When I got home that night early one morning, Seeing the note written in ink pinned to the door

Friday 8 January - and the first gig of the New Year is a covers band at The Roman Bath. Going by the moniker, Flood Damage, this York-based band consists of: John (bass guitar and vocals), Steve (guitar and vocals), Mick (guitar and vocals), and Brian "Two sheds" Thompson (drums). Due the the blanket covering of snow, they were a little late in arriving and the crowd was a bit thin. However, after the half-time interval, the crowd was more like a usual Friday night and very appreciative of the band. The lead vocals weren't particularly brilliant but there was compensation in the form of some rather good harmonising in the backing vocals, so a pretty good effort. We were teated to at least; Can't get enough of your love and Feel like makin love by Bad Company, You really got me by The Kinks, Alright now and Wishing Well by Free, Won't get fooled again and Substitute by The Who, Brown sugar and Honky Tonk Woman by The Rolling Stones, Radar Love by Golden Earring, Highway to Hell by AC/DC, Black Betty by Ram Jam, My Sherona by The Knack, Should I stay or should I go? by The Clash, Tie your mother down by Queen, Rocking in the free world by Neil Young, and Roll Over Lay Down by Status Quo. Overall, we were very impressed with the sound and variety of covers. Recommended.

And now, the end is near, and so I face, the final countdown for 2009

Friday 18 December - as is our wont at this time of year, The Friday-Nighters met up for a pre-Xmas meal before trotting off to a gig. Sadly, due to a heavy snow fall, Chantel McGregor was unable to make it to The Roman Bath so we opted instead for Stealer at The Terrace. I've blogged them before, so I don't need to add further to my previous, favourable comments. Over the meal, the topic of 'album of the year' inevitably came up and I realised I would have to sift through my purchases for 2009 and try to put them is some kind of order.

2009 was significant for me because it was the year that my CD collection finally busted my shelf space and I've had to resort to CD storage cases instead. Looking back, I can see why. I acquired 7 CDs from alternate sources, bought 35 previously released albums (including 5 from 2008 that I needed to catch up with), and 12 brand spanking new ones. A total of 54 acquisitions. Good for music, bad for my bank account!

Whilst compiling my list I also took the opportunity to write down some 2009 releases that I still want (Santa take note), another 4 at least. The 2008 releases that I didn't acquire until this year included; Marillion, Judas Priest, Panic Room, Richard Barbieri, and Bryan Josh.

Of the pre-2008 purchases there was quite a few Thunder albums, who officially stopped touring this year, and almost the entire back catalogue of Dream Theater. I also replaced a number of CDs that I'd copied from vinyl to MP3 (I know, I should've kept the vinyl).

Obviously, all 12 of 2009 purchases are eligible for my top ten, but 2 aren't going to make it. Unfortunately, they are really good albums so their exclusion from my top ten does not imply that they were no good, only that I've got 10 others that are slightly better. So, the non-winners this year are Breathing Space with Below The Radar, and Nine Black Alps with Locked In From The Outside.

Okay pop-pickers, here's the final count down:

10 The Answer - Everyday Demons. Northern Irish hard rock noiseniks followed up their 2006 debut with more of the same. But in a good way.

9 Muse - The Resistance. Fifth studio album from these alt-rockers, this one turned all the knobs to 11. Completely out of control, massively over the top, this surely establishes Muse as the new Queen.

8 Joe Bonamassa - The Legend of John Henry. I thought Sloe Gin was a high point for this American blues-rock guitarist, but he's raised the game by an order of magnitude with his raw, trademark blues sound.

7 Steven Wilson - Insurgentes. Founder and front man of Porcupine Tree, Steven released this solo effort. Fantastic soundscapes that take you where Radiohead would have done if they hadn't gone off the rails. Genius.

6 The Decemberists - Hazards Of Love. Their fifth recent album inspired by an Anne Briggs EP of the same name. This is a rock opera, a love story of a woman who falls in love with a shape-shifting forest dweller. A jealous forest queen, a villainous rake and an ensemble of other characters add to the storyline. Can I use the word 'genius' again? Yes.

5 Lynyrd Skynyrd - God & Guns. Their first studio offering for six years, bit it's as if they've never been away. A bit redneck for some people's tastes but good for me. Superb.

4 Porcupine Tree - The Incident. It's a bit more stripped-down than Fear Of A Blank Planet, but even more unnerving for all that. Brilliant.

Into the top three...

3 Hope&Social - Architect Of This Church. You can buy this album for whatever you can afford. The minimum prices are £.01 for the download, £2.95 for a CD+postage. It's a unique selling point and basically you get one of the best albums of the year. You've got to be mad not to get it. Get over to www.alamomusic.co.uk.

2 Parade - The Fabric. You can't buy this one through normal retail outlets yet, try www.paradeband.com. It's kinda prog-indie... hell, I don't know. It's just a fantastic album and you REALLY need to listen to this.

1 Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings. Frankly, the best thing I've heard for a very, very long time. On the basis of this album I've purchased a further seven CDs from their prodigious back catalogue, and turned into a Dream Theater fan. Incredible, this will blow your mind.

Happy New Year!

Paradise, drawn in blood, twisted torn, round a lullaby, with love

Friday 11 December - I'm a bad person, I went to see Mostly Autumn on Friday 4 December but didn't blog them. However, The Druid did, so read his blog instead.

So, we went for the covers option this weekend, Copowt at The Roman Bath. We've seen these before and they have a popular following. They're not as technically expert as some of the bands we see, but they make up for this by their enthusiasm and the excellent mix of covers they do, popular stuff that gets the crowd singing along. CopOwt are a five-piece covers band from Copmanthorpe, just outside York, and consist of: Russ (vocals), Alan (guitar and vocals), Paul (guitar), Paul (drums), and Seon (bass and vocals).

So what did we get? From my addled memory and in no particular order: Dakota and Local boy in a photograph (Stereophonics), Teenage Kicks (Undertones), Buck Rogers (Feeder), Modern Way and I predict a riot (Kaiser Chiefs), When the sun goes down (Arctic Monkeys), Should I stay or should I go (The Clash), Pretty Vacant (The Sex Pistols), Sex on fire (Kings of Leon), White Wedding (Billy Idol), Hanging on the telephone (Blondie), Bohemian like you (Dandy Warhols), Hush (Deep Purple), Ever fallen in love (Buzzcocks), Cigarettes and alcohol, Rock 'n roll star and Roll with it (Oasis), Basket case (Greenday), and Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol). Jolly excellent stuff, recommended.

The fabric has torn, Can the line remain true?

Friday 4 December - a special day for me, personally and musically. But enough with the mush and let's look at the music. This was date two of a very special trio of gigs for Josh & Co Limited and their support Parade. On 14 November they kicked off at Esquires, Bedford, tonight they were at The Duchess, York, and on 13 December they will be at The Robin 2, Bilston.

The prog-rock scene in York has slowly been coalescing into a musical collective, centered around Mostly Autumn, that is spawning a variety of high quality side projects. The support band, Parade, consisted of Chris Johnson (vocals, guitars, keys), Simon Snaize (guitar), Anne-Marie Helder (vocals, guitars, keys), Patrick "Paddy" Berry (bass), and Gavin Griffiths (drums). Chris, Simon and Paddy have played at various times, for Hazzard County, an alt-country covers band whose line-up was somewhat fluid. Simon and Chris have always sought to develop their song writing skills into original material, each appearing as solo artists in their own right. Chris has been in Mostly Autumn and Fish's band. Gavin is a fellow Fish bandmate and he and Anne-Marie also feature in both Panic Room and Mostly Autumn. Are you keeping up? Just to confuse the lay punter further, Bryan Josh also came on-stage to perform the guitar solos for Diamond, and Ending.

Parade have garnered enough material already to put out an album, The Fabric, which they are touring. The album is available at gigs and will be also available retail from January through a distribution deal with Voiceprint. As far as I could tell, and I hadn't heard any of the material before, they pretty much did most of the album. Highlights for me were Start Again, a very heavy The Dogs, the lyrically superb Feedline and dreamy Ending, although I enjoyed every single track, and had no hesitation in acquiring the album. Are they prog-rock? Well, some bits are, and some are a bit more melodic. They do LOUDquietLOUD, and quietLOUDquiet. Chris and Anne-Marie harmonise together like Buckingham and Nicks. If Buckingham-era Fleetwood Mac were a bar of Galaxy, Parade would be a Green & Black's Dark 85%, brooding, dark, and much healthier for you. In terms of musical variety, I would put them closer to alt-rockers Feeder, or Linoleum. All in all, an extremely strong performance and very highly recommended. Buy the album.

During the interval there was some re-tuning and shuffling of equipment, but ultimately, it was pretty much the same line-up for Josh & Co Limited, the solo project from Mostly Autumn guitarist Bryan Josh whose first album, Through These Eyes was released towards the end of 2008. Tonight we had Bryan Josh (vocals, guitar), Olivia "Livvy" Sparnenn (vocals, tambourine), Iain Jennings (keys), Chris Johnson (vocal, guitars, keys), Patrick "Paddy" Berry (bass), and Gavin Griffiths (drums). Livvy and Iain form the core of Breathing Space, and both are members of Mostly Autumn (there will be a quiz at the end of this blog, so pay attention).

I haven't got the album (call yourself a fan?) so, again, most of the material was new to me. That said, there were some very powerful tracks; We Graze, Through These Eyes, Into Your Arms, Going Home, and Old Friends. There was lots of foot stomping and singing along to The Appian Way, which was sung twice, once for the encore. We were also treated to a couple of covers; All Along The Watchtower (the Hendrix version of Dylan's song), and Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin). Another fantastic performance and very highly recommended.

I've been this way ten years to the day, Ramble On, Gotta find the queen of all my dreams.

Friday 27 November - and we're taking a punt on three bands that we've never heard before who were appearing at The Duchess. First to take to the stage were York four-piece The Leads. They consist of: Rob Lettice on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Tim Creasy on vocals and lead guitar, Gordon Ritchie on bass and backing vocals, and Chris Corr on drums. They started off very strongly, sounding a bit like Lit. The edgy, early tracks did soften as they went on, ending up sounding like Wheezer or Busted. But hey, we all love a cheesy, catchy tune. The only bad thing I can say about them is that they had zero stage presence. Basically they were four blokes playing their instruments for us. They could have been in my front room. Anyway, definitely a band to watch out for.

The second band up were more like an Oasis covers band, except they didn't play covers. The Lookout are a four-piece from York consisting of Rich Wheeler on vocals, Jon Thompson on guitar, Marc Johnson on bass, and Jon Mellin on drums. In contrast to The Leads, lead man Rich swaggered back and forth across the stage like Ian Brown (of The Stone Roses) and sang up into his microphone like Liam Gallagher. Musically they sounded like a raw Oasis practicing in their bedroom. Not bad. Not as good as the first band, but still worth watching out for.

Finally, the headliners, The Crookes who hail from Crookes in Sheffield (thanks to Lynn for spotting that). They have released a couple of singles through the Too Pure Singles Club label and play a melodic, folk-influenced, Indie rock. Although, to my untutored ear it sounded like Morrissey doing 50s skiffle. The Crookes consist of: Russell Bates, Daniel Hopewell, Alex Saunders, and George Waite. I think, but don't quote me on this, that Russell played drum, Dan and Alex were on guitar, and the crooner with the bass and toy guitar was George. Sad to say that they weren't really my cup of cappuccino, but for an encore they did come amongst the audience and performed acoustic/acapella in our midst. They had great voices. For lovers of Noah and The Whale I understand.

Due to a combination of late finishing at The Duchess and early finishing at The Roman Bath, we only caught a couple of Led Zep covers from femme-fronted Remedy (who were in the Bath). They sounded brilliant and I hope we get a chance to see them again soon so that I can write them up and provide more details.

Politicians hide themselves away, They only started the war

Friday 20 November - Yes, I know I'm a bit late blogging, but there's a woman in my life who is keeping me occupied in the very best way possible, so I'm not sorry at all. Anyway up, we were out on Wednesday and, frankly, I can't do better than let The Druid tell you all about it.

So on Friday it was a case of covers all around so Andy and I plumped for Dufflegoat (and on FaceSpace) at The Roman Bath. We've seen them twice before and enjoyed them on previous occasions. Formed in 1994, Dufflegoat are a three piece rock covers band hailing from York, consisting of Roger Newton (guitar, backing vocals), Tony Gilpin (bass, lead vocals), and Paul Marshall (drums). Even on a chill winter's evening, Paul was drumming bare-chested. Brave man. The Goat do covers, but they don't go for note-by-note perfection. Rather, they take the essence of the original and turn it into something of their own. It works very well indeed.

Being the light-weight drinker that I am, my brain is a bit foggy after two pint of John Smith's finest but I distinct remember a whole medley of Led Zeppelin The Song Remains The Same, Good Times Bad Times, Rock and Roll, Cream White Room and Sunshine of My Love, Black Sabbath War Pigs, Deep Purple Black Night, The Who Won't Get Fooled Again, Jimi Hendrix Foxy Lady and Purple Haze, QOTSA No One Knows, Fleetwood Mac The Green Manalishi With the Two Pronged Crown, and they even threw in a couple of their own songs. Sadly The Goat are not back in York for the rest of this year but they can be caught on Saturday 5 December at The Bridge Tavern, Bradford, Friday 11 December at The Axe, Boston and Saturday 12 December at The Victoria Bikers Bar, Coalville. Recommended.

Once upon a time you dressed so fine, you threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?

Friday 13 November - Severe weather warning! Torrential rain! Storm force winds! Well not in York matey. We are the eye of the storm. Quite mild for a November evening, and just right for a genteel stroll into town, to The Roman Bath to watch classic rock covers band Stealer. Now the Bath can get a bit crowded but tonight it was exceptionally so, with a constant stream of tattooed ladies and baldy blokes in leather jackets. Even a guy with a shoulder bag big enough to carry a small child in. He knocked everyone flying.

Anyway, Stealer are a four-piece from York consisting of Mick, Nick, Andy and Tivvy (on drums). Tonight they played the following and more (I can't remember much after two pints of John Smith's, such a light-weight); The Kinks You Really Got Me, Lynyrd Skynyrd Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird, The Who Won't Get Fooled Again, AC/DC High Voltage Rock And Roll, Let There Be Rock and Whole Lotta Rosie, Neil Young Rocking In The Free World, UFO Too Hot to Handle, The Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter, The Doors Roadhouse Blues, The Undertones Teenage Kicks, Bob Dylan Highway 61 Revisited and Like A Rolling Stone, and Deep Purple Black Night. All competently played and making for a very enjoyable evening. Thanks guys.

p-Pod roulette

Let's play shuffle on the old p-pod and see what comes up:

• El Salvador. Lead track from 2003 debut album Vehicles and Animals by Athlete. Released 24 March 2004, it was the fourth single from the album and charted at number 31.


• Today The World Stopped Turning. You gotta love Thunder. This version was track 6 from the 2003 album Thunder Ballads. Thunder announced a decision to split on 28 January 2009 via their website, boo hiss. The band toured Europe and Japan before returning home for the British leg of their farewell tour in July 2009. Their very final appearance took place on 1 August 2009 at around 11pm at the Sonisphere Festival, Knebworth where, thanks to another band pulling out, they were able to arrange a place on the bill at late notice and played a short final set to a packed Bohemia tent.


• Strange Kind Of Woman. Released as a follow up single after Black Night in early 1971 by rock legends Deep Purple. Originally called Prostitute, vocalist Ian Gillan said "It was about a friend of ours who got mixed up with a very evil woman and it was a sad story. They got married in the end. And a few days after they got married, the lady died." The track peaked at number 8 in the UK singles chart and appeared on the 1971 album Fireball.


• Terminal Crash Fear. Blimey, this was a blast from the past. Specifically it was track 12 from the 1996 album The Big 3 by the 60ft Dolls. The Dolls were a Welsh rock trio active in the 1990s. The album featured four singles that had been previously released and was described by the NME as "grunge mod...proto-pub metal blues of the first order". The band toured extensively in the UK, Japan and Europe, including several summer festival appearances as well as opening for The Sex Pistols at their 1996 Finsbury Park reunion gig. But they were dogged by alcohol problems, and after an exhaustive three tours of the USA in 1997, never toured again. They released their second album, Joya Magica, in late 1998 and split soon after.


• Further On (Up The Road). One of Johnny Cash's final collaborations with producer Rick Rubin, the album American V: A Hundred Highways, was released posthumously on 4 July 2006. This was track 5, actually a cover, originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen on his 2002 album The Rising.


• Liberty In Reality. Sam Brown, daughter of Joe. This was track 6 from her superb 1997 solo offering Box. Never heard of her? Bet you have. Sam provided some backing vocals for Pink Floyd on their 1994 album, The Division Bell, and accompanied them on tour to promote the release.


• Abyssyn. Track 5 from the 2009 album Stranger Inside by Richard Barbieri. Barbieri was the former synth programmer with Japan but he has been working for the last 16 years alongside Steve Wilson in Porcupine Tree.