasn't a duff one in the whole set. Another impressive live performance that reinforced my enjoyment of heavy rock, something which had, until fairly recently been dwindling a little.

At the end of the set, we wandered over to the merchandise table and were pleasantly surprised to find that the eleven track album was on sale for a mere £5. Bargain! Obviously, a bought a copy, although I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. Once I have, I'll try to post a review here.

As usual, we headed to the Roman Bath after leaving the Duchess. Tonight's Bath-band was Copowt, a self-proclaimed party-band from Copmanthorpe. Given that I was also going out on Saturday, I decided to leave early, after just two songs, so can't really comment on them.

Yet To Reach The Summit

Friday 20th February: Blimey! I nearly forgot to blog...

After the relative disappointment of last week's four bands for four quid, it was time to try again. Tonight saw us taking a rare trip to Fibbers to see The Summits, a band that I have previously been recommended and was looking forwards to see. So much so, that I even took Debbie along.

We arrived just before Jonny Dobbs took to the stage for a one-man acoustic set, but managed to not catch his name when he introduced himself. A quick scan of the running order put that to rights and also started alarm bells ringing - The Summits were not on it. (Subsequently, I have been informed that Mr Dobbs often plays with or alongside the Summits at the Melbourne pub, and a bit of investigation shows that they were also supposed to be playing Fibbers two weeks earlier but, t seems, had to drop out due to illness, so I assume the same applied tonight.)

Anyway, Jonny looks a bit like a certain James Blunt and, in style, sounds a bit like him too, just without the annoying voice. His songs were pleasant enough, if a tad simple-sounding and it was only with the last one that he introduced a mix (nay, indeed a melange) of playing styles within the song itself. He certainly got my foot tapping and, so, the evening was off to a good start, despite the disappointment of the main act not being there.

Next up were Seven Heroes, a foursome from Hetton-le-Hole in County Durham, although lead singer Dan Gibson seemed a bit embarrassed to announce that fact, which he only did after a bit of prompting from the audience. Not heavy enough to be full-on rock and too mainstream to be classed as indie (whatever that actually means these days...) they are likened, on their own website, to The Killers, The Cars and The Undertones. Being honest, I haven't heard enough of any of those to comment. I can, however, say that they were blooming good, with enough variety to keep things interesting in their all-too-short set. Quite early on, I had to have a wander round the audience to get a different view of the stage as I couldn't work out where the keyboard player was standing. After a few minutes, I realised that there wasn't one. It seems that David Smith, on lead guitar, played with some sort of device which made his guitar sound like keyboards (sort of Keane in reverse...) Whatever it was, it sounded good and the evening was getting better as it went along.

Seven Heroes have, apparently, completed work on their debut album - another one for me to look out for.

Finally, we had Modern Day Chicane, a slightly older looking and much more local band from somewhere called York.

Slightly heavier and louder than Seven Heroes is about the best I can do to describe them (it doesn't help that I'm writing this nearly a week after the event and I don't take notes...) I quite enjoyed the music, although it has to be said that the songs did sound slightly samey all through the set. There wasn't anything too adventurous and the vocals were a little muddy but, overall, there wasn't a great deal wrong with the music. I have to say, though, that I preferred Seven Heroes.

After the lights came up at Fibbers, we did the usual and headed off to the Roman Bath. Tonight's fare was Flashback, a retro three-piece, again from York, who specialise in the "beat" music of the 60's, as well as a bit of witty banter between songs. I'm afraid that this type of music, whilst inoffensive to listen to, does very little for me. I have probably heard a great deal of it, but almost certainly wouldn't buy any. Flashback were entertaining enough but, it has to be said, Debbie enjoyed them a lot more than I did.

Friday 13th February: If there is one thing nearly as good as the opportunity to see live bands for free, it's the chance to see live bands for little money. Tonight, for the first time this year, my free time and original music were in sync so it was time to shell out the princely sum of £4 and venture once again into the crowded darkness of the Duchess.

Well, I say "crowded". In actual fact, if everybody in attendance tonight had caught the same bus home, it might have been a crowded bus. If it was a single decker. And that included the members of all three bands.

Anyway, first on stage were Dressed In Their Best, a four-piece from York. Both Andy and Roj admitted to liking these youngsters but I'm afraid that they did little for me. Over-loud drumming seemed to be the mainstay of their performance. There did seem to be a few decent tunes struggling to get out from underneath both the drums and the somewhat thrashing guitar playing but, for the most part, it was just noise to me. It didn't help that, at times, the noise seemed to change rhythm dramatically halfway through a song. I'm afraid that I caught none of the lyrics and, being brutally frank, the vocals simply weren't up to much. (As I said, all opinions are my own and, in this case, I was in the minority.)

Which is pretty much the same situation regarding the second band, as well. I Call Shotgun are listed as being from Leeds, York and Preston and are, I think, the first "Electro/Power-pop/Disco House" band I have seen. When they started, the first thing that sprung to mind was a combination of 80s keyboard-led pop and a little bit of punk. After two, vaguely similar sounding songs, we took the decision to vacate the main performance area and sit in the slightly quieter bar so that we could talk. Which meant that, as the set went on and I felt my feet tapping along, I was getting more than a little ribbing from Andy and Roj. Despite the frequent odd noises coming from Josh Weller's keyboards and Joe De Luca camping it up as he pranced around stage (at times looking as though he was more than a little desperate for the loo), I found that I was liking the performance more and more. After all, it's not often you hear a young (semi-)York based band sampling Supertramp's Breakfast in America.

Finally, on came The Telegraphs. Apparently, this Brighton-based band is generating a large amount of buzz at the moment and, because of this, they were moved up to headline act tonight. That didn't seem to make a great deal of difference to their set, however - Andy reliably informed me that they played a full twenty-four minutes, and played just five or six songs. But what songs they were. Loud, energetic, guitar-heavy rock in the style of The Foo Fighters with melodic backing vocals (courtesy of rock-chick bassist Hattie Williams, who frequently broke her image by flashing a stunningly gorgeous smile). The Telegraphs are the best new band I've seen since The Mexicolas and I will be keeping an eye out for their debut album, due out in May.

Then it was time to join the crush as everybody tried to get up the exit stairs at the same time and make our way to the Roman Bath (for which "crowded" was too small a word) to catch the second half of Storm's act. Storm are a rock covers band (what else would you expect at the Bath) and we were treated to songs by Thin Lizzy, Coldplay, Black Sabbath, Green Day (and many more), along with way too many muscle shirts, lots of smoke and a rather impressive (for a pub) laser show. (Storm - the band that entertains and cures your short-sightedness at the same time...) A hugely entertaining end to an otherwise variable evening.

Scandal-ous

Friday 23rd of January: Original music and my availability have yet to sync up in 2009. So, despite my lack of appreciation for Miracles and Wonders a couple of weeks ago, tonight saw me at the Roman Bath yet again. This time, however, it was to see Scandal - a band that Roj and I saw last year. (Coincidentally, only Roj and I were out again this time.)

Scandal are a rock and blues covers band and, despite not recognising about half of the stuff that they played (on both occasions) it's the sort of stuff that I like and they are very good at what they do.

On top of that, two members of the band really seem to suit the music. The lead vocals from Ian Mann have that gravelly quality most associated with the blues (at least in my mind) while guitarist Jamie Reynold's plays with the nine-parts-bliss-one-part-sucking-lemons look on his face that a lot of blues guitarists seem to have. (Jamie - if you happen to be reading this, it's meant as a compliment...) Bass-player Ady Ingleby and drummer Alan Hopwood complete the band's lineup.

Tonight's set comprised of songs by Thin Lizzy, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Muddy Waters, ZZ Top, Jimi Hendrix and Lynyrd Skynyrd, among others. All of them were played excellently, including a slightly short version of one of my favourite tracks - Skynyrd's Freebird, which the band play as their encore. (As an aside, always find myself wondering how man people who sing and dance along to Sweet Home Alabama actually own a Lynyrd Skynyrd album, let alone know who actually recorded the track...)

Despite being buffeted by fellow punters - the only places that you can stand in the Roman Bath and see have a decent view of the band puts you in the middle of the main route to either the bar or the toilets - this was a much better gig than my previous one.

Sadly, despite doing aan excellent job of keeping the band stocked with alcohol, the lady who took the photos the last time we saw Scandal failed to produce a camera this time. So, this is still the only picture or me and Roj available on the internet.

Scandal are highly recommended.

Not Enough of a Good Thing

Friday 9th January: When it comes to covers bands, I can be a bit picky. By which I mean that I, generally, know what music I like and what music the band plays - for example, I'm not likely to make any sort of effort to see a band that covers punk classics. There are some bands that I would go out of my way to see and others that I'd be quite happy with and I'm generally not averse to trying new bands if I think they will play things I like.

My main gripe with to sort of covers bands that we see in general is that they do all seem to play the same songs - you can only listen to the likes of Whitesnake's Here I Go Again and Guns 'n' Roses Sweet Child of Mine so many times in a year.

So, when I was told that York-based trio Miracles and Wonders played a mixture of the usual and unusual, I decided to toddle along to the Roman Bath to check them out.

Unfortunately, the unusual wasn't to my taste. There was too much stuff that I would put in my "Don't Like" column (The Kaiser Chiefs, The Sex Pistols, Oasis, Frankie Goes to Hollywood), a bit that would go under "Don't Really Know" (The Foo Fighters) and too little that I liked (Snow Patrol, The Darkness, Guns 'n' Roses).

I've said before that I'm not qualified enough to comment too much on the musical and vocal aspects of a performance. Suffice to say that, this time, the highlight of the vocals was during the rendition of I Believe in a Thing Called Love, which certainly stretched Pat's range a bit more than during the rest of the set.

Amazingly, however, the overall highlight came when Rhianna's Umbrella was transformed into a pretty damned good rock song. I can take or leave the original but tonight's version showed more than a spark of originality.

A more amusing moment, certainly for Andy, came when both Roj and I (who always try to work out what the songs are from the intros) simultaneously announced Turn It On Again by Genesis, only to discover a few lyrics later that it was, in fact, Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

If you like your covers with a bit more edge to them, then Miracles and Wonders may well be for you. Sadly, with my more "mainstream" tastes, they didn't do much for me.

Saturday Is A Sort Of Preview Of Next Friday

Saturday 22nd November: It's not that often that my wife and I can both say that we like the same band. It's also not often that you get to see fantastic original music, played live, for free. So, when the opportunity to see a fantastic band, that both my wife and I like, play live, original music, it's time to take advantage and organise a rare night out together.

So, after a good curry, we head off to the Roman Bath to see Breathing Space. It's as full a turn-out for the weekend gang as you are likely to see, with six of us squeezing into a rapidly filling pub.

This is our third time of seeing Breathing Space and, I think, their best performance to date. Not only were we treated to songs from the first (Breathing Space by Iain Jennings) and second album (Coming Up For Air by the now-steady line-up) but also at least one new song from the third album, which is currently being written. I'm sure that lead-vocalist Livvy told the story behind Butterflies but, it being the Bath, too many people were there just to try to be louder than the music and I missed what she said. It was a good song, though.

As were the rest of the songs played during a two-hour set. I can't remember whether bassist Paul Teasdale has contributed backing vocals before (and I can't remember which song he did for tonight) but he did so superbly. As which much keyboard-led prog rock, the songs seem to take on a life of their own when played live. It's always going to be hard to tell whether each song is played the same at each gig. The keyboard players, Iain and Ben Jennings are talented enough that they could be ad-libbing and you wouldn't know it. As usual, Livvy's vocals were excellent and the guitar playing, by both Teasdale and lead guitarist Mark Rowen, was superb. The whole thing was backed up by Barry Cassells on drums and added to by John Hart on sax and various electronica. As is traditional, the set ended with The Gap Is Too Wide, my personal favourite.

Next Friday, Livvy and Iain will be rejoining Mostly Autumn on stage at the Grand Opera House, as their tour restarts after being delayed to allow Heather Findlay to give birth. Which gives me a not-too-subtle link to...

Through These Eyes is the first solo album by Bryan Josh ("the heart and guitar of Mostly Autumn"). Apparently he has been working on this, the first of a series of albums, in secret and the first I heard about it was when an advertising email landed in my inbox earlier this week. Obviously, being the careful spender that I am, I ordered a copy straight away and, luckily, it arrived yesterday, giving me plenty of time to listen to it before taking it along to tonight's gig to get it signed by both Bryan and Livvy, who provides vocals on some of the tracks.

"Solo", in this case, means Bryan doing pretty much everything himself. He has written the whole album, performs almost all the vocals and plays almost all the instruments (except drums - Gavin Griffiths and Henry Bourne - and flute - Sarah Dean). He has also done most of the technical wizzy bits behind the scenes. Bryan is quick to settle fans' nerves by stating that this is not the end of Mostly Autumn, just a chance for him to explore other shades of music. However, on this album at least, it can be hard to separate the man from the band. Inevitably, much if not all of the songs have a resonance of the band's sound. That certainly doesn't detract from the quality of the release, though. Behind a welcoming front cover and brilliantly designed booklet, lies a top album.

I don't pretend to understand a lot of what Bryan has written about, although there is an undercurrent of loss and, perhaps, a yearning to allow friends, relatives and heroes to live again running through a lot of the songs. The CD opens with Merry She Goes, an eighty-five second instrumental track a little reminiscent of Dire Straits, which appears to be a tribute to a deceased pet. The title track (and my favourite on the album and again reminding me of Dire Straits but for another reason) appears to tell of a dream in which Bryan wanders around a gathering of his heroes (although quite why Hitler is there isn't answered) as they mingle with each other. At the end of the song the members of "tonight's band" are introduced - that's one band I would pay good money to see play. Not A Dream appears to be a message from Bryan to his father, telling him things that he couldn't tell him in life.

It's not all doom, gloom and memories, though. The Appian Way is this album's epic track if only in theme and not in length. It tells of a soldier forced to join the Roman army in their fight against the Gauls (although the Appian way actually led South from Rome so the Gauls could have been lost). As befits the song's story, the music reminds me of incessant marching which actually makes it sound boring. It is far from it. A "radio edit" of this song, with the one F-word blanked out, is included as the fourteenth track and, to me, is nothing but filler.

As I mentioned, many of the songs aren't too far removed from the sound of Mostly Autumn. Land of the Gods, Black Stone and Not A Dream could all sit comfortably on an MA release, with Bryan's trademark guitar playing, as well of the overall style of the songs, reminding me of the band's music.

This album contains some of the best use of Livvy's vocals I have heard. From the haunting voice on Slow Down, through the brilliant counterpoint to Bryan's voice on We Grow and through to the almost duet on Carry Me (which is also dedicated to her), her singing is superb and used well. Old Friends is sung entirely by Livvy - he only sing on the album not to feature any of Bryan's vocals.

Going Home, shows Bryan at his most poetic, with a gorgeous description of moonlight and the sun going down, while Only In The Loss is a short, spoken word track, almost a poem in its own right.

Which just leaves Into Your Arms. I think I would have ended the album with this track, rather than placing it in the middle. Its Queen-like guitar track and somehow familiar vocals (my wife suggests Oasis, I'm not sure and am still racking my brains) make it the most unlike Mostly Autumn track on the album and its soaring sound seems somehow out of place where it has been put on this release.

An excellent album.

Classic Covers and New Material

Saturday 18th October: Being honest, I wasn't planning on going out this weekend. My original plan for this year was to try to average a gig every other week and, given that I'd been to two gigs last week, I thought I'd better stay home with Debbie for a change.

However, Freeway were playing the Roman Bath so we settled for a compromise. Our Daughter was dropped off at the grandparents and Debbie and I went out together, starting the evening with a nice Chinese at Happy Valley in Goodramgate and then heading to the Bath for some musical entertainment.

Freeway, you may remember, are a heavy metal covers band who perform songs by the likes of Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Gary Moore and the like. This was the first time I'd had a chance to see them since the sad and untimely death of drummer Howard Sparnenn and, while members of his family were present in the audience, this time there was no guest vocal spot by daughter Livvy.

The music was good - the usual mix of tracks, played excellently - and a good time was had by all.

Howard had been replaced on drums by Paul Gibbons who, as well as handing over a pair of splintered drumsticks to a female fan at the end of the gig, is also the drummer with Morpheus Rising which, in turn, is the long-time project of Pete Harwood, Freeway's guitarist. Also, featuring Andy Smith (Mostly Autumn), with Grae Tennick on vocals and newly announced guitarist Damien Sweeting, Morpheus Rising promises to echo the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. They list their influences as the likes of Saxon, Iron Maiden, The Cult, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and more. With a pedigree like that, they sound as though they are worth looking out for.

They have a single - An Ordinary Man - available for download from their site from the 27th of October and all proceeds will be going to Help for Heroes, a charity supporting injured forces personnel. According to their website, the band are currently fine-tuning their music before unleashing it on the world. I'll be looking out for them playing live around York.

Mojos and Minors

Monday 13th October: Musically, last week was a funny sort of week...

It started with a bit of a disappointment. We had planned (and, indeed, had tickets) to see Curved Air at the Duchess on Thursday. But, on Monday, we discovered that the promoters had cancelled all gigs outside of the South-East of England. Had the credit-crunch hit the band's travel budget? Maybe hardly any tickets had been sold? We don't know and I doubt we ever will. I'll admit that I knew hardly anything by this re-formed 70's prog-rock band - I have one track Back Street Luv on a compilation CD - but I was looking forward to seeing them live. I think that, if I ever had to chose to listen to just one style of music it would be prog-rock and we don't get that many opportunities to hear it live in York. (Up-coming gigs by Breathing Space, Mostly Autumn and the original Asia notwithstanding...)

Anyway, that meant that I had to meet up with the guys on Friday night instead - Roj had something to pass on to me before Sunday (more on that later...) There wasn't a great deal that took our fancy, so we planned to go to the Roman Bath to see The Penetrators, allegedly a 70's to noughties rock covers band. I say "allegedly" because, when we arrived, The Penetrators were nowhere to be seen. (Maybe they were holed up with Curved Air in the South East.) Instead, The Mojos were gracing the stage area. Now, up until Friday I was a Mojos virgin. The other guys, however, had seen them a number of times and had told me that they were pretty good.

The first thing I noticed, however, was the, errrm, let's say disparate ages of some of the band. Well, let's be honest, it was, being perfectly frank, the apparent age of Dave, who could have been the father of any of the other members. If I hadn't heard of them from the guys, I would have had the vague thought that this could have ended up being embarrassing. A bit like finding out that your Grandad played in a rock band. However, the past reviews were right. These guys are really good. Their selection of covers is slightly different to the usual fare and they play them extremely well. Tonight's set was spoiled slightly by a couple of electrical problems - one ending Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall somewhat abruptly (all we need is just another 50p in the metre??), the other making The Mojos' version of The Kaiser Chiefs' Ruby better than the original. A packed set was graced, for me, with many favourite songs by many favourite bands, including Robbie Williams, Bryan Adams, Guns 'n' Roses, Whitesnake, To-to and Queen. Being honest, I'm off the opinion that nobody should ever cover Queen, but that's by-the-by - they didn't do too bad a job at all. The set was rounded off with a fantastic medley containing songs that I can't remember the titles of. (Must start carrying around pen and paper.)

The only thing that remains to be said is that the bass guitar that John was playing is possibly the ugliest guitar I have ever seen. That didn't stop him playing it well, though. A good gig by a top covers band. One I hope to catch again sometime.

And, as the evening drew to a close (or, at least, as we were kicked out of the Bath to commence our usual chit-chat/insult-trading on the streets of York) Roj handed me my ticket for Sunday night's gig at the Duchess, featuring York band Elliot Minor.

Regular readers (I like to kid myself that I have some) will remember that I reviewed their debut album a few months back and that I liked it enough to rate it my album of the year at that point. Sunday night's gig was set up at short notice, was for charity and, given the almost boy-band status of Elliot Minor, I didn't think I'd manage to get a ticket. Thanks go to Roj, who braved the humiliation to pick one up for me.

It's a bit of a complicated story but I arrived at the Duchess at seven o'clock on Sunday evening, thought I'd missed the first band, who were due to finish at seven and couldn't work out what had happened to the second one, The Hot Melts, as they seemed to have morphed from a Liverpudlian foursome into a York-based female threesome who I had seen before. It urns out that The Hot Melts had cancelled at short notice (there's somewhat of a them developing here...) and the girls were the first band starting late. (It was good of them to wait for me, don't you think?)

Anyway, they were Third Conduct (and networking socially) and I had originally seen them at Fibbers over a year ago. Billed as "pop punk", you can imagine their style from the two covers that they performed - Green Day's She and, errrm, The Monkees' I'm a Believer (albeit the slightly rockier version from Shrek). However, they primarily play their own stuff and very good it is too. Kate's pounding drums belie her tender age, Hannah's guitar-playing is electric while Sarah's vocals, despite a slight nasal quality, have improved vastly since the last time I saw them. This was a much more assured performance overall and was thoroughly enjoyable. I'm not normally a big fan of either punk or punk-lite, but these girls are good enough for me to consider getting hold of a copy of their 8-track EP. Unfortunately, I didn't see them after their set finished so didn't get to pick one up on the night.

And so to the main act. I have a vague feeling that if you were to take Elliot Minor's album and rework it slightly (take away the string arrangements, tone down the slightly plummy vocals, crank up the volume a bit) you would have a slightly better than average rock album, rather than the excellent, sophisticated pop-rock album that it was released as. Add in some youthful exuberance, some excellent musicianship and a crowd composed partially of screaming girls and crank up the volume even more and you have what turned out to be an extremely good rock concert.

There can be no doubt that the boys of Elliot Minor have a great deal of talent (and, it has to be said, the looks to make you wish you were part of the same gene-pool). Being labelled as a boy-band doesn't do them justice. Their live set, containing most songs from the album and at least one new track, isn't just a re-hash of those songs but almost completely different versions. Yes, the lyrics are the same but the music is a lot rockier, verging on heavy and the vocals are a lot more raw, losing some of the "posh" tones which were my main criticism of the album, but retaining the variety of having multiple vocalists. They even showed a variety of talent by playing Silently totally acoustically, without drums.

A word about the audience. I expected to be completely composed almost exclusively of screaming girls and fully expected to be the oldest person there. I was pleasantly surprised to find that, while a good deal of the audience was student-aged, there was a fair number of older music fans present as well. Even some who admitted to owning the album. There was even a handful of people older than me and some of them didn't appear to be related to the band.

Whether Elliot Minor turn out to be a flash in the pan or whether they can sustain and build upon the momentum created by their first release remains to be seen. Personally, though, I'm glad that I took the opportunity to see them live relatively early in their career. The only downside to the performance was the somewhat mixed message coming from the band about under-aged drinking - while bass-player Ed was advising people not to do it or they would be kicked out, lead guitarist Alex responded with "f*** the bouncers, let's all have fun tonight." It may be rock and roll but, given the hoops that had to be jumped through to get The Duchess open in the first place, it's probably not what Tim and Michelle wanted to hear.

The proceeds of this gig are going to York Against Cancer and it raised over £3,100. Somehow it feels good to enjoy yourself while doing some good.

A Favourite Live Act and A New Discovery

Friday 19th September: One of the things that I like about going out with the group (apart from standing outside chatting and laughing as the evening winds its inexorable way towards morning) is the opportunity to see new bands. Before I started tagging along I thought I had a wide ranging taste in music but, it turns out that, while I owned lots of CDs, the range wasn't as wide as I thought. Over the past couple of years, I have heard many new bands - most small, most local, many good and some great (and, being honest, some not so good) - and found some that I'd willingly pay money to see again and again. I'll come to one of them later...

First up at the Duchess tonight, however, were the Blue Jupiters. Now, I don't listen to enough so-called "indie" music to know one style from another but some of the songs in this set seemed a little paradoxical to me - fast-paced guitars almost covering the lyrics, combined with much more complex playing during the instrumental sections. While there wasn't a great deal wrong, the songs started to feel a bit samey to me. That is until they were joined on stage by a keyboard player and started slowing things down, at which point the enjoyment went up a notch. Not bad overall but I preferred the second half of the set.

Next up were Dorien Starre, another band visiting from Leeds, although they seem to be playing York fairly regularly. It's strange that, when the band contains a rhythm guitar as well as a lead, that fast-paced style of playing sounds, to me, to be so much better. I have to say that I enjoyed this band more than the Blue Jupiters, even though they seemed to lose their way a little bit towards the end of the set - at one point lead-singer Leo seemed about to continue singing before realising that the song had ended. They redeemed themselves with a final song which I thought was superb. (If only I could remember the title...) A special mention must be given to Andrew Ackroyd who produced some of the most energetic and inventive drumming I have seen in a long time.

Which leads us to the main act - Hope & Social. This is the third time I have seen them (one in their previous guise as Four Day Hombre) and I was a little surprised by the smallish crowd that had turned out tonight. Maybe it's just that the Duchess is bigger than Fibbers and the crowd just looked smaller than usual. Anyway, it starts to become harder to write gig reviews for a band the more that you see them. I've already written about their style of music, audience interaction, general attitude of fun and even some of the songs. The guys are getting towards releasing a new album so tonight's set consisted mainly of songs we had heard before - not that that makes them dull. There is something about Hope & Social that makes them sound fresh every time. Maybe it's the general feeling that they are having such a good time playing on stage, maybe it's the spontaneity of their replies to good-natured heckling from the audience. Even the latest new drummer seemed to be having fun and fit in with the rest of the guys. This really is a top band that deserves wider exposure.

To round off the evening, we headed to our usual haunt of the Roman Bath, where Go Commando were playing covers of well-known rock songs. We caught the last few and, it's fair to say, it was a good job that there was even more audience participation going on. Apart from a pretty good version of Van Halen's Jump, the bits of the act we caught were OK, but nothing special. Most people seemed to be having fun, though.

Finally, mention of a another band that I've only just discovered. While browsing the Breathing Space website, I noticed that they were being supported at a few future gigs by Quecia (pronounced cue-see-a). Out of curiosity I checked their website and found that they had been formed in 2001, were voted best new band by Powerplay magazine in 2002 and had released two albums - This Is Where We Are (2002) and the imaginatively titled Quecia II (2004). Both are available to buy from the website or www.cdbaby.com, where you can also get both albums as MP3 downloads for the bargain price of $5 each. Given the sort of bands that Quecia are supporting - Breathing Space and Panic Room to name just two - I decided to take the plunge and downloaded both.

Unsurprisingly, this is female fronted melodic rock of high quality. There is, for me, an almost tangible thrill in coming across new bands who produce music that I like. A fair few of the bands I have come across recently have links of one form or another to Mostly Autumn and Quecia are no exception and they are just as good as any of the others. I'm not going to review the albums here as I haven't had a chance to listen to both of them properly yet. What I have heard, though, is very enjoyable.

Apparently Quecia played Fibbers a few years ago and one member says that they would love to play in York again. I, for one, would definitely be in line for a ticket. A third album is being recorded now.

Barefoot in the Bath, Revisited

Saturday 6th September: When you actually sit down and think about it, there are numerous venues in York where you can see live music for free . Although I speak from a position of limited experience (at last count I think I have only been to four such venues, although I have seen quite a few bands at one of them), I'm fairly certain that the majority of bands appearing at such places are covers bands. There are the odd exceptions, bands that perform their own material - the excellent Breathing Space spring to mind, although I have also paid to see them - but, for the most part, you can hear a lot of the same songs or, at least, the same style of song, weekend after weekend.

It's for that reason that I pick which covers bands I go out to see. The excellent, although now somewhat fractured, Hazzard County are always worth seeing, as were (are?) Freeway. There are probably others that I haven't had the good fortune to encounter yet. There are few, however, that I would go out of my way to see. In fact, so far, I have only come across one.

Tonight at the Roman Bath, it was the Chantel McGregor Band. I've seen (and mentioned) them before and there was little chance that I was going to miss tonight's gig.

The band has had a slight line-up change from the last time they were in York. Chantel and drummer Martin Rushworth have been joined by new bass-player Lincoln J. Roth (how much of a rock and roll name is that??!) who, incidentally, stands a good chance of pushing Brian May into second place if they ever both enter a Brian May look-alike contest... I can't find any mention of why the previous bass-player is no longer with the band, but tonight was only Roth's fifth gig. You couldn't tell - his lively playing, on stage exuberance, funky solo and familiarity with both the material and the other two members of the trio made it seem as though he had been part of the line-up forever.

Chantel herself (the small-statured strummer with a predilection for kebabs) looked more relaxed than the last time she played. I can't think of any obvious reason for this. If anything, the crowd was bigger than last time (one of the gang, turning up late, had to sneak in the back way after being refused entry at the front). Once again, she played brilliantly, with a seeming lack of any effort and managed to keep the audience entertained both with the music and with her stream of consciousness ramblings between songs. This time, there was no mid-set break and the band played for well over two hours, treating us to some of the best in rock and blues. Some of the songs were the same as last time, others were new. The set included, but was not limited to, covers of Jimi Hendrix (All Along t'Watchtower, Voodoo Chile, Purple Haze, Red House), Fleetwood Mac (Gold Dust Woman), Eric Clapton/Cream (Badge, Stormy Monday), Jethro Tull (Too Old to Rock and Roll) and Joe Bonamassa (Miss You, Hate You), as well as others that I can't find artists for - Up In t'Sky, One Of These Days, For The Love of God. I've left Chantel's broad Yorkshire versions of the titles in the list - those and her constant use of "Ta" brought even more smiles to the audience.

As expected, the playing was brilliant, with all three members of the band giving superb performances. As I have said before, it is too easy to run out of superlatives when talking about this band and, in particular, Chantel herself. She really does have to be seen for her playing to be believed. Unfortunately, according to her website, there are no more gigs planned for York for the rest of the year.

Wild Messiah, or Just Very Naughty Boys

Friday 15th August: After a brief sojourn as a solo music lover, followed by an appearance in the reserves, it was time for me to rejoin the rest of the first team for a trip to the Roman Bath.

Apparently, the Bath had been playing musical bands again and, in place of the Rory Gallagher tribute that at least some of us (those that could remember what was on Roj's listings email) were expecting, we were treated to Wild Messiah (and on MySpace), four fresh-faced young lads from, I believe, Barton-on-Humber.

As is general at the Bath, the band played mostly covers. This time it was mostly a mix of soft and power rock - the likes of Poison, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, ZZ Top and Kiss. On top of that, however, they covered U2, Neil Young, The Who, Michael Jackson (a pretty good version of Beat It. The original, of course, featured the likes of Steve Lukather and Eddie Van Halen so does fit with the rock theme) and Mika (a strange choice but Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) was introduced as the band's attempt at a gimmick song).

On stage the band seem to have a bit of an image problem, in that they can't quite decide what image they want to project. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Williams seemed to have based himself on Jon Bon Jovi while bass-player Martin Shepherd, with his chest bared to the audience, reminded me, for some reason, of John Frusciante (of the Chilli Peppers - answers on a postcard if you can explain why to me...). Lead guitarist Glen Brown exhibited some of the excesses of 70's glam rock, with his black and red striped trousers and (ahem!) red feather boa. I'm afraid I didn't get a good look at Brad Brown on drums.

Despite that, though, the set was impressive and, towards the end, the audience got involved in a bit of singing along and the requisite Dad-dancing (Grandad dancing, in at least one person's case). Williams is a good frontman, both in terms of his vocals and interaction with the audience. Glen's guitar playing was impressive and after a while he even seemed confident enough to smile a couple of times. The bass was perhaps a little high but the instrument itself was of the five-stringed variety (I've mentioned before - that must mean the player is pretty good). Again, while I like watching drummers, I find that I have very little to say about them (sorry Brad...)

The band had also sprinkled the set with a handful of their own songs and it was mainly during these that Williams picked up the rhythm guitar. Again, rock-based, none of these sounded out of place and they were available to purchase in shiny disk form at the gig. As usual, being a sucker for helping out new bands, I put my hand in my pocket and handed over the requisite fiver for seven tracks (actually, five tracks and two radio edits). So far, I've only had a chance to listen to the CD once, in the car, so it's perhaps a little unfair to put my thoughts down so soon. However, this is my last post for a couple of weeks, so I'm going to anyway. Unsurprisingly, the songs on the disk are soft/power rock, reminiscent of a cross between Bon Jovi and earlier American rock such as Boston and Reo Speedwagon. The five tracks are competent enough, if a little samey and the overall package is excellent for a small band - proper jewel case, nicely designed cover and interior and the CD itself is printed to look like a vinyl album. The one downside is that the sound seems to be a little flat and quiet - I had to turn it up to 15 to hear it properly in the car, when I normally listen to things at around 10 to 12.

Surrealy, the live set ended just after eleven o'clock, about half an hour earlier than the Bath's normal. Apparently, this is because of the distance the band had to travel home. Personally I think that, given the youthful nature of the band, it's just that they were out past their bedtime...

Good effort, lads. I, for one, hope to see you in York again soon.