How I’d love to hold you in my arms again/But I can’t hear the rain

Friday 21 November - We work hard during the week and then try to cram so much into the weekend. What crazy animals we are. Anyway, this weekend kicked off with a visit to The Roman Bath to watch Green Mac (and on SpaceFace), a Fleetwood Mac covers band that specializes in music from the Peter Green era, i.e. the more bluesy stuff. GM are a Leeds-based four piece and comprises: Dusty Miller (lead vocals/guitar), Steve Harrop (2nd guitar), Trevor Birkinshaw (bass/vocals), and Peter Tallent (Drums). Dusty is the main man, he has supported Peter Green and the Splinter Group, and even contributed to his official biography. Steve is a musician and teacher and plays over a dozen different instruments. Trevor has supported, amongst many others, Free, Manfred Mann, Yes and Chicken Shack. He has a weakness for Fender basses so was happy to down-size to four strings to join Green Mac. Peter is one of the band's founder members and plays in the Mick Fleetwood style, not surprisingly. They played all the great titles from the early Fleetwood Mac stable; Black Magic Woman, Shake Your Money Maker, Man of The World, The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Prong Crown), Oh Well, etc. They even slipped in Jerry Lee Lewis' Great Balls Of Fire, and there was a sneaky segue into The Shadows' Apache. There were a couple of moments when the timing wasn't quite spot on, but overall they were extremely good. Highly recommended.

Saturday 22 November - was the usual crush when I tried to do some Christmas shopping in town. I think I'll go back to ordering stuff online. I was a bit sad today because I discovered that I've lost my p-pod. I had it in my coat pocket and when I pulled out my woolly hat, I must have pulled the p-pod out with it and dropped it on the ground. I re-traced my steps but was unable to find it again. Not that it's of any use to anyone. You need the special USB connector to up/download stuff and to charge it up, so whoever has picked it will have listen to my music and chuck it when the battery runs out. Still, it gives me the opportunity to order a new Zen Mosaic, hurrah!

On the plus side there was a full turn out in the evening when we all assembled at The Roman Bath to watch Breathing Space (and on SpaceFace), not that there was much breathing space inside the Bath :-) For those who don't know Breathing Space, shame on you! I've reviewed them before so search this blog for more details. Basically they started as a solo project by Iain Jennings (Mostly Autumn) with a few of his Mostly mates before putting together his own touring band and retaining Mostly's backing singer Livvy Sparnenn on vocals. BS are not a covers band, they are a full-on touring prog-rock band with two albums under their belts and a third in production. We were treated to almost the whole of their second album, Coming Up For Air, a couple of tracks off the first, and a few tasters of new material that they are working on. Iain and Ben Jennings on keyboards create an ambient soundscape, driven by the drumming of Barry Cassells, and overlaid with the intricate guitar work of Mark Rowen (guitar) and Paul Teasdale (on bass), all this is topped by poised and searing vocals by Livvy whose voice just seems to get better and better. Also guesting was John Hart who plays a mean sax, especially on The Senses, and Head Above Water, as well as complementing the overall sound of the band with a sprinkling of his Yamaha WX7 wind synthesizer. This is cathedral-rock. They sound like Runrig, in their Mara era, Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here, and any early Genesis for the guitar work. The whole gig was an outstanding performance but especial mention must go to Coming Up For Air, When I Hold On To You, and Rain Song which were truly sublime.

BS's last gig this year is scheduled to be at the Lucorum at Barnsley on Thursday 27 November with Quecia. Livvy and Iain are appearing with Mostly Autumn at the Grand Opera House on Friday 28 November. More details of future gigs are on their website.

Sunday 23 November - was a family day, two daughters and their partners, their brother, my dad and my grandson were all over for Sunday dinner. The afternoon was spent building and painting a small army of Necron warriors (Warhammer 40k plastic figures, very sad, great fun) with my grandson. They do look good even if I say so myself. Back to work on Monday, ho hum.

Tonight you’re gonna overload your mind

Monday 17 November - what puts a gig into the top five or ten of a person's lifetime? Well, personally it's seeing a huge band, playing really well, at a smallish venue. So for me that includes; Genesis (Duke tour) and Thin Lizzy (Black Rose tour), both at the Portsmouth Guildhall (many years ago!), Thunder and Deep Purple, both at the York Barbican, and Thunder again at Sheffield Town Hall. Tonight I'm hoping to add another band to that list, Uriah Heep appearing at The Duchess in York, a venue a fraction of the size of my previous top gigs.

But we start with the support act, and let's face it, who in their right mind wants to be the support act to such a legendary band? Maccara would. I'm not sure when or where they originate from, the UK according to SpaceFace. Vocalist Holly Evans is Scottish with a soft accent that drips like honey on your ears when she speaks, but when she sings she has a powerful Siouxie Sue rock voice that belies her slight frame. Lead guitarist Boanecker ILLY (what's with the capitals?) comes from Sri Lanka, bassist Nic Klaus (is that a joke?) looks/sounds Germanic, but I'll give you Tom Kirkham (drums), and Andy Brook (guitar) are probably from the UK. The band itself only seems to have been around since 2007 or 2008 and also appear to have had a previous singer, Laura. I've no idea what any of the songs were called but they started off extremely heavy metal and then half-way through the gig changed to playing heavy reggae. Sorry, that's that only way I can describe it. The volume was sky high and yet Holly's voice was crystal clear, a testament to the sound engineer and proof that it can be done even against such high volumes of music. The Druid was so impressed that he purchased a preview copy of their album, and got it signed by Holly and ILLY. When we looked the CD over we spotted that the producer was noted as Francis Rossi. Yep, it was indeed produced by the frontman of the Quo.

So to the main event, Uriah Heep. Now I have to admit that I'm a bit of a Heep virgin. I first heard Overload on a Classic Rock cover CD, liked it so much that I bought the album, Wake The Sleeper, and that's how I started. Fortunately for me their latest album is what t'Heep are touring with so I knew that I could expect plenty of material that I was familiar with and a sprinkling of old (but new to me) stuff to boot. They didn't disappoint. Quite how they managed to get a stadium-sized outfit like t'Heep on the stage at The Duchess was nothing short of a miracle. Wake The Sleeper is their twenty-first album (but the first in a decade) and the current band line-up is: Mick Box (guitar/hair) the only member from the band's founding in 1969 who is still active with the group, Bernie Shaw (vocals) a Canadian, and since 1986, the lead vocalist, Phil Lanzon (keyboards) also in the band since 1986, Trevor Bolder (playing a D'Alegria Defender TB 4-string fretted signature bass) he of the Spider From Mars, was in t'Heep 1976-1981 and then re-joined in 1983, and Russell Gilbrook (drums) who joined in 2007 and is regarded as one of the UK's finest drummers and drum clinicians.

They were, frankly, awesome; totally full-on, technically prefect, utterly superb, and with an immediate and fantastic rapport with the audience. Quite the best live band I've seen in years. The Druid had his jaw permanently dropped to the floor. So what did they play? The opening three songs were lifted straight from tracks 1-3 of their latest album: Wake The Sleeper, Overload, and Tears Of The World. Then a couple of oldies: Stealin' from their sixth album Sweet Freedom (album released September 1973) this is probably their best known single reaching #18 in the UK chart in 1973, and Sunrise from their fifth album Magician's Birthday (album released November 1972). Next, two more from the album: Heaven's Rain and Light Of A Thousand Stars. Another oldie and one that I really enjoyed despite not having heard it before: Gypsy from their first album Very 'eavy... Very 'umble (album released June 1970) which was released as a single in 1997. Then another four from the latest album: What Kind Of God, Shadow, Angels Walk With You, and War Child. Finally they played two more oldies: July Morning from their third album Look At Yourself (album released October 1971) released as a single in North America in 1973 but not in the UK, the single featured Manfred Mann playing on synth, and Easy Livin' from their fourth album Demons And Wizards (album released May 1972). The band went off, the crowd went wild, and the band came back. For an encore they played a track that Bernie billed "as much as your song as ours": Lady In Black from their second album Salisbury (album released February 1971), released as a single in 1989 and again in 2001. It was, Mick quipped, "Like playing in someone's front room." As the background music started up, the band remained on stage leaning over the barriers to shake hands with the audience for a good five minutes before most of them left, leaving Mick and Bernie hugging each other and waving to the crowd; a fitting end to a truly spectacular performance.

Hey girl in your summer blouse walking down the beach road from your house

Saturday 15 November - was the second outing of the weekend, commencing with a visit to Akbar's in York, an Indian restaurant that I hadn't tried before. It was nice and roomy inside and, for 18:00 on a Saturday, surprisingly packed. The service was excellent and we could see all the chefs beavering away in the kitchen. The pickle tray was superb and for the main course I had a prawn balti which was tasty and spicy, about as hot as was comfortable for me. After eating we made our way to the Grand Opera House in York to watch "Music of the Commitments" featuring two of the original cast of the Peter Parker film. The music was great and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, but... (drags soap box into view...) For me there are two main types of music; stuff you sit down for (Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn), and stuff you stand up for (everything else). Some music appeals on a mental/emotional level, and some at a physical/emotional level. The Commitments music, being soul, is firmly in the second category so what possesses the promoters to put such shows on in a seated venue is beyond me. Back to this show in particular and I really did enjoy the music, I sang along and stood up and danced (in my limited way) in a tiny space between the seats, but I really didn't appreciate being introduced to every member of the band three times during the performance, listen to rubbish jokes between the songs, and I don't need to be told when to clap along. Grrrr.

Friday 14 November - kicked off a long weekend of music starting on Friday with a different watering hole to haunt, O'Neill's in York, an Irish bar which of course confuses me when I try to get a beer, so I ended up with a pint of Caffery's. That was OK. I was a little early so worked my way to the back of the bar where the band were busy doing their sound checks and found a tall chair to sit on and try to look cool. I think it may have worked rather too well as I was immediately pounced upon by a youngish lady who was obviously a smoker and pretty much wasted already. Fortunately I adopted my excellent "I can't see you, go away and pester someone else" pose and despite laying her extremely cold hands on my upper thighs she soon gave up to be sick somewhere outside. A and H turned up a little later and we were also joined by Legs Elanovitch, the Russian spy-mistress.

The reason we were here was to watch a band that we had seen before, Skint (and on FaceSpace). Skint are: Rich Graves (lead vocals), Stew King (lead/rhythm guitar), Ian Moore (drums), Gav Cator (rhythm/lead guitar), and Paul Teasdale (bass/vocals). Paul also plays bass in Breathing Space. They played a superb set of modern indie/rock covers. Due to the fact that in order to avert a new Cold War I was obliged to neck a vodka between pints #2 and #3, my brain was left a little woolly but I managed to blag the set list (actually a list of band names or songs titles but not both) and have re-assembled it for your delectation: The Strokes (Last Night), Kings of Leon (Molly's Chambers), Oasis (Supersonic), The Kooks (She Moves In Her Own Ways), Editors ( All Sparks), Artic Monkeys (Scummy Man), Green Day (Boulevard Of Broken Dreams), Wombats (Kill The Director), Kaiser Chiefs (I Predict A Riot) QotSA (No One Knows), Snow Patrol (Chasing Cars), Kings of Leon (Red Morning Light) Graham Coxon (I can't remember the name of this one!?!), Buzzcocks (Ever Fallen In Love), Therapy (Screamager), Jet (Are You Gonna Be My Girl), The Automatic (Monster), Velvet Revolver (can't remember this one either), Fratellis (Chelsea Dagger), Arctic Monkeys (I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor), Electric Six (Gay Bar), and The Hives (Hate To Say I Told You So).

Skint are a really top notch covers band, and I'm not on commission, honest guv.

If ever see the day when all innocence is gone/Then what have we become

Wednesday 12 November - recorded at Walton Castle in Somerset and both released on the same day, Thunder has finally delivered the goods with their part 3 of 3 EP, The Joy Of Six, and their ninth studio album, Bang! The album consists of 12 tracks:

1. On The Radio - opens the album with a typical heavy Thunder riff and lyrics digging at the two-faced nature of the music business, talk about biting the hand that feeds...


2. Stormwater - is a Zep style (think Celebration Day) musing on Hurricane Katrina ploughing through New Orleans.


3. Carol Ann - is the morning after the night before when a guy wakes up after a one-night stand to find a woman's number on the back of his hand, and he can't remember what happened. "are you a babe, or do you look like a man?"


4. Retribution - is a languid, jazzy lament of lost love.


5. Candy Man - a classic Thunder stomp in the style of The Rolling Stones. Plenty of na-na-na's and a sing-along-a-chorus. Fantastic guitar work by the boy Morley.


6. Have Mercy - a bluesy, banjo-led, slide-guitar number with a sprinkling of voodoo harmonica. This could be the new single from The Answer or some other contemporary southern-fried rock outfit.


7. Watching Over You - is a power ballad, could be Aerosmith or Bon Jovi.


8. Miracle Man - is a powerful rocking song with lyrics akin to Genesis's Jesus He Knows Me, but way heavier. I can just see the fans singing along to this one.


9. Turn Left At California - the band go acoustic for this traveller's tale. More banjo and harmonica. Quite why he's heading for the borderline we never find out. This is probably the most 'country' track on the album.


10. Love Sucks - The first notes are pure Guns 'n' Roses, epic wailing Slash-style guitar work. It also features great harmonising vocals, a funky bass line, fantastic guitar work, and great keyboards from Ben Matthews. A stand out track.


11. One Bullet - is an acoustic rebuke of society's spiralling apathy to gun crime and the general loss of innocence among our children, "Now he's wrapping his fist 'round a gun/And somebody dies".


12. Honey - Back to classic Thunder hard rock for the closing track which is about chucking his woman out of his life, "So take your Prada and your Jimmy Choo's/That warpaint that covers your lines/Dumb magazines, you can stick them all/Right where the sun never shines". So, not bitter then?

Yes, there are still shades of 1990 here but Thunder continue to evolve their sound and songs and once more prove to be at the forefront of classic British rock. I highly recommend buying this album.

Wanted to die this morning when I opened up my eyes/Exploding head, on top of my bed

Friday 7 November - first stop, The Duchess to take a punt on three bands that we haven't heard of before. Leading the charge tonight was York heavy metal band, With One Last Breath. They cranked up with an ominous rumble of bass and an ear-splitting scream that sent my two colleagues scrambling for the ear-plugs. These guys are loud, these guys are heavy! For the slower bits think Deftones. For the faster stuff, think Trivium or Dragonforce. I couldn't hear a word but they made fantastic noise. WOLB are a 4 piece consisting of; Sam Graves (lead vocals/guitars), Jake Holmes (bass/vocals), Joe Graves (guitars/vocals), and Chris Bowling (drum). We particularly liked the bass player's style. I would definitely see these guys again. So a pretty good start to the evening.

Unfortunately, they proved a hard act to follow. Next up were another York band, The Bitter Image, another four piece consisting of; Dom Wells (lead vocals/guitar), Jonny Wells (guitar/vocals), Jim Buck (bass/vocals), and Dom Smith (drums). I'm hard put to describe their sound, kinda of heavy rock but a bit more melodic. The drumming was excellent; the guitar playing was competent but not up to the standard set by WOLB. Overall I was disappointed.

The final act came from Ireland. In Case of Fire were the winners of the MTV Spanking New For 2008 and have been touring with 30 Seconds to Mars, Queens Of The Stone Age, and Funeral For A Friend. They've also played with Ash and Biffy Clyro. ICOF are a power trio and the line up is; Steven Robinson (vocals/guitar), Mark Williamson (bass), and Colin Robinson (drums). For three young folk they make a huge noise. The vocals seemed rather muddy though and the songs were mostly short, about 3-4 minutes, and lacked the complexity and richness that WOLB had shown. They were better than the Bitter Image but failed to surpass the performance of WOLB.

As it was still early when we emerged from The Duchess, we sauntered over to The Roman Bath to catch the second half of the performance by Yorkshire covers band Left Hand Drive (sorry couldn't find a BeBoFaceSpace link). LHD are three blokes, lead guitar and vocals, a bass player, and a drummer. Sadly, by this time the beer was flowing freely, but here is what I can remember of them playing: Bad Company (Can't Get Enough), Cream (Crossroads), Then Lizzy (Whiskey In The Jar), Muddy Waters (Hoochie Coochie Man) Jimi Hendrix (Hey Joe), Bo Diddley (Who Do You Love), Fleetwood Mac (Black Magic Woman). The lead guitar/vocalist was extremely good and I would definitely like to see a full performance.

One bullet, one gun, one dead but we all bleed some

Friday 31 October - and I started off in Ye Olde Starre Inn in York for my tea and to meet up with a few folk from work. I was a pleasant enough start to the evening but I had to break off near nine o'clock to get to The Roman Bath where two of us were going to watch Raw Gallagher, a Rory Gallagher tribute band playing only his music, the blues, rock, slide and acoustic from the early days of Taste, through to the 70's and 80's, up to his final work.

Now I have a pretty wide knowledge of music in general and like to think that I can talk reasonable coherently about most artists, but I've never heard any of the work of the Irish blues/rock guitarist, Rory Gallagher.

I have to confess that I didn't recognise a single song that the band played, but hey, they played them all really well and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I did manage to blag the set-list so here is what they played; Messin' With The Kid, Bullfrog Blues, Moonchild, Walk On Hot Coals, A Million Miles Away, Shadow Play, Bad penny, Laundromat, Follow Me, Continental Op, I Aint No Saint, Tattoo'd Lady, Crest Of A Wave, Philby, For The Last Time, Shin Kicker, Calling Card, Used To Be, In Your town, Secret Agent, Sinner Boy, and a medley of Fuel To The Fire/Toredown/What In The World/I Take What I Want.

Raw Gallagher are a 3 piece band from South Yorkshire comprising Steve White on lead guitar and main vocals, Ron Villers on bass, and John Moloney on drums. Their website seems to have vaporised so I can't give you a link, but I do highly recommend watching them.

Saturday 1 November - and we are off to Fibbers for the first time in a long while. Since we were last here the place has been refurbished, well the bar counter has been replaced and there are some bar stools, and some of the art work has come down, and there is screen over the stage showing forthcoming gigs, and only one beer on tap, Tetley's (I don't count Guinness as a beer). It's a bit dire actually. Still first band up were 98 Pages and crikey they were good. I can't find a MyFace page. Rooted in Blues, their raw sound is certainly a welcome blast of fresh air. They're a 3 piece, lead guitar, bass and drums. Imagine Jack White on lead and bass and a decent drummer. Wow. Very good and I highly recommended that you check out this band.

The headline act were Black Diamond Heavies who are straight out of Nashville, Tennessee and sound like a freight train derailing. John Wesley Myers on vocals and keyboards, and Van Campbell on drums produce a punk-country/voodoo/garage blues/gospel revivalist noise. Myers is actually the son of a Baptist preacher, looks like Iggy Pop and plays like John Lord. Van bashes the skins like John Henry Bonham. Mad as a box of frogs. For an encore they trashed their way through Nutbush City Limits. Fantastic stuff.

As the band left the stage and the background music started to pump up, the doors opened allowing a flood of Goths and lederhosen-clad Austrians in for club night. No probs with the Goths (I look like Nosteratu in a bad light myself), but the Austrians were just a tad freaky, and so we legged it across to the centre of town and The Roman Bath in time for a final pint (of decent beer) and the last twenty minutes of Van Hooligan. VH are a Rock covers band from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, who play covers by Van Halen, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Motorhead, Judas Priest, Sabbath, Motley Crue, Scorpions etc. The crowd were very lively and at one point a chap fell through a set of stacked speakers and toppled a lighting rig. Many hands helped to haul everything back into place. Nobody hurt, nothing appeared to be damaged. All a bit of a comic end to the evening.