With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

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

Richard Hawley – Museum Gardens York – Saturday 5th July 2025 July 6, 2025

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 6:48 pm
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It was great to catch up with friends old and new at another mega gig in the Museum Gardens in York. Headliner for this one was Richard Hawley, a man who was once a member of Longpigs (1993-2000) and a touring member of Pulp (1998–2002, 2011–2012). He released his first solo album ‘Late Night Final’ in 2001. But enough of him for now, because the bill included some fine support acts. First on stage was Hamish Hawk. This is a man who produces classic Scottish pop rock that in my opinion could only be made in Britain. Imagine, if you will, Edwyn Collins travelling back in time to the Middle Ages and coming back as Hamish Hawk. While the wonderfully frantic punk funk of “Caterpillar” closed the show it was “The Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion, 1973” that was the highlight of the set for me.

Next it was the turn of BC Camplight a Manchester-based American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (a.k.a. Brian James Christinzio). He released his first album, ‘Hide Run Away’ in 2005 and his latest, ‘A Sober Conversation’ earlier this year. The band were tight and at times sounded like a much rockier early Elton John. The backing vocals occasionally showed great prowess for some doo-wop style vamping. BC Camplight and his band are a fucking awesome unit, how the hell have I never seen them live before? There were way to many high points to mention all of them, but I loved “I Only Drink When I’m Drunk” and “Two Legged Dog”.

Photo from Museum Gardens social media. If you look carefully you can see me and my mate Simon P!

The penultimate band was last year’s Mercury Music prize winners English Teacher. If Indie was a genre (it isn’t) then I am sure some people might suggest English Teacher as a part of the genre definition. But they are so much more than what many see as Indie. The band has some wonderfully deep rock depths overlaid with sometimes intriguing but always gorgeous lyrics. They played a new song, “Tooth Pick” and that has some delightful prog rock overtones. Every song in their set was perfect but “R & B” and “Albert Road” were mountainous. I have been listening to that debut album ‘This Could Be Texas’ again while I have been writing up this review. I can see English Teacher being a force in British music for years.

Photo from Museum Gardens social media

Finally it was time for Richard Willis Hawley to grace the Museum Gardens stage. Including the main man himself there were ten people on stage, the string quartet added some beautiful almost cinematic soundscapes to Hawley’s magnificent songs. While he didn’t play my favourite, “Tonight The Streets Are Ours”, the seventeen song set was so majestic I didn’t really notice it hadn’t been played until I was on my journey home. But he did play the soon to be 20 years old ‘Coles Corner’ album in full and what a delight it was. “The Ocean” actually had me welling up a little. Then when Richard remained on stage to play the traditional lullaby, “Who’s Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet?”, accompanied just by his acoustic guitar it made me think of my now adult children when they were very young. Hawley’s interaction with his audience was funny, self-deprecating and at times very emotional. He explained the reason that many of the band were wearing was to show support for Dioga Jota, the Liverpool footballer, who died recently. That got a well deserved warm reaction from the crowd. His skit about giving up smoking 40 cigs a day and now saving £15,000 a year as a result was very funny and featured his ace blunt Yorkshire dry humour. It was good to hear “Galley Girl” again, that song was always one of my favourites from his ninth album ‘Further’ (2019). The band closed out on a slightly psych wig out of a rock fest with a towering “Heart Of Oak”. This ranks as one of the best sets I have ever seen. The last time that I saw Richard Hawley was at the V Festival in 2006. I promise not to leave it as long next time!

Big shout out to Futuresounds for pulling together such a great run of shows in the magnificent setting that is the Museum Gardens in York. I am already excited for next year, are you?

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Lost Trends – The Crescent York – Friday 27th June 2025 July 2, 2025

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 8:31 pm
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This was another gig pulled together by music promoter extraordinaire, Simon P of Northern Radar and featured some of my favourite bands, notably headliners Lost Trends, but more of them later as I need to talk about the rather stunning support acts. First up it was Saliva Birds. If you are addicted to class A garage rock then this bunch will make you overdose on it. They have some great songs and they are one hell of a tight band. The backdrop visuals were weird, wonky and wonderful and featured monstrous impossible creatures and rather strangely Bjorn Borg! This was the first time I have seen them live and I am quite excited for the release of their new single now.

Next up it was the incomparable Apocalypse Disco. The duo are much louder and more spiritual than the Prodigy. From the opening bars of opener “Welcome To The Disco” the crowd were all ready to sign up to be members of the Apocalypse Disco cult! Keyboard and laptop maestro Ian bashes out more beats than an army could manage while front man Robin works the crowd wonderfully with his energy and madly, manic magnificent performance. There were many stand outs, particularly “Alive”, “Surrender” and “The Bridge”. This was the second time I have seen them live and it won’t be the last. In fact I will be seeing them again on 11th July!

Finally it was time to see the mighty Lost Trends. When I first saw the band back in 2018 they were seen as a dance influenced indie band. Now they have grown into something that is so much more. This was easily the most powerful performance I have seen from them. Recent singles “Antelope” and “Take Down” are masterful rock songs. Lost Trends classic “DJ” still raises the roof and the new hip hop influenced track is ace. Their progress in the eight years since I first came into contact with them is colossal. Imagine how the Who went from a relatively basic 60s R & B band into a humongous rock behemoth. It feels like Lost Trends have the potential to be on a similar trajectory! This was another great night from Northern Radar!

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After Midnight – The Bluebird, York – Friday 23rd May 2025 June 4, 2025

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 7:44 pm
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It is always sad when a great band decides to go their separate ways, especially one as good as York’s Everything After Midnight. But this parting last year was clearly amicable as Steph and Jacob from the band are now performing as After Midnight and the rest of the band turned up to show their support at the duos debut gig in York last month. Sadly the talented support act, Kitty VR was unwell and unable to play. However we were treated to two sets, one by Steph and Jacob as After Midnight followed by another from the pair with friends. It was great to hear so many great songs from the Everything After Midnight catalogue. “Still Sleeping” was the best of the night for me. But the cover of “There Are Worse Things I Could Do”, Stockard Channing’s key song moment in the 1978 blockbuster movie, ‘Grease’ ran a very close second. I should add that this venue is incredible, a bakery and cafe by day and a gig paradise by night. A bit like a super hero with a secret identity. But most importantly it was great to see at least some of Everything after Midnight back on stage. If the pair of them go solo what happens to the name? Will one be called Midnight and the other one After?

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Catch! – Fulford Arms, York – Monday 24th February 2025 March 4, 2025

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 6:56 pm
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I try to never pass up the chance to see a band or artist that I have never seen before, so this was an easy choice. There were four bands on the bill, none of which I had seen before. This was another gig put together by the delightful human known as Simon P for Northern Radar. I have been going to Northern Radar gigs for many years now and Mr. P has never let me down with the bands and singers he puts on. Did that change with this gig? Read on to find out!

The first to take the stage was the Expression, vocally they made me think of Lene Lovich and Siouxse Sioux to name just two. The band were as tight as hell with a dark post punk feel to their sound. Their original songs were good and show a potential for greatness with perhaps a little more work. The cover of the Stone Roses “I Wanna Be Adored” was superb, but the Mazzy Star cover was an absolutely sublime highlight. They closed their set and nailed their grunge credentials to the wall with an immense cover of Nirvana’s “Heart Shaped Box”. This was a great set to kick the night off.

Next up it was the Fruity Pebbles, a band largely born from the remnants of some Huntington School 6th Form bands from recent years. A truly eclectic range of covers which ranged from Abba to Chappell Roan via Stevie Wonder, Amy Winehouse and others. Their original tune “Smooth” is a neat, summery, jazzy pop song which is likely to get better and better the more they play it. They showed their chops as a great band, once again very tight. But it was the brass section that showed themselves to be tighter than the proverbial duck’s arse. Front man Oscar, who wasn’t meant to be fronting this set, is a true trouper and a born performer. If he is not working in music or entertainment in the future then frankly the world is fucked! The Fruity Pebbles know how to party and they party hard!

Strip were next and they are full of effervescent pop punk energy. While their originals were good their covers were truly stunning, especially the bombastic opener, a fiery run through of Green Day’s “American Idiot”. Who knew that song would still be so relevant now, some twenty years later. Strip delivered perhaps the best mosh fest of the night. This lot are fucking good indeed!

Finally it was the turn of Catch! to hit the stage. They are a York Uni band that are talented purveyors of melodic pop rock with an undercurrent of prog in some songs. They have an additional vein of classic 90s bands like Republica and Elastica running through a number of their songs too. Overall they have a wealth of close to awesome songs in their cannon. Sadly by the time Catch! arrived on stage the crowd had shrunk a little. Why do so many people up and leave after “their” band has played? But who cares, Catch! truly captivated everyone who chose to stay. The vocals were perfect as was the more than tidy rhythm section. A special mention to the lead guitarist who never dropped below stunning with his magnificent arsenal of riffs and solos. Party driven fun made the moshing last a long while and the A Simple Plan cover was anthemic and delightful. Apologies in advance for the bad Dad joke/ pun, but you really need to catch Catch! soon! Click here to check out their latest EP on Spotify.

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Pedestrian – Fulford Arms, York – Friday 10th January 2025 January 13, 2025

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 9:22 pm
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Four bands in one night is how I kicked off my gig journey for 2025. All at the fabulous Fulford Arms and promoted by Northern Radar. Simon P, head honcho of Northern Radar, has never let me down with his choice of bands. Would tonight be that moment? Read on to find out dear reader. The evening kicked off with the Unnamed Band. It’s not that they don’t have a name, the Unnamed Band is their actual name, genius! They played mostly covers, but they played them damned well. The selection of covers was gloriously eclectic. It ranged from Chuck Berry to the Killers. They also included the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kaiser Chiefs, the Fratellis, and Queen along the way. The band’s original songs are good, but probably need a bit of polishing. Arthur Kay is a great frontman and I believe that this bunch have potential.

Second on stage were Sweeping Statement. I would describe their sound as Post Punk Prog. I suspect that if you used Artificial Intelligence to create a band that mixed largely unrelated genres and encouraged moshing it might well deliver Sweeping Statement. At one point I thought that this band were very good but probably wouldn’t set the world on fire. Then they did a Pixies cover and an original called “Working Man”. Those two blew me away! They also get a bunch of extra points from me for hating Reform UK and GB News. Check them out!

The penultimate band was Birdlands. I reviewed their debut album ‘Season Of Loss’ back in October. I love that album and I have an apology to make to the band. Due to a clerical error it never made it onto Mayhem’s Top 20 albums of 2024. John Peel would have loved Birdlands. They are very much post, post, post, post punk with an added pinch of funk, punk and jazz. The band were on fire. At times, their sound reminded me of David Bowie’s touring band from 1978’s Isolar 2 tour. Frontman Billie’s vocals were a little Bowieesque at times too. Evoking the Bowie of Tin Machine and ‘1: Outside’. Billie’s angular, motorik, Ian Curtis style dancing was a sight to behold. This was an almost perfect set. What would have moved it to absolute perfection? More time! Apparently they only rehearsed once for this show, now that is fucking awesome!

Finally it was time for the headliners, Pedestrian. They might be called Pedestrian but you could never describe their music or performance as such. They absolutely fucking smashed it with their delicious funky, angular art rock sounds. Flo’s vocals are truly ‘out there’ in a simply perfect way. Her performance was powered by some kind of perpetual motion. They have been a band for just over a year and this was, surprisingly, their first headline show. One of their songs gave birth to a mosh conga, I kid you not! Their is a dark funk vibe to some of their songs, particularly the slower numbers, and I love this. There was also some classy threads of Lene Lovich in Flo’s performance too. The cover of the Beatles “She Loves You” was great. Did they perform that one for Battle Of The Bands at the Fully last year? “What’s In The Box” and “Rush Hour” were two massive highlights in an awesome set. The latter turned the funk up to 11. Personally I would not have fancied following Birdlands onto the stage, but Pedestrian blew the fucking roof off. In a sad footnote Pedestrian will be bowing out as a band. (is that why the grim reaper style character was the centrepiece of the gig poster?) This was their penultimate gig. But I suspect that the individual members will go on to new musical projects. I certainly hope so!

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Asylum – Fulford Arms, York – Friday 6th December 2024 December 10, 2024

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 9:52 pm
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This was yet another show put together by Mr. Northern Radar, Simon Pattinson. He has never let me down yet, would this show change that? Read on to find out. First up was Vagabonds, a band that felt very much like a good school band. To put that into context I had been a judge at the school I work at Battle of the Bands contest the day before this show. They hit the ground running with a fiery cover of the Beastie Boys huge hit “Fight For Your Right”. The first original they played had the feel of early Sex Pistols recordings like the tracks on the ‘Spunk’ bootleg album. Soon after that Vagabonds chose to cover the Oasis song “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” – NOOOOOOOOOOOO you don’t need Oasis songs in your set, you are so much better than that. The covers of Green Day, Blink 182, Kiss and the Sex Pistols were ace and closing with a raucous cover of Slade’s “Merry Christmas Everybody” was a master stroke. This band has great potential and my advice is ditch the Oasis cover and get some more original songs.

The second band to take the stage was the Double Yellows. Their originals were reminiscent of two bands that I have never been a huge fan of, the Pigeon Detectives and Scouting For Girls, however the saving grace is they the Double Yellows took a much deeper and effective post-punk direction. The band clearly brought a great following with them and they were all ready to party. Their fans seem to be mounting a campaign to bring the mullet back, yes really! Their bass player is incredibly talented with shades of Jah Wobble, Stanley Clarke and Mark King in his style. The have the swagger and confidence of a good rock band and just like the Vagabonds they have great potential, but again please ditch Oasis, the closing cover of “Supersonic” really wasn’t needed.

I find it shocking and sad that so many people come to a gig and fuck off after “their band” has played. Quite a lot of punters seemed to do just that after the Double Yellows. If you were among them you missed an absolute treat of a funky, heavy and fun set from Asylum. Musically this bunch were faultless and seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. They whipped the crowd that remained into a minor, but absolute frenzy. Thankfully their set did not include an Oasis cover! This is the only Asylum you need in your life and with them there is no need to wear a strait jacket or live in a padded cell, unless that kind of thing floats your boat! Some of the punters who left earlier did return, somewhat rain soaked, later in the set. It was clear that Asylum came to bring a party to the Fulford Arms and they had one, they even threw in some Christmas songs! Once again Northern Radar pull off a great night, cheers Simon P!

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Live At Leeds In The City – Saturday 16th November 2024 November 25, 2024

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 11:08 pm
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Just over a week ago I had the opportunity to cover Live At Leeds In The City 2024 for those cool, weird and wonderful folks at Soundsphere and The Modern Record click on each to read the review which was written by me with some rather excellent additional pieces from Rock Photographer Extraordinaire, John Hayhurst. Simon Pattinson, working with York Mix, joined us for the ride, and what a ride it was this year! We witnessed close to twenty bands between us. My personal favourites were Neckbreakers and Avalanche Party. Were you there? Who were your favourite acts of the day? There are some ace photographs in both of the above links all by John Hayhurst apart from an Avalanche Party pic by Lucy Joy Pembroke. (All her four fabulous Avalanche Party pics are in the collection below!)

Avalanche Party by Lucy Joy Pembroke
Avalanche Party by Lucy Joy Pembroke
Joe and Glen of Avalanche Party by Lucy Joy Pemberton
Tom from the Blinders guest with Avalanche Party by Lucy Joy Pemberton
Hungry by John Hayhurst
Gravy by John Hayhurst
Casisdead by John Hayhurst
Marika Hackman by John Hayhurst
Ruby Duff by John Hayhurst
English Teacher by John Hayhurst

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Pennine Suite – Fulford Arms – Friday 14th June 2024 June 18, 2024

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 6:46 pm
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Tonight was a chance to see a few bands that I hadn’t seen for a while. The headliners were Pennine Suite who I last saw in January 2022. Support was from Fulford Arms Battle Of The Bands 2022 winners the Palava, I last saw them at the BOTB final in December 2022. The first act on stage was the White Roses, I last saw them in February of last year, they are not simply a rock band, they are a truly entertaining band. Each time I see them they get better and better. Vocally Eliie draws on Joan Jett’s rawness and Stevie Nicks’s completeness while Jack’s guitar is a highly original and essential part of the band’s sound. The voice harmonies evoke Fleetwood Mac. “This Town” is a great song, but the anthemic epic that closed the set was extraordinary indeed! They have a new EP due soon and on the strength of this set I reckon it will be a classy release!

The Palava have grown immensely in emotion, scope, skill, and ambition since I last saw them. Their songs have grown into more complex and wonderfully played mini-epics. There were some really great jazzy, punky, and funky licks with great use of some nicely incorporated major 7th chords in some of their tunes. They maintain an infusion of ’60s psychedelia and a pinch of 90s Indie.”Remedy” (which in its recorded version features Kitty VR) and “Lie To Me” were incredible highlights, but even those two Palava specials pale against the next single “Foreign Ground” which sounds like it will be the band’s best song to date. They looked like they were loving playing live, and that just enhanced their performance.

If I was a headliner I would not have fancied following the Palava onto the stage, but Pennine Suite raised their game and blew the fucking house down! They are a band on fire, but not just a little flame, I am talking super nova levels of heat! The set opener “Everything Begins” (what an appropriate song to start with) reminded me of the Cure. The depth of their sound grows with every gig. Louise’s keyboard licks, riffs, and motifs add huge breadth to the band. Her playing on “M.O.W.O” gives an eerie circus-like feel to the song. The new track “Manhattan” is thunderously good and needs to be a single, RIGHT NOW! Harry’s guitar was magnificent on this track and the power and drive from the mighty rhythm section of Moses and Louis is a close to perfect as you could get! The crowd was spontaneously chanting the band’s name four songs into the set. Clearly the crowd fucking love this lot and was in full voice from start to finish. There were plenty of highlights in their twelve-song set, the biggest for me was a pounding “Pass On You”. But even that was surpassed by beyond epic and truly awesome upcoming single “Tropical Fantasy”, when Pennine Suite rock out they do it like a huge bastard rock god. Frontman Nick has grown wonderfully confident over the years since I first saw him fronting the Receivers more than five years ago. He really commands his audience and the new songs are just so good. I am not sure where this thought popped up from but I would love to hear Pennine Suite do a funky cover of a Lou Reed song, maybe “Vicious” from ‘Transformer’. This was a stunning end to a brilliant night of live music.

As a footnote, I went on for a couple more drinks after the gig with Simon P from Northern Radar Promotions and Rusty and Pete from ace York band Lost Trends. Note to self, don’t do it again, and avoid a hangover from hell!

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King Nun -Fulford Arms, York – Saturday 10th February 2024 February 11, 2024

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 6:04 pm
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This was another Northern Radar show and as I have said before, Simon P, Head Honcho of that splendid promotions company has never let me down with a dud band…..yet! Did that change at this gig? read on to find out. First up it was King Thieves with some anthemic rock with a sprinkling of blues. This was coupled with soaring and soulful vocal contributions from the guitarist and drummer. The rumbling bass lines were sometimes evocative of New Order’s Peter Hook. They played a new song, “Lucifer” which was fantastic and made me think of early-period Manic Street Preachers. A great band that is new to me.

Next was the Hangnails, a band I had seen in a previous incarnation, as a two-piece in 2014. They were called And The Hangnails back then. They have developed so much and moved forward tremendously since then, they are now playing as a three-piece. Was that Mr. Blackwell on bass and keys? The Hangnails’ new material is spectacularly good and in describing their performance I will need to use the word anthemic once again. The vocals hint at Bono, Ian McCulloch, and Tim Booth. Their songs ooze emotion and are filled with hooks to die for. A phenomenally good band!

Finally, it was time for the headliners, King Nun, who apparently have been around for eleven years. How the fuck is that possible? Were they formed in primary school? This was their first gig in York and I hope it won’t be their last. I spoke to four people in the audience tonight who had come to see them here off the back of the support slots they did for Nothing But Thieves. Their sound has some Nirvana and Pixies influences with some classic punk sound, attitude, and poses thrown into the mix. Their multiple guitar assault fired riff, after riff, after riff into the happily shellshocked crowd. They packed the power of a Panzer Division in World War Two. If they turned their power up even half a notch they might have laid waste to the venue. I am pleased to say that didn’t happen. The band’s excursions into the crowd ignited the already excited punters. They cheekily threatened jazz, but thankfully they didn’t deliver on that. But one of the guitarists was so committed to the cause he gave his blood up in the final song! After tonight I am now a huge fan of King Nun! Oh and just to confirm, Simon from Northern Radar still hasn’t let me down! It was also great to catch up with so many people that I know at this fab venue (Simon, Joe, Chris, Billie, Tim, Amelia, and many more!)

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Wooze – Fulford Arms – Sunday 5th November 2023 November 28, 2023

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 7:43 pm
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I love it when a gig comes up and includes at least one band that I have never seen before. and tonight it is Wooze‘s turn. Additionally, I had never seen the opening act Joe Haydon and the Ghost Ship before either. In the first part of their set, I was getting a kind of Beatlesesque, the Coral and Zutons vibe. But after that, they went down a wonderfully funky road, like Haircut 100 with heavier rock credentials. “Evergreen” was a fabulous track, especially the full-on guitar wig-out at the end. Ghost Ship is a mesmerisingly good band that defies genre boxing completely. The rhythm oozes funk and the guitarist could give Ernie Isley some competition. I will definitely be checking out their new album when it hits the streets.

Next up it was the rather immaculate Hærtstrings, Fulford Arms Battle of the Bands champions 2023. This was just their fifth gig and given that their first was heat 1 of the Battle of the Bands it would be played five and won two! These lads are another band that defy genre pigeon-holing too. So much do they defy it that I wonder if we need to create a brand new genre just for them. They have slam poetry, jazz, punk, funk, heavy rock, disco (yes!) and much more. Almost everything but opera, at least not yet anyway. For a band that has only existed for 4 or 5 months, they are incredible. I believe that the future will be so bright for Hærtstrings we won’t only have to wear shades, but possibly a radioactive-proof onesie. Every song was a banger but for me “Continue” and “Talk It Out” were particular highlights.

Finally, it was time for London-based Wooze to hit the stage. Three members of the band were masked and that added a dark element of generic menace to proceedings. Their sound was grungey, punky and occasionally there was a feel of peak power Devo. Vocally it was a delicious splice of Andrew Eldritch and Tin Machine era David BowieWooze know how to put on a show. This was a stupendous performance and possibly one of the loudest sets that I have experienced at the Fulford Arms. There were some stand-out moments. “Good Old Fashioned Fan” was like Iggy Pop fronting Duran Duran in a weird and warped alternative universe. At the end, the crowd demanded one more song and Wooze delivered with a horror disco glam stomper that had beats big enough to raze Dracula’s Castle to the ground. So this is perhaps another band that is difficult to genre-ise, but I will try. Goth Funk Punk, is that a thing? It fucking is now!

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