...Comes Crushing Disappointment

Sunday 25th May: So, by now, you will probably know that, despite the heroics at Carlisle, Leeds lost the League One Play-Off Final 1:0 to local rivals Doncaster. I'm not going to dwell on the match, or the result, too much. Basically, Leeds were poor up front and gave away a poor goal which, ultimately, means that they stay in League One next season.

The positives, from a football point of view, are that it is a totally new season - there are no (apparent) financial difficulties to overcome and we start on a level playing field with the rest of the division. Without sounding like one of the many, if not most, supporters who believed that we would win promotion at Wembley simply because it was LEEDS UNITED vs Doncaster Rovers (deliberate emphasis), I do believe that we have a very good chance of winning automatic promotion next season. And, let's face it, with the off-pitch trials and tribulations of the past season, it's a wonder we got as far as we did anyway.

Anyway, I will take away many memories of the day itself...

• The three of us stopping at services during the drive down and finding hundreds of Leeds and Doncaster fans rubbing shoulders with no trouble at all.
• The heart-stopping moment when, while I was doing 90 m.p.h. on the M1, a police car flashed me. And, at a similar speed, the same thing happening on the way home.
• Leeds fans in Stanmore practically knocking on the car window to tell us to park up anywhere as the carpark was full.
• Driving on to Harrow-on-the-Hill and finding it very quite with, apparently, no other fans around and parking on the main road near the famous school.
• The posh exclamtion of "Oh my God" as the three of us (two wearing Leeds tops) crossed the road near a family out for their Sunday stroll. (We could see the next-day headlines: "Harrow invaded by football fans"...)
• Walking down the hill towards the tube station and hearing faint Leeds songs.
• Turning the corner and finding a small pub (http://www.myspace.com/trinitybar) full of Leeds fans, happily singing their hearts out, especially at the security guard (Mr. T) and local (Jesus), who seemed quite happy to be the subject of so many songs.
• Walking up Wembley Way (again) - something that always has a certain resonance.
• The first sight of the interior of the new stadium - despite my personal misgivings regarding having the national stadium in London, I have to admit that it is very impressive.
• The lump in the throat build up before the match.

Of course, the trip home was not the best part of the day - not only had we been beaten (which always makes the trip seem longer) but, because of the sheer number of people heading North, it took us about ninety minutes to move from Harrow to north of the M25.

So, a disappointing day but one I wouldn't have liked to have missed.

Bring on the 2008/9 season.

With Great Expectation...

Monday 19th May: So, two weekends in a row without a musical night out, no new CD purchases and finishing two more SF Masterworks which, being honest, just weren't that exciting, has left me with little to write about.

Except football...

A week ago tonight was the first leg of the League One play-off semi-final. A game which saw nearly 36,000 fans heap expectation on Leeds United when they took on Carlisle at Elland Road. Your could almost hear the scorn reverberating around the stadium - "OK, so we haven't got the 15 points back and we are going to have to get promoted the hard way but you are only Carlisle and there's no way you're going to stop us!!" Imagine the reactions of the few handfuls (not able to sell all their tickets??) of Carlisle fans when the weight of that expectation caused the Leeds players not only to look nervous and play poorly but to concede two goals.

Still Leeds have done nothing this year if not prove that they are a team who will continue playing right to the final whistle. It was in the 96th minute that on-loan Dougie Freedman scrambled the ball into the Carlisle goal, past a keeper who had excelled himself all game, pulling off three or four top class saves, including one that looked impossible.

So, 36,000+ fans left Elland Road feeling happy - the few Carlisle supporters because they were in the driving seat for the home leg to come and the Leeds fans because one goal had changed the whole complexion of that up-coming tie. That must have been the first time that a 2:1 loss was treated almost as a win.

And so, three days later, three of us left work early to set off for the Cumbrian hills and the away leg. Yes, we'd managed to get tickets (long story, ask me sometime...) After Monday night's performance I had told a couple of people that my ideal match would consist of an early goal (to Leeds, obviously), followed by free-flowing, end-to-end football, with a match ending "like the away game at Oldham". For the uninitiated, we won that game 1:0 with pretty much the last kick of the game.

We arrived at Carlisle early and from the wrong exit off the M6, meaning that we had to drive through a town centre which, judging by the number of police in full riot gear, was expecting something akin to a civil war. Damn that Leeds reputation. Anyway, after finding the ground and parking up, we failed to get a beer, enjoyed a bacon roll and headed towards our barrier in the terraces. Vaguely surprisingly, Gary Mac had named an unchanged team, despite most people saying that Johnny Howson had been so bad on Monday that he should be dropped. Once again, Carlisle had failed to sell all their tickets - they really shouldn't be allowed to compete in such "big" games!!

Now, I can't remember all the details of the match (I generally can't do that as I walk away, let alone a few days after) but, bizarrely enough, we scored the opener, through Johnny Howson, after ten minutes. So far, I was half right with my "ideal match" scenario. After that the football, at on Leeds' part, was much improved. It now seemed as though Carlisle had the weight of expectation (although, given the number of fans, it was a fraction of the weight) and it looked as though it had affected them as it affected Leeds at Elland Road.

For the next eighty minutes, the football was free-flowing and attacking - we worked their keeper, we hit the woodwork, they forced us to make one save. Then, as the minutes ticked away and the end of the match moved inexorably closer, I began to think that, just maybe, my ideal match would have consisted more of three or four early goals. I was getting more nervous and, as the fourth official indicated just one minute of added time, it looked as though we were heading towards extra time. Then the ball fell to a certain 19-year-old Howson at the edge of Carlisle's penalty area. His left foot swung and with a somewhat less than clean shot, he put the ball into the back of the net for the second time that night. A quick glance at the scoreboard behind us (while celebrating, obviously) showed that we were into the 91st minute. Surely the local lad had propelled Leeds into the Wembley final.

The referee allowed Carlisle one more attack, which petered out, before blowing the final whistle and sending the 1,600 travelling fans into ecstasy. Yes, we were kept in the group after the game had ended and the home fans departed. Yes, it was a two-hour drive home. Yes, we still didn't manage to get a beer.

But it was all worth it. Wembley here we come.

To be continued...

A Minor Release

Monday 5th May: In my last post, I was bemoaning the apparent lack of quality in the live music scene in York. I'm glad to say, however, that York (and it's near environs) is still producing some excellent bands and, consequently, some good CD releases. So far this year, I have bought five CDs from York (or near-York) bands. Three of those have been released this year. Indeed, two of those three have been debut releases. My latest purchase is the self-titled debut album by Elliot Minor.

The five members of Elliot Minor are all classically trained musicians and three of them are also former choristers. They have, essentially, formed a boy-band, albeit one which writes its own material and have produced an album which is a fusion of bouncy pop, rock and orchestral string arrangements. The result is a catchy, infectious pop-rock album with hints of Queen and E.L.O. and (sadly) a touch of McFly-like vocals. (The boys actually supported McFly in 2007, but I suspect that their live show, probably without the orchestral sound, is slightly different to their recorded sound.)

While listening to the CD today, I tried to make notes on all the tracks, so that I could write a track-by-track review similar to the recent one I did for Glass Shadows. It's perhaps a little telling that I struggled to find original things to say about all of them and my notes became briefer as the album progressed. Yes, the album is pretty similar all the way through, but that isn't to detract from it. In the main, the songs are pretty good. In fact, I don't think there's a duff track on the album.

So, instead of a track-by-track review, here's a few random thoughts and highlights.

The album credits list Alex Davies as lead vocals and Ed Minton as vocals. I'm afraid to say that Ed's singing style isn't quite as good as Alex's and, while the multi-track vocal style used in some of the songs works well, when Ed's vocals take the lead, there is a slight reduction in quality of sound.

Dan Hetherton's drumming, throughout the album, is strong without being overpowering and there is good use of Uilean pipes (the second album in row which I have bought that features these instruments) horns and strings. All the string and orchestral arrangements have been done by Alex, who also has at least a hand in writing all the songs (Ed Minton and Dan Hetherton also appear on song credits, along with non-band member Beni Giles), showing what a talented guy he must be.

My favourite track is the second on the album, and first single, Parallel Worlds. This is a fast-paced, traditional rock song with Queen-influenced guitars. The actual song is short, weighing in at just under three minutes, but the track ends with an orchestral arrangement that sounds vaguely familiar but not in a way that I can put my finger on.

The Liar Is You, opens with a beautiful keyboard introduction (Ali Paul is on keyboards). It's a ballad-like track to start with, but turns into something much more rocky halfway through and contains the strongest hints of E.L.O. on the album.

Jessica is, perhaps, the track most like a typical boy-band pop song. It's a bouncy, catchy ode to actress Jessica Alba which cleverly incorporates at least four of her film and TV appearances in the lyrics.

Still Figuring Out is the most annoying song on the album. It contains a really nice guitar solo but is spoiled by over-repetitive lyrics.

Silently is the typical boy band ballad - you can almost pinpoint the place where Westlife would rise up off their stools as the music soars into the finale. Somehow, however, it works on this album.

The final track, Last Call To New York City, is a strong ending to a cracking CD. It manages to combine all the best things of the ten previous tracks (I haven't commented on four of them) into one song. Bizarrely, it ends with a firework display which works well, despite the obvious lack of visuals.

I sometimes feel the need to (almost) apologise for my musical tastes and I admit that I have a fairly high tolerance for most musical forms. That, together with a lack of basic knowledge of musical techniques, sometimes means that my tastes appear to be a little bizarre to friends and colleagues. In this case, they will just have to accept that, in my opinion, this is the best 2008 album I have bought so far.