With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

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

Spirit Of The Hawk – York Vaults – Thursday 14th December 2023 December 23, 2023

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 6:37 pm
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Following on from the rather wonderful Summer Solstice Shenanigans in June at this very venue Spirit Of The Hawk is back with a Winter Solstice Spectacular. The first of the support bands was Chiang featuring some of Bradford’s finest musicians. They smashed into a stunning, incendiary set full of punk and metal energy. I am a new Chiang fan! Next up was one of York’s best bands, Soma Crew, who supported the Summer Solstice Shenanigans. They brought their “A-Game” drone skills with a collection of tunes that flow into your psyche and make you feel good. As usual, they throw in some exquisite curveballs; grunge tones, Floyd and maybe Can. Their rich sound was enhanced on a few tracks by the addition of a slide guitar. Just when you think that Soma Crew might have peaked, they do this and you know they are still on that upward curve.

Finally, it was time for this Winter Solstice Spectacular to kick into overdrive as Spirit Of The Hawk took the stage. Once again including members of Percy and Soma Crew. This was a supreme sonic fest that showcased just how good Hawkwind once were. This was a true psychedelic trip with some heavy, jazzy, proggy sounds, and, as with the Summer Solstice Shenanigans we had our very own Stacia stand-in making some flowing dance shapes in a glittery jumpsuit. This lady knows how to interpret music with dance. Every member of the band was firing on all cylinders. The guitar playing was exceptionally good. If you had shut your eyes during the set you might have imagined that it was Dave Brock on stage. There were too many highlights to mention but I loved “Damnation Alley” and set closer to “Quark, Strangeness And Charm”. When I reviewed the show in June I mentioned a quote from New Order’s Stephen Morris, “Punk rock started because in every small town, there was somebody who liked Hawkwind.” I am already looking forward to the next Spirit Of The Hawk gig, are you?

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Summer Solstice Shenanigans – York Vaults Wednesday 21st June 2023 July 4, 2023

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 4:05 pm
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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!

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Cowgirl – York Vaults – Friday 19th August 2022 August 24, 2022

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 7:49 pm
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This was my first visit to the Vaults in a while, I will definitely try not to leave it too long until my next visit to this great little venue, especially after such a great lineup. First to take to the stage were the Rosemaries, a band that I saw for the first time back in April. I thought they were pretty good then, but in just a few months they are definitely a stronger band. While “Hullabaloo” is perhaps a derivative nod to Yard Act the band has oodles of originality too. They are a young band with immense potential. Their songs pack great power and their confidence is obvious. “Vampire” is a punk anthem in waiting. The singer has a great skill of not only singing but also drawing on a wonderful thespian vibe to make it much more of a performance like he is living the songs. The non-singing guitarist seems to be the musical glue that holds the whole Rosemaries unit together, like their musical director. If ‘Twin Peaks’ was ever remade and set in a remote English village this lot could be the house band in the English equivalent of the Roadhouse/ Bang Bang Bar.

The Rosemaries

Captain Starlet were next, they are a band who for various reasons I have not managed to see play live until now. I love the band name and surely they need to be on the same bill as the Mysterines one day. OK, you might need to be quite old to get that reference! So is the band as good as the name? Well if the Beatles were reincarnated as an indie Little Feat they would probably sound like this. The songs are incredibly well put together with elements of Pete Wylie, the Zutons, and Cast, along with the aforementioned Beatles. It looked like they were loving it on stage. Definitely a band I want to see live again.

Captain Starlet

I had not heard of Rory and the Nature Kids until this show. They carry an undercurrent of menace in their music, a la early Talking Heads. At times while reaching, and hitting, the high notes the vocals came on like a warped psychedelic yodel, and yes I do mean that in a good way! The bass sound was often worthy of Jah Wobble, can we have some dub versions of these tunes, please? I bloody love this band!

Rory and the Nature Kids

This was the fifth time that I have seen headliners Cowgirl play live and they most certainly get better each time. They are a stunningly accomplished and talented live band who draw on a plethora of great influences to create that unique Cowgirl sound. I can hear slices of the Velvet Underground, Jonathan Richman (in his harder moments), the Strokes, and the MC5. Cowgirl are a magnificent garage band with, and I know this sounds weird, a positive slacker attitude. Their performance on some tracks evokes the finest workouts of Neil Young with Crazy Horse and Lukas Nelson with the Promise Of The Real. They are scuzzy, they are dirty and their often feedback-driven garage rock is something to behold. But it is not just garage rock, it is also distorted and warped electric blues that is a perfect fit for small, dark, sweaty venues like the York Vaults! This was an absolute barnstormer of a set.

Cowgirl

All pictures, except the gig poster, were taken by me using my very cheap Chinese Android phone. The videos were found on YouTube. If the video is yours and you would like a credit or for it to be removed please let me know.

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Tommyrot – York Vaults – York – Friday 6th August 2021 August 9, 2021

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 6:27 pm
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This was my first proper non-seated gig for 18 months and it felt great, a little weird, but great nonetheless. First on stage were Where’s Slater? These guys formed while at York University and on their social media they say that they “could be defined as a band, we prefer ‘search party'”. Personally I reckon they are a good band, I have no evidence to say how good a search party they are though. Although I think they were missing two band members so maybe they aren’t ready to be a search party just yet. Anyway they played a barnstorming set the forefront of which was the great vocals from their singer who has a touch of Kurt Cobain spliced with a pinch of Jim Morrison. They did some great covers including Nirvana and Queens Of The Stone Age. But the highlight for me was their quirky and brilliant cover of XTC’s “Making Plans For Nigel”.

Where’s Slater?

Unfortunately YouVee were unable to make it so their last minute stand in was Leeds band Flat Moon. The hit the stage like they owned it. The drummer is one of the finest that I have heard in a long while. That added to booming and choppy bass and Billy Whizz funky guitar made a sound like Parliament/ Funkadelic fronted by Nile Rogers but with a deep rock vibe. Their cover of the James Brown classic “Sex Machine” was off the scale and through the stratosphere. I loved the way they had so much fun with it, even changing it briefly to a funky love song about a washing machine! One of their own compositions, “Demise” I think was late night jazz club in style, and my good mate Eddie Parkinson remarked that the band could do a great take on the theme tune to any Pink Panther remake. Their Hendrix cover was hard heavy and oozed funky blues. So if George Clinton had P-Funk I reckon Flat Moon have F-Punk with their funk sounds supported by a punk attitude. I am now a huge Flat Moon fan!

Flat Moon

Pleasure Centre from Sacrbados were next and at the start I thought they sounded a bit proggy, but I mean that in a good way. I think the band have great potential but I don’t think they are quite there yet, not for me at least. The guitarist and the drummer are extremely bloody good at what they do. I felt the vocals were mixed a little low down tonight, which was a shame as it felt like the singer had a good voice, which was more apparent standing near the stage. and I need to explore some of the bands recorded output to get a better feel for them. I mentioned Prog earlier but maybe they are a bit shoegazey too. A hard band to put into a specific genre box.

Pleasure Centre

Finally it was time for Tommyrot who formed while at the Access Creative College in York. I have reviewed a few of their singles before and everyone of them has been great. They are a truly eclectic band who looked like they were having great fun while they were on stage. I once described them as “Weird, wacky, wayward, waggish, witty, wonky, whimsical, wonderfully eclectic, stylistic nut jobs” and having finally seen them live I stand by every word of that. They transfer their recorded work to the live environment incredibly well. The highlight for me was my favourite Tommyrot song “Drugs”, even if you don’t do drugs you need to do that song and you need to become a Tommyrot fan!

Tommyrot
Drummer Rhys focussing really hard while hand writing the Tommyrot set lists!

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