With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

Music reviews, gig reviews, fun trivia and extra added random stuff!

The Earth Wind & Fire Experience (featuring Al McKay) – The Liverpool Philharmonic Hall – Friday 27th February 2026 March 12, 2026


The first time I ever saw the spectacular Earth, Wind and Fire was 47 years ago in March 1979, at the Wembley Arena (I think it was still known as the Empire Pool back then). It was a stunning show with members of the band magically transported around the stage via a huge pyramid structure. But while the effects were good it was the music that transcended all special effects. How would this 21st Century version of the iconic soul and funk band compare? Read on to find out.

First I need to talk about the incredibly talented blue eyed soul voice of Danny Toeman. He has been dubbed the king of north London soul, but I reckon his kingdom stretches much further than that. Especially on the evidence of his solo performance at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool. Accompanied by just his guitar he played a set that was overflowing with emotion, fun, excitement and indeed plenty of soul. Perhaps the only downside was the rather ignorant and rude members of the audience who talked incessantly during Danny’s show. Well you know what. those people missed an absolute fucking treat. Danny portrays so much emotion in his songs and if they work that well with just his voice and his guitar they are truly special songs. Highlights for me were “Love Explosion” and “When The Lights Go Down”. For me one of the greatest purveyors of blue eyed soul was Daryl Hall and I think Danny’s performance shows that he is on a similar level from a vocal performance and passion perspective. Check this man’s music out, you will not be disappointed!

I know this is not the original Earth, Wind and Fire, but with guitarist from the early days Al McKay they are a superb, talented tribute act. The diminutive McKay is a left handed player (like McCartney and Hendrix) and even approaching 80 years old (he is 78) his funk riffs and soulful licks are sublime. The band kicked off their set on a massive high, opening with a stunning, rollicking romp through “Boogie Wonderland”. That was a clear statement of intent that the audience was expected to boogie the whole evening, and we did. It was hit after hit after hit. Highlights for me were “Saturday Nite”, “Serpentine Fire”, “Jupiter”, “Getaway” and “Fantasy”. The latter was spine tingling and was a song were almost everyone was on their feet. I suspect the their cover of “Got To Get You Into My Life” is a shoe-in for their set list anyway, but it was particularly powerful to hear such a great Beatles cover being played in Liverpool, home of the Fab Four. “Let’s Groove” and “September” gave my own dancing shoes the most action while “After The Love Has Gone” had every person in the room singing along. The only thing that jarred a little for me was the brief use of a rapper halfway through the set. It wasn’t needed and stuck out as somewhat incongruous. But overall this was a fabulous show and a great night out. I had never been to the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall before, but after this I will definitely be back!

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog. You can also follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, and Linkedin.

Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch via EMail.

 

Flat Moon – The Fulford Arms – Thursday 26th February 2026 March 8, 2026


It had been quite a while since I last saw Leeds Funkateers Flat Moon. In fact it was back in August 2021 when they stepped in to replace YouVee supporting TommyRot at the Vaults in York. So have they got better, stayed the same, got worse? Read on to find out dear reader, because first I need to tell you about the two rather splendid support acts.

First up it was the always delightful Gents and Ginger. I reviewed their album ‘Githerments In Groove’ 18 months ago. Sadly it was just the Gents as Ginger was unwell. But they didn’t let that deter them. They were still cranking the funk dial up high with some dirty, lowdown, bluesy bass heavy jams. I love how this lot are not afraid to use the space between the notes too. At times they reminded me of the early days of iconic Scottish funksters the Average White Band. Their cover of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” really got the whole room grooving.

Next up it was No Cameo from Leeds. This was funk rock with a hard edge or perhaps math rock on speed. I sensed an occasional nod to the Red Hot Chili Peppers too. The band’s new single “Win A Fortune”is a sonic nuclear explosion with the power to wipe out a small country. No Cameo signed a record deal earlier in the day with the same label that Flat Moon are signed to. Their music won me over easily, but the band chanting “fuck the far right” sealed the deal!

Finally it was time for Flat Moon. This was a fiery, funky mix of the likes of Parliament, Funkadelic and Pigbag. A truly funkbustible combination. Flat Moon can move, they can groove and they can fucking party too! They played a new song (something about a layby I think) which was very special indeed with elements of James Brown and Sly Stone. Can white boys sing the blues? (To paraphrase Deacon Blue). Possibly but this bunch can outfunk the best of them! But it is not just the funk, their salsa and Latin beats are so authentic I thought that I was back in Cuba. The band did a great ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ skit in the set and it was on a par with classic US comedy show Saturday Night Live from the 1970s. Has there ever been a funk mosh circle before? I have no idea, but there fucking is now!

It was also good to see so many members of great bands past and present in the audience. I bumped into members of Sweeping Statement, Heartsink, Punk Ass Kids, Vagabond and the now sadly departed Everything After Midnight. What a fantastic night!

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog. You can also follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, and Linkedin.

Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch via EMail.

 

All Should Eat – The Crescent, York – Tuesday 10th February 2026


This ‘All Should Eat’ gig at the Crescent was organised to raise money for a fabulous Yorkshire charity, SASH. The organisation is a youth homelessness charity that works across North Yorkshire. They help young people aged 16-25 who are facing homelessness. It is a charity that I love and respect hugely, they do such great work. So when this gig was announced I purchased a ticket right away. Yes I know that I get into many gigs for free, but I always pay my way when it is for charity! If you wish to find out more about SASH or wish to donate to them click here.

The night featured five bands, one of which I had never seen before. First up it was the Expression who have featured on these pages a few times before. They gave us a delightful set of 21st century prog with some vibey dark jazz undertones. The guitarist was not only a great player he was also an absolute genius in creating sounds using his effects pedals. A big shout out to the drummer too, he was ace.

They were followed by the Blair Bitch Project. This would be one of their last gigs under that name, the Blair Witch Project film franchise company contacted them and requested that they stop using the name. They will now be known as Bitchcraft, which to be fair is yet another great band name. This band are at the vanguard of hard rocking all female bands. Their songs are truly original. Especially “Banshee” and “My Cat”. The latter saw some crowd surfing from the band’s toy cat. They are a part of the line up of the first Love Music Hate Racism gig on 27th February. They rocked the absolute fuck out of the Crescent!

Ghostship were next and they seem to evoke the history of classic British rock with some fine very UK rock vibes. There were shades of Pink Floyd and the more mellow songs of the Faces that featured Ronnie Lane on vocals rather than Rod Stewart. Their harmonies were sublime and reminded me of Lindisfarne in their prime. If Ian McNabb had worked with Pink Floyd it might have sounded like Ghostship. They closed their set with a powerful and simply awesome cover of the Beatles classic “Dear Prudence”.

Finally it was time for the Disappearer to take the stage. This was th only one of the four bands that I had not seen before this gig. They are purveyors of fine melodic rock with a smattering of bluesy jazz. They have a great mellow shoegaze style in some songs. Their closing song was introduced as something of an experiment. Now that was a brave move, while it was generally good it sometimes felt a little ‘try hard’. I think it might work better in a studio. But didn’t take much away from what was overall a stunning set. So a great night for a great cause, what more does a philanthropic music fan need?

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog. You can also follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, and Linkedin.

Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch via EMail.

 

Suede – York Barbican – Saturday 7th February 2026 February 23, 2026

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 8:42 pm
Tags: , , ,

This would be the first time I had seen Suede for a few years and probably the 6th or 7th time I have seen them overall. The first time was at the sadly long defunct Old Trout in Windsor back in June 1992. After hearing the new album ‘Antidepressants’ I was quite excited for this gig. But before I tell you how it was let me tell you about the support band, Bloodworm. They are George Curtis, Euan Stevens, and Chris Walker from Nottingham. They have a strong post punk feel, added shoegaze elements, a sprinkling of dark goth and a huge injection of metal. Their riffs were piledriving and the crowd seemed to love them. Their massive sound hits you head first like a runaway fully laden express train and it feels fucking good! This band may well be huge one day.

Finally it was time for Suede to hit the stage for this sell out show. The band are clearly, and rightly, so confident in the new album that the first three songs in the set were lifted from it: “Disintegrate”, “Dancing With The Europeans” and the title track “Antidepressants”. They sound like they have been part of classic Suede sets for years, but that can’t be true! “Dancing With The Europeans” was one of many highlights for me. Most of the hits were there “Trash”, “Animal Nitrate”, “So Young”, “Metal Mickey” and “New generation”. The latter was making its 2026 tour debut. The song the raised the crowd to a level of mass hysteria though was “Beautiful Ones” as Brett encouraged us all to sing along to that magnificent “la la la la” refrain while we were “shaking our bits to the hits”. Brett Anderson is 58 years old, but that never shows. He is a true showman and worked the stage like he owned it as he welcomed us all to Suedeworld once again. This was a fiery, bombastic, explosive set from a band once again at their peak. It was capped with a goosebumps inducing two song encore of “The Only Way I Can Love You” (from ‘Autofiction’) and “Saturday Night” (from ‘Coming Up). I thought that Suede were good the first time I witnessed them nearly 34 years ago, but who knew they would become such a great band. Even after all this time they get better and better!

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog. You can also follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, and Linkedin.

Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch via EMail.

 

‘The Woodland Sessions’ EP – HerOrangeCoat February 22, 2026

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 9:46 pm
Tags: , , , ,

We are big fans of HerOrangeCoat’s music here at Mayhem Towers, so we were very excited when we heard about her new project, the EP entitled ‘The Woodland Sessions’. Georgia a.k.a. HerOrangeCoat was able to undertake and complete the project with funding from the Next Gen fund from Youth Music. She went to five woodland locations and wrote and recorded five songs, each in a single day. Georgia says of the songs “These songs are unlike the rest of my catalogue – these are field recordings designed to capture the ambience of the spaces that inspired the music“. These are gorgeously intimate, soulful and introspective recordings with an ambience of natural sounds underlying each of them. The clarity and fragility of Georgia’s vocals is interwoven with the beautifully crafted gentle ukulele accompaniment. This is an EP that takes me to a very happy place and is perfect for a chilled meditation. I haven’t heard anything so wonderfully raw for a long while. These songs will be recorded in a studio for a later release in May. The five songs are listed below alongside the forest and woodland areas they were recorded.

“The Algae and Hope Grow” (Judy Woods)
“I’ve Seen a Deer” (Knaresborough Forest Park)
“Down Where the Stories Grow” (Garbutt Wood)
“Under the Yew Tree” (Castle Eden Dene)
“Adder Stone” (Dalby Forest)

Take a listen, you will love the way this music transports you to another magical place.

Photo by Kevin Donnelly

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog. You can also follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, and Linkedin.

Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch via EMail.

 

“Run Rabbit Run” – Sleuth Gang February 19, 2026

Filed under: Review,Single — justwilliam1959 @ 1:18 pm
Tags: ,

Sleuth Gang Unleash Explosive New Single “Run Rabbit Run” – OUT NOW!

Leeds-based seven-piece alternative rock powerhouse Sleuth Gang return with their eagerly awaited new single, “Run Rabbit Run,” set for independent release on 19th February 2026 across all major streaming platforms.

Blending forceful alt-rock intensity with the raw dynamism of nu-metal, metal, rap, and hip-hop, “Run Rabbit Run” captures Sleuth Gang at their most fearless and genre-defying. Produced by Dave Boothroyd at 6DB Studios, the track blends classic hip-hop rhythms with earth shaking nu-metal guitar work, delivering a sound that is both nostalgic and unwaveringly 21st Century.

“Run Rabbit Run” pulls together the hip-hop grooves and heavy guitar elements that define the band. It is intense, powerfully rhythmic, and unapologetically Sleuth Gang. “It’s no fun when the rabbit’s got the gun!

Emerging from the thriving alternative scene in Leeds, Sleuth Gang have steadily built a reputation as one of the UK’s most exciting and unpredictable live acts. Their music has been championed by major national broadcasters including BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Introducing, exposing their unique sound recipe to a growing audience across the UK. Yet it is their visceral, high-energy live performances that have cemented their status as a band to watch, earning them a fiercely loyal following. It was their astonishing live show that made them very worthy winners of the Fulford Arms (York) Battle of the Bands contest in 2024.

“Run Rabbit Run” marks a defining moment in Sleuth Gang’s evolution — a bold statement of intent from a band determined to challenge expectations and carve their own path through the UK alternative landscape. They have described themselves as “Your mum’s favourite boy band” if that is true then your mum is cool as fuck!

The single will be available worldwide from today, 19th February 2026. The full on video will be premiered on YouTube in just a few hours! Click here after 6pm UK time today (19th February) to see it!

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog. You can also follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, and Linkedin.

Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch via EMail.

 

The Silhouettes – Fulford Arms – York Monday 26th January 2026 February 3, 2026


This was my fourth gig of 2026 so far, but my first at the fabulous Fulford Arms. This promised to be another excellent night of great music pulled together by Northern Radar supremo Simon P. Read on to find out if it was up there with all the other Northern Radar gigs I have had the pleasure and privilege of attending. The bill included four acts that I had never seen before and that is always a bonus in my opinion. First we were treated to a solo acoustic set from Hull’s Martin Gallagher. His covers were ace and included Queen, Jake Bugg, the Zutons, Queen, U2, Ed Sheeran, the Beatles, the Kings Of Leon and Johnny Cash. His powerful rendition of the Cash classic “Folsom Prison Blues” was spine-tingling. Aside from the covers Martin’s original songs are very special indeed, particularly “Mixed Signals” is a sad song with fathomless emotions. I spoke with Martin after his set and he is not just a great artist, but a top bloke too.

I love it when I find an artist that is difficult to fit into a genre box and next on the stage were Call It Vain and they are exactly that type of act. Their music has elements of hip hop, emo and huge cinematic ambition. The songs are perfectly constructed and a couple in particular really stand out: “Life” and 2025 single “Saturday Superhero”. The echoey jangly guitar and mountainous drums on the set closer were awesome. Call It Vain is Calum Green and at the Fully he was backed on drums by his brother. I believe that Call It Vain has the potential to become much bigger.

If Talking Heads had delved into shoegaze they might have sounded a little like Committee Of Sleep who took the stage next. They are masters of the quiet loud but perhaps slightly more lo-fi than the Pixies. As the set proceeded the sound moved up a few notches as the band proudly displayed their fine jangly pop vibes. But they also know how to rock and their rockier moments are dark and fuelled by some fucking huge solid riffs. This is a highly talented and entertaining band. I can imagine listening to them late at night in a badly lit room while nursing a JD on the rocks. They closed with a song called “Planet Of Chocolate Bars”, a great song with possibly one of the best song titles ever. I am confident I will be seeing Committee Of Sleep again.

Sadly much of the relatively small crowd had left by the time the Silhouettes took to the stage. I loved the song about selling your soul to the devil. The band have perfected the classic jangly pop guitar sound and their song craft reminded me at times of Vampire Weekend but without the African guitar influence. Vocally there were shades of Kaoru from the Dead Zoo. The drummer is immensely talented, I think he might outgrow this band. They closed the set with two covers: “I Bet That You Look Good On the Dancefloor” (Arctic Monkeys) and “Mr. Brightside” (The Killers). These were good covers but I think I preferred the originals, maybe opening the set with the covers might have worked better. This is a young band and I think they will continue to improve as they get more gigs under their belts. So overall this was another fine night of music brought to us by Northern Radar!

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog. You can also follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, and Linkedin.

Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch via EMail.

 

“Interest Free” – Lost Trends February 1, 2026


I love it when a band or artist takes a different and unexpected direction, especially when it is a band I have been a fan of for a long while. Lost Trends are back with a new single which takes a funky, west coast hip hop style and they make it their own. The rhythm section are faultless and drive the track with some delightful laid back, understated funk vibes. Meanwhile Pete’s guitar is so good that it could fit neatly into something by the likes of Parliament/ Funkadelic. This is all overlaid by Rusty’s vocal which while it draws on that US 90s west coast feel, think Warren G, it maintains the English roots of this superb band.

Lyrically it is perhaps their most powerful song so far and is a comment on the state of the world we live in and the people who made it bad. Couplets like “At the food bank, gonna tank feeling really low. But you can’t make a difference if you haven’t been to Harrow” says so much in just a few words. Their last single “Takedown” was explosive in sound, this new one is explosive in voice and sentiment. I am excited by the thought of seeing “Interest Free” played live. I have played it a lot since I first heard it a few days ago. If you want to give it a spin, and by the way you NEED to, click here. Meanwhile stay alert, stay angry and be the voice of those who don’t have one. That is just a few of the messages I took from this song!

If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog. You can also follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, and Linkedin.

Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch via EMail.