This southern cross is full of holes/Frozen and over

Monday 22 June - yes I know it's a school night, but we're out to watch Nine Black Alps, the post-grunge/indie quartet from Manchester. But first of all we get to sample the delights of The Federals and Airship.

The Federals are a York band that we've seen before and I'm sure there were more of them on that occasion, but tonight just the two; Jim Feakes (guitar, vocals),and Jack Holdstock (drums). They sound like The White Stripes playing garage, or The Stooges. Its frantic stuff with barely a pause for breath and the volume is high tonight; 'A' resorted to ear defenders very early on. A lively start to the evening, although a bit samey sounding.

Next up were Airship and I was expecting (dreading?) more of the same. I was wrong. Airship hail from Manchester and the line up is: Elliott Williams (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Marcus Wheeldon (guitar, vocals), Steven Griffiths (drums), and Tom Dyball (bass). The songs were much more structured and rich, shimmering sometimes like Sigur Ros, or plunging into a dark corner of a cave inhabited by The Cure. The keyboard playing sometimes wandered off into another dimension and had us turning to each other and muttering "Hawkwind". I managed to catch the titles of a few tracks; Kids, This is Hell, and the gloriously guitar-laden Call It Science. Excellent band, well worth listening out for.

And so to the head-liners, Mancester-based NBA consists of Sam Forrest (vocals, guitar, he comes from York don't yer know), David Jones (guitar), Martin Cohen (bass), and James Galley (drums). Now I've not heard much from this band since their 2005 debut album Everything Is which was what prompted me to see them first time around. Since then they've released Love/Hate in 2007 which didn't do so well. They are currently touring their latest offering, Locked out from the Inside, which is due for release in autumn this year.

Malevolent guitars, amps set to eleven, drumming as if to save your life, Martin (bass) getting really intimate with the nearest wall. They made enough noise to wake the dead. Tracks from the new album littered the set which basically spanned the best bits of their first two albums. Frontman Sam Forrest has the voice of Kurt Cobain but injected with high octane energy that fairly spits out from the stage. Title track Locked out from the Inside. was an ear-battering thrill, Heavier Than Water and Burn Faster were delivered with gut-wrenching intensity, get Your Guns, Shot-Down, and Not Everyone were ten times better than listening in your front room. Of the new stuff, Vampire In The Sun was a filthy grunge stomp, Every Photo made my trousers shake, and Cold Star was a fuzzed out, freaked out trip. Awesome stuff but we felt slightly cheated by the lack of an encore. Highly recommended.

I said let's all meet up in the year 2000/Won't it be strange when were all fully grown

Friday 19 June - and the start of a rather busy weekend. We started the evening at The Duchess but sadly the headline act, An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump and one of their supports, Not Cool, had pulled out of the gig. Undaunted, we hung around to see how the other two bands would turn out. First on were Screaming Banshee Aircrew, hailing from London/Leicester/Leeds, and consisting of Mister Ed (vocals and theatricals), Jo Violet (bass guitar, violin and vocals), Chris Banshee (guitar, drums and vocals), and Neal Unreal (guitar, synth, drums and vocals). I don't think these are their real names! SBA are a Goth rock band in the finest tradition of black outerwear.

Their set kicked off with Mr Ed quoting from Macbeth, Act IV, Scene 1 when the witches say "Double, double toil and trouble" and then we're away on a rollercoaster of intense guitar noise, and soaring violin as Mr Ed stalks the stage frowning at the audience like a demented child-catcher come to claim his prize. I think it was Chris who started on the drums, standing up and pounding away in a manner reminiscent of David Barbarossa (drummer with Adam and the Ants), but Chris and Neal took turns at drumming during the set. Lyrically, SBA reminded me of Bolan before he sold out commercially. Sonically, there was more than a touch of Billy Idol, but Jo's near operatic vocals save SBA from close comparison. I didn't catch the names of any of the songs but would definitely turn out to see them again. Excellent start.

Second and finally, came Glass a York-based four piece that I would place somewhere in New New Wave. Glass are; Alexander King (guitars, vocals used to be in AKP), Andy Curry (synths, vocals), Jim Stafford (bass), and Dan Whiting (drums). Dressed in suits they came with a whiff of ABC about them but when the chiming guitars and rumbling synth sounds kicked in it was clear that these were a new order of art rock, a Gothic Roxy Music, an avant grandeMagazine (is that possible!) Their Unique Selling Point was that every song ended in a shuddering wall of white noise which then segued into the next song. From an audience perspective it made it difficult to know when to applaud, and we really wanted too, honestly.

Both bands were completely different from our usual fare, and both were worthy of further listening. However, this left us with a goodly portion of the evening still left and so we trundled across town to The Roman Bath where covers band The Big Picture were playing. I'm not entire sure where they come from, certainly oop North in our neck of the woods. TBP comprises; Shawn McHugh (drums, vocals), Mike Parker (guitar, vocal), and Charly Peace (bass, vocals). We enjoyed a well delivered selection of covers, mostly from modern indie bands; Kaiser Chiefs Ruby, I Predict a Riot, Kings of Leon Sex on Fire, Kinks All Day and All of the Night, You really got me, Oasis What's the story?, Blur Song2, Pulp Disco 2000... you get the idea. A nice change from the usual covers we hear.

Say your prayers little one/Don’t forget, my son/To include everyone

Friday 12 June - we couldn’t decide on a single venue this week, so The Druid ended up at The Duchess to watch Ezio and Aimee J Ryan, (see The Druid’s Thoughts for a review) whilst A (plus newbie L) and I headed for Fibbers to see three bands. It was almost a replay of last week’s gig as the audience, and the bands, were very young, probably 15/16 years of age. This meant that there was a lot of youngsters running around squealing and hugging each other.

Anyway, as the first band took to the stage, we settled in to see what would unfold. Thrive are a four piece from York. According to their FaceSpace entries their names are; William George Cunningham Blackstock (vocals, bass), Robert Henry Anderson (guitar), Jamie Alexander David Wade (guitar), and Jack William Joseph Leaf (drums). I have to say that songs such as; Marmite Memories, Going Nowhere, and Potential to Succeed, certainly proved winners for me, the drumming was superb, at points nearly tribal, the bass was brilliant, and the vocals had good dynamic range often lacking in younger people. So, a great start to the evening.

Sadly, I wasn’t as impressed with second band, Littlemores. I’m guessing that they are from York. The band consists of Conor Hirons, Kai West, and Jack Williams. Now I don’t mind a bit of ska/punk, but a whole set delivered with monotonal vocals really doesn’t do it for me. Here is a band that needs to develop some variety in their songs.

Was this going to be a gig that starts good then goes downhill, or could the last band salvage our approval? Nothing so black and white. Headliners The Standbys have at least their bass player from York, and I suspect the rest are as well. They consist of; James Barton (vocals, guitars), Helgi Clayton McClure (vocals, bass), Matt Ashby (guitar), and Joel Batty (drums). Billed as Alt Garage/Rock they produced interesting songs, significantly better then the Littlemores but never reaching the heights of Thrive. Still, great value for a fiver!

As we had an early finish, and hoping to catch up with The Druid to see how his gig went, we headed for The Roman Bath to catch the second half of DSQ a very popular covers band. So popular indeed that we had to queue up outside until a few people exited, The Bath was packed to capacity. DSQ is basically a band formed by workmates at Castle BMW in York, the name an abbreviation of Dave Stanley Quartet (except there's six of them!) I’m not sure about their current lineup, certainly they have Mickey Adamson (vocals), and Dave Stanley (guitar). Mickey we recognised as being the vocalist from 80's band Flight. In 2006 they had Rob (guitar), Rainey (bass), Nick (keyboard), and Shaun (drums), but we semi-recognised the keyboard player, quite a young chap, as possibly playing in Free Spirit (thanks Ian). We got a good sprinkling of well-played covers; Van Halen Jump, Snow Patrol Chasing Cars, The Beatles Standing There, Def Leppard Animal, Van Morrison Brown-Eyed Girl, Steppenwolf Born To Be Wild, Bee Gees Staying Alive, Wild Cherry Play That Funky Music, and a highlight for me, Tom Jones Delilah. The last song was played in the style of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band who covered Delilah in 1975 (when it reached 7 in the UK Top Ten) and was memorable for me for Zal Cleminson’s evil “ha ha ha” bit, fantastic!

No one would have believed, in the last years of the nineteenth century, that human affairs were being watched from the timeless worlds of space.

Friday 5 June - we've seen a lot of covers bands recently so tonight we dipped our toes in the younger local scene with four bands at The Duchess. We missed the first band, The Strides, sorry guys. More disturbing was the average age of the audience which left us more mature folk looking like mums and dads at a school disco.

Anyway, band number two took to the stage to the delight of the screaming children who insisted on hugging each other and jumping up and down in delight. Dressed In Their Best come, I think from York, a four piece consisting of James Shaw (vocals/rhythm guitar), Danny Petrie (lead), Robbie Johnson (drums), and Shane Hunter (bass). They sounded like a very young, raw Jimmy Eat World but with a more fractured way of playing their songs. The sound was a bit muddy, this seemed to apply to all three bands tonight, but there were definitely a couple of reasonable tunes in there and the drumming was particularly good.

Next up were The Gilligans a band we've missed on previous occasions. Five cheeky chaps from York; James, Mike, Ben, Andy (the drummer I think), and Rince (Tyler?). It was difficult to concentrate on the music given the games of British Bulldog and sliding across the floor on your knees that the males in the audience were indulging in. That doesn't scan very well but I think you get what I mean. There was a good tune in there somewhere but I might have missed it.

Finally we heard The Station Club, a four piece, rock/indie/new wave band from York. The band are: Mikey Wilson (vocals/guitar), Tommy Martin (bass), Jimmy Martin (synths), and Dan (drums). These were much better than their predecessors, especially towards the end. They started, I think, with Streetlights a new song, and somewhere along the line they played Let's Start Again, Stars, and Only We Know. They rounded off with what was, for me, their best track, Brand New Day.

Given the youthfulness of the audience, it's not surprising that the gig ended fairly early in the evening so 'A' and I made our way to The Roman Bath where we were expecting to see Angerbart but when we got there the Bath it was bare so we dashed down Parliament Street to The Terrace instead. Tonight singer/acoustic guitarist Marc Atkinson was playing. Marc provides a list of songs he knows and lets the audience select their favourites from the list, so you get to listen to exactly what you want. He plays a good mixture of Crowded House, James Blunt, Van Morrison, Snow Patrol, Bon Jovi, Seal, Don Mclean... There wasn't a lot of people in The Terrace, the silenced TVs showed some boxing and highlights from the Twenty20 England match against the Netherlands (oh dear). The beer was good and Marc's playing provided the perfect backdrop to a chilled out end to the evening.

Lay where you're laying, don't make a sound/I know they're watching, they're watching

Friday 29 May - I'm starting with a couple of observations. Firstly, going back to the MPs expenses scandal; I wonder who it was in the House of Commons Fees Office that actually signed off such outrageous expenses as a duck island or moat cleaning? Maybe that person should be investigated and/or sacked. Also, I'm beginning to think that it's time to break up the three party system full of career politicians, and vote in loads of Independents.

Second observation. Despite managing to miss most of the kerfuffle about Britain's Got Talent, as one of my daughters was at my house at the time, I was forced to endure the final of on Saturday. Fortunately, the only act that showed the slightly iota of talent did win. But, it beggars belief that the rest of rubbish (a) should be considered to have any talent at all (b) is the best that Britain has to offer.

On Friday 'A' and I indulged in a double-header of local, actual talent. We started in The Terrace to watch Flashback, (and on SpaceFace) a three-piece from York comprising; Kev (bass/vocals), Pete (guitar/vocals), and Phil (drums/vocals). The band attempt to replicate the sounds of the early beat groups of Hamburg and Liverpool's Cavern Club. It was different from most of the covers band that we see, we heard such tunes as; Dave Clark Five Glad All Over, Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas Do You Want To Know A Secret?, The Beatles I Saw Her Standing There, and The Rolling Stones All Over Now. They played very competently but I find '60s music lacking in variety so after our first pint we decamped to The Roman Bath where Stealer were *not* playing, instead it was our old friends The Mojos.

Always an excellent set of covers, played very well indeed. We were treated to at least the following and probably more: Genesis Turn It On Again, Dire Straits Sultans of Swing, Whitesnake Here I Go Again, Bryan Adams Summer Of '69, The Darkness I Believe In A Thing Called Love, Guns n' Roses Sweet Child O' Mine, Bon Jovi Livin' On A Prayer, The Proclaimers 500 Miles, U2 Vertigo, Queen Don't Sop Me Now, Robbie Williams Let Me Entertain You, Spencer Davis Group Gimme Some Lovin, Kings of Leon Sex on Fire, Status Quo Rockin' All Over The World. Jackie Wilson Lifting Me Higher, The Jam Town Called Malice, The Feeling Love It When You Call, Simple Minds Don't You Forget About Me, Jamiroquai Cosmic Girl, plus their usual big medley of about 10/12 songs. Highly recommended.