You broke, my mouth, the bloody bits are spittin' out/Your grave, unscathed, the worm is countin' down the day

Friday 4 September - In an attempt to top up on our listening of original music, tonight sees 'A' and I at Fibbers where the headline act is doing a farewell gig, which is actually a bit Irish, if we like them, we'll never see them again! Anyway, first on the bill was A New Society, but it clearly wasn't them as it was one bloke and a guitar. We never worked out what his name was, but he was actually rather good. He sounded a bit like Damien Rice.

Just to confuse us a little more, the second and third supports bands had been switched, so the second act turned out to be The M62s. From the opening chord my clothes were vibrating. The drum (Mike C) was mixed way too loud and the vocals (Martin T) were lost in distortion. I'm sure at various points the drum missed the odd beat. On the positive side they sounded pretty good, a bit like Ash. The bass in particular, played by Chris W, was wicked, very good indeed. Martin also did some pretty nifty looking guitar soloing, but again, the sound was lost in the mix. Shame really. We've been to gigs at Fibbers before and, even with loud bands, we know it's possible to get a mix where the vocals and instrumentation are distinct, so there are no excuses. Mr Mixing desk, please take note.

The next act, Elan Vitale, didn't suffer so much in the mix, possibly because they weren't so loud. Fronted by Tommy (Joe 90 with side-burns), they are a York five-piece Indie/New Wave band with a distinctive and fresh sound. They had the energy of the Arctic Monkeys but had a darker edge. Tommy's vocals reminded me of Rick Witter in his Shed 7 days. Overall they were very tight, and definitely one to watch out for in the future.

And so, finally, to the headline act, and by this time it was getting very crowded. I had forgotten, but we'd seen Airheads before, strangely enough in September 2008, although that time it was at The Duchess. We only caught half their act on that occasion but I really liked them. This time they appeared to be a pale imitation of their former selves. Maybe it was because Elan Vitale were so good, maybe I was expecting more with the hype of a farewell gig. What was certain was that the enthusiasm of the crowd exceeded the talent on the stage. Sorry guys.

As the music had finished so early, Airheads didn't even bother with an encore, we made our way over to The Roman Bath where covers band Storm were in full flow. We entered to the strains of Green Day's Basketcase, closely followed by Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon. They did a 10 minute medley of popular covers, followed by an unnecessary version of The Timewarp, before finishing with Prince's Purple Rain and Whitesnake's Here I go Again. A very pleasant way to round off the evening.

You can light the fire inside your head

Friday 5 September – OK, it’s going to be a busy weekend, so let’s get right on with it. Friday night is a bit of a punt, we’re off to The Duchess for what looks like an interesting line-up. First on the bill is York-band Airheads, actually five guys from Huntington in York the band consists of; James Rodgers, Harry Owen, Tristan Kirkpatrick, Ash Lovelace, and James Blackburn. They’ve supported bands such as Look See Proof, Glasvegas, Team Waterpolo, Disarm and PARKA, but for tonight are self-confessed “Duchess virgins”. I arrived about half way through their gig. Shame on me, because they sounded really good. Two things stood out. 1 they had a stonking great synth in the middle of the stage. 2 one of the guitarist was wearing no shoes, just stripy socks. In that way he reminded me of the rhythm guitarist from Scary. Whatever happened to them? Anyway, Airheads produced great sounding synth/pop/rock with catchy, melodic riffs underwritten by the synth line, reverberating guitars, solid bass lines, and precision drumming. Top notch. I will definitely be looking for these guys again. Their next gig is at Fibbers on 19 October when they support Team Waterpolo and Defend Moscow.

So, the evening was off to a good start and the Theakstons XB was sliding down beautifully. The second act was Euros Child the former vocalist and keyboard player from Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. He was being assisted by some chap who played guitar and drums, but I’m afraid I’ve no idea who he was. Sorry. I’m assuming that most of the material played was off his latest solo album The Miracle Inn, as it sounded to be in English and his previous two albums had featured vocals in Welsh. The set kicked off with three or four guitar-based songs that gave an impression of Simon & Garfunkle at their height. Pretty damn good I thought. Unfortunately Euros then switched to keyboards and the wheels starting coming off. It was like listening to the Pet Shop Boys but without the catchy choruses. The songs started, drifted about a bit, and then ended. They just didn’t go anywhere. I wanted to like him. He has a fantastic voice. But it really didn’t float my boat.

And so to the headline act, The Dodos, a duo from San Francisco consisting of; Meric Long (vocals, acoustic guitar and keyboards), and Logan Kroeber (backing vocals and percussion). They are joined on this tour by Joe Haener who filled in the gaps with glockenspiel, a half-pint piano/keyboard affair, and a dustbin for a bit of extra oomph in the drum department. I kid you not. The band created beautifully orchestrated pieces of music, ranging from soft chanting and wistful lyrics, to escalating primal screams and frantic strumming. The drumming was driving and frantic and the sound was enhanced by Kroeber having a tambourine strapped to his foot! The music? Well it’s psychedelic/folk. Think of Fleet Foxes, White Denim, Bon Iver, The Hold Steady, or Athlete on speed. It’s folk and anti-folk, guitars played hard and fast but remaining acoustic. The set kicked off with some traditionally formatted songs, among them Walking and the single Red and Purple with its tribal drumming (think West African Ewe drumming and gamelan). The set then veered off into much longer tunes, exploring sonic landscapes, so difficult to describe as mere songs in a conventional sense. A particular highlight for me was Fools, a track from their new album Visiter, with feedback drenched slide guitar and ramshackle drums bashing away in the background. The band was in its best prog-mode on Joe's Waltz. The first four minutes devoted to a sombre, down-tempo ballad that gave way to a three-minute, near-punk thrasher where Long was insisting to the song's subject that they "need help." Long used agile, feverish strumming on his guitar and had a sweetly awkward voice. Kroeber drummed with a fury forged from his prog-metal background. Absolutely first-rate and thoroughly recommended.

Despite The Dodos playing an hour long gig it was still reasonably early when we left The Duchess so we headed into the heart of York to round off the evening at The Roman Bath. The band playing here was Dufflegoat, a York three-piece consisting of; Roger Newton (guitar, backing vocals), Tony Gilpin (Bass, lead vocals), and Paul Marshall (drums).

Obviously we only caught about a quarter of their set but the band managed to rattle off an impressive array of covers from; Led Zep, Voodoo Chile, Foxy Lady (Jimi Hendrix), Won’t get fooled again (The Who), Warpigs (Black Sabbath), and apparently only the second time of playing it, The Green Manalishi With the Two Pronged Crown (Fleetwood Mac). Pretty blooming good and well worth checking out properly when they next play in York, Thursday 20 November at The Stone Roses, or Sunday 7 December at The Roman Bath.