This wonderful, intimate venue was home to a wonderful and intimate gig on Tuesday night courtesy of the talented Mr Simon Pattinson of Northern Radar. Mr P always puts together some excellent packages and I would like to congratulate him on his first sell out gig, may there be many more! Incidentally if you spot any gig promoted by Northern Radar give it a shot, Simon has never let me down in all the years I have known him.
Anyway tonight was a really chilled acoustic gathering kicked off by Laura Kindelan from York. For me Laura evokes what might have been had Jeff Buckley been female. This girl has so much soul in her voice and also a magnificently chilled and carefree style. She also has some great songs, “Sweet Tooth” is achingly, stunningly beautiful and I love it.
I first saw tonights second act, Epilogues back at this same venue in September last year when Mikey was supporting Jordan Mackampa. I liked him then and I still do. He said that he was nervous at the start of his set, but it really didn’t show. He has a great vocal range which is suggestive of both Thom Yorke in his softer moments and David Bowie circa 1969. The name Epilogues suggests closure but this fella has so much to offer that maybe he should become Prologues.
Billie Marten was the headliner tonight although she did say that she was blown away by the support. But whilst everyone tonight put in great performances for me Billie definitely shaded it. How many “Internet Sensations” (Billie came to prominence via her own YouTube channel as a young girl and then on a local YouTube channel called Ont’ Sofa) have true talent? I would wager that not many do, but Billie Marten has talent in spades. Her performance evokes a slight spirit of Joni Mitchell but she is also very much her own woman. “Cartoon People” belies the fact that Billie is only eighteen, it is a powerful song about Donald Trump and his daughter. It is a great song that would win over anyone in possession of a brain and a heart. This young lady will go far and she deserves to. She also shared some of her home baked cake with us and I can tell you that it was damned fine too.
I would like to wish a very happy 4th of July to all my American readers. Stay strong people you only have another three and a half years of President Agent Orange. But if you wish to come back to the Empire just let me know, we used to own you after all 😉
But let me also thank you for making the UK government look less stupid than yours!
As I have said many times, this is a music blog so here are a few USA related songs, which in my opinion are bloody good!
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing (or throwing questions at) Pete, John, Adam and Rusty of one of York’s finest rock bands Lost Trends. Pete and Rusty over a few pints at the Duke of York pub and John and Adam outside Fibbers after the boys played a storming set in support of Billy Bibby and the Wry Smiles. Click here for that review. If you have never heard Lost Trends or seen them play live yet then you really need to rectify that soon. But in the meantime find out a bit more about the band with questions about their musical influences, favourite chocolate bar, rejected band names and which of them reckon they could take Justin Bieber in a fight.
Rusty – A previous band had an Arctic Monkey’s style song called “Lost To The Trend”
Rusty & Pete – Mentioned that they had considered Swedish Jesus and the Dyslexics. But the latter would be spelt wrong!
What brought you together as a band?
Rusty & Pete – They were at York College and become mates after a friend of a friend introduced them. John’s brother was the original drummer and they found Adam via GumTree
Adam – Was looking for a band on Gum Tree (so it worked then!)
John – He took his brother’s place in the band
Are there any Lost Trends side projects?
A resounding NO from both Pete and Rusty
John – A cryptic who knows!
Adam – Maybe some acoustic stuff one day
Is there a particular song or musical passage that never fails to move you emotionally?
Rusty – Radiohead’s “Let Down” but perhaps the greatest impact is from Lindisfarne’s 70s classic “Lady Eleanor”
Pete – Thought about this for a while before deciding on a song that always makes him happy and upbeat, another 70s classic “September” from Earth, Wind & Fire. At a recent wedding they made sure the DJ played it.
Adam – Chose “Stay The Same” by a band that you may know, they are called Lost Trends. He is very proud of his bass on that track. He is also really keen on some good bass sounds in a Motown, Soul environment.
John – His choice would depend on his level of intoxication
What would be your first big purchase when music makes you rich and famous?
Rusty – A recording studio
Pete – A Ferrari
John – Loads of kick pedals – he has a habit of losing them
Adam – A barrel of coconut rum
Who were you, or would you be nervous to meet?
Pete – Kurt Cobain
Rusty – Was lucky enough to walk past David Bowie at Glastonbury in 2000, he didn’t know what to do (Rusty not Bowie that is) so he nodded hello and got a nod in return
Adam – Don Broco, he would love to tour with them
John – Jimi Hendrix
Which instruments do you play?
Pete – Guitar, piano and backing vocals
Rusty – Guitar, piano, drums and vocals obviously!
Adam – Power chords on a guitar
John – Didgeridoo
When and why did you start playing?
Pete – Grandad was in a York band called the Modernaires. They were once played on Radio 2 after being introduced by no less than Patrick Moore. It was his Grandad who bought Pete his first guitar.
Rusty – His Dad was obsessed with music and he had a Beatles book with chords for every one of their songs. Rusty learnt to play by borrowing his Dad’s guitar and the book.
John – Started playing at school
Adam – Started playing bass at High School as there were no other bass players there
John – Can’t remember but probably something simple
What are the best and worst things about the music industry today?
Both Pete and Rusty agreed that they really don’t like pay to play.
Pete – He said that nowadays reality TV has made the industry very hard to get into. There is more of a need to win a competition or to have a back story, particularly one that would tug the audience’s heart strings
Rusty doesn’t like the favouritism that many promoters and industry people show. Also the apparent lack of daring, no one wants to take a chance any more.
Adam – Worst thing is dodgy promoters who insist that you sell 30 tickets or more
John – A good thing is that there are often more opportunities at the moment
(Incidentally one thing that at least two of the band mentioned is that Simon Pattison of York is an excellent promoter!)
What tunes are you currently grooving to?
Rusty – Anderson Paak and the Free Laterals – “Come Down”. He also loves the new Jamiroquai album ‘’Automaton’, and is a big fan of the creative genius of Jay Kay.
Pete – A big fan of the new Bonobo album
John – Chase and Status
Adam – Sofi Tukker – “Drinkee”
Best Saturday night record?
Rusty – King Curtis – “Memphis Soul Stew” or “Milk and Black Spiders” – Foals
Pete – “Move On Up” – Curtis Mayfield
John – “Upside Down” – Diana Ross
Adam – “This Girl” by the Kungs
Best Sunday morning record?
Rusty – “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers. This was a particular favourite with an old housemate and would often get them properly woken up on a Sunday. Rusty is also partial to a little Ralph McTell on a Sunday morning.
Rusty – What is the difference between a large blue whale and a small white whale? Size and colour. J
Adam – An English man, an Irish man and a Scots man walk into a bar. The barman says is this some kind of joke?
John – (You need to read this one out loud) An English cat called One two Three and a French cat called Une Deux Trois decide to have a swimming race across the English Channel. One Two Three won because Une Deux Trois Quatre Cinq …. Cat sank……geddit?
Have you ever wanted to ride the Space Potato? You have? Well Morpher give you that opportunity with a fine slab of funky jazz entitled “Riding The Space Potato”. If you like your jazz funky, I do, then you will love this. For me there is also an undercurrent of Bowie‘s experimentation with Brian Eno on the second side of 1977’s ‘Low’ album. The sax soaked sound also seems to draw from PigBag and maybe even a little Madness. This track would not be out of place as an interlude on a Parliament/ Funkadelic album. Click here to check it out on BandCamp, take a listen even if you don’t think you like jazz, because this is a classy tune. There is a brief clip of the band playing it live below. I’m off to fire up the Space Potato to warp drive now……. bye!
Click here to read a David Bowie article that I contributed recently to the magnificent Northern Exposure website. I would like to give a big thank you to the marvellous and passionate music fan Rachel Brown who runs the site! This post also gives me the opportunity to over indulge you with a plethora of tracks from the Dame! Still gone but never forgotten!
So after nearly eight years of blogging I am approaching my 1,000th post on here. This one you are reading is post 999. But for post 1,000 I made a little offer to my Facebook friends, I asked them to name one song (or one artist) that they wanted me to include in post 1,000. So before I get there I would like to extend that offer to any of you in the blogosphere that would like their song added and receive a name check. I promise to try to say something nice about your song choice! Just message me or add a comment.
Anyway now for post 999, I went through a whole range of ideas for this one; songs about or related to the emergency services was a favourite until I thought of doing a sum. So what follows is a list of twenty songs with numbers in their title. If you add all those numbers together they total 999. Trust me they do, I used a spreadsheet 🙂 I hope you enjoy them and that you exercise your brain with a bit of mental arithmetic while you do!
I have often seen myself as a bit of a Bowie purist, particularly as I saw the Dame himself ten times from 1976 to 2004. I have also never been a big fan of tribute acts. However I had heard some very good things about Absolute Bowie. But I do believe that this might have been perhaps one of the first gigs I had ever been to where I set out to not really enjoy myself. However I had a little word with myself about not being such a miserable git and to get on and enjoy the show and indeed that is what I did!
The first set focused on the Ziggy period, John O’Neill is a very convincing Bowie in both vocals and mannerisms. How much more authentic can you get than a 12 string guitar on a marvellous set opener “Space Oddity“. Those early songs were all nailed down perfectly, my particular favourites were “The Man Who Sold The World“, “Moonage Daydream“, “All The Young Dudes” and “Starman”. The band is clearly a very talented bunch, Chris Buratti is a stunning Mick Ronson with supreme guitar skills. There was even time for the obligatory Bowie of old costume change from the glittery jumpsuit into what was a very good approximation of one of Bowie’s Japanese outfits. The audience was in full vocal flow throughout the evening and Fibbers was rocking to the rafters. Close your eyes and you could imagine that you were at Friars in Aylesbury in 1972 or the Hammersmith Odeon in 1973. By now all my doubts had disappeared and I was looking forward to the second set with relish.
I had wondered which Bowie era would be next on the agenda. I felt that it might jump straight to Serious Moonlight (more of that later!) but we were treated to classic Thin White Duke. The set opened with stupendous and rumbling work out of “Station To Station”. So great that it wasn’t just the all the usual hit singles, although there were plenty of those too. My favourite track from the second set was easily “Stay” which in my opinion never gets played enough. That said though “Fashion”, “Ashes To Ashes” and “China Girl” were all brilliant. “China Girl” is not even one of my favourite Bowie songs! We were even treated to another costume change during the second set, this time from Thin White Duke to the Serious Moonlight Bowie from 1983. Strangely I felt O’Neill looked more like Bowie in the Serious Moonlight segment, which is pretty special given the lack of make-up compared to his take on Ziggy. “Rebel Rebel” was a massive encore moment and the crowd went totally wild at this point.
If like me before this you consider yourself a bit of a Bowie purist (actually maybe snob would be better) just lose that attitude and lose yourself in the Absolute Bowie experience. I will definitely go and see Europe’s finest Bowie tribute act again. You will never see the real thing again, but this is as close as you’ll get without it being the real thing to paraphrase Woody Woodmansey.
Public Service Announcement: Obviously none of these excellent photographs or videos were taken or filmed by me, just so you know!
I would like to say a big thank you to all of you who read my blog and to wish you a wonderful Christmas and a fab 2017 for you and all of your family and friends!
It is a little while since I have posted about the Dame so I thought that I would now. Bowie used to draw out the shape of the guitar solos that he wanted the very sadly departed Mick Ronson to play. He said in the sleeve notes to the 2002 reissue of ‘Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ that the guitar solo in “Moonage Daydream” ‘started as a flat line that became a fat megaphone-type shape, and ended as sprays of disassociated and broken lines. “Moonage Daydream” also made it to number 24 in Classic Rock’s 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.
Many regular readers will know that I am not a big fan of musicals. However there have been some exceptions to that rule for me; Sweeney Todd and Grease are two of those. But a musical that David Bowie wrote with Enda Walsh which debuted in New York a few weeks before he died? Well I was never going to miss that was I? My lovely wife Catherine a.k.a Catwoman accompanied me to London on Saturday for the matinee performance of Lazarus which opened in October and runs through to January. It is in the Kings Cross Theatre which is effectively a pop-up theatre on land owned by Google at the back of Kings Cross station. For a pop-up it is pretty damned good.
Lazarus is a sequel to The Man Who Fell To Earth and most of you probably know that David Bowie played the lead role of Thomas Jerome Newton in the Nic Roeg directed film version of the Walter Tevis book in 1976. It was his first major film role. The stage musical recounts the life of Newton after he was prevented from leaving earth. He is spiralling into a total mental meltdown and spends his day becoming more paranoid, watching TV, drinking gin and reminiscing of past loves; his wife on his own planet and Mary Lou here on earth.
The lead role of Thomas Jerome Newton is taken by Michael C Hall off of Dexter. We were lucky enough to see him, despite our tickets being for the matinée. He has a great singing voice although occasionally his speaking voice did simply sound like Dexter. But that is by no means a distraction he is an incredibly talented actor and singer. In fact the whole cast are supremely talented. When I first saw the songs included within the Lazarus musical I was a little surprised. There are a few big hits and the ones that worked best for me were “The Man Who Sold The World” and a magnificent and very different version of “Heroes” which closed the show. There are some songs written especially for the musical; “No Plan”, “Killing A Little Time” and “When I Met You”. Those three as recorded by David Bowie were recently released as CD 2 of the cast recording. I have never had great affection for Bowie’s 80s albums however there were some fabulous singles in that time and “This Is Not America” and “Absolute Beginners” work incredibly well in this context.
I was amazed at how well all the songs fitted the musical’s story line so well. It was as if they were all written especially for it. I never would have expected “It’s No Game” from ‘Scary Monsters’ to work as part of a stage musical but it really does as does “Always Crashing In The Same Car” from ‘Low’. But the highlights for me were “Valentine’s Day” and “Where Are We Now” (both taken from ‘The Next Day), “Lazarus” from ‘Black Star’ and the previously mentioned “Heroes”. The story is very cleverly written and flows really smoothly. The set is quite sparse and this allows a total free space for the cast to weave their magic. The use of some very different lighting and the giant TV screen contributes in a complimentary way to the whole experience. There are seventeen songs performed during the show along with two songs that get played in the background; Mr Bowie’s “Sound And Vision” and Ricky Nelson‘s “Hello Mary Lou“. You will have needed to have watched the film of ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’ to get the inclusion of that Ricky Nelson classic.
All in all this is a magnificent, heart warming and heart-rending show and it acts as a poignant reminder of the true talent that left this world when David Bowie died in January. My good lad Catwoman said that had she not been married to me she probably wouldn’t have bothered to come and see Lazarus. However she enthused about it just as much as me afterwards. We both loved it and I am sure that you will too whether you are a Bowie fan or not. I would love to hear your thoughts if you have already seen it in London or New York.
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 