Creeps in my head/Have all gone to bed

Wednesday 12 March – A mid-week excursion to Fibbers to watch one of my current favourite bands, The Mexicolas. But there are three support bands to wade through first....

I arrived a little way into the first band’s set and Cool Cat was already propping up the bar. Kid Gloves are a five-piece from York consisting of: Oliver Regan (lead vocals and tambourine), Rory Brown (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), Adam Skalski (bass guitar and backing vocals), Robin Moss (drums), and Dan Thompson (lead guitar). They have recently released an EP called Osbaldwick. The second song I heard was a non-too-shabby cover of the Kings of Leon’s On Call, but I’m afraid most of their material was a bit Indie-by-numbers; Revolution, Home. Their one good song was She Ain’t My Girl, which I believe is on the EP.

So, next up were Red Chevrons, another five-piece from York consisting of: Nick Stephenson (vocals, guitar), Rob Rhodes (guitar, backing vocals), Glen Pepper (guitar), Andy Wardell (drums), and Max d'Alquen (bass, cool surname). I’m sad to report that they didn’t seem to enjoy what they were doing, there was no conviction in the vocals, and the performance was very lacklustre. Songs included: Fall and Rise, Maybe Someday, Rock and Roll (which wasn’t at all), and something about “Never Forget My Name”. They sounded like a weedy cross between Oasis, Shed Seven and Snow Patrol. Come on lads, put some welly into it!

Fortunately it was a game of two halves and by my second pint of Landlord, and Cool Cat’s second hand-pulled Tetley’s, band number three were treading the sticky boards. A noisy group in front of us were progressively moving back towards us so, thinking laterally, we moved in front of them. They were last seen talking themselves backwards into the toilets! Manifesto are a four-piece from York consisting of: Adam Molzahn (vocals, percussion, mouthorgan), Ben Molzahn (guitar, vocals synchronised surnames), Will Cook (bass, vocals), Tom Cook (drums, synchronised surnames). Now these were much better. Adam sings in a style reminiscent of Robert Smith of The Cure, or Martin Rossiter of Gene (well, not quite, Rossiter does have one of the best voices on this planet, IMHO). I couldn’t make out what the songs were called, but some seemed to be something along the lines of Just not happening, and Let’s pretend/There’s something there. I’d like to hear this band again.

So to the main event, and the crowd at Fibs was a bit thin tonight, maybe because it was a Wednesday, maybe because The Mexicolas haven’t received the publicity they so richly deserve. Shame on you! Anyway, we shuffled down near the front for the maximum volume experience. The Mexicolas are a power trio from Birmingham, consisting of: Jamie Evans (vocals, guitars), Del Carter (bass, backing vocals), and Tim Trotter (drums, percussion, backing vocals). Jamie fronted several bands (Lukan and FIN) and started working with the likes of Nigel Kennedy, Ruby Turner and Brian May. He has toured and supported the likes of Alice Cooper, Def Leppard, Thunder, Rachel Stamp and Wheatus. Touring took its toll and Jamie returned to the UK and hooked up with TT, and a little later, Del. The band name comes from when Jamie was taking a flight in America and the inbound flight ticket read; Mexico-LA. The name stuck.

My high anticipation of this gig was not unfounded, and the band played practically every track from their beautifully crafted debut album X. The volume was LOUD, but they delivered clear (gruff) vocals and instrumental work that exceeded the high production values of the album. Absolutely first-class. Big In Japan with its early-Police stop-start dynamics. Easy Smile with its Byrds-like harmonies, which Jamie says “reveals to a few people from the past that all smiles were forced more often than not”, Spies “I’m trying to say how it feels to be in the same room as someone, but be somewhere else altogether in my head”, Belong – “finally accepting that something’s are better left alone, you can’t force happiness.” They didn’t bother leaving the stage for the encore, but just played on. The only disappointment was that they didn’t play the haunting Times Infinity, one of my favourite tracks off the album. Cool Cat was so impressed that he bought a copy as we made our way out. Best gig of ’08, so far.

Lend me your ear while I call you a fool/You were kissed by a witch one night in the wood

Friday 24 August and we are at Fibbers for the Odin Dragonfly debut album launch. Arriving about 20:20 I find the place is as silent as a grave, but not because of a lack of customers, oh no. Sarah Elizabeth Dean (see also Soundsphere) is playing harp and singing on-stage and respectful punters are whispering their orders over the bar ‘cos nobody wants to be the pin that drops. As she finishes her last song, our final musketeer arrives, a bit miffed that he’s missed her. Still, more about that later.

Next up is Aimie J Ryan singing and playing acoustic guitar. She looks familiar and after a wee while I figure out that Aimie actually works here, behind the bar! Right, that’s all sorted then. The crowd is thickening a bit now and a few familiar faces are beginning to reveal themselves: Livvy Sparneen (Breathing Space and backing vocalist with Mostly Autumn) with her ‘rents and latest squeeze, Bryan Josh (Mostly Autumn), Chris Johnson (ex-Lo-beams, Hazzard County, keyboards with Mostly Autumn), and of course Angela and Heather themselves mingling with the crowd, before going onstage.

Odin Dragonfly kick off and are extremely well received, not surprising really. They rattle off almost the whole album track for track but have to drop a few towards the end because of time constraints. Heather gets a bit tearful a couple of times, sometimes the lyrics are a bit too close to home following her split from Fish last month. Angela is completely radiant (expecting the patter of tiny footsteps) and the girls keep up a lively banter between themselves and with the crowd. Overall, bloody brilliant. Of course, I bought the album and got Angela to sign it. I’m so sad.

Having left Fibbers, we ambled along to The Old White Swan. We couldn’t remember if the Hazzards were playing or not, especially having seen Chris at Fibbers. Anyway, there they all were: Chris, John, Tom and Paddy, getting ready for the second half of their set. They are, as usual, flipping superb. The only downer on the evening was the lack of John Smiths, and I was reduced to drinking Bass. Blah! As we were about to leave, we spotted Sarah Dean (the harpist) again and spent a good half an hour chatting to her about playing the harp. I never realised that there were pedals and levers for changing key. This all goes to prove, that going to the pub can be an education. Oh, and Sarah gave my mate a demo CD to compensate for missing her performance. He was very pleased.

Have you been to the carnival/I would like to see you

That was a very nice holiday, thank you, but I’m back in white. Yes, I know, normally I wear black, but this is where the story starts so bear with me. It was a full turn out at Fibbers as four of us gathered to watch Cardboard Radio’s final gig. Are we a jink? Do we only watch bands in their death throes? Nah.

CR were doing a two hour set with appearances from special guests throughout the evening. So we had the lardy cake that is CRs scatter gun sound with a light sprinkling of Led Zep covers, decorated with large dollops of Haley Hutchinson, Rob Hughes (Idle Jack And The Big Sleep), Chris Helme , fragments of Hijak Oscar and more. Very tasty.

Now is it me, or now that we are smoke free does everybody smell a bit sweaty, a bit cheesy feet, a bit incontinent? Speaking of which, I was making my way to the gents, resplendent in my white shirt, when Mr Hughes turned away from his mates and collided with me and managed to empty the best part of his large glass of red wine down my right hand side. Cheers mate!

After the party we stumbled along to the Old White Swan to catch the second half of Hazzard County’s act. The balmy evening had dried most of my wine stain out by this time and we settled in to rounding off the evening with some comfort in sound. The Hazzards did their usual sterling job, which sounds pretty bland but actual belies the fact that they are bloody good. They finished off with a psychedelic version of Who do you love which segued into Iggy Pop’s I wanna be your dog, with just a touch of Steppenwolf’s Born to be wild in the middle. It was absolutely flipping brilliant!

I didn’t get home until a quarter to two in the morning but you’ll be glad to hear that a half hour soak and a white wash cycle has restored my shirt to its original gleaming whiteness. Of course, I’ll never wear white again, ho hum.

Put on your dressing gown you won’t be going far…

Thursday is a rare mid-week treat, an outing to Fibbers for the, much anticipated, only northern UK full-band appearance for the rest of 2007 of one of my favourite bands. But hold sir; let us tally first with the support acts. Kicking off we have faces familiar in York, Hijak Oscar, featuring Mr Fox on “Our Monica” and vocals, Emma Keaveney on lead vocals (nice voice Emma!), Carl Hetherington on Keyboards, Honey Love on Bass, Dave Hartley on Drums, and Mad Mark on Lead/Slide guitar. They produce a high-voltage bluesy sound. Catch them again Friday 27 July at Fibs when they are supporting Sevenball and Bosscaine.

Next up was a new band on me, The Debuts, who come from Halifax and Leeds. The band consists of Zandra (Vocals), Jordan (Guitar), Jack (Bass), Sam (Drums), David (Guitar), and frankly, they look as if they are skiving off school (except it’s evening, and half-term, doh!) Despite their youth they play competently, although the vocals are mumbled in a Robert Smith stylee and I can’t hear the lyrics. Although that might be because of my advanced years.

The smokers now started streaming back indoors as we prepared for the main event, Four Day Hombre. We moved down into the middle of the room to optimise viewing and listening. It’s been a big 12 months for FDH, seeing the release of their critically acclaimed debut album Experiments in Living; 3 sell-out UK tours; their first European and Irish tour dates; the release of a mini-album Fight Death and a 22-date national tour with Embrace and Delays, plus a month long Canadian tour and more recently appearances in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I you like Elbow you’ll love FDH, in fact if you have any musical taste at all you’ll love them. Hailing from Leeds, the band consists of; Simon Wainwright (Vocals, Guitar & Piano), Rich Huxley (Vocals & Guitar), Ed Waring (Keyboards), Jason Miller (Bass), Ash (Drums). They are currently recording material for a new album and we were treated to a couple of new songs and one really old one, but essentially this was Experiments in Living: Live! with each track gloriously strung out, fantastically matured and brilliantly performed. The album is great, but live it is sublime. I particularly loved the bolero that is Single Room and audience favourite Inertia.

Friday and a bit of a dilemma; do we trot, Pavlov’s dog-like, to the Old White Swan, knowing full well that Hazzard County are not playing, or do we steer our feet in the direction of the Roman Bath and a Hull band called Penetrators that play “classic rock and blues from the 60’ to the 00’s”? Well lick my own bottom, here we are at the Old White Swan and it is jammed to the rafters. What the blithering heck is going on? Landlord Tom has bought in fem-fronted covers band Under the Covers (no hyperlink, sorry). The John Smith’s and FOR (Female Orientated Rock) must had had a bewitching effect on us because, despite the crush, we didn’t seem capable of leaving. The mix of covers was quite diverse; Pink, Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac, Bryan Adams, Scissor Sisters, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Santana. I thought The Cranberries Zombies was particularly left-field and I really enjoyed that. There was a bit more funk that is generally good for me and seeing blokes dance is always a scary sight. The lead guitarist was extremely good (sorry didn’t catch your name) and the bass guitarist, Helen, was excellent. The lead vocalist had a great voice, but again, I didn’t catch her name.

I’m waiting for an angel now/to lift me up above the clouds

Friday sees a return to Fibbers to watch the much lauded indie band, Jyrojets. First on the bill is local band Lips Akimbo (that’s a local band, for local people). A bit strange in the way the band members don’t like to start playing all at the same time, or even to all finish at the same time, but the middle bits are OK in a toe-tapping sorta way. The second band on are The Federals, another York band and one that I think I’ve seen before. The bass player is very energetic and the sound is a bit like the love child of The Velvet Underground and The White Stripes.

Finally, on come the Jyrojets. You can tell that they are a proper band; they have a proper website, not just an entry on MyFace. Hailing from Scotland, The Jyrojets are: Colin Fraser (Lead Vox, Guitar), Chris Bain (Guitar, Vox), Martin Stewart (Keys, Vox), Veeb (Drums), Dougie Edwards (Bass). Their debut album is set for release late summer, and they released a single, ‘Favourite Thing About Jane’, on 14 May. They have supported some big names; Richard Ashcroft, Dirty Pretty Things, The Kaiser Chiefs and The Ordinary Boys, and played festivals in Spain and Moscow. Overall they sounded a bit like The Supernaturals, a late 1990’s indie-pop band, also from Scotland, who enjoyed minor chart success with hits such as Smile, I Wasn't Built to Get Up, Love Has Passed Away and The Day Before Yesterday's Man. Strangely enough, I saw The Supernaturals at Fibbers as well, and frankly, I thought that they were a lot better than the Jyrojets. So a bit of a disappointment, but at least it was smoke-free.

After the gig we literally ran through York, in and out of doorways, trying to avoid the torrential rain, to get to The Old White Swan where Hazzard County were just finishing off their first set. I was drenched but the thing that made the barmaid laugh was a red badge on my jacket lapel which read ASBO, in fact a promotional badge for a single by Limousine. Sitting at a table right in front of the stage area was Chris Helme (ex-Seahorses, now The Yards). Later in the evening I had a chat with Chris who was pretty shattered after an exhausting week. He left some flyers with me for The Yards next gig at The Post Office Club on Marygate, Thursday 26th July.

Saturday evening was a trip to the Roman Bath where Bradfordband Full Tilt treated us to a cacophony of rock classics, covers from the likes of; Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Bad Co., Free, Lenny Kravitz, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Metallica, G’n’R (well strictly speaking Bob Dylan’s Knocking’ on Heavens Door), and Nirvana.

It's one o'clock and time for lunch...

I’ve not watched Seven ages of Rock yet, so you’ll have to wait. However, Friday night was fairly awesome. Four of us turned up at Fibbers to witness the last ever gig of The Nicoles. Shame! I turned up at 20:00 so I missed the first band, Milk Round Brown, so I can’t comment on them, sorry chaps. As I settled into the first few sips of Worthington, on came The Becoming Suits, and I can’t say I was terribly impressed, although the lead singer sounded a bit like a very young Byran Ferry. Next upon the stage... Limousine and a different kettle of kittens altogether. A five piece from Blackpool, I really enjoyed this band, in fact I even parted with cash and bought the album and single. Fantastic. Personally, I think they sound a bit like 100 Reasons, but they cite their influences as; Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Motley Crue, U2, Oceansize, Elbow, AC/DC, Faith no More, Jeff Buckley, Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots, The Who, YOURCODENAMEIS:MILO, R.E.M, Queen, Beatles. That can’t be bad, can it?

By this time Fibs was absolutely heaving, it must have been nearly at capacity, and the band we has all come to see, The Nicoles. On the verge of a tour, on the verge of greatness, on the verge just outside my house.... they split, and this was the farewell gig. The crowd loved it and sang along with all the songs. We squeezed about half way through the throng but stopped just short of the jumping, seething mass of youngsters. This was probably the best performance that I’ve seen them give, and for their two encore songs, they invited the audience to shout out what they wanted the band to play, Xbox and Food and Ambulance, firm favourites with everyone.

The pubs were still open when we left so we chanced our arms at the Old White Swan, just in case Hazzard County still existed. Sadly the Hazzards weren’t there but many thanks to Mike who stumbled across this link http://www.myspace.com/hazzco where I can find out when they will be playing next (13 July at the Old White Swan). Meanwhile, back in the Bat Cave.... we had NZ Dave and Simon Snaize on vocals and acoustics, a chap on a double bass, one on a snare drum, an a lady on violin. They were actually pretty good, but I got a bit distracted by three lovely Geordie lasses. Oops.

Sunday was the French Grand Prix and a jolly exciting way to spend the afternoon. The Ferrari new aero package was enough to give them the edge over the McLarens and Raikkonen zipped past P2 Hamiliton and even managed to get the better of Massa to grab the trophy. Alonso battled bravely back and managed to nick 2 points, even Button scraped one. Albers dragged a fuel hose out of the pits and was forced to retire. I can’t think why Hamilton was on a three stop strategy when everyone else was on two. With a pit stop taking about 27 seconds he would have been in much closer contention with Raikkonen and Massa, but hey ho, he did get a podium finish and he’s still well in the lead in the driver’s table. Can’t wait for next week!

A Whole Lotta Blog

Friday night and I’m not watching Hazzard County. Shame on me! But I do have a good excuse, I’m at Fibbers enjoying a two hour show by Led Zeppelin tribute band Whole Lotta Led. Now I’ve seen these boys before and they are the next best thing, trust me. At the beginning the crowd is a bit thin, crusties in the middle and working backwards, younger Zep fans up front, pressed against the stage barrier. As the evening progresses, the pressure builds from the back and we are all gently squeezed forwards as the late-comers cramming in. It would be tedious for me to detail every Zep song that they covered, basically it was a “best of”. It can’t be as good as the original, but the boys put in a fantastic effort; Lee Addison’s vocals soaring, Nick Ferris delivering a truly virtuoso guitar performance, Geoff Hunt incredible on bass, and Graham Twist who served up a ten minute drum solo to die for. Utterly awesome.

Tuesday's Gone

How exciting, a weekday outing to Fibbers, so who having have we got playing on this fine Tuesday evening?

The first band on were local boys AKP (Auto Kinetic Playback) a four piece rock band comprising: Alex King on Vocals and guitars, Andy Curry on Vocals and Synth, Leo Derevonko on Bass, and Dan Whiting on Drums. Apparently, Alex builds his own guitars which he calls “Alexandercasters” and Andy draws comics (and also plays in Dust Bowl Central). They operate out of The White Rooms rehearsal facility as run by Dan. Enough of the background already, were they any good? Yes, they blooming well were. The fact that they were handing out free CD singles and badges in no way influences me to recommend that you get down and listen to this band. They were excellent.

Next act on was Officer Kicks, a four piece from New Cross and Greenwich (London that is). The band consists of Jamie (Jay) Scallion on Vocals, Jamie Fisher on Guitar, Micky Skill on Bass, and Keith Wickham on Drums. I wasn’t overly impressed, their music sounded liked bits of other people’s songs chopped up and re-packaged. The vocals were pretty good, Jay sounded a bit like Liam Gallagher and I wouldn’t have been surprised if they hadn’t started out as an Oasis covers band. Not that that’s a bad thing. Overall, I wouldn’t pay money to see them headline.

And finally, Nine Black Alps (as in the Sylvia Plath poem), with Sam Forrest on Vocals/Guitar, James Galley on Drums, and David Jones and Martin Cohen swapping about on Bass and Guitar. The band hails from Manchester although Sam comes from York where he played bass in local bands. Hot gossip – allegedly Sam is the current squeeze of Hayley Hutchison singer/songwriter of York. Blah, blah, what about the gig? NBA kicked off with three tracks back-to-back from their Everything Is album that really got the crowd roaring. We were treated to tracks from their Glitter Gulch EP as well, equally as good as their album material. The whole act was so energetic it must have doubled York’s carbon footprint, absolutely brilliant.

Grump of the night, well, two grumps. First, there was no time for an encore, which left many in the crowd a bit disappointed. Second, was the drunken herbert and his girlfriend who stood in front of me (always the tall, or drunk, or tall and drunk ones are in front of me.) At one point I had to place a restraining hand on his shoulder and alert him to the fact that he was in danger of crushing some young ladies. Pillock!

Saturday night’s alright for... listening to music

Out again and on Saturday we visited Fibbers to watch Cohesion. There were two support acts and when we arrived the first act, Lights, were already on-stage. It actually turned out to be Ben Leftwich (he of The Nicoles) who is using the name as a basis for new set of fellow muscians that he hopes to bring onboard. There was a thin line of his followers at the front of the stage, then us, and behind us a crowd of the loudest chattering idots in creation. How rude not to at least lend your ears to the artist while he performs! Anyway, Ben came down and chatted to us after finishing his set. I particularly enjoyed his last song which he told me he had written just two days before. He hopes to be in the recording studio soon.

The next act were The Station Club formed from the ashes of Sixty6 and Kryah. Mike Wilson (ex-Sixty6) on vocals and lead guitar, twins Tom and James Martin (ex-Kryah) playing bass and keyboards respectively, and finally, Adam Swales on drums. Slight echoes of The Killers I thought. Their best track seemed to be Brand New Day (I think that’s what it was called.)

The final performance was from Cohesion, Paul James on vocals/lead guitar, Matt Goodbody on Bass, and Richie Clark on drums. A high-energy, foot-stamping fusion of indie, rock and blues. Excellent stuff.

Grump of the night? People talking loudly whilst Ben was performing, and no Landlord or Black Sheep to drink. I had to make do with Worthington!

Was the evening over yet? No it wasn’t. Off we stomped to the Roman Bath where, rumour had it, a six piece soft rock band was playing. Now I don’t know if Hazzard’s rock god Richard is stalking us, or the other way around, but there he was leaning on the bar again. Hello Richard! The band were Breathing Space and the female vocalist was not only absolutely superb (at singing) but also... faintly familiar. And, there was something Mostly Autumn going on as well. She did an absolutely belter of a song called “Belief” which was dedicated to her parents. It was a little later, when I saw her mum and dad that I realised that we had stumbled upon Olivia Ruth Sparneen (backing vocalist with MA) and, on keyboards, Iain Jennings (ex-MA). We often see Olivia and her parents at The Old White Swan watching Hazzard County and I well remember watching her in the Talent For Africa shows put on at Tadcaster Grammar School (I was there to watch my own daughters, honest guv.)What a small world. Anyway, I understand that Olivia is performing with Chris Johnson (he of Hazzards and Mostly Autumn) at the City Screen in York on Monday 28 May, the last gig of York Music Live weekend.

Hot gossip, well, it was to me. Heather Findlay, of Mostly Autumn, is currently engaged to Fish (Derek William Dick who left Marillion in 1899.)