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.
1 comment:
And I'm told Breathing Space's Barnsley gig on Thursday night (which I couldn't make) attracted an audience of just eleven paying punters. Why does a band this good struggle to find an audience?
BTW, John Hart isn't a guest; he's a full member of the band.
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