february 2008 live reviews

MONKEY SWALLOWS THE UNIVERSE -   BAND ROOM, FARNDALE - 15/12/07

I'd been wanting to get to this venue for some time and I saw my chance with this gig. The monkey does what? To whom? And why? Stranger things have been known - like me driving out into the land of no streetlamps with just a quick glimpse at Google Maps before setting out. After a 40 mile trip round mystery twists and three point turns later, we entered the 1940's Silver Bandroom. Warmth, twinkly pink lights and people - lots of people with their BYO's. A room which was already three quarters full and as Dylan set the scene more and more folks entered to stand at the back.This felt good.

Nat and Kevin from MSTU provided their own acoustic support, which consisted of older non-band material. The informality of the venue was well handled by vocalist Nat and even though this short warm up slot endeared us to these two main band personalities - enjoying the lush huskiness of Nat's vocal style and Kevin's delicate guitar figures - I personally would have liked them to have cracked straight on with the full band. I could see we had cello, guitars, violin, recorders, glockenspiel, drums all-sorts to play with.

As the full band eased their way into their set it was clear we were in for melodic folk-pop with varied acoustic textures. In Nat we had   nuances of Beth Orton - drowsy and earthy -   and lyrically honest too. Always the vocal was central yet it was dressed in many interesting ways. One track was backed solely by recorder and glockenspiel, on another the cello doubled as a plucked bass throughout, backing vocals were sparse yet well placed and at one point the drummer downed brushes to play whistle. There was also a good sense of, and respect for, space   -   no gratuitous thumping and thrashing here. Interestingly there were no virtuoso solos either - just a well arranged blending of their instruments. Even though their performance was somewhat ramshackle these Monkeys had the audience dangling with their youth and sense of obvious enjoyment.

Village halls are being utilised for shows more and more these days and it works. As long as you bring in the names and have consistency of quality then the people will come again and again. And it's obvious that here they do.    

words: dean saint john
pic: sandra garção

KNIEVEL- BLUES BAR, HARROGATE -13/12/07

You know, in a strange kind of way I'm glad that I don't get over to The Blues Bar very often - that's because each time I do and the band get up to play their first number, I look around and have this realisation that I've forgotten what a cracking place it is for live music. The kind of gigs which are literally buzzing, up close and exciting and this really adds to the enjoyment. It's got it all: a good shaped room, a bar, a decent in-house PA and Live Music just about every night of the week. The Blues Bar has several resident bands and Knievel is one of them, playing once monthly. No support. One band. Two 45's. People know what to expect and turn out for it. Once I'd keyed into the band I knew I was in safe hands. The sound was very clear from the start: drums solidly played and well balanced, bass rubbing against my rib cage, guitar growling at me out of the 4 x 12's and just enough of a sprinkling of reverb on the lead vocal to make it Big. Not that it really needed it mind, as vocalist James Webb can certainly hit it with confidence. Clearly having graduated with honours from the school of Robert Plant he pours his energy into each song and gives it welly; urging the track along, anticipating the changes, embellishing with tambourine rhythms and clearly loving it. And the style of music this band plays demands something big - to deliver Zeppelin's 'The Ocean' or 'Bring It On Home' any other way would be just plain daft and utterly wrong.   But James is on the ball. The band charges towards the stops and rhythm changes as a unit and gives you that great sensation when they bound off again in another direction. Knievel really make a potent sound and perform with power and accuracy. Tonight they played a split set of roughly 50/50 - originals to covers - and to their credit it was difficult to see the joins. Mixing their self-penned tunes amongst tracks by Led Zeppelin, Black Crowes, Free and The Faces, they have clearly taken the best qualities of this classic style and fused it with their own creativity with ease. The result is a live show with an authentic retro feel throughout; there's consistency in their sound and arrangements which hark back to the classic era of epic rock, serious guitar worship and powerful vocals. This is a band to go and see again. Nice one.

words: dean saint john

NEVILLE STAPLE - CERT LIVE, YORK -   17/12/07

There are more music genres around than any of us would care to mention.   Since 1985 it all got a bit much with an explosion of sounds that took away the value of 'la difference'.   I probably became narrow minded about any different sounds until the day I walked into Cert 18 and saw a crowd dancing in the funkiest, most contagious manner.   Kinda marching, knees right up to chin level, falling about but never reaching the floor.   Kinda funny.   They all looked pissed out of their minds but it was just the way of the dance.   Naturally I joined in and consumed by curiosity, after about half an hour of having the time of my life, asked a guy what kind of music was that?   "SKA".  

It's ironic because Reggae truly gets on my nerves but there's something about ska that completely separates the two genres.   What is it?   I honestly don't know.   Is there a link at all?   Why do I hate reggae and love ska?   Because ska isn't repetitive?   Maybe it's cos it's fun and gives you the space to dance and go crazy, and march away all the frustration.   That's why I couldn't miss the legendary Neville Staple from The Specials on one of the last Cert 18 gigs.   He nervously walked to the stage with his band - more than likely because people might have compared them with the legendary band.   Since I don't really know The Specials, no comparisons will be made.   It was an awesome moment and the crowd was close to grabbing the main man and pull him down to join them in the ska dance.   Or whatever you call it.   He's a bit of an oldie.   Not exactly 21 but he can pull a show and sweat buckets.   With a flawless rhythmic voice and a lot of pzazz on stage, his presence is as contagious as the audience's dance.   His brass men were almost immaculately good and the music altogether was top class.   Don't know if that was real ska but if it was, then hell I love ska!   The audience were well aware of who they were seeing but when the music was on, they were so engrossed in the dance, Neville could have stripped naked and they probably wouldn't have noticed.   That's an indication that the crowd had one hell of a time and the ones who missed the show, missed something big and very very good.

Hypersonic Quest were special guests and they were well impressive young lads.   Imagine 7 young men (the oldest was probably 21) in tune doing the ska thing good and proper, or so it seemed.   Lead singer full of voice and rhythm and the rest of the band with an ability to perform their own songs, supporting a legend.   That's impressive.   Though still wet behind the ears, they proved that the genre isn't a thing of the past and bands like them should be given the chance to keep it alive.   Check them out on myspace.  

words & pic: sandra garção

GOLD BLADE + BLOOD OR WHISKY + THE HAZARD - JUNCTION, YORK - 16/12/07

A few years back Gold Blade were nearly massive.   A burning punk-soul crew led by Membranes veteran and author John Robb, their high-energy infectious rabble-rousing was beloved of the NME and festival crowds and they seemed on the cusp, until fickle fate and the collapse of not one but two record labels left them stranded.   Since then they've stripped back the soul elements, changed guitarists and welded themselves firmly to the Euro punk circuit, where they're still a top draw.   The Hazard seem to typify their crowd, all leather, spikes, knackered drainpipes, studs and three chords, and they are, by their own admission, at their most shambolic tonight.   Still, the vicious 'Fashion Victim,' when the two vocalists mesh in a vitriolic tirade, suggests that there's some power behind their booze-fuelled thrash.

Blood Or Whisky are a much more dangerous proposition, a tough Irish mob fusing hard punk and trad Irish sounds propelled by some very, very angry banjo indeed.   The Pogues or early Men They Couldn't Hang are obvious reference points, but Blood Or Whisky are tight as hell and deadly, determinedly serious.   They attack their set with tooth-rattling energy and quickly whip up the crowd.   Highlight is the absolutely blazing 'Your Majesty' which is so ferocious it's surely smashed some tiny piece of The System.   They don't quite sustain their initial assault and there's the odd tasteful rock moment ('Doors of Hope') that they'd do well to stay away from, but if they get a bit samey it's probably due to the fact that their sound is hampered by the tin whistle being buried in the mix and by their accordion player being AWOL rather than anything lacking in the material.   No, on the whole this was sterling stuff.

So can Gold Blade still cut it?   Well, hell, yeah.   Sure, all the songs are pretty much the same, barrelling verses and snappily sloganeering yob-along choruses - 'Do You Believe In The Power of Rock 'n' Roll?,' 'Jukebox Generation,' 'Fighting In the Dancehall and Fucking In The Streets,' you get the idea.   But John Robb has lost none of his manic energy. Within two songs he's shed his shirt and is leading the cheering throng through some sweetly wholesome punk rock fun.   A little seven-year old whose birthday it is, and his septuagenarian granddad (!), get to get up on stage, a bunch of punkettes get invited to dance along, another spiky lass gets to hold a placard marked "riot" during, well, 'Riot,' the Blade namecheck their supports in friendly stylee, and at the end there's almost mass shirt removal in the front rows.   All great hi-energy trash fun.   Funny thing is, with the right tune in the right place, you could see it happening for the Blade all over again.   But they're obviously having a ball in punkland, which this evening was a damn fine place to be.

words: tim procter
pic: vicky