This was a fundraiser for Explore the organisation that runs York’s wonderful libraries. The show was pulled together by that wonderful human being Joe Coates of Please Please You. Activities going on throughout the day including an open mic session and screen printing workshops. Sadly I missed all of those, but I was in the city centre library Great Hall for some great music. There was also some excellent poetry, particularly from Stu Freestone, whose cheese rap was awesome. First up was Rowan, of Rowan and Friends fame, with a rather spiffing solo set. He gave us folk with a punk attitude with some intelligent and often very humorous lyrics. The Jesus song (sorry I didn’t get the full title) was ace as was the bloody hilarious closer “Love On Top”. But for me where Rowan comes into his own is when he sings about York. “Leeman Road” and “Skeldergate” are magnificent story songs. Rowan is to York as Jonathan Richman is to New York.
Marnie Glum (not her real name) was next. She has the vocal styling of Joni Mitchell the clarity of voice that only Karen Carpenter and perhaps Rumer could match and a smattering of jazz in her tunes. Her band is phenomenally talented and helped Marnie bring her wonderful songs to life. She closed her set with “Fairweather” which in my opinion is her best song to date, although she hinted that new music might be coming soon. “Iron Me Out”, “Polaroid Ghosts” and her Bjork cover were highlights! But it must be said that “This Car’s A Train Wreck” is crying out to be covered by Taylor Swift. Are you listening Taylor?
Finally, it was time for Bull, probably one of the best bands to emerge from the York music scene, ever! I have compared them to the Byrds before and their harmonies during this gig mean that I absolutely stand by that comparison. But Bull have so much more than that within their musical arsenal. They have psych, some ethereal pop, a bit of rock, and plenty of punk attitude all aligned with some throwbacks to Frank Black, the Pixies, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, and even early R.E.M. Bull are intensely informal and always seem to be having a gargantuan amount of fun on stage. Their gigantic sound is built around some stylish, simple yet exquisite songs. They have moments of quietness, very appropriate in a library, that soar to frantic, frenzied sonic magnificence. Their debut album ‘Discover Effortless Living’ from 2021 was good, but this year’s ‘Engines Of Honey’ takes them to a new level of true greatness. They gave us songs from both albums in this stunning set. “Start Anew”, “Stuck!” and “Green” were probably my highlights, but oh boy the competition was tough! You need this band in your life if they are not already. If I had to encapsulate their performance in two words those words would be fucking and brilliant!
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