Independent Venue Week | With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

NewDad – Fulford Arms, York – Wednesday 31st January 2024 February 4, 2024

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 7:56 pm
Tags: BBC 6 Music, BBC Introducing, Fulford Arms, Huw Stephens, Independent Venue Week, Jericho Keys, Kindelan, Laura Kindelan, NewDad

This was one of thousands of gigs across the country supporting Independent Venue Week (IVW). While it is important to show support and solidarity for your local independent venues please do it all year round and not just during IVW. This is the only way that the grassroots of UK music will survive. Support your scene! So this is an important week for live music and that was evidenced by the presence of 6 Music’s Huw Stephens and BBC Radio York’s Jericho Keys alongside many of the great and good from the York music scene. Headliners were NewDad who released their debut album on 24th January. But more of them later as there was a rather special support act, the sublimely talented Kindelan who hails from this fine city. This would be the fifth time that I have seen Laura Kindelan play live which puts her just behind Gene, David Bowie, Avalanche Party, and Frank Turner in the list of acts that I have seen the most times! I have seen her play solo, with minimal accompaniment, and with a full band. Tonight she was ably supported by an incredibly talented rhythm section and a backing singer with a heavenly tone. Four of tonight’s six songs were from her most recent EP, ‘You Can Reach Me If You Try’. The new songs definitely have a modern R&B and jazz vibe, but when played live Laura takes them in a direction that only she can. Her songs are stunningly good in recorded form, but live they become almost alive themselves. I have previously compared Kindelan to Jeff Buckley and that still stands, she will, I believe, mature into the kind of artist that Buckley would have become had he lived. “Hazel Frustration” was incredible, “Can’t Sleep” was immaculate as was a new song “Know You”. Kindelan gets better every time I see her, will that ever stop? I suspect not!

Kindelan at the Fully Arms January 2024 (Picture by Charlie Daykin)

Headliners NewDad are touring on the back of their new album ‘Madra’ which follows two classy EPs and some fabulous singles. The band was formed in Galway. Ireland in 2018 when Julie Dawson, Áindle O’Beirn, and Fiachra Parslow were in secondary school. Apparently, it was a way of avoiding solo performances for their Leaving Certificate practical music exam. Fourth member Sean O’Dowd joined the band a little later. The NME has compared them to The Cure and Beabadoobee. I can see those comparisons but I can also hear references to the likes of the Sundays and possibly the Cranberries. On their heavier-sounding songs, I sense a bit of Sleeper and Elastica. The new album is good, but live the songs are even better. However, I felt the sound mix was a bit off for much of the set with the vocals appearing way too low in the mix. This improved though, particularly for “White Ribbons” where the mix was spot on, the song was gorgeous and the performance exquisite. NewDad appeared in the Mayhem charts for January, so I am definitely a fan. I will certainly be seeing them again.

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.

The K’s – Fulford Arms, York – Monday 31st January 2022 February 6, 2022

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 9:12 pm
Tags: Fulford Arms, Independent Venue Week, Simon Pattinson, The Ks, YouVee

This was one of the many wonderful gigs that celebrated this year’s Independent Venue Week. It was at the fabulous Fulford Arms, one of the best venues in York. Headliners were the much-hyped the K’s. Did they live up to the hype? You will need to continue reading to find out because first I need to tell you about the support band. Also, this was another show from Simon of Northern Radar and so far he has never let me down! Support was provided by a great upcoming local band, YouVee. I have only seen them once before this, back when they supported one of my favourite bands, Apollo Junction at another great York venue, the Victoria Vaults back in September 2021. YouVee have grown in presence and talent in those short few months, particularly Travis Kyle on lead vocals and guitar. He really owns the stage now and is developing into a great frontman. Given that this month, February, sees their second anniversary as a band their development is as remarkable as it is mercurial. Ben Layfield’s guitar skills are easily comparable with Graham Coxon of Blur and also Steve Mason of Gene (my favourite British band of the Brit Pop era). YouVee has a kind of psychedelic pop sound with some tasteful indie elements thrown in. If I had to pick a highlight it would be their signature tune, “Ultra Violet” which is begging to have a major dance remix, it is a proper full-on indie banger. This is a band for anyone who appreciates great music. I hope they go far!

So then it was time for headliners the K’s, an unsigned band who as I mentioned earlier have been subject to much hype and occasional comments about them being just a mod band. Well on the evidence of this set they deliver beyond the hype and they are far from just a mod band. There are influences from the best of British rock in their sound, notably the Who, the Jam (no these were not just mod bands either), and the Clash. They certainly know their pop, rock, and indie history too, throwing in a little piece of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” in one song and a bit of “Dirty Old Town” the Ewan MacColl standard made famous most recently by the Pogues. Jamie Boyle has a great stage presence, really knows how to work the crowd (and this was damned close to a full house), and is the epitome of what a superb frontman should be. There was not a dud song in the set and their energy never waned for even a moment. Lyrically there is a strong social conscience and stories of real life. “Dacton And Wanderella” is a song that early Arctic Monkeys would be proud of and they closed an electrifying set with it. The best moment for me, and there were plenty, was “Sarajevo”, an instant anthem, although “Glass Towns” possibly pushed it close. In the olden days, these lads would have been signed a long while ago and would be reaching the higher echelons of the charts on a regular basis. The K’s are a really tight band with great musical chemistry. They play with power, passion, and purpose. I hope there is a K’s album in the offing because it will be bloody brilliant. I am now most definitely a huge fan of the K’s, give them a listen and you will be too.