The Duchess and Neverland

Tuesday 16 October – We’ve not been out to a live gig in quite a while, so, sorry about that. Still we managed to get down to The Duchess for a bit of prog rockery this week. Support came from MarcAtkinson. I once knew a chap called Mark Atkins and we called him Kram Snikta, just thought I’d share that with you. Anyhoo, Marc was well underway by the time we arrived and we only managed to catch about four of his songs. He was playing them acoustically and one was introduced as coming from his time with the band Nine Stones Close, with the rest apparently from his album Out Of An Ancient World which was recorded with a full band under the name Riversea. We’ve seen Marc before, playing covers in various places around York, so it was refreshing to hear him playing original music and, indeed, I was so impressed that I bought a copy of OOAAW.

The main acts for tonight had been co-headlining on a European tour and I don’t know if this was an extension of that tour or something separate as The Reasoning seemed to be playing a support slot. Anyway, it makes little difference, the band are currently touring their latest album, Adventures in Neverland. Describing themselves as Cardiff-based, The Reasoning consist of Rachel Cohen (vocals & hand shakey percussion & virtual trampoline), Tony Turrell (keyboards & vocals), Keith Hawkins (guitars & backing vocals), Matthew Cohen (bass & backing vocals), and Jake Bradford-Sharp (drums & backing vocals). I already have a two of their albums and recognised a couple of the tracks, especially Dark Angel. They introduced a lot of new material, notable Omega Point, No Friend Of Mine and the outstandingly good title track Adventures in Neverland. The second half of the set was plagued by feedback gremlins which forced Rachel to remain fairly static when she really wanted to bounce around the stage a lot more. The vocals were a bit muddy and indistinct but at the time I put that down to my ancient ears and unfamiliar lyrics. However, I was very impressed with the new material and promptly forked out for copy of the new album from the merchandise table.

For the final act we managed to get within inches of the barrier and had a superb view of the stage and all the players on it. Touchstone I had seen before and was pretty familiar with the material from the latest two albums. Formed back in, I think 2003, by Rob Cottingham (keyboards & vocals), the current line-up also includes Adam Hodgson (guitars), Andre Moorghen (bass), Kim Seviour (lead vocals), and Henry Rogers (drums). I’m not sure what it is about their songs, but sometimes Kim seems quite awkward in her movements and singing, and at other times she really gets into it. Whilst this time there was little evidence of feedback, there was still muddiness in the vocals and Rob’s keyboards were definitely too low in the mix. Sound issues aside, they made a stonkingly good job of tracks like Wintercoast, When Shadows Fall, and Strange Days. The less than capacity crowd were enthusiastic in their applause which brought back both bands and Marc for the finale, a rousing sing-along of the classic Tears For Fears track Mad World.

Both bands play a form of theatrical prog-rock, with a touch of heaviness, which owes a lot to the influences of Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes and a sprinkling of Dream Theater. A great night out, but from a sound point of view, keyboards and vocals are much better represented on their respective albums.

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.

No one would have believed, in the last years of the nineteenth century, that human affairs were being watched from the timeless worlds of space.

Friday 5 June - we've seen a lot of covers bands recently so tonight we dipped our toes in the younger local scene with four bands at The Duchess. We missed the first band, The Strides, sorry guys. More disturbing was the average age of the audience which left us more mature folk looking like mums and dads at a school disco.

Anyway, band number two took to the stage to the delight of the screaming children who insisted on hugging each other and jumping up and down in delight. Dressed In Their Best come, I think from York, a four piece consisting of James Shaw (vocals/rhythm guitar), Danny Petrie (lead), Robbie Johnson (drums), and Shane Hunter (bass). They sounded like a very young, raw Jimmy Eat World but with a more fractured way of playing their songs. The sound was a bit muddy, this seemed to apply to all three bands tonight, but there were definitely a couple of reasonable tunes in there and the drumming was particularly good.

Next up were The Gilligans a band we've missed on previous occasions. Five cheeky chaps from York; James, Mike, Ben, Andy (the drummer I think), and Rince (Tyler?). It was difficult to concentrate on the music given the games of British Bulldog and sliding across the floor on your knees that the males in the audience were indulging in. That doesn't scan very well but I think you get what I mean. There was a good tune in there somewhere but I might have missed it.

Finally we heard The Station Club, a four piece, rock/indie/new wave band from York. The band are: Mikey Wilson (vocals/guitar), Tommy Martin (bass), Jimmy Martin (synths), and Dan (drums). These were much better than their predecessors, especially towards the end. They started, I think, with Streetlights a new song, and somewhere along the line they played Let's Start Again, Stars, and Only We Know. They rounded off with what was, for me, their best track, Brand New Day.

Given the youthfulness of the audience, it's not surprising that the gig ended fairly early in the evening so 'A' and I made our way to The Roman Bath where we were expecting to see Angerbart but when we got there the Bath it was bare so we dashed down Parliament Street to The Terrace instead. Tonight singer/acoustic guitarist Marc Atkinson was playing. Marc provides a list of songs he knows and lets the audience select their favourites from the list, so you get to listen to exactly what you want. He plays a good mixture of Crowded House, James Blunt, Van Morrison, Snow Patrol, Bon Jovi, Seal, Don Mclean... There wasn't a lot of people in The Terrace, the silenced TVs showed some boxing and highlights from the Twenty20 England match against the Netherlands (oh dear). The beer was good and Marc's playing provided the perfect backdrop to a chilled out end to the evening.

You’re just a face in the crowd/A tiny hole in a cloud

Thursday 27 March – Wrong night, wrong place, but somehow it works out right. Thursday sees two of us at The Junction and I have to admit to being a Junction virgin, still the staff were very happy to direct me through the correct set of doors so that I could sample their musical offerings. Up until recently I had a fixed idea in my head that The Junction only entertained punk and hardcore bands, but I’m pleased to be proved wrong, as tonight’s show was about to prove.

I arrived at the tail-end of the first act, Hot Recruit, and was pleased to find one of my favourite beers, John Smiths, on tap. Luvvly Jubbly. Then I parked myself towards the rear of a rather spacious room to watch the band’s final two tracks. Hot Recruit are a four piece from Yorkshire that met at York College and jammed together in the village of Rufforth, just to the north of York. The band consist of: Luke Beddows (vocals), Alec Wright (bass), Dave Rax (drums), and Tom Warden (guitar). I recall one of the tracks as University Challenge, but to be honest, and only on the strength of those final two tracks, they had that generic Arctic Monkeys/Maximo Park style of frantic guitar sawing and scattergun lyrics.

The second of four bands billed to play tonight, were The Corrections, a London-based five piece that comprises: Joe Winter (vocals), Matt Winter (guitars, keyboards, brother of Joe), Guy Connelly (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Gavin Ellis (bass, vocals), and Matt Watson (drums). Now these were a completely different kettle of kittens and we were baffled as to the lukewarm reception the crowd gave them. Each song was different, multi-layered textures of guitar and keyboard work, contrasting vocal styles, clear vocals, and even some weird drawing of the infinity symbol on what seemed to be a blackboard at the rear of the set. White Dog was an indie-prog epic in the stylee of Radiohead. Apparently, Barcode will be the first single (due for release on 7 April 2008) to be taken from their forthcoming debut album Repeat After Me on EMI Records. With an infectious, staccato opening guitar hook, Barcode immediately draws you into the sound. Joe Winter’s soothing yet effortlessly powerful vocals, yearning even in their more urgent and energetic moments. This is a taut, energetic track, which in three minutes deceptively shifts from a slow-burning melancholy groove to a euphoric final call to arms. Another excellent track was Now we have gone. Think, Wire, Arcade Fire, but yet genuinely new-sounding songs that you can’t quite place in any category. Highly recommended and well worth the entrance fee on their own.

Sadly, I can’t say the same for the third band, Young Believers, a Folk/Beat/Rock ‘n’ Roll combo from York who are: William Sharpe (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar), Tom Reeve (vocals, acoustic guitar, bass), and Chrissy Hunter (drums). At times the vocals evoked a memory of Bob Dylan, but generally this was urban rhymes played by Chas and Dave in a folk style. Of the tracks I can recall were: Cross Examination, Wings of a Grasshopper, Waiting for the day, and Little Something.

Make Model - A bunch to watch out for

And finally, headliners Make Model, who are also available on MyFace. Hailing from Glasgow this outfit consists of: Ray "The Biz" Black (drums), James "JC" Cameron (bass), Gordon "RG" Skene (guitar, vocals), Lewis Gale (guitar, vocals), Ken (guitar), and Aimi Gold (vocals). Billed as Alt/New wave folk, they actually sound like a mad fusion of BiS, Altered Images and some gigantic prog-rock monster. One song, I think it was Czeck Neck, started with Aimi twiddling away on keyboards as the guitars cranked slowly into life. Gradually the song gathered momentum and Aimi and JC were singing, and then it suddenly veered off into King Crimson territory, before ending abruptly. Brilliant. They also played their debut single The LSB and, I think their new single, The Way, and I also recall Over and Out, and Saturday night Obsession. Totally brilliant and definitely worth paying money to see them again.

Friday 28 March – It’s my birthday on Monday, twenty-one again. Some of us were out for a meal (daughter going back to University on Saturday, hence the celebration on Friday) at the Bombay Spice in Goodramgate. I forget just how good the food is in there. I had a Chicken Puddina, fantastic flavours. Afterwards we trotted along to The Roman Bath, to meet up with the other guys and watch Mojo, a blues covers band. Right night, right place, wrong band. For some reason they had been switched, Prime Example were playing and Mojo had been moved to Saturday. Whilst I had no problem with the songs that Prime Example were covering, the use of keyboards to cover up for a lack of guitar soloing expertise just wasn’t doing for me. The final straw was the ruination of Whitesnake’s Fool for your loving. So taking our ears in both hands, we legged it to The Terrace where the crowd was very thin indeed, but the music was being provided by Marc Atkinson, an acoustic guitar and a stool. We’ve not seen Marc before although he is a regular face around York. He has a strong clear voice and plays an eclectic range of covers: Pink Floyd (Comfortably Numb, Wish you were here), U2 (The streets have no name, With or without you), Maroon5 (She will be loved), Semisonic (Secret smile), Snow Patrol (Chasing cars), Del Amitri (Nothing ever happens), Seal (Crazy), Beatles (Little help from my friends), Crowded House (Take the weather with you), Muse (Black Holes and Revelations), Nickleback (How you remind me), something by One Republic, just some of the covers we managed to remember. What a top night.