2011 Retrospective

Tuesday 20 December – It’s been a great year in music for me. I attended 19 live gigs, 1 rock festival, and bought 40 albums of which 12 were actually released this year.

Of the live gigs I managed to pack in; 98Pages, Boss Caine (twice), The Blueprints, The Buccaneers, Sombre, Missing Kids, The ABC Club, Glass, Dorien Starre, The Bitter Image, Panic Room, Marbled, The Pepperhearts, The Mothers, These City Walls, Dinosaur Pile-Up, The Xcerts, Japanese Voyeurs, Blind Pilot, The Decemberists, Hope&Social (3 times), Andy Gaines, Jeniferever, Panic Procedure, The Tiny Eyes, Marcus Bonfanti, Sandi Thom, Nick Tudor, Pelico, Marc Atkinson, Dream of Apollo (twice), David R Black, Panic Room, Chantel McGregor, Patrick McCallion, people:in airports, Rosie, The Union, The Pineapple Thief, and Playing The Pilot.

In the summer were we down in London for the Sunday of the High Voltage Festival and got to see; Black Country Communion, Dream Theater, Heaven’s Basement, Love Fungus, Michael Schenker, Saint Jude, and my all-time favourites Thunder. It really doesn’t get much better than that!

The non-2011 releases that I purchased reflects, I guess, my eclectic taste in music. For easy listening there’s; Sandi Thom, Florence and The Machine, Billy Joel, and Rihanna. Some good old rock; Guns ‘n’ Roses, Clapton and Winwood, Chickenfoot, Linkin Park, Joe Satriani, Alterbridge, and Black Country Communion. I also bolstered my collection of Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree as well as dipping my toe in the more esoteric waters of; Anathema, I Like Trains, Orpeth, Jeniferever, Amplifier, and a second helping of The Pineapple Thief.

All of which brings me to the albums of 2011 that I, personally, decided to part money for, and I guess I ought to bring some kind of ranking into play here.

Outside of the top 10 are a couple of albums which, although I wouldn’t call them duff, they don’t get played as much as the others; Into The Wild by Uriah Heep and A Grounding In Numbers by Van de Graf Generator. Neither of these lived up to my expectations. Heep’s offering was no where near as good as Wake The Sleeper, and VdG were a name from my past that didn’t live up to the hype of the music press. The actual top ten albums I would recommend to anyone, so let’s press on:

10 Crystal Sounds by Thirteen Senses. This is pretty much more of the same from the Cornishmen, which is not a bad thing because I really like them, so I’ll describe it as ‘workmanlike’.

9 Wasting Light by Foo Fighters. I’m left slightly confused by this album because it is good, very good indeed, but there isn’t a single track that has hooked into my brain. How does that work?

8 The King Is Dead by The Decemberists. More quirky alt-Americana from a band that delivers and entertains in equal measure.

7 Grace for Drowning by Steve Wilson. Great prog-ness from the master himself. The music press can’t get enough of the man but he didn’t make number one for me. Pah! I spit in the face of popularity.

6 A Dramatic Turn of Events by Dream Theater. Awesome album and we got to watch them live at High Voltage which was basically musically nirvana for me.

5 Siren's Song by The Union. I just love this band; Luke Morley’s superb guitar and Pete Shoulder’s incredible voice, what a combination.

4 Like No Other by Chantel McGregor. Brilliant debut album from the pocket-sized lass from Bradford who is finally getting the recognition that she deserves.

3 Dust Bowl by Joe Bonamassa. I’ve pretty much got most of his recent albums in my collection. I’m constantly staggered by the number of ways that blues can be played and still sound fresh and different. Top stuff.

2 Black Country Communion 2 by Black Country Communion. More Bonamassa-ness, this time in the form of top-notch super-group BCC which also includes Glenn Hughes, Jason Bonham, and Derek Sherinian. But, top of this year’s Xmas tree, parp de-de-parp (trumpet blast)...

1 The Octopus by Amplifier. Ye gods this is great stuff. More prog than you can shake a mellotron at and a bargain as it’s a double CD worth of soundscape-y, pretentious (in a good way), gorgeous music.

Have a very Happy Xmas and a great New Year.

Hail to the Thief

Wednesday 7 December – I’m going down with man-flu. I could feel it in my bones. My whole body ached. I’ve lost my appetite and trust me, that meant something’s seriously wrong. But nothing, no nothing, was going to stop me from getting out tonight.

We arrived a little after eight o’clock at Fibbers, just in time for the start of the support act, Playing The Pilot. PLP are a York-based group defining themselves as Indie/Alt-rock. Their line up consists of Kat McHugh (lead vocals), Felix Manders-Wilde (guitar/vocals), Ryan Noble: (lead guitar), Matt Davies (bass), and Jack Fisher (drums). When she sang, Kat had a pretty good voice. The real problem for me was that their songs usually ended up with her doing a white girl rap in the style of Lilly Allen, which really didn’t do justice to her voice. The guitarists pretty much seemed to do their own things pumping out tinkly math-rock style riffs, while Jack and Matt propelled the songs along with strong drum lines and workman-like bass. The most memorable track for me was Your Face In The Mirror.

PLPs act was slightly marred by an issue with feedback into the singer’s microphone, either from the bass or drums, and I’m afraid that the soundman hadn’t fixed this problem by the time the headline act took to the stage. Why were The Pineapple Thief playing York? Well, it turned out that, although they are a Somerset band, bass player Jon Sykes is actually a local lad. TPT consist of Bruce Soord (guitar/vocals), Jon Sykes (bass/vocals), Steve Kitch (keyboards), and Keith Harrison (drums). They play prog-rock in the soft/loud/soft style with carefully constructed time signatures that sweep you from one passage of music to the next.

The set consisted of a mixture of tracks from their latest album, Someone Here Is Missing, and a lot of new material. From their current album I certainly recognised; Nothing At Best, Wake Up The Dead, The State We’re In, and Preparation For Breakdown. The majority of the new songs were presented with a lead acoustic guitar which is at odds with their current album but in line with their earlier work Tightly Unwound. Whether the tracks are utilmately ‘beefed up’ for the new album or remain as they are, they still sounded fantasic on a first listen.

For many of the songs the transition from soft to furious loud meant that it was difficult not to shuffle your feet (dancing I think they call it) or head-bang along to the heavy rhythmic sections. Think of a mad collision of Radiohead, Procupine Tree and Pendulum.

Their encore consisted of a current track, a very old one and a very new one, possibly being called Burning Pieces, and likely to be the opening track to new album. A superb gig and I sincerely hope that they will be bringing their new album on tour to York in the not too distant future.

Re-Union

Wednesday 19 October - yes, I know I’m being a bit tardy with this one, but we’ve been very, very busy recently what with our boiler finally given up the ghost and stuff. Right now, regular readers (if I have any left) will recall that mid-October we had a rash of gigs starting on Friday 14 and ending with this one, so expectations were naturally high. In a change from the usual, we were at The Duchess, a venue that I’ve always had a soft spot for.

We arrived fashionably three songs before the end of the first support band, Mad Dog (and on FaceBore, and MyFace), possibly an allusion to the album by John Entwistle. Anyhow, I very much liked the cut of their jib, a bit like York's own 98Pages. Hailing from London, they consisted of ; Tommy Smith (guitar/vocals), Matt Johnson (bass guitar), and Brendan Lleak (drums). This was a very impressive start to the evening.

It would have been an act of kindness to have swapped the support bands around, something that Paul Blue of Fighting Wolves alluded to himself. It seemed that most of the audience agreed with him. Personally, I would have liked to have caught more of Mad Dog's act. Not that Fighting Wolves were bad, it’s just that their brand of nu-rock didn’t somehow fit in with the hard rock feel of the other bands. I quite like heavy, I quite like a bit of screaming, but it was all too much and my ears quickly tuned out. Sorry guys. Fighting Wolves come from London and consist of; Mark Easton (drums), Paul Blue (vocals/guitar), Micky D (vocals/guitar), and Dougie (vocals/bass). See how I put the drummer first? I don’t think it’s fair that they are always billed last in a list.

And so to the main event of the evening, the return to York after almost exactly a year (they were last here on 30 October 2010), The Union. OK, maybe, as a Thunder fan, I’m a bit biased, but last year they toured a superb debut album (The Union), and this year they were touring another brilliant offering (Siren's Song). Being fans anyway, we had pre-ordered the album and already had a few weeks of listening under our belts before this gig. Notwithstanding, the band blew our socks off with a powerful and energetic set comprising the best of songs from both albums. I always find it amazing how much better good bands sound live.

For the uninitiated, The Union consist of Pete Shoulder (ex-Winterville) on vocals and guitar, Luke Morley on vocals and guitar and Chris Childs on backing vocals and bass (both ex-Thunder), and Dave McCluskey on drums and pretty bloomin’ awesome!

Time to flex my memory muscles and see how much of the set list I can remember… The band came on to Part of The Union (The Strawbs) then immediately went into Watch The River Flow. This was followed by two songs off the new album; the incredible and slightly heavy, Burning Daylight, and the lyrically superb Black Gold. Back to the debut again for Saviour and Easy Street, before another new one; Blame It On Tupelo. We then had; Lillies, Obsession, The Remedy, Cut The Line, and Black Monday. Then they played the title track from the new album; Siren's Song. For their encore we got two more songs from the first album; the ballad-y Come Rain, Come Shine and their single Step Up To The Plate.

For me this was definitely 'gig of the year'. I would highly recommend both albums and jump at the chance to see them again live. Superb!

Entangle me in verses of poetry, Avert my gaze from the darkest of darkest days

Friday 16 October – If there’s one thing that you can expect at a Hope&Social gig, it’s the unexpected! And so here we are at Fibbers, slightly wetting ourselves with anticipation of a great night out.

The first support band are Rosie from Pateley Bridge, consisting of; Doug Wallace (vocals and rhythm guitar), Tommy Leatherbarrow (drums and backing vocals), and Louis Leatherbarrow (keyboards). It’s hard to describe their style of music so I can do no better than quote someone else who said “bouncy electro-powered party punk”. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Despite the fact that I don’t really go for electronica as a musical genre they certainly had me tapping my toes, and dare I say it, swaying slightly to the music. They also seem to have a small entourage of crazy dancers, one dressed as a banana, who fling themselves about a bit in the audience. It was all very good fun and quite entertaining.

The second support band was people: inairports who we had seen before in November 2010, and not been much impressed with on that occasion. Formed by ex-Shed Seven bassist Tom Gladwin, they also comprise singer/songwriter and guitarist Paul Downes along with Jimmy Greenall (guitar & backing vocals), and Ken Sayers (drums). Sadly they sounded pretty much as they did nearly a year ago, a tired string of Jam-esque indie pub-rock songs. To be honest, I would much rather have an extended H&S set.

With three albums under their collective belts, Leeds-based Hope&Social have a wide range of material to call upon. Please don’t expect me to reel off a complete track listing of all the songs that they delighted us with, because their act is so much more than just the songs. There was the running on the spot, the bearded Gary Stewart a-likes, the banter with the audience, the maniacal pounding of keyboards and super-heavy guitar riffs, barber-shop style harmonies, brass section, sing-alongs… you name it, it probably happened. If you’ve never seen this band before, do it. If you want to listen to them, you can do it online, for free. And , if you want to buy their music, you can, and you only have to pay what you want. Crazy? Only if you never get around to seeing/hearing them. But, I do not like green eggs and ham. Try it, try it, you will see...

It's been one week since you looked at me, Cocked your head to the side and said I'm angry

Friday 14 October – We haven’t been out to watch bands recently, just a bit busy with other stuff at the moment, but there’s a lot of good music about this month and we are determined to catch as much as we can.

Four of us turned out tonight at Fibbers to watch Chantel McGregor. My party arrived at about eight o’clock just in time to catch the final three songs from Patrick McCallion. OK, he was one man and his guitar, but he sounded fresh and enthusiastic. I think one of the songs was called Neon Lights, one I am reliably informed was One Week (by The Barenaked Ladies’) and his final offering was a medley of covers woven into each other. This left Chantel with a good two hour set to fill and I have to admit that I was really looking forward to this, and we moved right up close to the barrier for an optimal viewing position.

We last saw Chantel back in December 2010 when she played a good deal of her own material that would make up her debut album, Like No Other. It seems as if I’ve had this album for ever but I seem recall that it was only released in April. In fact, this has been a great year for Chantel so far; she won Best Young Artist at the British Blues Awards. Chantel’s band, as last time we saw her, consisted of Martin Rushworth on drums and Richard Ritchie playing a gorgeous looking 5-string bass.

The set kicked off with Bridge To Better Days (Joe Bonamassa) which segued into New Day Yesterday (Jethro Tull). After that I was a bit mesmerised by her superb guitar playing. Among the covers I recognised Up In The Sky (Joe Satriani), Sloe Gin (Joe Bonamassa), Daydream (Robin Trower), High (Richie Kotzen), Red House (Jimi Hendrix), Rhiannon and  Landslide (Fleetwood Mac),  and Had To Cry Today (Blind Faith). From her own material we also heard; Like No Other, Fabulous, Caught Out, Screams Everlasting, I’m No Good For You, and for the encore, Freefalling.

Chantel and the band are so comfortable with their material that on a couple of occasions they asked the audience what they wanted to hear. I’m sure that all the songs were on the set list, but it made everyone feel involved in the performance. Between songs Chantel regaled us with quirky glimpses into her life, all of which endeared her even more to an audience that loved every second of her playing. 

I did manage to fumble my mobile ‘phone out a couple of times to capture some video footage, but only succeeded in videoing my foot twice and her once with no sound. Duh! Oh well, you’ll just have to trust me when I say that you really, really must see this girl live before she transcends to stadium gigs and you’ll have missed your chance to say “I remember when she first started and I saw her…”

Die a little more each day, need a vision or a tourniquet

Friday 9 September – and the first musical outing for me in a long time. The Summer festivals mopped up a lot of the good acts from the gig circuit this year, but the closing months look as though they are going to be busy as I took the opportunity to get tickets for no less than four dates over the next two months.

We met up at the Black Swan on Peasholme Green, all of us reluctant to pay the exorbitant prices charged in Fibbers these days. When we arrived at the venue the audience was very thin on the ground even as the support act kicked it. I assumed that the majority of punters were coming along later. All of which is not to say that the support were poor, because I for one really enjoyed them.

David R Black hail from Manchester and consist of; David R (guitar/vocals),  Sarit Black (bass/backing vocals), and Paul “Pai” Williams (drums).  David R himself looks a bit like Heath Ledger's The Joker, but without the makeup, so Heath Ledger with The Jokers hair I guess. I haven’t heard any of their material before. David's vocals started off sounding a bit like Brian Molko but seemed to get stronger as he went on. By the time he got to Signals, a brilliant track off their Heart And Stars album, he was sounding like Peter Gabriel. I caught the names of a couple of other tracks; Ezra (from Secret City) and No Code (also from Hearts And Stars). Sarit provided a very heavy line of bass riffs and backing vocals that were a tad too indistinct in the mix for me, I would have liked to have heard more of her voice. Meanwhile, Pai thumped out a rich mixture of rhythms, sometimes simple, sometimes complex, that drove the songs along.

As the introduction music started for Panic Room I took a brief glance around and was amazed to note that there were probably no more than 40 people in the room, a very poor turnout for a Friday evening. Panic Room, whom we’ve seen a couple of times before, are; Anne-Marie Helder (vocals, rhythm/acoustic guitars), Paul Davies (lead/rhythm/acoustic guitars, backing vocals), Jonathan Edwards (keyboards), Yatim Halimi (bass), and Gavin Griffiths (drums). I’m not completely au fait with PRs material but did recognise; I Am A Cat, Dark Star, Satellite, Sandstorms, and Bitches Crystal (a cover of the ELP song). There was a new track, I think it was called Promises, that will feature on their third, as yet unnamed album.

Anne-Marie vocals were on top form, justifying her winning “Best female vocalist of 2010” by readers of Classic Rock presents Prog. Paul noodled effortlessly, his guitar looking minute in his huge hands. The highlight for me though was Yatim and his superb bass playing. His style reminds me of Pino Palladino or Mick Karn, coaxing a fretless bass effect from a clearly fretted, six-string bass. Top music, but a shame that more people didn’t turn out to see them.

Fairport report - fair

Here's a quick review of 2011's Fairport Convention Cropredy festival from guest blogger andy_glos:

Fairport Convention Cropredy 2011 report - Festival was very good (as usual) apart from UB40 (grim MOR white reggae, in fact we left before the end - an exceedingly rare event). Seasick Steve was like he always is, but was greatly enhanced by having John Paul Jones play bass, mandolin and possibly keyboards (don't remember that bit) for entire 90 minute set.

Horslips and Home Service were excellent. As for Coral - greatly impressed with their delivery and musicianship. As for the scouse "thanks" in between songs - hmm. They appeared a bit out of sorts, on stage between songs, at being at a festival of folk-rockers of a certain age, drinking Wadworths real ale. But an excellent set. So good I ordered a CD off Amazon. Travelling Band (second on on Friday) - fantastic. If you can, catch them. I have seen them twice now. The MC/compere was raving about them on Saturday still.

Sadly Geoffrey Hughes (old Corrie and Heartbeat) the usual MC was quite ill and couldn't make it.

Dylan Project - very good - especially if you like Dylan which I don't. But Yvonne is happy as she found out Dylan and Mark Knopfler are playing together in at the MEN Arena, Manchester on 10 October and she managed to get a ticket when back from the festival. £67 though!

Katriona Gilmore and Jamie Roberts - pretty good, she is the child of the Pink Floyd guy - the one who isn't in jail.

Hayseed Dixie - punk, bluegrass, rock, hillbilly ... - a few covers - good show

Richard Digance - good as always.

Blockheads - fantastic show and musicians. Even the singer sounded like Ian Dury and dressed in a weird way. I think a lot of them might be originals.

Badly Drawn Boy - avoid - nice voice but he has got a lot of chips on his shoulder and a bit foul mouthed for a friendly festival. Nice voice and guitar but he has blown it for me. Badly Swearing Boy more like.

Fairport Convention themselves - excellent, and nice to include entire concept album John Babbacombe Lee in the middle of their 3 hour set. Please can Fairport play Sloth again one day?

Danger! High Voltage

Sunday 24 July – Saw two of our troupe in London for the second day of the High Voltage Festival 2011. The main aim of the day was to see Thunder but there were a number of other great acts on at the Main Stage as well.

The afternoon started early when Top Gear’s James May introduced a bonus act, Love Fungus. Now I’ve never heard of these guys before and apparently this was the first time that they performed together in twenty years. Mat ‘Mush’ McIvor (Vocals), Mark ‘The Bone’ Rabone (Lead Guitar), Dennis ‘D’ Day (Rhythm Guitar), Ben ‘Jim Morrison’ Upton (Bass Guitar) and Ian ‘Kel’ Kelly (Drums) put out five or six instantly forgettable tunes. I can only assume that they were some sort of pub punk band in their previous existence, it was just a bit of a waste of time for us though.

The afternoon proper kicked off with a band that I’ve seen a few times in York, Heaven’s Basement, but this was the first time I’d seen them since recent band changes. In February 2010 vocalist Richie Heavanz left and was temporarily replaced by Johnny Fallen. In February 2011 Aaron Buchanan took over on lead vocals, and rhythm guitarist Johnny Rocker left, reducing the band to a four piece. The line up for the High Voltage stage was therefore Buchanan, Sid Glover (lead guitar; backing vocals), Rob 'Bones' Ellershaw (bass guitar; backing vocals), and Chris Rivers (drums). Their set was absolutely storming, pulling the very best off their two EPs and more; Close Encounters, Can't Let Go, Misunderstood, Leeches, Reign on My Parade, and the awesome Executioner's Day. These guys need to get an album out, so that I can buy it! A superb opener (I’m not counting Love Fungus) to the festival.

Next up were Saint Jude who, being on their home turf, drew a decent crowd. Fronted by Lynne Jackaman, they delivered a rocky set including; Little Queen, Garden of Eden, Soul on Fire and Southern Belles. But, they failed to overshadow the dynamism of Heaven’s Basement who had set a high standard for the following acts.

The smell of nostalgia was in the air for the next act, Michael Schenker, who was promoting his Temple of Rock album due to be released later this year. He had a new band line-up, not MSG, which included Herman Rarebell (ex-Scorpions) on drums and Michael Voss(Ex-Casanova and Silver) on vocals. They opened, predictably, with Into The Arena followed by Armed And Ready, then a Scorpions track, Another Piece Of Meat. There was then a change of vocalist, Doogie White (Tank) for a new track; Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, which bodes rather well for the album. Voss then announced “for the next 4 minutes, we are going to rock you like a hurricane” and on-stage came Michael’s brother, Rodulf Schenker to perform the next two songs; Rock You Like a Hurricane and Hangin On. Schenker closed the set with two UFO songs; Rock Bottom which featured UFOs own Pete Way, followed by Doctor Doctor with Jeff Scott Soto on vocals (Talisman, Yngwie Malmsteen and Journey) plus all the other guests. It was chaotically brilliant, and the fans certainly enjoyed themselves. I haven’t been a huge fan of MS but he impressed me with his brilliant guitar work and sheer over-the-top-ness.

And what a way to get you prepared for the next band. For so many of thousands of rock fans who headed to High Voltage on Sunday, this set was the reason for their trip. That was certainly true for us. All day I'd noticed a huge number of folk sporting Thunder t-shirts, I myself was resplendent in a Harry James as the devil in almost mint condition. Then AC/DC's Thunderstruck started playing, and they all gravitated towards the main stage. I stayed where I was, ensconced in the grandstand, a prime viewing platform. As the band took to the stage they got a monstrous reception and right from the opening notes of Back Street Symphony the entire crowd sang along with every word. The crowd went crazy, at first because it is a cracking tune and everyone was delighted they were playing, but more so because of the sound issues. It cut out several times and on the third occasion the cries of dismay were so bad that Luke Morley threw his cowboy hat to the floor. Thankfully the soundman woke up or there might have been a riot. Even when Bowes’ vocals were sorted, Luke Morley’s guitar was painful low in the mix.

But Thunder successfully overcame such technical obstacles to carry their set on pure joy and enthusiasm alone. There’s something to be said for putting on a show with a smile on your face and never have five guys appeared to enjoy themselves so much. We were treated to; Back Street Symphony, River Of Pain, Higher Ground, Gimme Some Lovin', The Devil Made Me Do It, Love Walked In (I admit it, I cried during this one), I Love You More Than Rock 'N' Roll, and Dirty Love. Their final song turned into an extended crowd sing-along with the audience split into sections trying to out-sing each other. Pantomime? Probably. Brilliant? Definitely. The best day out a rock fan can have. Bowes’ voice is still incredible and Morley’s guitar playing must put him at the top of any list British rock guitarists. God how I miss these guys.

Hey, the festival wasn’t over yet though, my favourite blues guitarist, Joe Bonamassa, was in the next band, Black County Communion, along with Glenn Hughes, Derek Sherinian, and Jason Bonham. This is one band where the individual performances really do meld into a sum greater than its parts. The sound problems were never far away mind, and there were times when Derek’s keyboard simply couldn’t be heard, but overall this was rock raised on a plinth for the world to behold. With just two superb albums and a handful of live shows under their belts, most of the audience must have struggled to recognise most of the set, but BCC play with such class and professionalism that you can’t help but be reeled in by the performances. BCC played an abbreviated version of their current headline set; Black Country, One Last Soul, Crossfire, Save Me, Song of Yesterday, The Outsider, Man In the Middle, Joe Bonamassa’s own The Ballad of John Henry, and a cover of Deep Purple’s Burn. I also understand that Joe Bonamassa put in a guest appearance for Jethro Tull’s encore of Locomotive Breath.

With the sun now setting it was time to break out the flasks of tea and coffee as we settled down to the headline act, two hours of Dream Theater. With the advent of darkness, the stage lighting became a focus for the fans further down the park. Luckily, we were able to appreciate the lighting and the performances of the figures on the stage as we were so close. It was a truly incredible show. They kicked off with Dream Is Collapsing by Hans Zimmer, from the soundtrack of the film Inception. Then we had; Under a Glass Moon, These Walls, Forsaken, and Endless Sacrifice. Four great tracks from four different albums. We were then treated to a drum solo from Mike Mangini before the band came back on stage for Ytse Jam from their first album (Ytse Jam is Majesty spelt backwards, Majesty was the original name of the band). In fact we got tracks from each of their albums as this was followed by Peruvian Skies and The Great Debate. Next, a new track for me, the single On the Backs of Angels taken from their forthcoming album, A Dramatic Turn of Events. Then Caught In A Web, followed by two tracks from Metropolis Pt. 2 (it’s difficult to just get one track from this album as they tend to merge into each other); Through My Words segueing into Fatal Tragedy. Finally, we got The Count of Tuscany from their latest album. Of course, the arena erupted and the crowd bayed for more, and the band came quickly back for their encore: Learning To Live. What an absolutely top couple of hour’s entertainment. High Voltage Festival 2012, here I come!

You don't get up to much. And nothing comes of it. And nothing ever gets you down.

Friday 24 June – now we almost never watch a band on consecutive occasions, but there’s a first time for everything as we find ourselves headed to The Golden Lion in York to watch Dream Of Apollo. I think I’ve only been in this place once before and it certainly didn’t strike me as the best place for listening to live music, but what do I know? There was a square-ish area towards the back where a band could play, a bar down one side and the rest of the floor space was taken up with pews, tables and stools. There was no natural area in which we could stand to listen to the band so we started off as far away as it was possible to get but directly in front, hoping to get the best from the speakers.

It was a miserable night, middle of an English summer, with a chill wind blowing through open window, and later pouring down with rain. The set kicked off with Vicki doing a solo spot of three songs; Mine, For My Lover (Tracy Chapman), and Boats And Birds (Gregory And The Hawk). Don’t be fooled by my encyclopaedic knowledge of the set-list, I snapped it on my ‘phone at the end of the gig. By this time we were frozen and had moved up into the central body of the pub. It has to be said that the acoustics weren’t great and the majority of the punters were desperately talking louder to make their conversations heard of the noise of the band, or watching the tennis on one of the screens dotted around the place.

The full band started their set with Anatole, a song very much in the style of The Decemberists with powerful, story-telling lyrics. I remembered this one from the first time we saw the band and thoroughly enjoyed it. Whilst they do throw in the odd cover, most of the material they play is original and absolutely excellent. The set continued with Sanctuary, Someday, In A Manner of Speaking (Depeche Mode), Leander, Home (when Andy Murray won his match and a huge cheer went up), Jolene (Dolly Parton), and the epic Free with which they closed the first half.

During the interval band-friend Marteen took to the stage and gave us another three songs in which I detected Radiohead’s High And Dry.

For the second half we had managed to move a little closer still and had an unimpeded view of the stage. The sound quality was also much better closer to the band, who played; Regrets Of The Devil, Children, Hold Me, Too Lost, Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash), and my personal favourite, Sandman.

I was half expecting an encore, well one does these days, but the rest of the audience didn’t seem bothered so it never happened. The venue did the band no favours. They are good, stonkingly good. Vicki’s voice is great and the rest of the band are enthusiastic and technically excellent. Best of all, they really seem to enjoy themselves. They undertake a mini-tour in July, full details on MyFace, ending up at Fibbers on 10 July which sadly I will miss as that’s the day after I get married. They pop up again in August at the Galtres Festival at Crayke, but I’m sure we’ll catch them again before then. Very highly recommended.

I bet I'd move just a little further down the line

I've been pretty rubbish at keeping this blog up-to-date, basically because I'm in the throes of selling my house and there are too many other things that need doing. Once that's out of the way I can concentrate on my forthcoming nuptials so please bear with me and I'm sorry if updates are a bit patchy. On the plus side, The Druid is doing a fine job of blogging on behalf of our little group.

Friday 27 May - and we found ourselves in an old haunt, The Old White Swan, to watch Marc Atkinson. We last saw Marc ages ago in The Terrace when we had youngest daughter and her now-husband with us. On that occasion he was letting the audience shout out the titles of their favourite songs and, if he knew them, he played them. Now he has a pre-printed and laminated list of songs that cover a huge number of genres and tastes, so there's something for everyone.

What Marc doesn't do is play and sing in the style of the original artist, instead he puts his own spin on the songs and makes each one his own. He plays the guitar very competently and his voice is big enough to rise above the general hubbub of a busy pub. The audience appreciation for Marc was such that he played well past his allotted time and it was half midnight before we spilt onto the street and headed home. The Druid has a full set list of what Marc played. Highly recommended.

Friday 3 June - We were struggling to find anything of interest but Andy was wanting to go somewhere so we took a bit of a punt with a band we'd never heard of at a venue not formerly noted for putting on live music, Dream Of Apollo at the Yorkshire Hussar.

From memory, the Yorkshire Hussar was only notable to me as an infrequent lunchtime haunt that sold a variety of different meals served in giant Yorkshire puddings. The front bar is cramped at best, there is a snug with room for up to four people, and I could only imagine that a band would have to fit into the back bar.
When we arrived we saw that about half the back bar was taken up by the band's kit. We started the evening leaning on the bar but quickly moved over to the fireplace so that we weren't impeding any drinkers. The lead vocalist, Vicki Mack, started the ball rolling by singing five song, just her and an acoustic guitar. Four were covers, the fifth, appropriately called Mine, was her own. She looks like Sheridan Smith and sings a bit like Stevie Nicks, great vocals.

The rest of the band then took to the stage… area; Winston Sanders on guitar, Rhys Bevan on bass and Jamie Bradley on drums. The tone of the music changed dramatically with the band putting out full-blown rock, and even a bit of prog-rock on a track with more signature changes than I could count. I especially liked their Sandman which I had heard briefly on MyFace and which, after encouragement from the audience, they played as part of their encore. There were a couple of covers thrown in but most of the material was original and extremely good. I rarely like tracks on a first listen but was spellbound by their entire catalogue. For a full set list head over to the The Druid's grove. I would definitely like to hear the band again soon and can't wait for them to put out an album.

Phosphor-coated smile

Monday 16 May - I know it might seem like a cop-out but The Druid has done such a good job of detailing the gig at Fibbers with Hope&Social, Pelico, and Nick Tudor, that it's not worth me bothering. So nip over to his blog and instead.

I wake up to the dawn I’m a stranger in my bed / With one eye on the circle sun I raise my weary head

Friday 29 April – I’m constantly amazed by the fact that, despite my large CD collection and wide taste in music, there are still many excellent artists that I still haven’t stumbled across yet. A case in point arose tonight when three of us (later joined by another two) braved the warm spring air to venture into The Duchess to see Sandi Thom.

Support came from a former guitarist and co-writer from Thom’s band, Marcus Bonfanti. My heart sank somewhat at the sight of one-man-and his-guitar but Marcus immediately blew my socks off with a blistering set of Blues with ferocious guitar work and a huge voice. I’m guessing that the majority of his set was drawn from his album What Good Am I To You as he played the title track and at least two others that I caught the names of; Give Me Your Cash and Sweet Louise. Excellent stuff and highly recommended.

Sandi then took to the stage along with her band; a keyboard player, bass and lead guitarists and a drummer. Sandi has a great voice and is complemented by a set of high-energy musicians. The set consisted of tracks taken from her three albums, but concentrating on her latest release, Merchants and Thieves, plus a few covers thrown in for good measure.

Of the original material I certainly caught Shape I’m In, Runaway Train, Belly Of The Blues and title track Merchants and Thieves. Obviously we got I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flower in My Hair), but nothing like the original. Marcus came onstage to assist on guitar for This Ol’ World. Of the covers we were treated to House Of The Rising Sun and Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain. In fact the whole sound of the band was very much in the style of early Fleetwood Mac, and that’s no bad thing. Very highly recommended.

They are leaving now, to the sound of beating wings

Friday 15 April – and we are down at Fibbers tonight for a bit of post-rock, ambient shoegazing. I love my shoes, the toes are so shiny! Four of us were out tonight, The Druid being accompanied by a work colleague, Richard. Now during the winter months it’s been pretty cold in Fibs so we normally turn up in jumpers and coats. Tonight of course it was quite warm and, in true Fibbers style, the air con wasn’t on, so we had to strip down to shirtsleeves. Ho hum, on with the music.

The first band onstage were Panic Procedure. Hailing from York the band formerly known as Conspiracy Of Many consist of; Hayley Jackson (vocals), Nick Broom (guitar), Ed Walker (guitar), Luke Symonds (bass), and Mike Watkins (drums), although I believe that Luke had a last minute substitute, so don’t quote me on this. They played reasonable rock, Nick Broom in particular stood out with superb guitar playing. Sadly, Hayley’s vocals came across as muddy and fairly monotonal. I’m not sure if this was due to the PA but it did detract from the rest of the band. She could have done with some backing vocals to add variety but the chaps seemed a bit shy of approaching a microphone.

Next in support came a band from Scarborough, The Tiny Eyes. These are: Karl Wei (guitar), Carl Linsdell (vocals and guitar), Mat Downes (bass) and Paul Mason (drums). Their high slung guitars immediate made my hackles rise as this is generally the modus operandi of scattergun strumming, post-punk, noiseniks, not my favourite cup of cocoa. But stay my fluttering heart, they weren’t as bad as I thought, in fact Carl’s voice was pretty awesome. To me they came across as a mix of The Libertines and Blur so it was interesting for me to note that they quoted these, among others, as their influences on FaceSpace. Certainly they their choppy guitar style was Libertine-like but their lyrics were Blur-clever in content and delivery. They produces songs in a variety of styles among which I enjoyed and mentally noted; The Mad Hatter, You’re The One and something about …By The End Of The Evening. I was pleasantly impressed.

And so to the headliners, imported all the way from Sweden for tonight’s delectation were Jeniferever. The band are: Kristofer Jönson (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Martin Sandström (guitars, backing vocals), Olle Bilius (guitar, bass, keyboards, backing vocals), and Fredrik Aspelin (drums, backing vocals), but there was another bass player as well for tonight’s show. With three albums under their belt, this tour was showcasing their most recent offering Silesia. There are obvious parallels in their music to fellow North men Sigur Rós, but Jeniferever are a little less tinkly and a touch more loud. The Druid likened them more to Engineers and I agree with him on that. I didn’t note any of the song titles, I was too busy enjoying myself to be honest. I did notice that the songs that were introduced as being from the current album were more accessible, more immediate, more ‘pop’ if that’s possible with this genre of music. Personally I enjoyed the other tracks, presumably from the older albums. I love the way that repetitive chord sequences are built upon in successive layers of drum ‘n’ bass, keyboards and guitars, into a rich tapestry of noise, the lyrics almost secondary as the voice adds another layer of texture to the overall sound. Absolutely fantastic, highly recommended and I’ve ordered an album to boot.

PS Panic Procedure have pointed out to me that it was Ed that couldn't make it and he was subbed by Tony Capstick. Thanks PP.

A Dales Diary

Monday 28 March - I've been on holiday in The Dales and figured that you might like to know what I've been up to. Then again, maybe you couldn't care less, but I'll tell you anyway.

We had been down in Bournemouth and arrived back home late on Thursday. We rose early on Friday and repacked our bags for the Dales. Then we did a quick food shop as the cottage was self-catering. It was just over an hour's drive away, at a place called Fleetham Holme near Reeth, and we arrived just in time for lunch. There was a "welcome" pack waiting for us with breakfast cereals, milk, eggs, cheese, butter, orange juice and a bottle of wine. That was very thoughtful. We packed away our own groceries and had some lunch, then set off to explore a little. The cottage is one of three at the bottom of a 25% incline from a single track road, perched on the side of the south side of Swaledale. We decided to walk further up the road to see what we could see. After about half a mile we left the road and struck off left along a bridleway through a succession of stonewall enclosed fields. We eventually reached a field that bordered moorland near the top and we could see an artificial turret-like building high above us. The back wall of the field had tumbled down so we went through it and headed up through the heather to investigate. When we finally got to the top there was other track and we were no wiser as to what the ruined building had been. We later found out that it was an old lead mine working, so presumably the track was for hauling away the material from the mine. We then descended back to the cottage just in time for tea. The cottage had a wood-burning stove in the front room so while Lynn was preparing the meal; I went out to the woodshed and chopped some logs up for fuel. Not being used to wielding an axe I managed to send a log spinning and bashed my knee, I've a lovely bruise I could show you. In lighting the fire I managed to set off the CO detector which I then had to disable. After tea I re-enabled the detector and we cosied up on the sofa to watch some TV.

The cottage, although originally built in 1694, was fully equipped; it had an electric oven and halogen hob, all the pots, pans and implements you could think off. There was a shower room, living room and kitchen downstairs. The kitchen still had stone storage shelves. The upper story had a lounge area, which we called the solar as the sun beamed straight into this room, and a huge bedroom. Of course, when it was built people were a bit shorter than today and whilst Lynn managed okay I was constantly banging my head on the stone lintels over the doors and the wooden beams in the ceilings. In the end I walked around the cottage in a permanent stoop. Lynn was in fits of laughter. Water from the cold tap was like the melt from a glacier!

The curtains in the cottage were lined and very thick, and with no light pollution from outside, the bedroom was pitch-black, you couldn't tell if your eyes were open or not! Anyway, at 06:20 on Saturday morning we were awakened by an "a-lamb" clock; it was bleating in the field alongside the cottage. We scoffed a cooked breakfast and then planned our day out. At this stage the weather was a bit iffy but promising to be better the following day so we decided to check out the nearest village, Reeth, and then we drove out to Richmond just to explore the town and its castle a bit. The Swale also passes through the centre of Richmond and tumbles over rocks there which made for some nice pictures. There was a market in full swing and, after a tasting session, we bought some raspberry & redcurrant jam and lemon curd. It turned out that they were made in Elvington near York, duh! We had fish 'n' chips for lunch on a bench in a churchyard, and the cod was particularly tasty. I was on the lookout for a pair of slippers as I was finding the stone flags in the cottage very cold underfoot, so we bought some from the Edinburgh Woollen Mill shop and Lynn bought a new fleece. When we got back to the cottage I noticed that the slippers were a tad snug and I then discovered that I had held them upside down and bought a pair of sixes, not nines. Double duh!

On Sunday the weather was looking very nice indeed. We had a couple of walks that we wanted to do and we thought it best to start with a gentle four and a half mile circular stroll going up and around the north side of the dale. We parked at Reeth and set off following the directions on our crumpled bit of paper, only half trusting it, but secure in the knowledge that we had a proper map just in case. We crossed the Swale by a small suspension bridge and then swung left entering the village of Grinton and then back out into open countryside. We passed through High Fremlington and then the gradient started taking us up. About two hours into the walk we lost faith in our directions thinking we had walked too far along a footpath, so we backtracked and climbed back up a slope called Cuckoo Hill so that we could see the lie of the land, consult our map, and eat lunch. It turned out that the directions were sound; we just needed to go a little further along the path before turning back along the river. We set off again and found the turning with no problem. Once back in Reeth we pottered around the village for a while and then set off back to the cottage. At no point in our travels so far had we got the faintest glimmer of a signal from our mobile 'phones so I just turned mine off completely. I was getting the hang of the fire by now and didn't set off the alarm this time.

On Monday it was brilliant sunshine again so we decided to try the second walk. This was a five and a half mile circular but we decided to extend this by walking from the cottage along a footpath that ran outside our back gate, this would add an extra two miles. We set off after another big breakfast and joined the walk proper at Scabba Wath Bridge. A farmer was coming over the bridge on a 'moon-buggy' loaded with sheep feed so we stopped and watched him drive into a nearby field. The sheep and lambs immediately charged from the adjoining fields towards the farmer, all except for one sheep that had a limp and was plaintively bleating as it desperately hobbled towards him. I'd never make a farmer, I just wanted to pick the poor thing up and carry it to the food. Anyway, we crossed the bridge and bore left towards Fleetham then right onto a footpath that doubled back and took us high up through the fields again. We passed over Barney Beck Bridge and into the tiny village of Healaugh, then gently descended into Reeth again. We stopped off at the King's Arms for a drink and then sat on a bench at the top of a rise in the centre of the village to eat our lunch. Then it was back down to the river and, following its course to the right, gradually rising up until we reached a road that led to Askrigg up and across open moorland. The road then dipped down to Scabba Wath Bridge again and we continued onwards to the cottage. By this time I was sunburnt so as we sat out reading our Kindles in the late afternoon sun I had to wear a hat to stop me from burning any more.

Tuesday was our last full day so we decided to visit the Wensleydale creamery at Hawes. This entailed a rather hairy drive over the top of Swaledale and down into Wensleydale via Askrigg and Bainbridge. The route was hairy because part of the way was very winding and we were enclosed by high drystone walls, so going faster than 20mph was likely to propel us into the front of another vehicle, or the back of a tractor. Where there were no walls, the right hand side of the road fell away like those roads you see in the Italian Alps. Scary stuff. Anyway, the creamery itself was fairly interesting; we watched a film on cheese making, went through a little museum of dairy farm in the Dales, and watched the actual process from a viewing gallery. As it was approaching lunchtime we visited the café area and had some sandwiches and a drink. Then we went around the cheese shop where you can sample all the different types, and buy some, obviously. I went for a blue cheese and an oak smoked Wesleydale, Lynn had one with stem ginger in it and another containing Mexican spices. We browsed the gift shop for a while and then heading into Hawes itself for a wander around the town which was very picturesque. Finally, we headed back to the creamery, jumped in the car and drove back over the top of the Dale back to the cottage.

We were a bit sad to leave on Wednesday as we quite liked the idea of being on our own and just doing what we wanted to do, but we packed our bags and waved goodbye to the cottage. Then we drove towards Arkengarththwaitedale (I may have exaggerated the name for comic effect) where we intended to take lunch at The Charles Bathurst Inn, a popular 'foodie' pub in the area. We arrived before the pub was open so set off across the road and down a footpath that took us about halfway up the side of the dale. There we found a rocky outcrop and sat down to admire the view. The road below us wound its way up the opposite side of the dale, heading over the top and on towards Barnard's Castle. We saw that the pub was opening and so descended for lunch. We had had another large cooked breakfast and weren't terribly hungry, so we just had a mushroom, tomato and mozzarella baguette with side of salad and chips; very tasty indeed. After that we made our way home, which seemed like a foreign country really with even the rural areas looking very built up compared to where we had been staying.

It was back to work, back to reality on Thursday and Friday. We were out at The Basement in York on Friday evening to see our favourite band, Hope&Social. They didn't disappoint and we had a brilliant night out. Ed 'Hombre' had trouble with his amp and it was making dolphin noises. During one song Si forgot that it was his turn to play which led to an hilarious "do I do this bit then?" moment. There was plenty of singing along and even a Mexican wave in the audience with a Zumba Zumba at one end and Ooo Ooo at the other. I'm not going through the set-list for you but there were songs from both albums; Architect Of This Church and April. Both are available as PWYW but better still go watch this band live, you won't regret it.

Tell me why you lied, And what it is you do to keep your eyes all shiny

Friday 11 March - was a complete departure from the norm for us as we travelled into Leeds to see The Decemberists at the O2 Academy. This was a somewhat bigger venue than usual for us and we arrived reasonably early in order to get prime position near the front of the crowd. Support came from Blind Pilot, an American indie folk band based in Portland, Oregon. They were perfect warm up showcasing songs from their debut album 3 Rounds and a Sound with Fleet Foxes-style harmonies and breathy-voiced vocals.

The Decemberists are also an indie folk from Portland but they have no less than six studio albums to their name and are currently touring their latest one The King Is Dead. The band consist of; Colin Meloy (lead singer, guitar, harmonica), Chris Funk (guitar, multi-instrumentalist), Jenny Conlee (Hammond organ, accordion, melodica, piano, keyboards, synthesizer, harmonica), Nate Query (bass guitar, double bass), John Moen (drums, backing vocals, melodica), and for this tour they have Sara Watkins providing Violin, backing vocals, and more guitar. After a brief light 'n' sound theatrical prelude the band launched into Shiny from their 5 Songs EP. This was followed by three tracks from the new album; Down by the Water, Rox in the Box, and Rise to Me. Next they re-visted older material with July July!, The Bagman's Gambit, Annan Water, Won't Want for Love (Margaret In the Taiga), and the epic The Island: Come & See/The Landlord's Daughter/You'll Not Feel the Drowning. Quite how they managed to include excerpts from The Hazards of Love, basically a concept album, into the set is a testament to their musical talent. Then we had another three new songs; Don't Carry It All, Calamity Song, and This is Why We Fight, with Military Wives from Picaresque added into the mix.

For an encore they played two more old numbers; Red Right Ankle (Her Majesty the Decemberists) and Sons and Daughters (The Crane Wife). We even got a second encore when they finally rounded off the gig with June Hymn (The King Is Dead).

This was definitely the gig of the year for me and I can heartily recommend that you try and catch them on tour, or failing that, buy one/more of their albums.

It's been a long hard year, with many ups and downs / and now the summer's here, and we can all come out.

Friday 4 March - now, I'm sorry but I've been really busy at the moment with decorating my house so there's only time for a quick splash 'n' dash of a roundup of our latest outing. This was a RockSound showcase taking place at The Duchess and from the start we all felt the need to grab a pair of free ear defenders from behind the bar, the noise was way too loud. Support came from These City Walls who seemed pretty average to me, which is to say that there was nothing striking about the music, lyrics or stage presense that left any lasting ;memory.

There were three bands being showcased and apparently they take it in turns to be the 'headline' act, so we kicked off with Dinosaur Pile-Up, an alt rock band hailing from Leeds, comprising lead singer and guitarist Matt Bigland, bassist Harry Johns, and drummer Mike Sheils. Musically they reminded me in parts of Nirvana, and Ash, definitely a grunge thing going on there. That said, there was variety in the styles and delivery of each song and I enjoyed them so much that I actually bought their 2010 album Growing pains from the merch stall at the interval. Very good indeed.

This was a bit worrying because it was looking as if my wallet was in for a bit of a battering. Not to worry though, the other two bands weren't a patch on DPU. Next up were The Xcerts a three-piece from Aberdeen; Murray MacLeod (vocals & guitar), Jordan Smith (backing vocals & Bass), and Tom Heron (backing vocals & drums). I'm pretty sure that most of their set was drawn from their album Scatterbrain but none of the material stayed in my head long enough to register before it was blasted out by the next song. The volume was doing nothing to endear me.

The 'headline' act was Japanese Voyeurs, London based and comprising; Tom Lamb (guitar), Johnny Seymour (bass), Romily Alice(vocals/guitar), Steve Wilson (drums), and Rikki Waldren (keyboard). Once more the sheer volume of noise deadened any redeeming factors. Romily looked like a young Avril Lavigne but had a voice like fingernails on the classroom blackboard. Their material was pretty much Paramore with very little variety between each track. If I sound dismissive, I'm sorry. I'm sure that I'm doing these bands (part from DPU) a disservice by my lack of enthusiasm but I really struggled to hear much beyound the volume, and I'm not some miserable old goat, and I have listened to some louder bands who still managed to get their music across, so there's no excuse.

I've looked under chairs, I've looked under tables, I've tried to find the key, To fifty million fables

Friday 25 February - no original music this week, we are happy to settle for decent beer and a covers band, so that'll be at The Roman Bath then. Apparently there's a band called The Pepperhearts playing tributes to The Beatles and they certainly seemed to be popular as we have to queue up to get in as the pub was so full. After fighting our way to the bar and coming away with an armful of beers we took up station to watch/listen to the band amid a constant river of folk streaming in and out of the front door, and en route to the rest rooms. The Pepperhearts were good, they certainly recreated the sound of the Fab Four as far as humanly possible, but the material began to sound a bit samey and it dawned on us that they didn't seem to be able to break through 1965. It was all the very early stuff, which is OK if you like 2-3 minute songs, but 1965 was the year that The Moptops spread their musical wings and transcended every other band. Maybe the later years were to be featured in the second half of their performance, but by half-time we were jaded and decided to move on.

As so it was that we found ourselves in O'Neills to watch The Mothers. Now we've seen these before on a couple of occasions but tonight they are sporting a new vocalist and a chap on keyboards that looks suspiciously like a refugee from Hijack Oscar. Nonetheless, we were treated to a fine selection of old and (relatively) new covers including Take Me to the River (Al Green), You Really Got Me (The Kinks), Superstition (Stevie Wonder), The Seeker (The Who), Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine (James Brown), I Predict A Riot (The Kaiser Chiefs), Back In The USSR (the Beatles) which segued into Jumping Jack Flash (The Rolling Stones), In The Midnight Hour (Wilson Pickett), Paranoid (Black Sabbath), Tainted Love (Soft Cell), The Jean Genie (David Bowie), and many more. Top stuff.

Tortured spirits cry / fear is in their eyes / ghostly images die

Friday 11 February - and three of us are out tonight at Fibbers to see a band that we know are going to be good. First of all though there was support, apparently garnered at the last minute, from another chap that we've seen before, Marck Whiley aka Marbled (and on MyFace). I last saw Marck supporting Hope & Social at Stereo. His songs didn't latch into my consciousness at the time and on this occasion it took a little while for me to twig as to who he was. Tonight he was using a double mic with echo on one of them which gave an added layer to his singing, and he has a great voice. The problem I have is that his songs tend towards the miserablist, and that can make for a dull set. However, he did leave the stage and come amongst the audience for a couple of songs, including a Valentine's Day number which he used to serenade a young lady. The second unplugged song was The Beat Goes On about comparing songs and bands to those he heard in the sixties.

The headliners tonight were Panic Room (and on MyFace). The current line-up sports a new bass player in the form of the energetic Yatim Halimi who joins top prog vocalist/guitarist Anne-Marie Helder, lead guitarist Paul Davies, keyboard player Jonathan Edwards, and drummer Gavin Griffiths.

Now at this point I have to confess that I only own their first album, the extremely good Visionary Position and a lot of the set was taken from their 2010 album, Satellite. This is by way of excusing my lack of knowledge of the songs that I heard.

They came onto the stage amid smoke and twiddly lights (in the capable hands of Andy "The Crow") and some rather sonorous music from what sounded like a brass band, before crashing into Freedom To Breathe. This was followed by some top prog tracks from Satellite before the first track that I recognised, the robotic Elektra City, followed by Reborn. Apparently the band are writing new songs as they tour and one of these was the outstanding Song For Tomorrow. Towards the end we had Apocalypstick and a cover of Bitches Crystal. Originally from ELP's 1971 album Tarkus, Panic Room had recorded a version that was due to be released as an disc of ELP covers by Classic Rock magazine. Due to copyright publishing problem the disc was never released, which is a shame. The set closed with the intense metal track Dark Star and spaced-out epic ballad Satellite. For an encore we got another just-penned song that the band think might end up being called Promises, it's that new! Very highly recommended.

Panic Room are very much a band waxing so it's unlikely that will we see their likes for a good while in York, unless the new Barbican pull their fingers out and start booking some decent acts. I can but hope.

Can you remember remember my name / As I flow through your life

Friday 4 February - and three of us assemble at The Duchess for beer, bands, and tales of broken cars.

First band of the evening was The Bitter Image, a four piece from York who nearly blew my ears off with their first chord. Boy, were they loud, and yet they were also very tuneful and the vocals were crisp and clear. Stylistically I would label them as heavy rock, a bit like QotSA, but that doesn't do justice to the variety of their melodies. This was no band of shouty brothers. I've seen these twice before and they are definitely improving with age. Recommended.

The second band, Dorien Starre (and on FaceBok), we last saw back in November last year when they delivered a blistering set. Tonight was no exception. Based in Leeds, the band consists of: Leo Derevonko (lead vocals & rhythm guitar), Alex Derevonko (bass guitar & backing vocals), Ian Talton (lead guitar & backing vocals), and Andrew Ackroyd (drums & woodblock). Leo has real stage presence and distinctive vocals that lift him from the sea of average singers. The band are building a real canon of quality material, from old stuff like Obsessive Compulsive, to their latest song, LCD. They must have enough now to seriously consider putting out an album. Note to band: I'm waiting with baited cash. But to put me on I purchased their excellent EP. Highly recommended.

This was turning into a top evening's entertainment and I was eagerly awaiting the final act, Glass (on MyFace and FaceBok). Glass are a three-piece band from York comprising; Alexander King (guitars/vocals), Andy Curry (bass/vocals), and Dan Whiting (drums). We were a bit unsure what to expect having read reviews containing the words "Gothic", "Dark", "post-punk", and "theatrical", but it all sounded mysterious and exciting.

The band burst into their first track and I was left a very puzzled bunny. There were keyboards and an extra layers of drums, synthesized I think, but clearly no such instruments being played on the stage. They were playing over a backing track, and I felt somewhat cheated. Alex was sporting a trilby and the drum kit was arrayed with disco lighting lines. So, not dark, not gothic, more like Duran Duran for the naughties. This was electronica verging on dance. It was tight and there was no denying the talent in the individual band members, but the initial shock of them playing over a backing track and a substantial wedge of their material being dance-orientated left me cold and I never really got into the music. Disappointing.

As I assembled this blog I realised that I had seen Glass before, back in the middle of 2009, and enjoyed them then. The line-up has changed since; Andy Curry has moved from synth to bass, and they've lost original bass player Jim Stafford. At that time I tried to convey a sense of their sound by describing it as having a whiff of ABC and a gothic Roxy Music. Ah, those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end.

We lost the skyline, we stepped right off the map / Drifted in to blank space, and let the clocks relapse

Friday 28 January - and it was a full turn out tonight to watch three bands that were entirely new to us. As an added bonus the bands were playing at The Duchess so there was decent beer on hand and a generally nice atmosphere. There have been a few alterations to the venue since we were last in, most noticeably the open area to the right, as you look at the stage, has been enclosed. It was a wasted area anyway, so no loss to the venue size.

Tonight’s first band were Sombre. I could only find two names, Luke Saxton and Robert Green, but there were three of them so I'm guessing that mystery man was the drummer. Anyway, they come from York and reminded me somewhat of an English Sigur Ros or Fleet Foxes, very much in the shoegazing genre which I do enjoy. The vocals were clear and the keyboards put to good effect as a background to the guitar playing. Just when they sounded as if they were beginning to sound a bit samey, they changed the tempo to round off thirty minutes of very enjoyable music. A great start to the evening and a band that I can highly recommend listening to.

Next up were Missing Kids, a two-piece that I assume come from the York area, as that's mostly where they seem to perform. Mr D'Mudie sings and play guitar, whilst Miss S'Anderson drums and provides backing vocals. The vocals were muffled, clearly they couldn't blame the sound system, their songs were full of dreary riffs and never went anywhere. It wasn't so much that the wheels came off, they were never on in the first place. It was a miserable set with pregnant pauses between each song punctuated by needless strumming.

We were hoping that the final band were going to lift the evening. The ABC Club (and on on FaceSpace), a 5-piece from Leeds with a fair bit of hype surrounding them. The band are; Zandra Klievens (vocals), Jordan Radcliffe (guitar), Jack Haigh (bass), James Burkitt (drums), David Barber (guitar). Musically they played well, Klievens came across as a bit 'Morrisey' with her thick sweater, arms behind her back, and motionless stance, but she sang well. The performance was strangely stilted. It appeared that the drummer and the lead guitarist were the only ones who actually wanted to be there, the rest just seemed to be going through the motions. When I judged them to be about half-way through their set, I nipped off to the toilet and when I came back they were gone! It seems that the rhythm guitarist had put his instrument down, the lead guitarist had flung his to the floor and they had all stormed off in a huff. All very unprofessional and I can only think that there is some unresolved tension within the band. Just a bit rubbish really.

So, a bit of a strange evening but we did get to hear one outstandingly good band, Sombre, so not a complete waste of time.

Here's my debt to you, I wanted to say I breathe for you / But you are a world away, a world away

Friday 21 January - Musically, there hadn’t been much to tempt us out so far this year, but tonight we were off to Fibbers to see four bands that I’d seen before, so I was pretty sure that we were going to enjoy ourselves.

I’m still not happy with Fibbers as a live music venue. It has no character and the drinks are exorbitantly priced. Anyway, we arrived about half way through the first of four acts, Boss Caine (Dan Lucas). The crowd was a bit thin on the ground but those that were there made up for their lack of numbers by the volume of their chat, all of which left Dan struggling to be heard and reduced his songs to a rather lacklustre drone, even when accompanied by Vin North on harmonica for the last two or three songs.

The second band to play were The Blueprints. Now I’d not seen these since early 2008 and the band have undergone some changes since then; Stuart Allan (vocals and guitar) and Russ Broadbent-(drums and vocals) still form the core of the band, with new (to me) boys Mark Waters (bass) and Tom Williams (keyboards and vocals) joining them. Their style of playing was also greatly improved. I quite liked them previously but tonight they really blew my socks off with their up-lifting, indie music and slightly squeaky vocals. Recommended.

Band three were one of my favourite York bands, 98Pages (and on FaceSpace), a power blues trio consisting of Martyn Fillingham (guitars and vocals), Jase Brooks (bass), and Andy Black (drums). Their debut album Broken Homes And The Halfway House was released in 2009 and since then they have added an enormous amount of new material to their canon of work. I only recognised about three of their songs. The new stuff is louder, darker, cleverer, but there’s more soft material too, edgy, moody. Martyn speaks of wanting to release some EPs and maybe another album this year; well he has plenty to pick and choose from. This band is really taking off, very highly recommended.

The headline act tonight was The Buccaneers. Originally a three piece consisting of Andre de Gaye (guitar & vocals), Leo Wild (bass), and Jonny Gatenby (drums & vocals), their ranked swelled in April 2010 with the addition of Vin North (acoustic guitar & harmonica) previously of Hijak Oscar. On previous occasions I’ve been somewhat underwhelmed by The Buccaneers style of garage R’n’B and I’m afraid to say that was the case tonight. Maybe it was because The Blueprints and 98Pages were so good, maybe it was because the clubbers had started trickling in early and were busy chatting away, oblivious to the fact that a live band was playing. Whatever, I simply felt a bit disappointed. Sorry guys.