OK, firstly apologies for the smutty, Carry On, double entendre, innuendo title for this new feature. But I am talking about the 12-inch single, obviously! This will build into a playlist of my favourite 12-inch singles and remixes, many of which I used to own on vinyl. I am kicking off with an absolute club smash from 1977, “Do What You Wanna Do” by T-Connection. The single, helped by the majestic 12-inch version got to number one in the US Dance Chart and a peak of number 11 in the UK charts. The group majored in a classy funk and disco sound, epitomised by “Do What You Wanna Do”. The band hailed from Nassau in the Bahamas, Funky Nassau indeed! Despite being active from 1975 until 1984 they sadly never reached the heights achieved by this song again. So put on your dancing trousers and cut some rug to the awesome “Do What You Wanna Do”. Dance like nobody’s watching and remember “You gotta be your judge and jury too!”
This series will eventually become a playlist, so keep your ears peeled for that! Also, feel free to recommend your own favourite 12-inch tracks!
If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, EMail. Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.
This is the seventeenth song in the Play It Again Mayhem series, which began back in 2020. Check out the previous entries along with this new one in the Play It Again Mayhem Spotify Playlist, click here to take a listen! It has only been 7 weeks since the last entry, so it must be time for another, right? Anyway, this is a song that has, perhaps in an ironic way, been in my head for the last couple of weeks given all the rain we have had in much of the UK recently. It is T. Rex with “Celebrate Summer”. After 10 top 5 hits, including 4 UK number ones, from 1970 to 1973, Marc Bolan’s glitter had faded a little. Although in 1977 he championed some of the younger punk bands and fronted his own weekly TV show, ‘Marc’. Some of the new bands he embraced included the Jam, the Damned, Eddie and the Hot Rods, and Generation X. The show also saw appearances by David Bowie and Hawkwind. But sadly his untimely death at far too young an age in September 1977 put to rest any chance of the diminutive former Mr Feld rising to the heights of the early 70s Bolanmania period.
“Celebrate Summer” is a non-album single and the last T. Rex single to be released while Marc was still alive. It came out on 12th August 1977 and he died in an awful car accident in Barnes on 16th September 1977. The song was performed on the ‘Marc’ TV show three times and despite some relatively good reviews, many of which cited a punk/ new wave influence, it failed to get much radio airplay and as a result, it failed to make the charts. Personally, I consider this track to be among T. Rex‘s best.
So to steal some lyrics from this rather wonderful ditty “Hey little punk forget all that junk and celebrate summer with me. Summer’s not a bummer. This is summer. And it’s now” Whatever you are doing and wherever you are I hope you make the most of your summer!
If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, EMail. Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.
I saw an online flyer for this gig by Gum Disease in my adopted home city of York. The band referred to themselves as a queer, clown, punk band. That description piqued my interest and sold the whole event to me, plus it was to be an acoustic set and they are always a little different, right? The venue is a wonderfully laid-out safe space for the LGBTQ+ community and incredibly welcoming to straight allies like me. The gig was actually held in the bookshop rather than the cafe so that a fan in a wheelchair would not miss out. You really should check out the Over The Rainbow Cafe!
Gum Disease was formed back in 2020 and consists of Phoebe Kift, Avery Holdom, and Magnus Vintin. Avery and Phoebe were there, but poor Magnus, the drummer, couldn’t make it as he was unwell. So how good were Gum Disease’s dynamic duo of Avery and Phoebe? Well, frankly they were fucking awesome! With maybe no more than 20 people in the audience this was a truly intimate gig. This two-thirds of Gum Disease perfectly epitomised the DIY attitude of old-school punk and they certainly have a new fan in me. Phoebe’s jokes were as awful and groan-worthy as most of mine and she told them to fill in a couple of times while Avery was trying to remember some chords. But none of this was detrimental to what, for me, was a completely open and honest performance from what is clearly a great band. Songs like “Gender Envy”, “Bowling Alley Carpet” and “Milk” were highlights for me as were the covers, especially the truncated “Teenage Dirtbag”.
Their blurb says that they are Gum Disease and they will make your teeth fall out, they certainly rattled mine, but I guess an acoustic set would not have the tooth removal power of a full-on electric show. It was a very special night for one couple in the audience as there was a beautiful proposal and the resounding YES, meant an actual engagement took place. That even brought a tiny tear to this cynical old man’s eyes! Huge congratulations to the happy couple, how many other people can say that they got engaged at a Gum disease gig?
If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, EMail. Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.
Let’s start with the Friday lineup for this year’s Leeds Festival. Firstly though, we have now come to expect this joint headline thing for Leeds/ Reading each day of the festival. I don’t see the point, are the punters getting more value for money? That is debatable, but maybe, but not a great deal. Surely the last act to play on that particular night is the main headliner, right? Anyway, enough of the mini-rant. The Main Stage East headliner on Friday 25th August is the towering talent, Billie Eilish. Earlier in the evening Rina Sawayama will undoubtedly put on a stunning set. Also, keep an eye out for the Amazons, they come highly recommended by my daughter. Main Stage West on the Friday looks a little “safe” to me with Becky Hill followed by Imagine Dragons. However, to balance that we will be given a stonking double whammy of the magnificent Don Broco followed by the rather awesome Snuts!
The hot ones hitting the Dance Stage on Friday are likely to be Shy FX and Eliza Rose in my opinion. The Festival Republic Stage will undoubtedly host a real screamfest when Lovejoy perform the headline set. Further down the bill, you will see the sublime Tom Odell and the rather wonderful Royston Club. My pick for Radio 1 Xtra Stage is the headliner K-Trap. Of course, the BBC Introducing Stage never lets you down and the one not to miss on Friday is the Goa Express.
On Saturday the Main Stage West hosts a very early highlight when it is opened by none other than the genius and all round top bloke, Frank Turner along with the mighty Sleeping Souls. I would consider selling my grandmother to get a ticket to see Frank Turner, but as she died many years ago, I won’t be tempted! You Me At Six will bring some good noise with them and Trippie Redd will bring some fine US rap ahead of what will be a truly rambunctious set by festival stalwarts and Leeds/ Reading favourites, Foals. Over on the Main Stage East try not to miss the arch wit and supreme talent of Yard Act, who will be opening proceedings on the Saturday. I reckon Yard Act have the potential to be headliners (or joint headliners?) in the future. Later on the Main Stage East, we get to judge whether Wet Leg are as good as the hype that surrounds them. Expect the Main Stage East to be closed with a highly charged and incendiary set from Sam Fender.
The Radio 1 Dance Stage has the Murder Capital listed early on for Saturday. Dance Stage? Really? But trust me getting to see the Murder Capital at a festival is worth the weight of all the illicit substances in your rucksack, you’ll probably feel healthier for losing that stuff too. The Festival Republic Stage features an incredibly eclectic and rather excellent bunch of acts for Saturday at Leeds. Make sure that you are in attendance for Yonaka, Lauren Hibberd, and Bilk at the very least. Check out the Last Dinner Party too. Are they an industry plant? many think that they are, but personally, I don’t. However, I am keen to see whether their performance will live up to the weight of expectations and plaudits heaped on them. On the Saturday I will try and catch as many acts as I can on the BBC Introducing Stage. But whatever happens, I will definitely be there for headliner Alt Blk Era.
Of the two Main Stage lineups for Sunday 27th August, Main Stage East looks stronger for me. Likely highlights will, I think, be Baby Queen, Holly Humberstone, Nothing But Thieves, and obviously indefatigable indie rock darlings, the Killers. Main Stage West is to be headlined by perennial super subs, the 1975. Last year they filled in for Rage Against The Machine and this year they will be covering Lewis Capaldi’s slot. Apart from the 1975, I reckon that Arlo Parks will raise the East Stage’s game in the afternoon.
MK will headline the Radio 1 Dance Stage. The Festival Republic Stage hosts a classy lineup on Sunday, including Mothica, Scowl, High Vis, and Fat Dog. Then the Radio 1 Xtra Stage will be nicely smashed by Malaki and Nippa. Once again the BBC Introducing Stage has a great selection. Standouts on Sunday for me will be Hannah Grae and Hotwax.
It is since I attended my first festival, which was Reading, and I recall a stunning set from Thin Lizzy back then (in 1975!!!!) I don’t believe that the lineup for 2023 looks like one of the best on paper, but on the muddy fields of Bramham Park, it will be a different matter entirely!
If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, EMail. Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.
There have been enough books written about the Eagles to populate a small library and I have read quite a few of them. But this new one from prolific music writer, biographer and skilled journalist Mick Wall is something special indeed. For me, it is possibly the best Eagles tome written by anyone to date. The only way I can ever see this being topped is if Don Henley gets off his arse (that’ll be his ass to my American readers) and writes an autobiography. But even then, even a Henley memoir would never reach the same objective levels that Mick Wall hits. I should point out here that I have reviewed the US version of the book, which is exactly the same as the UK version, apart from the cover and the title. In the UK it was published in May this year and is called ‘Eagles – Dark Desert Highway: How America’s Dream Band Turned Into A Nightmare’
The Eagles deserve their place in the rock pantheon, and it would be fair to say that they were a veritable soft rock juggernaut in the 70s. In their career, they have sold more records than both Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones combined. But individually they were probably never as well known as Jagger, Richards, Plant and Page et al. That might have been one factor that drove the internecine fractions and jealousies that ultimately lead to their breakup, well their first big breakup at least, let’s not forget that Hell froze over in 1994.
Mick’s book is more than just a simple chronological history of the band though, it delves into how they came about, examining the whole 60s and 70s US West Coast music scene and the social history of the era. He draws on a wealth of existing material including reviews, interviews and other books and then overlays that with his own incisive and intelligent perceptions and thoughts. Obviously, there are some great insights into relationships within the band, but also some prosaic pieces on the Eagles’ interactions with everyone and everything from Linda Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Browne, the Troubador, Patti Reagan and David Geffen. The opening chapter of the book is titled ‘Fast Forward – Don Henley Does Not Like Books About The Eagles’ and from Mick’s research that much is clear. He quotes Marc Eliot who published ‘To The Limit: The Untold Story Of The Eagles’ in 1998 in which Eliot details his attempts to communicate with Henley and Eagles manager Irving Azoff and seek their involvement. After some protracted efforts, Henley and Azoff told Eliot that he could go fuck himself!
The best parts of the book for me are where Mick delves into gorgeous descriptive detail, early on he writes of Linda Ronstadt “cute cut-off denim shorts and sweet brown doll’s eyes, the Troubador girl with the sunny small-town smile and the voice of a cactus mountain goddess, the super groovy chick that all the would-be groovy guys want the most”. In those few words, Mick shows how he can write from a US perspective, let’s be fair not many Brits are able to do that with such panache.
The Eagles’ early albums are given some acerbic depth when, thanks to Mick, you start to understand the relationship the band had with Glyn Johns when recording with him in the UK. They hated him and probably the UK too at that time. Although how much of that was related to Glyn Johns’ not allowing them access to drugs, groupies and late nights we may never know. Johns’ says of “Best Of My Love” “That was the record that really put them on the map after they turned themselves into what they thought was a rock ‘n’ roll band” Justto make it clear though, Johns then adds the punch line “a pretty lame one in my view!”
Obviously, the album that defined the band for many, ‘Hotel California’ plays a big part in the book. By this time Joe Walsh had joined the band and in any other parallel universe that would have given them the kudos and cred that they desired, but in this one, it didn’t, although Walsh did add a new meatier dimension to their sound. As Mick states, the Eagles were never anybody’s favourite band even if they released songs that found their way into many people’s lists of favourite songs of all time. Mick delves into the stranger rumours that still persist about the subject of the title song. Was it about satanic worship, cannibalism or heroin addiction? I suspect that addiction might have been the main theme, but lyrically there are obvious pointers to the prime fallen angel himself, Lucifer. Especially the reference to the beast. Did the ‘steely knives’ refer to a human sacrifice? Was the song a cryptic description of the band selling their soul to the devil via Anton LaVey the head of his own Church of Satan? As Mick says this was not the first time satanic influence had been thrown at rock ‘n’ roll. Personally, I don’t believe the satanic stuff in relation to the song, but everyone has a different interpretation, right?
Ultimately the ‘Hotel California’ became somewhat of a millstone for the band, not a bad millstone to be fair, but how the fuck do you follow something like that! Well ultimately, they followed it with 1979’s ‘The Long Run’ and the first Eagles implosion. Mick describes both really well especially the apparent lack of quality control that demeaned the album. “The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks”? Seriously? Just reading this book it becomes somewhat obvious that the Eagles would never stay together forever, and Mick handles the whole slow death of a mega globe-straddling band with impeccable style and skill. Clearly, the band didn’t stay in the coffin for long and there have now been numerous reunion tours. The epilogue covers a relatively recent Hyde Park show from what remains of the band now that Glenn Frey and now Randy Meisner are no longer with us and country star Vince Gill is a part of the band.
As I said earlier this is probably the best book about the Eagles ever written and you should read it whether you like the band or not on reflection they almost certainly aren’t your favourite band. So do something that Don Henley definitely won’t do, buy and read this book, you won’t regret it!
Click here to order it in the USA and here to order it in the UK.
If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, EMail. Are you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.
In my humble opinion companies like Viagogo are, in simple terms ticket touts that have somehow become legitimate. These companies refer to themselves as “ticket resale agencies” a rather cuddly and friendly title for what feels like industrial-level scalping. But there are other “ticket resale agencies” I hear you say. Yes, there is Stub Hub, but did you know they merged with Viagogo? There is also Seat Geek which has branched out beyond resale and is now a ticket agency in its own right. In fact, it is the ticketing partner for numerous sports teams and venues in the USA and in 2020 signed a similar deal with Liverpool Football Club in the UK. There are other scalping agencies, perhaps too many to mention.
Recently Taylor Swift tickets for her Eras tour became available on Viagogo at pretty much the same time they went on general sale, including pre-sale tickets, that smacks of some kind of high-level scam. Some were on sale for more than £3,500. The price for most legitimate tickets for her UK tour were reasonably expensive to start with, between £100 and £200. Cris Miller who owns Viagogo was asked at the time to justify the huge price of Taylor Swift tickets for her ERAS tour on his site, According to MyLondon, the BBC, and other press publications, he said that Viagogo was “ensuring that there’s a secure, safe transaction“. So does this mean safer than the more legitimate ticket agencies like Ticket Master (another company I am not a huge fan of, but they will be covered in a future article). He also stated that “There’s not going to be enough seats. So, from our perspective, ensuring that there’s a secure, safe transaction that takes place is the single most important thing“. Well, there never are enough seats to satisfy demand when artists on the scale of Taylor Swift tour, unless she played three shows a day every day for six months that is unlikely to ever change.
So, the bottom line suggested by that comment is that Viagogo is all about creaming as much money from fans as possible right? Well, that is certainly my takeaway. Miller went on to claim that “fans prefer to buy more expensive tickets on Viagogo”. Seriously? What the actual fuck is that about? How many people do you know who would honestly prefer to buy tickets at ten times the face value? I know people do, but do they prefer doing that? Of course, they don’t. Miller said, “I wake up every single day, as does everybody else that works at the company, thinking about one thing, and that’s getting fans into these events all over the world”. That might be true, but it is more likely about how much money they can scam off said fans.
Scammers like Viagogo and their ilk pay a lot of money to Google and other similar sites to promote themselves as legitimate ticker agents, falsely in my opinion. This enables them to show up on the top of page one of a Google search when you search for gigs and shows. They operate in an incredibly devious and sophisticated way to give genuine fans and ticket buyers the impression that your tickets are direct from the authorised seller. They often charge an increased base price for tickets and add an inflated booking fee. There have also been many incidents of fans buying tickets for shows only to find that on arrival at the event their tickets were not valid. This impacted fans of the Rolling Stones and Take That in the years leading up to Covid. In 2018, even the UK Government expressed negative thoughts about Viagogo when the then Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries, Margot James stated clearly on BBC Radio “Don’t choose Viagogo. They are the worst.” However, the company is now legal in the UK and that statement from Margot James was possibly the last sensible thing a UK Minister has ever said in public.
A few years before Covid I used Viagogo to purchase a ticket for the Reading Festival, that is the one and only time that I have ever or will ever use them. I had left it a bit late to get a ticket and weekend tickets had sold out. So, believing Viagogo to be a genuine fans resale company I purchased via their website. It cost me almost double the face value. Never again! I would rather not go than pay ridiculously inflated prices. This happens for almost every major event not just Taylor Swift. The same thing has impacted recent shows by Harry Styles and many UK festivals. What makes it even worse for me is that since Covid many shows struggle to sell out and having large tranches of tickets in the hands of legitimised touts and scalpers will not help change this. Late last year Rammstein mounted a successful legal fight that forbids Viagogo from selling tickets to their shows, let’s hope more artists do the same. Also last year UK independent TV channel ITV worked with the Fan Fair Alliance to discover that nearly all tickets on Viagogo’s site are supplied by just three traders, which means that only around 10% of tickets on the site were on offer by what we might call ordinary punters.
Meanwhile, there is the NME who, back in the day, were bastions of positive and liberal thinking and even recently they have written some quite strong pieces that slagged off Viagogo. But now, presumably thanks to advertising revenue, the once proud NME who, back in the day, really knew how to “stick it to the man” is licking Viagogo’s tarnished golden rim by publishing paid-for advertising features for Viagogo. Is Viagogo legitimate? Sadly, it is in most places, they currently have operations in more than 60 countries. Is it ethical? Well for me that is at best a very grey area, personally, I don’t believe that they are. Can I stop anyone from using Viagogo? No, I can’t. Can I implore people to avoid the company forever? Yes, I can and I really believe you should do some research into this awful organisation before you consider using them!
This is a screenshot taken from the Viagogo site on 27th July 2023 for Taylor Swift tickets for the Liverpool shows. These are just floor tickets!
If you have enjoyed this article feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;
This gig was originally scheduled for earlier this year and sadly had to be postponed due to illness. But the new date was perhaps better placed, falling on a Friday rather than a weekday. Millie and her gang are always up for a great show and invariably are accompanied by some great support acts. I love that Millie can usually be found among the crowd near the front of the stage for those supports too. So who were those support acts at the fabulous Crescent in York?
First up was Kiss Kiss Kill, another fine York band. They rock like a pop-punk/ metal hybrid fronted by Gwen Stefani. Singer and ace frontwoman Gemma was having some severe throat and voice issues but she soldiered on and worked through them and she was still damned good and on most songs, you would not have known that she was having issues. Given that fact, then how good must she be when her voice is fully fighting fit? The band, but Gemma in particular showed an incredibly warm and fun interaction with the audience. Kiss Kiss Kill is a band that is hard not to like. “Happy Never After” and “Bad Bitch” blew the house down. Kiss and kiss whoever you need to to get this band into your life, but please don’t kill anyone!
Following that rather splendiferous band was the tumultuously talented Sally Pepper. Sally is from the Northwest of England and is a purveyor of fine, mostly acoustic angry, and passionate punk tunes. Her songs, in which she proudly wears her heart and her opinions on her sleeve, prove that she is most definitely a wonderful human being. I heard elements of early Frank Turner and an even angrier Grace Petrie. The latter of which Sally has played support slots with. Her songs are powerful, meaningful message carriers that issue a clarion call to the masses. “Click Bait” is a fabulous song and the way that Sally added a “Fuck The Tories” refrain to it on the night resonated perfectly with the crowd. I will certainly be seeing Sally live again.
Finally, it was time for the mighty, magnificent, marvellous, magical malcontents Millie Manders and the Shut Up to take the stage. I first saw them back in November 2019 and this would be the fourth show of theirs that I have been to. This band has power, passion, and politics and is simply an obscenely talented band that gets better every time I see them. “Shut Your Mouth”, “Your Story” and “Not OK”” were three of the many turbo-charged highlights of a set that was full of them. Ever since the first time I heard it, I have always loved the incendiary passion of “Poor Man’s Show” which shows the frustration and general pissed-offness with politicians and the state of the world which we inhabit. Millie aired a new song called “Me Too” about the awful way that rape victims are treated in the UK and across the globe. It is likely to be released next year and will prove a perfect companion song to Delilah Bon’s “Dead Men Don’t Rape”. For me, one indicator of a truly great band is one that seems to have fun on stage and this lot does, perhaps no more so than perma-smiling bass player George, she has more energy than a small sun. At one point Millie was so overcome with emotion that she had to start the song again, but everyone in the crowd was there for her, which shows the kind of human she is! Is there a better set closer than “Rebound”? Maybe, but not tonight, that song closed a flawless and gorgeous set from a band that deserves greatness. Millie cares immensely about the things that really matter in life and she is one of the most ‘4 real’ people on our troubled planet!
If you have enjoyed this article feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;FacebookTwitterInstagramEMailAre you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.
Everything After Midnight is a band that has grown in strength and confidence since forming four years ago. This gig was a showcase for the launch of their new single “I Guess,” and promoted by the talented Mr. P at Northern Radar. How did Everything After Midnight perform? You will need to read on to find out as there were two great support bands, neither of which I had seen before. Starting with PH7, they kicked off like the 60s Fleetwood Mac but with more of a Heather Baron-Gracie (Pale Waves) vocal sound. It would not be easy to put PH7 into a specific genre and they have some great tunes. “Botheration” was ace. Their cover of Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” really kicked arse and rocked harder than Chris Martin and the lads have ever done. The PH7 guitarist was stunningly good, but sadly he is leaving the band. If you get a chance to see PH7 live, take it!
Next, it was the wonderfully named Mollie Coddled. If you can imagine Cydi Lauper fronting a jazz-funk/post-punk hybrid then you might come close to how Mollie Coddled sounded to me. The bass sound and playing was immense and skillful. Sadly, just like the PH7 guitarist the Mollie Coddled bass player is leaving, this was his final gig. “Guilt Trip” gave me some Hooray For The Riff Raff and Bran Van 3000 vibes. Meanwhile, “Lonely Bitch” was like a 60s girl group and punk crossover, like classic early Blondie.
Finally, it was time for the future legends known as Everything After Midnight. They took to the stage while the jaunty and jolly theme from The Simpsons was playing. That really had to be their walk-on music didn’t it, given the gig poster. The big question was whether Lisa Simpson might play some saxophone for them, sadly she didn’t, but maybe next time. This was a really imaginative set that bordered on epic in both style and content. The band was in top form and showed super-powered control and command of the depth and dynamics of their sound. Everything After Midnight have continued to develop a real melting pot of musical styles and influences with which they create that distinctive and idiosyncratic Everything After Midnight soundscape. They have matured relatively quickly for a band, and remain hard, or more likely, impossible to drop easily into a specific genre box. There is alt.folk, electric folk, prog, post-punk, classic rock, and even some melodies that would not be out of place in a classical music score.
Jacob’s guitar playing moves from Mick Ronson to Johnny Marr and most things in between. Then there are Steph’s soaring, confident vocals, she has grown hugely as a singer since I first saw the band back in February 2022. In this set, I felt that she had the sweetness and clarity of Sandy Denny’s voice and in the heavier moments more like Kiki Dee on steroids or Lulu fronting a metal band. The highlights were plentiful and bounteous, but among that crop of great songs “Real Estate” and new single “I Guess,” stood out for me. Check this band out NOW, that is an order!
If you have enjoyed this article feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;FacebookTwitterInstagramEMailAre you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.
This was a fabulous free gig at the York Vaults to celebrate the summer solstice in the way that perhaps only Hawkind might have done. First up it was perhaps the time to reveal the worst-kept secret, secret set in rock history. Under the guise of Sisters Of Percy, who looked, and sounded, remarkably like West Yorkshire Super Heroes Percy! It was a fab show by the band. “What Les Said”, “Chunks” and “Greedy People” were magnificent highs from a set chocked full of them. They played a new song, I missed the title, but it bodes for an electric, weird, and rather spiffing future, it sounded like a 70s funk hoe down with some sharp post-punk vocal stylings.
Next, it was Soma Crew, whose set was sadly cut short owing to an amp malfunction. Top-class psychedelic drone-style tunes which take up residence in your head and stick around to have fun with your endorphins. Soma Crew are not only musical psychonauts, they add some other flavours too, like the occasional grunge lick. Whenever I see or listen to Soma Crew I feel a DNA route back to 60s Pink Floyd, Spiritualized, and even Tangerine Dream, but this bunch are not copyists or revivalists they are very much of our times.
Then it was time for the headliner for this celebration of Summer Solstice 2023, Spirit Of The Hawk. A kind of conglomerate of talent from Percy, Soma Crew, and the mystical elsewhere treating us to a souped-up sonic feast of what Hawkwind once was. Trippy vibes, psychedelic lights, and projection, heavy, jazzy, proggy music, and even a stand-in for the legendary naked, but body-painted dancer Stacia, with a rather talented lady gyrating to those lysergic beats in a Stacia style, but clad in a glittery jumpsuit. The rhythm section drove this not so mostly crew on like a finely tuned Rolls Royce, maybe like John Lennon’s 60s psyched version of the classic car. The lead guitar added some heavy muscular prog tones. Meanwhile, the vocals passionately evoked the classic sound of Dave Brock. Stephen Morris of New Order once said “Punk rock started because in every small town, there was somebody who liked Hawkwind.” Having been reminded of the two occasions I saw Hawkwind in the 70s by this excellent Spirit Of The Hawk gig, I believe that Stephen Morris was right! So, Space Rock begat Punk Rock and so much of what followed, we need more nights like this, let’s not limit it to the solstice either!
If you have enjoyed this article feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;
This would be only the third time that I had seen the magnificent and mighty This House Is Haunted. The last time was back in 2021 at this very venue, the fabulous Fulford Arms. So what was This House Is Haunted like? Read on and you’ll find out, first I need to tell you about the two rather delightful support bands. First up it was Offbeat, a band that is new to me, so therefore new to these pages. I believe they are quite a new band and, oh boy do they pack a hefty punch. They have some great punk-style licks and they know how to write a classy pop-rock tune too. They have a song about Grimsby too, how many other artists have done that? To my knowledge, there is Elton John with the song “Grimsby” from his 1974 album ‘Caribou’ and the Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu (a.k.a. the JAMs and the KLF) mention the town in “It’s Grim Up North” from 1990 and 1991. Offbeat also gave us a colossally good and supremely passionate cover of the Gossip classic “Standing In The Way Of Control”. It looked like the crowd (including some fine formation dancing from the Rosettas (more of them later) absolutely loved them, and so did I.
Next, it was the turn of the Rosettas, a band that I have seen quite a few times. On the evidence of this thunderous set, I think they have got much, much heavier in the depth of their sound with a powerful metal edge to their music. Benji has mastered the art of the guitar god pose and uses it well. Every member of the band played at 110% and was on possibly the best form I have ever seen them on. The mostly acoustic “Kisses On The Mirror” is crying out to be played at a festival and if it is could be one of those hold your lighters (or sadly, phones) in the air. “Haven’t Signed Up For This” and set closer “It Goes Off” were equal parts thunderous and titanic and came close to melting the fervent fans in the crowd.
Finally, it was time for the sumptuously, gorgeous grooves and seismic sonic sensations of This House Is Haunted. This was a band that is on top form. They were tight, talented and, perfect. They know how to do heavy and that metal beast in them is driven into overdrive by Dom’s drumming. Meanwhile, Zak has perfected the classic heavy rock vocal sound in his masterful voice. Zak’s mega riffs are something special. Then there are the deep bass sounds emanating from Jenn’s bass amp which is the classic engine that drives and powers this fine band. As a rhythm section Jenn and Dom are almost unbeatable among their peers. The new tunes hold up well and I hope we see a This House Is Haunted album one day!
If you have enjoyed this article feel free to follow the blog, or follow us on;
FacebookTwitterInstagramEMailAre you interested in writing and reviewing for With Just A Hint Of Mayhem? If so then please get in touch.
