The Hazzards of Love

Friday 12 March - we eschewed our hunt for original music by indulging in a covers band that we used to regularly watch at the Old White Swan, Hazzard County. The Hazzards haven't played together for some time now, band members having gone their separate ways and now being involved in other projects. But tonight at the Basement Bar, for one night only, they had reformed (in one of their myriad configurations) for a charity bash. Country Jon's wife, Jayne, is taking part in the London Marathon to raise money for Shelter.

The first act on tonight's bill was Steve Kendra. Steve is a one man and guitar with the emphasis on the lyrics. This was a shame because the general hub-bub in the bar managed to successfully drown out any chance of hearing him properly, except for snatches of one song which was about his father working at the Terry's factory and having hair that smelt of chocolate. Shame really, maybe we'll get a chance to hear him properly one day.

The chatter abated a little for the second act of the evening, Boss Caine, ably accompanied at various times by Andy Gaines, and fragments of the Hazzards. We've seen him before and his music is fast becoming more familiar to me. His voice reminds me of Neil Diamond. He has an album out soon and I'm sorely tempted to order a copy

Finally, the band everyone came to see (since the background noise level seemed to die down when they took to the stage); Chris Johnson, Dave "NZ" Keegan, Country Jon, Simon Snaize, and Patrick "Paddy" Berry. Paddy alternated between an electric bass and a double-bass while the rest took turns at vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, drums, and tambourine, with Chris occasionally on keyboards.

What they played was essentially a collection of their classic material garnered over the many years they were together; California Stars (Wilco), Midnight Special (trad. Lead Belly), Forget The Flowers (Wilco), Wagon Wheel (Dylan/Secor) Devil In Disguise (JJ Cale), It Ain't Me Babe (Dylan), Across The Great Divide (The Band), Passionate Kisses (Mary Chapin Carpenter), Grievous Angel (Gram Parsons), Why?, Song Of The Old Rake (Stormwater Boys), Going To Acapulco (Dylan), The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Robbie Robertson), Cripple Creek (The Band), Ophelia (The Band), Who Were You Think Of (Wilco), I Still Carry You Around (Steve Earle), Tell It To Me (Old Crow Medicine Show), New York, Sin City (Flying Burrito Brothers), Home Of The Blues (Johnny Cash), Everything Is Free (Gillian Welch), Don't Stand So Close, I shall Be released (Dylan), A Little Bit Of Love, Dead Flowers (Rolling Stones), Maggie's Farm (Dylan), The Weight (The Band). Most of these I got from the set list but some were thrown in towards the end at the request of various members of the audience. As always, the Hazzards played brilliantly, in most cases the covers being better than the originals. The band, and audience, were enthusiastic and really enjoyed themselves.

The gig finally ended slightly after midnight and our feet were aching from standing for so long, but it was a fantastic evening. A shame that the Hazzards don't get together more often.

How many hangings under the red moon

Friday 18 July – I awoke on Saturday morning with a small platoon of ants spitting formic acid at my lower lip. It flipping well hurt! Then I really woke up. Let that be a lesson to people who think it’s clever to drink four pints of John Smith’s Cask in one evening.

So, it was a pretty good week, not least of all because I was on holiday and basically taking it very easy. Then on Thursday we got the brilliant news that The Duchess in York were granted the variations needed for their licence, so it’s full steam ahead for what looks like an exciting time for York’s music scene.

We were spoilt for choice on Friday; Miracles & Wonders at The Roman Bath, The Station Club at Fibbers, Freespirit at Speakeasy, The Naked Flames at Stone Roses, and The Mothers at The Terrace. Then The Druid discovered that Hazzard County were playing at The Old White Swan. Game on!

I arrived slightly earlier than usual but needn’t have worried as the Hazzards were a long way from starting. They were also playing in a different bar that seemed a lot more cramped then their usual position. On the plus side, the Swan seemed to have a pretty impressive display of beers on tap, although I chickened out and stuck with my usual John Smith’s.

This particular incarnation of the Hazzards was a bit of a surprise, Simon Snaize, NZ Dave (aka Dave Keengan), Country Jon, and the double bass player who was playing a real bass guitar tonight! They were sharing drumming duties on a single snare drum. The reason it was a surprise? Well, NZ Dave was supposed to be playing at The Habit, and Simon was supposed to be on Syntan Barge at Kings Staith as part of the Festival Of The Rivers. Hmm, so much for my contacts.

Of the music. Well there were some old favourites, California Style (can’t remember who did this, notes not available), Hey Jude (Beatles), You Can't Always Get What You Want (Rolling Stones), Shot in the Arm (Wilco), and stuff from Steve Earle (that’s Earle with four e’s), and Robert Johnson (I know him, he’s dead). It was Okay, but they will insist on playing tracks that even our collective heads don’t recognise.

So a fairly enjoyable evening then. Puncuated on the way home by a horrendous downpour with accompanying light show which meant that A and I were forced to take shelter in a shop doorway. Pity The Druid, he was cycling home to Haxby! When we finally made it to the parting of the ways we managed to while away another half an hour discussing the Dwain Chambers ban, finally agreeing to dis-agree. And so I rolled in-doors about a quarter to two in the morning.

Five on a night out – Enid Blogton

In which the Famous Five discover a musical cave and visit a ginger-pop shop

It was nearly the end of term and Julien had been sent to pick up his cousin, Bets, from her boarding school. Bets was pleased to see him as usual and gave him a great big hug. “How come you’re here to pick me up?” She asked. “Well, I was supposed to be meeting with my family, but the plans have all fallen through.” He replied. “Hey, how about if we go on an adventure tonight?” He exclaimed. “Oh no,” said Bets, “I’ve got a jolly lot of homework to catch up on. You go with your friends.” So Julien quickly wrote a message to his friends, tied it to the leg of a pigeon, and released the bird into the gathering winter evening.

It was about eight o’clock when Julien arrived outside of the cave, known to the locals as Fibbers. Venturing further in, he soon met up with his chums: Dick, Anne, George and Timmy. Dick thrust a bottle of lemonade into his hand, “This is a jolly wheeze,” he said. It was said that at certain times of the evening, when the wind and the waves were just right, the cave produced eerie sounds, almost musical, and tonight the conditions were just right. The first noise was remarkably like Ishtar, slowly building up into their 50 minute long work called “The World We Loved Shimmers In Flames”, except it only lasted for about 25/30 minutes so was probably the abridged version. This performance also had Dick Cheney doing a voice-over in one section, giving a speech about terrorism, but Julien couldn’t make out who was doing the talking. “Crikey. That was good”, uttered Timmy. There was a period of quiet in which the chums caught up with each other and then the cave starting making noises again, shorter bursts of noise, of a droning nature. It sounded remarkably like The Falling Spikes with their hypnotic drums/bass, shimmering guitar/keyboards, and vocals delivered as if heard whilst dreaming... “Oh blimey,” said Dick, “I almost nodded off then!” But there was no nodding off when the next noise started. It was the The Warlocks, with two drummers. They are currently touring their sixth album “Heavy Deavy Skull Lover” with its ominous acoustics and full-on fuzz melt-down. In fact the noise was so heavily distorted that it was difficult to tell if that’s was how it was meant to sound.

The Five staggered out of the cave. “Leaping lizards, I’m glad we’ve escaped from there,” said Dick. “I need a ginger-pop, let’s go and buy some,” said Anne. So the Five made their carefully up the cliff path and along the quiet lanes to village. “It’s awfully dark,” said Timmy, “did anyone remember to bring a torch?” “No need,” said George, “we’re here now.” And sure enough they had arrived outside the Old White Ginger Pop Shop. It was terribly crowded when they got inside, but the Five managed to find their friend, the Russian lady spy, Legs Elanavitch. Legs told them that Tom, the pop shop owner, had been forced out of business by a big lemonade factory, and this was his last night in the shop. “The rotters!” Exclaimed Dick. There were lots of Tom’s friends there, including a jolly country band called Hazzard County. As this was Tom’s last night lots of people who had played in the band came up and had a go. Tom even had a go on the drums himself! There was one chap, Joe Johnson (of Shed Seven) sporting a very nice haircut, just like Julien’s, but he seemed a bit distracted and didn’t really know the songs they were playing so he let Rockin’ Richard have a go instead. It was a fantastic night and Julien drank lots of strange drinks; mixtures of raspberries and apples, apples and oranges. Then everybody wished Tom “Good Luck” and the Five left to stand on their favourite corner street in the village. It was very late when Julien arrived home, nearly 2 o’clock in the morning, and he had to sneak in through the pantry window so that he didn’t wake his parents. “Crumbs that was a spiffing night out.” He thought as he drifted off to sleep. “I wonder if we will have such an exciting adventure next weekend!”

And the time will come when you see we're all one/and life flows on within you and without you.

Friday 9 November. Whole Lotta Led playing at Fibbers, sounds like a really great night. I’ve seen this band before and they were top-notch. The band consists of Nick Ferris (lead guitar, acoustic guitar and theramin), Geoff Hunt (bass guitar, mandolin and keyboards), Graham Twist (drums and backing vocals), and Lee Addison (vocals and harmonica). Actually, it was a bit disappointing as Lee struggled with his Sennheiser in-ear monitoring system that kept cutting in and out, so half the time he was singing flat. The drum and guitars were excellent. Nick and Geoff did a huge guitar duet on ‘No Quarter’ that seemed to go on forever, and young Graham’s masterful drum solo in the middle of ‘Moby Dick’ was a real highlight. But despite a very supportive crowd, it seems the band were a bit frustrated as they didn't do an encore.

We then moved on to the Mucky Duck where, what was billed as (proper) Hazzard County turned out to be Simon Snaize and the Hazzards, as Mostly Chris was playing with Mostly Autumn at the Mostly Opera House (this link looked a bit dodgey when I tried it). Still, the Hazzards were on good form doing a sublime ‘Who Do You Love’ with George Harrison’s ‘Within You Without You’, plonked in the middle. Blooming awaesome! During the evening I had three pints of Black Sheep (1 for ewe, 1 for ewe, and 1 for ewe) and was feeling no pain whilst assisting a young lady from Dewsbury on a pre-'hen night' night to purchase a bottle of wine. I failed to ask her name, as usual, but I hope they all had a good time on Saturday.

You keep me coming but you just ask for more/The clocks ticking there’s a hole in my heart

Sunday 4 November. Oi, it’s a work day tomorrow, you can’t go out on the town! Oh yes I can. A trip down to Fibbers, I’ll only drink J2O, honest guvnor. Sadly I missed the first band but I will at least give them a mention, Untitled Music Project. Sorry chaps. I believe they trawled all the way from Birmingham for me to miss them.

Next up were The Dirtys. Very loud. The vocals were a bit Kings Of Leon and the lead guitarist was very good, although a tad too distorted for me. Clean up the sound and it could have been Slash on guitar. Really. I’m not sure who was who but the band (according to their MyFace page) consisted of Kyrill, Gee, Keiran, and Martyn.

Finally, the headliners, The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster. Now these were VERY loud and VERY fast. Hailing from Brighton, this band have been around since 1999 and is currently comprised of: Guy McKnight (Vocals), Rich Fownes (Lead Guitar), Marc Norris (Rhythm Guitar), Sym Gharial (Bass), and Tom Diamantopoulo (Drums). Their weird name comes, apparently, from a car once driven by Winston Churchill, and a couple of the band members are Buddhists, so a nice bunch of chaps really. The music is psycho-billy punk, thrash played at the speed of bands like Trivium. Which goes a long way to explain why their first album, ‘Horse of the Dog’, only lasts for twenty five minutes although it still fits in ten songs. Guy is a scary… well guy. During their opening number (I’ve no idea what it was called) he hurled himself into the crowd where he tossed and turned for a few minutes before being gently deposited back on the stage. Nor was this the only time he went crowd-surfing, and in the middle of the act he came down amongst the audience, clambered over a railing (nearly kicking over a table full of glasses) and then made his way back again, singing/growling/shouting all the time. One of their songs, ‘Mister Mental’, was featured in the movie ‘Shaun of the Dead’, the film also contained posters and other references to the band. The band is working on their third album due for release in late 2007/early 2008. Sorry chaps but I won’t be parting with my plastic for that one.

Saturday 3 November and I’m up bright and early to start the Xmas shopping. OK, it’s a bit soon, but you’ve got to start sometime and when you can only shop at weekend it cuts down the options. My David Gilmour 2-disc DVD of ‘Remember That Night’ plops through my letterbox at lunchtime and I spend an extremely pleasant afternoon watching the whole, breathtaking performance. Brilliant.

Friday 2 November and a rare appearance by the full Hazzard County line up at the Old White Swan. Yes, Mostly Chris is in attendance and the place is heaving because Country John appears to have invited all his mates along. John Smiths is a no no, mine’s a pint of Black Sheep, thank you! The Hazzards are brilliant, as usual, a full on Dylanesque show plus an almost psychedelic version of ‘Who Do You Love’. This is how Friday nights should always be. Sadly, although the full line up is playing again next week, Whole Lotta Led are at Fibbers so I will only be catching the second half of the Hazzards. Well something’s gotta go.

And I'm standing at the crossroads/believe I'm sinking down

Friday and in an unusual turn of events, we started at the Roman Bath to watch a three-piece from York, the Blueflies. They played an assortment of Free/Cream/Hendrix/you name it, covers sung and played in a very professional manner. The bass guitar player was solid, the drummer was excellent, and the singer/lead guitarist was pretty much top notch. OK, he’s not Eric Clapton or Jimi Hendrix, but he sure plays a mean ...er, six-string plank of wood.

When the band had finished we wandered across to the Old White Swan to see what was happening. Not quite the normal Hazzard County line-up, we had Paddy on bass, Simon and NZ Dave sharing lead guitar and vocals. At the back was a violin wielding young lady and playing a snare drum, a kind of young Marty Feldman (obscure reference, just Google the name). It rounded the evening off nicely, ie I didn’t stumble into bed until a quarter past one in the morning. Check out the dates, the next full-blown Hazzard County gig at the White Swan is Friday 5 November.

PS Catch Breathing Space at The Post Office Club in York on 26 October 19:30 for the CD launch gig.

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.

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.

Shuffling through the stores like zombies

Friday night and we are chancing our arm at the Old White Swan. Will Hazzard County be there or not? Good grief, they are! All the usual suspects; Chris, Paddy, Tom, and Country John, and by Jove they’re as good as ever. I even manage to bag my usual corner as soon as I arrive instead of waiting until it becomes vacant. Sadly, we have to leave after the first set so I don’t know if they are playing again next week. Taking a look at The Talk Magazine online doesn’t really help as there is no entry for the Old White Swan for Friday 29 July.

Having been on holiday all last week, I’m using the weekend to wind down ready for work again on Monday. Saturday is therefore a lazy day with plently of musical action in the form of snippets from Glastonbury and perfectly rounded off with the latest episode of Seven Ages of Rock on BBC2, which this week is Left of the Dial: The rise of alternative rock in the USA. I’m always a bit wary of the label “Alternate rock”. OK it was a resurgence of interest in rock in the wake of the pomp rock of the ’80, but it was hardly alternate, just more stripped back. The programme focussed on the Seattle scene which built on the work of bands like Black Flag, REM, Hüsker Dü, and The Pixies. Basically the tale revolved around the rise of Nirvana and the equally rapid downward spiral of Kurt Cobain. Overall, another jolly fine programme with my only complaint being the slightly gratuitous use of a clip from The Beverly Hillbillies.

Desperately seeking Tulip51

Friday evening and in a slight departure from the usual we decided to pay a visit to Certificate 18 and check out The Scaramanga Six. We figured that we would be done in time to catch most of the second half of Hazzard County anyway.

Arriving at C18 I took a quick glance at the band list, no names that I recognised, not that that means much! I turned up as the first band were playing their penultimate song. They sounded pretty good. They were Tractor Factory, a five piece from Goole. The vocalist, Mike Redford, looked a bit like a cross between Ian Dury and Robbie Williams and he had a strong voice. I wish I had arrived earlier because they were clearly a class act. The full line was: Mike Redford (vocals), Andy Robinson (guitar), Richard Wilson (guitar), Julian Read (bass), Martin Dobson (drums).

Next up were York band Stop! Motion. Oh dear, I think these boys have been listening to way too much Arctic Monkeys. It wasn’t an original sound and it wasn’t really well executed. There were a few occasions when the drummer and the guitars were slightly out of time. Nul points, sorry. The line up was: Chris Parsons (Lead Vocal/Rhythm Guitar/Occasional Synth), Thom Dann (Lead Guitar/Synth/Vocals), Mike Coleman (Bass Guitar), and Jonty Brown ( Drums).

Band three were the GST Cardinals, formed around 2005 in Hull and featuring: Dave Sinclair (Lead vocals), Matthew Edwards (Lead guitar), Alex (Rhythm guitar), Karl (Bass guitar), and Ollie Boyce (Drums). These were definitely an improvement; rock and roll with a splash of punk and Dave constantly jumping around in the audience making us all feel at home. It was a shame that the crowd were so thin. In fact it seemed as if the majority of the audience were actually the members of the other bands!

And finally, for your delectation, before your very eyes, Ladies and Gentlemen ... The Scaramanga Six! Yes really, they are that dramatic. Sort of, Rocky Horror Show collides with Beastie Boys on guitars. Lead vocals and bass are provided by Steven Morricone, looks like Emperor Ming/Derren Brown on a bad day. Extremely classy crooning and guitar work from twin brother Paul. Over there to the left is a lady, Julia Arnez, on a splangy blue guitar (I prefer my red spangly one, but hey) giving out the occasional vocal harmony. Maraca Gareth Champion (come on, that can’t be his real name) is on drums and hits them as though he’s trying to kill them. Last, but not least, Chris Catalyst (yea right) who picks up and plays whatever is closest to hand, mainly the second set of drums and the synth. He stares fixedly ahead like the mad one from Sparks. I understand that Steven and Paul hail from Weston-Super-Mare although the band in toto comes from Huddersfield. The songs are theatrical, pompous, rock at the very limit of its definition. I remember “Vesuvius” with eyes of magma, and “I Wear My Heart On My Sleeve” (didn’t Rory Gallagher do a track called that?) Deliciously sinister stuff, highly recommended.

On the way out I take the band list. Hey, I’ve had two pints and I might forget who they were, then there would be no blog! We trot down Gillygate and through Bootham Bar to the Old White Swan. As expected, Hazzard County have just started their second set so another round of beers and pin back the ears. It’s NZ Dave (acoustic/vocals), Country John (lead guitar), Tom (drums), and Paddy (bass) tonight.

Saturday. I’m not a well bunny. Something wrong with my ears... nah you don’t want to listen to me whingeing on. Anyway up, it was “Seven Ages of Rock” focussing this week on heavy metal. This is a genre that I started in and then came back to later in life. One of the first albums I ever owned was Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”, from there I progressed to Deep Purple. I managed to miss the worse of the Glam Metal brigade, Motley Crue, and the rubbishy American bands with their poddle hair. I only hooked upgain with heavy metal when Bruce Dickinson re-joined Iron Maiden. Sadly, this is a genre that spans four decades of music and there was no way that a single programme was going to be able to do justice to the entire range of music that HM has opened up. Perhaps we could have new series just for HM? A forlorn hope. Still the programme itself was extremely good and I’m looking forward to the next one. I bet there’s a DVD in the offing. I bet I buy it!

Sunday’s F1 race was the Canadian Grand Prix from Montreal. During qualifying, Hamilton managed to bag pole position, Nick Heidfeld had a brilliant bit of form that gave him P3 leaving Kimi back on P4. The Montreal circuit is pretty hairy at the best of times but the attrition rate was high and included a blood-curdling smash involving Robert Kubica. Fortunately it appears that he has escaped with just a broken leg. Alsonso slithered all over the place and ended up finishing seventh. Webber had a great race but faded towards the end. The final podium finishers were: Hamiltion first, Heidfeld second, and Wutz in third. What a brilliant and thrilling race.

Is This It?

The rumour mill is saying that this could be Hazzard County’s last gig, or penultimate at best. What’s going on? Paddy might be playing down at the Fulford Arms, Chris is off with Mostly Autumn, and Tom is chucking his drum sticks in.

A pint of John Smith’s please. Lovely. Oh, oh. New Zealand Dave is playing the drums and Tom is strumming a guitar. That ain’t right. And is that Simon lurking in the corner cradling a pint?

Things settle down as the band form up. Tom is back on drums, Paddy on Bass, Simon appears to be an extra vocalist, Country John on lead guitar and New Zealand Dave on acoustic and lead vocals. First song “Storm windows” A country band that plays for keeps, hmm interesting choice of song. A game of two halves (a bit like the England v Brazil match taking place in the other bar, England have just scored) but definitely up to the normal high standard. The second half ends with fifteen minutes of pure psychedelica “Who do you love” segueing into “Dear Prudence”, well Simon was there.

It appears that there will be at least another gig next week. After that, who knows? The band might be transformed, might play every other week. Watch this space.

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.)

The Key of Life

Friday I steered clear of the poisonous prawns and stuck to that good old British staple, fish ‘n’ chips, soused in vinegar and liberally sprinkled with rock salt, mm, mm. Later on I strolled into town to watch Hazzard County at the Old White Swan. Sometimes I forget just how good they really are and they were on fire! At one point the bar was graced by the fleeting presence of Chris Helme rushing on his way to be some place else. Needless to say I didn’t fall into bed until 1:30am.

Saturday evening there was a visit to Fibbers where Mr Helme was headlining with The Yards. The support band were The Summits. Now I don’t know much about them except they formed in February this year and the female singer (who has a superb voice) is Jess Penn. Anyway, they were brilliant, sort of Maroon 5 on speed, and the crowd loved them so much they even gave us an encore of R.E.S.P.E.C.T. It’s not often that the support get an encore!

The Yards were much improved with a few covers and songs from both their last album and their forthcoming offering. Some of the new material was a bit Starsailor/Snow Patrol, and I mean that in a good way. It left me very much looking forward to their new album. Somewhere near the back was Rick Witter, possibly there to watch his fellow band mate Stu Fletcher (he plays in the Yards and Rick’s band, The Dukes.)