Green Man Festival August 2018

Our second trip to the Brecon Beacons and The Green Man Festival. This time round we decided to take the train and spend a couple of pre-festival days in Abergavenny. Sadly a stomach bug prevented Sheelagh from fully enjoying the delights of the many charity shops and interesting market hall. We did manage a decent look round and I have to say it's a lovely little town, I think next time we'll go after the festival though. I did manage to have one good meal out - some lovely welsh lamb!

Luckily after our two night stay Sheelagh was feeling much better so we took a short taxi ride to the festival site arriving around lunchtime on the Thursday. We had come prepared for rain but the weather was simply glorious and I did feel a small about of guilt that I wouldn't have to pitch the tent as we'd decided to camp in comfort and have everything all ready and waiting for us.

Although billed as a 3 day, Friday to Sunday festival , the Thursday actually had a full line-up of bands beginning around 4pm. So heading in to the festival site for a bite to eat and the purchase of the Green Man drinking vessels, a requirement if you wish to sample the local ales and ciders! We had our first look round. A fair few of the traders were there last year and Sheelagh was pleased to see the vintage tent was back - I could already feel the cash drifting away. heading for eats - really cannot recall what it was, but we did notice pretty much every food stall now offered a vegan or vegetarian option - although we probably opted for meat! Running alongside the music festival is a beer festival as well, so the first ale - Jemimas Pitchfork was quickly downed, and very nice it was to. Time was moving on and although we'd stopped here and there to listen to the music we didn't really pay much attention  until we came across Groovelator playing in the Chai Wallers tent, pretty decent 'groovy' jazz fusion. Heading back to the Far Out Stage we took in ever presents Pictish Trail (they'd played every single festival). Remember enjoying them better in the tent than on the main stage last year. Headliners for the night were Public Service Broadcasting and given that their latest album, Every Valley, is the story of Welsh mining this appearance seemed pretty apt. They played a cracking set Gagarin and Go being highlights. As a special treat after the encore, on to the stage came a full Welsh male voice choir to sing the final song on Every Valley 'Take Me Home' and it was a pretty moving experience greeted with rapturous applause. All in all a cracking end to day one.

FRIDAY 17th August

Friday started in fabulous sunshine and although we took in Amber Arcades and Eleanor Friedburger it wasn't until King Tuff hit the stage that we paid any real attention. King Tuff were good, establishing a healthy rapport with the crowd. With still no sign of clouds or rain, neither Sheelagh or I felt particularly hungry on a really hot sunshine filled day. So we decided to go for a simple pizza washed down with some lovely refreshing cider. Little did we know that this would be the eating pattern for the rest of the festival. But hey pizza and cider is wholesome food! Off on a wander again, we'd spent the first part of the day in front of the Mountain Stage, we managed to catch <Beak, unfortunately I can't remember if they were good or not! Opting for something a bit mellower we headed to the Walled Garden, a real gem of a performance space, to watch Susanne Sundfør a Norwegian Singer/Songwriter with a great voice. Headlining for Friday were King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizards - not the best band name I've come across.  Pretty much unknown to me - live they were great, full of energy and a great light show, at one point in their set there was even a mosh pit!  The Friday had been a good start and it looked like being a great sunny weekend.

SATURDAY 18th August

Started the day with a breakfast from the'London Bus' and the sun was still shining, something of a rare treat in the Brecon Beacons. The breakfast bus is close to The Babbling Tongues tent, so we hung around for a while catching a poetry reading by Owen Sheers reading from his book about the NHS - something very close to South Wales hearts. Wandering around the site, as you do when it's sunny we spent a fair bit of time just taking in the general atmosphere, visiting the Green Man and as is so often the case when vintage clothing is involved Sheelagh spent vast amounts of time looking through the various clothing on offer, while I took myself off and investigated the vinyl on offer from Rough Trade.

The site as last year featured performance artists, art installations and of course The Green Man, which would be burnt to the ground on the Sunday night. Have to say this years Green man wasn't as impressive as the previous years. This one definitely having a somewhat evil look to it!

Heading to the Mountain Stage, supplied with pizza and cider we settled down for first performance of the day - Seamus Fogerty an Irish songwriter with quite the sense of humour Carlow Town was great fun. We stayed in front of the Mountain Stage for Nubya Garcia, but I really cannot recall anything from her performance. Heading back up to the Far Out Tent it was time to see this years Japanese entry - Bo Ningen. They were simply amazing, what was not to like, loud, driving, grungy guitars and a possibly slightly insane front person. They are not everyone's cup of tea but this turned out to be the performance of the Festival for both Sheelagh and I. At twenty to six they announced they were playing the last song of the set. They eventually finished around 15 minutes later, the last song could’ve been longer, to be honest. Heading out in to the late afternoon sunshine we were so elated by Bo Ningen that we simply forgot to go see anyone else for an hour or so. Instead taking on more cider and yet another pizza!

We made our way back to the main Mountain Stage to see John Grant and even though we sat through the full set, I just don't remember any of it. There was a bit of a time gap before Saturdays headliners, Fleet Foxes, were due to take the stage so we headed back to catch part of Teenage Fanclubs set, which was ok but as I wasn't really aware of them first time round it all sounded a bit tired to me. So it was back to the Mountain Stage, refuelling with more cider as we settled down in the warm evening air for Fleet Foxes. Comfortably the biggest audience of the festival, it seemed everyone was here to see them. If I'm honest I found them a little dull, good, tight band but none of the songs really stood out for either of us. It was close to midnight, but there was one last band to see before heading back for the night. Leaving Fleet Foxes early we headed to the Walled Garden. Now the Walled Garden is a completely enclosed performance space, one of the more intimate areas at Green Man. Taking a seat at one of benches, there was probably just over 100 people present we watched the end of 9Bach's set. Who if I remember correctly were pretty good.

By now it was well past midnight and there were only a couple of hundred people here for an 'after dark set from Snapped Ankles.  This was one of the best performances I've seen for a long, long time. Their propulsive, groove laden music comes with a heavy dose of weird. Snapped Ankles bring something of a Can vibe, but wrapped in pagan, shamanic costumes. We knew we'd entered some alternative world when a whole host of 'Yetis' made their way through the audience to join them on stage banging percussion as if their lives depended on it. Excellent stuff!!

Sunday 19th August

Still buzzing from the previous day and still bathed in sunshine we headed out once more, maybe a little on the tired side to! First up would be Lost Horizons, ex-Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde's new band. And very good they were to, I made a mental note to get their debut album. Being tired and frankly a little worn out from the night before we decided to just stay in front of the Mountain Stage taking in Xylouris White followed by Curtis Harding. Don't really recall much about Xylouris White but do remember being disappointed by Curtis Harding. Cider and pizza beckoned once more and after eating, Sheelagh decided she wanted to prepare for our departure and begin packing. Following advice from daughter Lani Hall, I decided to hang round for Anna Calvi. Although it felt like quite a short set Anna Calvi was simply wonderful, what a great voice and playing guitar like she was possessed. Top of the list for getting some albums by when I return!

I went back to get Sheelagh and we headed to The Far Out Stage to see Black Angels, grungy, stoner rock, a pretty solid performance without any real high's. Of course by now, in the relentless sunshine, we were both flagging a bit, though the cider might have had something to do with it! Heading back for Festival closers on the main stage, The War on Drugs we settled in for the night to see them. But they were so visually dull, I mean very good musically but coming after Snapped Ankles and Bo Ningen it was just not that interesting, I could have just put the album on and been just as entertained. So about half way through their set we headed back up to The Green Man ready for the burning. There were already a good many people there but we decided to take in last band of the Festival - The Brian Jonestown Massacre. More stoner rock, to end 4 great days of music.

We grabbed yet another pizza and probably more cider and found a decent spot for the Festival finale - the burning of The Green Man and the fireworks. We had a great view, better than last year and who doesn't like a burning and fireworks! Tired but very happy we made our way to the tent ready for Mondays journey home. Oh and all that cider has given us quite a collection of GM2018 drinking vessels!

Even if not every set on the line-up was killer, such is the amazing atmosphere that almost whether the music is any good or not is irrelevant because there’s magic in the Brecon Beacons air.  If you can make it to the Black Mountains next year, be sure that you’re going to find something unbelievable.

Will we be back... almost certainly.

A handy trio of gigs

Sorry to say I've neglected the blog so far this year and I still have a lengthy backlog of gigs from 1980 onwards to sort out! Anyway this update deals with the three, very different gigs, up to Augusts Green Man Festival which will be a post all of it's own!

Going back to March 25th and Steven Wilson playing at The Sage, Gateshead as part of the To the Bone Tour. This would be the 6th time I've seen SW. This time round I was all ready to give it a miss and it was at my wife's insistence that we both went. If I'm honest I wasn't really enjoying the To The Bone album finding it a bit lightweight and just not as interesting as his earlier work.

As is so often the case when SW performs, there would be no supporting band, and we would get 2 sets from the man.

Arrived just in time at The Sage and took our seats, which were bang in the centre but towards the back on a slightly rising section. They were a in a great position and turned out to be a perfect spot for tonights show. The show opened with Nowhere Now from the new album, but second song - Pariah - set the tone for the whole show. it's clear a great deal of thought has gone in to the way Steven Wilson presents his music and the presentation of Pariah was stunning with Ninet Tayeb's face being projected in an almost 3D way (she wasn't actually there) as she duetted on the song with SW. The first set felt like Steven Wilson was drawing from some of his more aggressive songs.

After a short break the second set opened with one of my favourite Porcupine Tree songs - Arriving Somewhere but not Here, yes it goes on a bit but its a classic, Lazarus another Porcupine Tree is in the setlist to. So the song selection really took in all times and styles from Steven Wilsons career. Overall though it was the visuals that made the show a special one, I'm still not keen on the new album but next tour, I'll definitely be getting tickets!

At the other end of the scale would be a gig by The Lake Poets at Wylam brewery in Newcastle, this would be on April 30th 2018. The Lake Poets are essentially singer-songwriter Martin Longstaff. Martins songs are very personal and intimate and in a venue like Wylam Brewery worked perfectly. If he's playing anywhere near you I highly recommend you go see him.

Ending this trio of gigs is Sheryl Crow, also playing The Sage in Gateshead on June 21st. Now Sheryl Crow is one of those people I've always meant to go see live, but just never got round to it. Well this time round I did go and managed to catch her on what was a greatest hits tour. Her band were tight and she was on top form delivering a near perfect collection of songs. Loved every minute of it!

You can see the setlist here.

Kicking off 2018 with Mogwai

At long last I've solved the problem of standing behind those big tall individuals who always seem to see that the best vantage point to watch the band is just in front of me. As a bonus it's also solved standing on the route to the bar or being next to the group of friends who would rather shout at each other than watch the band! The solution, simple really... just stand at the front!

So arriving in good time and having already had a drink in the packed, small or cosy depending on your point of view, Town Mouse, Sheelagh and I duly took our position centre stage and within touching distance of the barrier!

First up were Scottish trio Out Lines, a new project from The Twilight Sad’s James Graham, Kathryn Joseph and Marcus Mackay. Very interesting they were too, the set featured songs from their debut album, Conflats - full of melancholy, sadness and distinctive accordian sound. Pretty good though and I'll probably be hunting it down.

Sticking to our spot at the front we waited patiently for Mogwai. Their album Every Country's Sun was my top album of 2017 so this was one I was really looking forward to. After a short wait on they came and launched in to 'Crossing the Road Material', and the intense guitar hammering began - a promising start following it with I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead from an album I've not got by them. It was great being up close actually able to see the band for once, but there was something missing. Maybe it was the volume but the subtlety was missing, for me a key part of any Mogwai song and if I'm honest the lighting in the first part of the show was pretty dull. But all was not lost and Mogwai would kick it up a gear for the last third of the gig starting with album title track Every Country's Sun.

The deep and warm analogue synth tones of Remurdered provided another standout highlight from their later catalogue. The near sell-out crowd reacted to the anticipated queasy volume leap in the middle of classic track Mogwai Fear Satan (Sheelagh actually jumped in surprise!) followed up with the heat-seeking helter skelter of Old Poisons, which was accompanied by all the lighting firepower they had failed to use earlier and some of the biggest cheers of the night were for the final part of the set. Standing at the front was taking it's toll and before the encore Sheelagh and I headed to the bar for a final drink.

The encore of I Know You Are But What Am I? and the exceptionally loud and distorted brute metallic force of We’re No Here ensured they went out on a high.

All in all a good start to 2018's gig going. 

Potemkin.. definitely came to something!

A cold night in November, Sheelagh and I are off to The Cluny 2 for the album launch of The Union Choirs debut album, The Ghosts in the Room. Arriving late, sadly we missed the first performer, Trev Gibb but we were in time to catch most of the set from Nixé. This was her debut performance and it was quite a set, full of flowing sounds and Nixé has a rather good voice, will certainly be on the look out for more performances and sounds. You can catch the video for the single Rib Cage here.

Next up were Slow Decades, who seemed to be having great fun on stage, alternating with front man, Ben Lowes-Smith being very angry! They have an album out and it's available on Spotify, give it a listen.

The Union Choir have actually been around a good few years, my introduction to them came about when my eldest daughter decided to date bassist Peter Hall and they're now happily married!

A short wait and on came The Union Choir, all 9 of them, two of the brass section being tucked away to the side of the stage! Looking fresh and ready to go, they launched in to Wonderland. They sounded, at least to my ears, tight and well rehearsed. I'm not sure exactly how long it had been, but the band had been on quite an extended hiatus. In fact last time I had seen them live, they were playing with Tom Robinson during BBC Introducing back in 2012! The opener received a war reception and next up came Potemkin!, surely destined to elicit a bit audience participation. Mid set came two favourites, Eleanor and Dancer in Pearls.

On stage The Union Choir looked and played with a confidence that comes with being in a band of friends and pretty good musicians to boot. Jon Melvin taking centre stage proved to be quite a performer engaging with the audience and keeping the band moving along. In fact it all moved along way to quickly and after closer Lavender, it was all over. A few cries of 'More, More' but it was not to be and the cold North East air beckoned once more... taxi ride home! There's a video available for the first single from the album 'Wonderland'

Luckily more gigs are planned and it's worth checking local venues for dates. The two photo's have come from David Wala Photography check out his portfolio,

Tonight's gig was actually free to enter, so buying the album, available from Jon's mum,  was a no-brainer and at just £5.00 excellent value. All these bands need your support, so if you like and enjoy what they're doing head over to Facebook, give their pages a like and follow them or even better spend a few pounds and buy their albums and singles. After all if original songs and music is good enough for Simon Cowell...

Public Service Broadcasting

Well that was a gig and a half! Excellent live performance from Public Service Broadcasting @ The Boiler Shop in Newcastle. Meeting up with Lani and Pete at Newcastle Tap before the gig, we had a chance to sample an ale, although Sheelagh stuck to her guns and ordered wine - despite being a Guinness and Black drinker when she was younger I don't think she will ever develop a taste for craft beers! The ales were so good we decided to move on to Box Social. It's quite small, actually it's very small but again a good range of ales and a friendly atmosphere. By this time we had missed the support, but arrived a good 15 minutes before Public Service Broadcasting were due to start.

Bowie's Sound and Vision filled the Boiler Shop and on came Public Service Broadcasting, opening with Every Valley, title track from new album and followed by The Pit, I wondered if we were going to get a full performance of the album. But then came Theme From PSB and the "even sillier" The Now Generation from their full-length debut  Inform – Educate – Entertain both are good songs in their own right, to be fair, but in the sombre tones of the openers felt like awkwardly intrusive gatecrashers. In fact the new album, every Valley featured pretty heavily in the set list, it's a bit of a departure from their older stuff and can be a bit on the 'serious' side, but then again an album dealing with the rise and decline of the Mining Industry in South Wales is never going to be a toe-tapping singalong! Consequently it's the older songs that are the highlights, Spitfire from their debut album came early in the set and was superb, then it was back to Every Valley, which although good, and probably better in a live setting, doesn't have the energy of their 2 earlier albums.

The whole gig was good but was lifted to the epic status as we came to the closers - Go!, which had everyone calling out and much raised fists and then the encores Gagarin, from The Race for Space featuring synchronised dancing spacemen and finishing with Everest.

Lots of smiling faces as we headed out in to the unseasonable warm Newcastle night air.

A word about the Boiler Shop, it's been converted or refitted to be used as a music venue, it's very much a venue of two halves, one half being in front of the stage and the other off to the side with the supporting pillars of the venue dividing it. Whoever did the sound has done a great job. My one gripe would be that because the bars are at the back there's a constant stream of people moving back and forth. As usual we seemed to be standing on the direct route to the bar - I do miss the years when you couldn't do that and watching the band was why you had bought the tickets in the first place, but it's a small price to pay for another music venue in Newcastle.

Alcest and Anathema in Glasgow

Once more it's a trip to the North West for the first gig since Green Man and surprisingly the first proper gig of the year. A new venue as well - The Garage - to see Alcest and Anathema, both bands I've seen before. This would be the fourth time for Alcest and the second for Anathema. Another one of those early starts, Alcest would be on-stage at 6.45. We arrived early and decided to head down the front, the venue was about half full, maybe 300 people in. Alcest arrived and launched in to Kodama, it should have been a great start but the sound was awful... were we too close? maybe. Things never really improved and it was only during the quieter moments (Autre Temps) that the vocals were discernible - the drums and bass were overpowering pretty much everything, even the guitars sounded lost. Have to say it was something of a disappointment, enjoyable but not great. Such a poor sound didn't bode well for Anathema who rely on clear vocals and harmonies for their sound.

Rory and I wandered to the bar at the back of the venue for the obligatory pint of Joker IPA and a Red Stripe, drinks in hand we decided to head to the balcony for Anathema. After what seemed like a long wait they came on-stage and immediately ran in to problems as Vincent Cavanagh's (lead vocals and guitar) rig just packed in. Ahh the joys of a first night on tour! Much scurrying around the stage from their guitar tech eventually coming up with a 'fix'. Opening with San Francisco off new album The Optimist Untouchable Parts 1 & 2 - one of my favourite tracks by them, they'd sorted everything out and went on to play a great set - you can view the setlist here.

This clip of Anathema performing Thin Air is from this summers Download Festival.

 

So why did Anathema sort out the sound issues and Alcest not, I guess it's got to be down to your sound engineer. Perhaps a supporting band don't have the funds to take their own engineer on tour with them and they rely on the headliners or venues engineer. I'd suggest after this experience that a band should make finding a good sound engineer a top priority. There's no point in having a great set of songs if your audience can't hear them properly. I don't expect (or want) a replication of the studio sound but with the technology available poor sound at a gig isn't really acceptable. Alcest have been getting better and better with each album and gig, but this one I feel let them down. It won't stop me seeing them again though. Hopefully next time they'll headline and their sound engineer will know his stuff!

Green Man Festival 17th - 20th August 2017

I kind of want to dive straight in to the music and the Festival itself but it wouldn't tell the full story of a traumatic and yet wonderfully life-affirming 4 and a bit days. The tickets to Green Man Festival were part of Sheelagh's birthday gift from Lani and as such Peter Hall had been planning the event carefully, with a great deal of thought being given to where we should stop and the food available, estimating what time we would arrive and who to go see on Thursday evening. In fact he had arranged to meet up with a set of friends at Washington Services also travelling to Green Man.

Sadly on the A1 we were involved in an accident, luckily no-one was hurt although it might have been very different if Lani hadn't reminded Sheelagh to put her seat-belt on. Also Peter's car was a right off. Peter and Lani just were not going to be able to continue the journey. The police gave us a local taxi firms number and Sheelagh and I headed to Woodall Services to meet up with Jon Melvin, Glenn Coyne, Richard Milburn, Ben Lowes-Smith and Rebecca Evans, all friends of Peter's and Lani's. There were many phone calls back to Lani to check up on their situation, as we got closer to Green Man, they still hadn't been collected by the recovery vehicle and taken back to Newcastle, in fact they were left waiting for a good 3 and a half hours and we were only a few miles from the site when their journey back up to Newcastle began.

We all arrived on site early evening and began the 'pitching of the tents' if it wasn't for Glenn we would still be at it. Not only did he assemble his own tent but helped us assemble ours and single handedly put up Lani and Peters tent. Soon though all was good on site and we received a message from Lani that they were back and planning how to get to Green Man on Friday. Sheelagh and I took a walk around the Green Man site and settled on a bowl of chilli for the night.

FRIDAY

Friday turned out to be an odd day as the full impact of the crash and how lucky we had been began to sink in. Lani and Peter were having problems sorting a hire car to come down and after initially planning a early 7am start, didn't leave Newcastle till after 11 am, they would be arriving late! There was nothing we could do to speed up their arrival so Sheelagh and I headed in to the Festival site.

A bit about the location, the Green Man site is in a long green Welsh valley, with the River Usk snaking through it and the Black Mountains scooping steeply upwards into the mist behind the main Mountain Stage, it's the most beautifully positioned festival I've ever been to. Rollo Maughfling, Archdruid of Stonehenge and Britain, blessed the ground with a Druid ceremony at the beginning of the day in something of a downpour - a portent of the weather to come!.

First band of the weekend - W.H. Lung, interesting sound but largely forgotten even now. Next up and local to Newcastle, were Warm Digits a band I'd seen a few months earlier. To say they had come along way would be an understatement as they turned in a bright, polished and fun performance which would be a contender for performance of the Festival if it hadn't been for the band that followed them.

Next up were Kikagaku Moyo a Japanese band who I really wanted to see and WOW! were they good. A short 45 minute set and 5 songs but absolute perfection in sound and atmosphere, the first smile of the weekend crept across my face, looking across to my side, Sheelagh was applauding enthusiastically - this was definitely why we were here. if Kikagaku Moyo ever tour outside of London I'll definitely be there.


Couldn't quite shake off thoughts about Lani and Peter repeating the journey down, so we headed out from the music to call them and take in a few other parts of the Festival. It now looked like they wouldn't arrive till past 8pm. We decided to grab some lunch, Sheelagh elected for chilli again more for it's comfort factor than anything else. I went for a Vietnamese Bun Pho - pork balls in a spicy broth and it was lovely. Once we'd finished eating we headed off to the Babbling Tongues tent to catch a discussion titled 'The Plural of Vinyl is Vinyl" with Laura Barton, Richard King and Paul Noble. very entertaining it was to, although owning in excess of a dozen copies of variations of an album is too much, even for me - question of the day - How do you store and catalogue your vinyl? Deciding to take in one of the theatre pieces on offer we headed to the Omni Tent to see Publish or Perish, a somewhat apt piece as Rory had just completed his finals! It certainly raised a smile and provide some welcome relief from the worry we were both experiencing, but avoiding putting in to words as daughter Lani and son-in-law Peter continued their journey. Time was getting on, it was almost 8pm and they still had not arrived. We waited anxiously in the car park as like us the day before they got lost on their way to the site. Approaching 9pm they arrived, smiling but it was clear to mum and dad (thats us!) all was not great. Hugs and greetings followed and we took them to the tent. Luckily there would still be time to take in 3 bands.

The four of us headed to the Far Out tent to catch Angel Olsen and it was very good, she has a real good voice but I think we were all slightly muted. Headlining tonight on the Mountain Stage were Future Islands, a real feel good bounce was in store, at least so we hoped. Don't get me wrong Future Islands were good, but not great and I think all four of us needed a 'great' end to the night to make up for Thursday.

If I'm honest I found myself distracted and just a little bored by them, so we decided to head back to the Far Out stage to catch a bit of Kate Tempest, who we had caught during her sound check earlier that morning. Kate Tempest was full of energy and had a good sized audience but we only caught the end of her set so headed back to the tent. A few of the others were already there and everyone went to their tents. I think the shock of Thursday was beginning to not just sink in but cast a bit of a shadow over the Festival.

Saturday

Around 9 am everyone was up and general feeling was Future Islands didn't deliver that headliners set. it turned out only Sheelagh and I had seen Kikagaku Moyo who for us had delivered the performance of the day. Lani emerged from her tent smiling followed closely by Peter, who innocently asked if it was an appropriate time to crack open a can of Guinness! With much encouragement from Jon, Peter took his first swig and I think we all felt that we could and would put Thursday behind us. Everyone headed their separate ways to either get breakfast or in Lani and Peters case to get a view of the festival site. We all arranged to meet up in front of the Mountain Stage to see Pictish Trail, who were highly recommended by Peter and apparently had played at every Green Man festival. So Sheelagh and I opted for the Walled Garden and took in a hugely popular and positive talk from Brendan Cox, sensible words of hope for us all. Moving to the Mountain Stage, we decided, following Peter's advice, to start the day, musically with Pictish Trail, who were great fun live, a quick walk back to the Walled Garden to take in Warhaus followed by Aldus Harding, both pretty good in their different ways. After these two performance and a drink of cider Sheelagh and I decided on a wander around the site, taking in some of the visual arts installations and other entertainment. In fact we ended up in the Omni tent again, this time to see Gemma Arrowsmith perform Earthlings, funny and provoking, its well worth seeing and includes one of the darkest pieces of comedy I've seen in a long time! No doubt there's clips on YouTube, well worth checking out.

All through the weekend Sheelagh and I were exploring different parts of the site and came across art installations set in a small wooded area, all quite magical and impressive. Oddly dressed characters, simply wondering round the site. Einsteins Garden filled with strange ideas and curiosities. A whole area devoted to alternative therapies and hot tubs!

With time getting on, we decided now would be a good time to eat so we headed to the Mountain Stage to try some Tarteflette, filling but nothing to write home about. While we sat there Shirley Collins came on to the stage. There's much been written elsewhere about her return to performing and releasing music, so if you don't know about her you'll have to look elsewhere. For Sheelagh and I it just didn't work and although we sat through most of her set - there was just so much food to eat - it was distinctly unimpressive although the smallish crowd who were in front of the stage were clearly entertained. Grabbing a beer at the Courtyard Craft Beer Festival (yes not only was it a music festival but a beer one too!) we headed back in to the Mountain Stage to meet up with everyone, catching the end of Lambchop in the process. I wasn't really paying any attention to the stage as everyone had tales to tell of different performances they had seen through the day.

As we waited Sheelagh felt the need to get all creative, as is often the case it was me who suffered for her art!

It was dark by now and from the stage came the distinct sound of Michael Kiwanuka, opening with Cold Little Heart from his Love & Hate album - the second WOW moment, this was good, no it was better than that, this was amazing. Turned to my side to see Jon Melvin grinning as insanely as me - how had I not heard this guy before, he played an excellent set although opener Cold Little Heart was simply stunning. Michael Kiwanuka would be the first artist added to the 'get an album' by this artist list. Smiling and getting details as to which album to buy - Love & Hate topped the list.

We all stood waiting for Ryan Adams, the crowd began to thin, definitely less here than the previous evening.

On came Ryan Adams opening with Do You Still Love Me? from new album Prisoner this turned out to be a classic festival performance, full of great tunes, lots of guitar and just great fun. So much fun in fact that there was almost a 'Spinal Tap' moment as the stage was engulfed in so much dry ice, the band disappeared, then out of the smoke came a dark figure, eyes burning red, horns upon his head and banging a tambourine! I really, really enjoyed it despite not originally expecting to. Artist No2 was added to the 'get an album' list - Gold being the recommendation from Peter. Here's the setlist.

We all made our way out from the Mountain Stage and crossed by the Rough Trade tent, Sheelagh and I had watched a couple of low key in-store performances there. Along came 'Chad' greeting Peter like some long lost brother, we all stood perplexed none of us, Peter included, had seen this guy before and then from the tent came the strains of Lifted by The Lighthouse family, the sight of Peter, Lani and the others dancing to this finally and completely dispelled Thursdays accident. Everyone was going to be just fine.

Sunday

So the final day came round way to quickly and as everyone crawled out their tents sporting various degrees of hangover I knew it was going to be a good day, unfortunately the weather had other plans!

Starting early Sheelagh and I headed to the Far Out stage to catch Circulus - Power to the Pixies time - you had to be there! Arriving soon on stage were Wolf People, another of the band I was looking forward to seeing and they didn't disappoint turning in a powerful, loud blast of proper rock. Smiles all round once more. Heading for eats, not that I can remember what I had this time round, but it was almost certainly very tasty as the food on the Festival site was top notch. Back up to the Far Out to take in Richard Dawson, we got there early so managed to catch Sunflower Bean who were really really good - Front duo, striking blonde vocalist Julia Cumming and Nick Kivlen were great to watch and they filled the tent with a pretty powerful sound, apparently they were on the NME one's to watch list in 2016 and they are third on my 'get an album' list!

There was much recommending of Richard Dawson from everyone we had travelled with so it was with some anticipation that we waited for his arrival. I'd not knowingly heard him before so this would be new to me. On Richard Dawson came to enthusiastic cheers and applause. One song in and I thought, I'm missing something here, two songs in and although lyrically he was very clever it just wasn't falling in to place for me, by the third song I realised I just didn't like his voice. Sheelagh to was shaking her head, so we headed off to a alternative stage to see someone else, who turned out to be Fruit Bats. Another band new to me, although they won't be making the list! Round about now the temperature started to drop and the sky was looking particularly ominous so we decided to head to the tent -  tiredness might have influenced the decision! No sooner had we got there than the skies opened, not just heavy rain, a biblical, apocalyptical, end of the world downpour that felt like it would never stop. Slowly the rain eased and we ventured back to the main stage.

Next up would be The Shins, another band I've never really followed or listened to very much but they were a perfect piece of pop perfection, bouncy, happy songs dispelling the gloom cast by the weather, also one of the bigger crowds for the Mountain stage, they to have been added to the 'get an album' list.

The festival was going to be closed by PJ Harvey. She has kinda dropped off my musical radar a bit and I wasn't really sure what to expect. It turned out to be a stunning, dramatic
headliner set, based principally around her most recent two albums  Let England Shake and The Hope Six Demolition Project, she and her mean-looking band of nine dark-suited dudes cut a sharp visual feast as they let rip with bone-rattling guitars and low-down dirty sax.

You can view the set list here, so many highlights to it. But as Down by the Water echoed across the stage. Lani turned to me and we both let out a silent WOW. PJ Harvey proving to be an excellent choice as Festival closer and for me this was the highlight performance of the weekend, followed by Kikagaku Moyo. As the last strains of River Anacostia faded out a group of 12 black-cloaked and gold-glittered torchbearers lead a parade to the ritual burning of the giant Green Man sculpture.

It was quite a sight as the Green Man and encircling dragon were wrapped in flames reaching high up in to the night sky. The closing pyrotechnic fantasia, as flames spat from a dragon’s mouth and fireworks arced gracefully into the unpredictable Welsh skies was a suitably uplifting end to what turned out to be 3 days of excellent music, food and camaraderie.

Spending time at Green Man, despite the traumatic start was just wonderful. It's a friendly easy going place with loads to do and you don't need to walk miles to do it. Whether it's spoken word or dancing to the small hours, craft beers and ciders, from festival headliners to bands breaking through, from vintage fashions to artisan crafts it's all well organised and safe. Oh and the food was just excellent, whether you're a committed Vegan or meat eater, there was a huge number of vendors to choose from and all reasonably priced.

It may have taken me 15 years to revisit a festival but it certainly won't be another 15 before the next one, in fact Sheelagh and I have already trawled through smaller festivals happening in 2018, I'd be sorely tempted to come back to Green Man, but maybe Kendall Calling will win out.

Mouth of the Tyne Festival 6th July 2017

A pleasant surprise for a Friday night as unfortunately my daughter  Lani Hall was so full of cold she couldn't make use of her ticket for Laura Marling at The Mouth of the Tyne Festival. I'm not really aware of any of Laura's albums but you can never miss an opportunity for a live performance. So meeting up with Peter Hall we headed in to a less than full Tynemouth Priory. Definitely the most middle class audience I've been part of... think picnic hampers, prosecco and seats!

Three bands on the line-up, already on stage was Karen Elson apparently born in this country but now working out of Nashville, a pleasant enough voice but the country leanings didn't do it for me. Next up - King Creosote - who would have known the leader, one Kenny Anderson has some 40 plus releases to his name. With a distinctive gravelly voice this was an enjoyable performance although none of the songs played have stayed with me.

Having sampled some of the food on-site... if only I could remember what it was, we made our way forward for the Laura Marling set. Although I'd only briefly listened to a few tracks from current album Semper Femina there was a real buzz of anticipation as she came on stage. Her performance was pretty restrained but the quality of her song writing really shone through and even though I didn't particularly recognise any of the tracks she performed, it was a pretty good gig and drew appreciative applause from the crowd. All in all an enjoyable Friday evening Laura Marling has a lovely voice I could hear shades of Bonnie Raitt and even a bit Sheryl Crow. Will have to do a search on Spotify for some tunes!

Record Store Day April 22nd 2017

Before going on to the Record Store Day Haul I must mention a very intimate gig from the 3rd December 2016. As a thank you to their North East Followers Lanterns on the Lake were to play a special gig at The Mining Institute in Newcastle - it's a place very special to me as it was the venue for my daughters wedding. Following on from their excellent gig at the Sage earlier in the year this was a lovely special event and would have been a great ending to the year had it not been for the sad death of my Mother in Law just a few days later. In fact I've not been to another gig since then, so it's time to move on and put that right!

On to Record Store Day 2017, now in it's tenth year and this time round I actually got the list and made my selections well in advance, giving in to temptation just once for a last minute addition! Arriving outside Reflex at just after 8 am I was surprised to see a queue that had snaked around the corner and ended half way along Grainger Street. Oh dear, this is going to be a long wait, but I wasn't prepared for the 2 hour 45 minute wait it turned out to be!

At this point I'm somewhere back round the corner and a couple of hours away from getting to the front!

Luckily the monotony of queueing up was happily broken up by engaging in conversation with my fellow, patient queuers and an unexpected request to do a brief interview with our local news network ITV - must have been a quiet day news-wise as the short clip was actually aired!

So what did I buy, well top of my list was the 1966 recording from Pink Floyd of Interstellar Overdrive, packaged with poster and postcard, next was a double album of some Psychedelic rarities from the late sixties, add in some singles from T. Rex, ELP and Hawkwind and there you have my shopping list. The spur of the moment purchase was David Bowie No Plan, the final recordings on clear vinyl.

Lots of releases to look forward to for 2017 including Roger Waters album out on 2nd June and a new Steven Wilson album later in the year. I'll no doubt be discovering some new music along the way as I'm off to the Green Man Festival, my first festival for about 15 years, in August of this year. Roll on Summer.

Eccentric Gateshead and an International Glasgow.

Going back to a dark Sunday evening in October, it was off to The Prohibition Bar to see Thomas Truax. I have to confess to having never heard of the guy, but it was coming as a highly recommended gig from my daughter Lani and seeing as how she had bought tickets for Sheelagh and I, how could we refuse!

This has to be one of the most eccentric, individual and enjoyable performances I've ever seen. Accompanied by his invented instruments, he sings in to an instrument named 'The Hornicator'. Tapping out live rhythm loops, plucking assorted strings, springs and attached noisemakers, he builds a backdrop of sound layers as an accompaniment to his songs and stories about the moon, butterflies, dogs and a host of beautiful and sad things.

I'll certainly be on the look out for another appearance from him in the North East. A quick note about the venue, The Prohibition Bar, which is under one of the arches near The Sage, it's got a full programme of gigs and events, if it's not hired out for a private function you would do well to check it out for it's retro, prohibition era stylings.

Onwards to the 12th November and it was off up to Glasgow to meet up with Rory and head to The Classic Grand (another new venue for me) to see an International line-up of bands. Sinistro - from Portugal, Alcest - from France and Mono from Japan. This promised to be a really interesting gig. Sadly, at least for me only one band truly delivered on the night.

Starting off with Sinistro ariving on stage to a ripple of applause they launched in to their first song. Which was simply a mess, I wonder if bands do sound checks anymore! If you're going to have a vocalist, write her some lyrics and have her front your band, you should at the very least make sure she's heard. Tonight all we got was a  drone from the guitars and a thumping bass. Soon enough the sound engineer appeared, stood in front of us with his iPad and began to alter the mix. Pretty soon the vocals were at max, but he was reluctant to change the bass or drum settings and effectively rendered the performance a bit of a pointless exercise. Which was a pity because on the rare quiet moments the singer had a voice reminiscent of Lisa Gerrard and she was throwing some Siouxsie Sue shapes, all flailing arms and poses!

Next up were Alcest, the band who I had really come along to see for my third time. The stage dimmed and they launched in to opening track Onyx off their latest album Kodama (well worth a listen by the way). Loud and distinct sounding this was a near faultless performance, lots of material from the new album but a couple of old favourites thrown in for good measure. As I've said before, like all the best gigs it was over far to soon.

Closing tonight would be Mono from Japan, a band I've only recently listened to curtesy of YouTube.  On they came and sat at their instruments, only the bassist being visible from where we stood. So not really a great deal of activity to see on stage! Once again the sound quality dipped and midway through the third song, Rory and I decided to leave.

Now it's not often you get the chance to embarrass your kids, so when opportunities come along you really must take them! On the way out, coming up the stairs towards us was Niege, the man behind Alcest. So I thought I'd comment on how much I enjoyed the performance remarking that this was the third time I'd seen Alcest and I felt the sound was stronger and better with each gig. Greeted by a big smile from Niege and a thank you, I returned the thanks and made my departure. Rory on the other hand was almost mortified - "why did you speak to him?" Because it's nice to be complimented I said, he went on to admit he would have just walked past him, somewhat embarrassed.

The video isn't from Glasgow but this song features in the setlist and is becoming my favourite track from Kodama.

Explosions at The Sage

So it's time for a bit post-rock at The Sage in Gateshead as Explosions in the Sky bring their Texan sounds to the North East.

First up was a one-man band going under the name of Entrance, something sadly he failed to do as he wandered on to stage. Interesting voice, at least initially, but it soon became a bit monotonous as the songs failed to find any direction and simply meandered in to a finish. The set was greeted with polite applause as it quickly came to an end.

After a short break, spent fruitlessly trying to get a drink at the crowded bar, Explosions in the Sky took the stage. A few words of hello and off we go as they launch in to opening song Wilderness. In fact latest album The Wilderness accounts for most of tonights setlist, with little, no lets be accurate here, NO audience interaction. All the songs played tonight were set up to meld in to one another and it turned out to be a pretty intense experience. A few older songs turned up meshed in with the wall of sound coming from the stage.

“The Only Moment We Were Alone” provides that one big moment of quiet, quiet, quiet, LOUD that you expect from post-rock.

You can see the influence of working on soundtracks has had on the band and the presentation of the show, the lighting was central to the performance with some impressive moments as the stage was permanently covered in dry ice and effects. The lighting often forming a barrier between band and audience. This was more of a visual treat than an aural one!

Although I really enjoyed the gig there were no highlights, no 'wow' moment and even a couple of days later memory of it is fading - though that might be an age thing!

End of the Seventies

Not only were the seventies coming to an end, but my time at Newcastle College of Art was also drawing to a close. Time to get a proper job and stop being a student, although I don't think my Dad ever thought that being a Graphic Designer was a 'proper' job!

Anyways it must have been an intensive year because as far as I can remember there were no gigs attended in the run up to that final end of year show and leaving.

First gig of 1979 turns out to be The Police    in June, at Newcastle Mayfair, I remember it as being sold out and that The Police were great fun live, Andy Summers guitar playing particularly impressed. Though I never cared much for the band on record I do have 2 or 3 Andy Summers solo albums.

Time to find some employment and Sheelagh and I decided to take a summer job outside London in a sleepy town called Chigwell. One of the great advantages of living a Tube ride away from central London was that we could see live music pretty much every chance we got. We saw many a local band and pub band, none of which I can truly remember, but we did get to visit the famous Marquee Club right in the heart of Soho. The band we chose to see... The Ruts, I have no idea why! Arriving at the venue, me long hair and leather jacket and jeans, Sheelagh I think had a denim mini on, the crowd on the other hand were all spiky hair, studs, piercings and chains. We stood out like a sore thumb! Not that there was any hassle at all, everyone just there to enjoy the music. Entering the darkness that was the Marquee, we ordered a couple of drinks and made our way to the back of the venue to get a decent view. First up were the Piranha Brothers who I'm sure performed energetically but I simply don't remember them at all. Sadly the same has to be said for The Ruts who have completely slipped from my memory.

The next big gig in London I do remember... Gary Numan at Hammersmith Odeon. I believe it's available as a DVD now. Support came from Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark, just the two guys and a tape machine, centre stage. Don't really recall what they played but it was very odd to see a spotlight fixed on the tape deck!

Gary Numan put in a fabulous performance with an impressive stage set, running through tracks from Replicas and The Pleasure Principal. I do remember being impressed by a track called Bombers, so much so I went out and bought the debut Tubeway Army album in the hope it was on there.

Soon though it was time to return to the North East and find that elusive 'proper' job. There was just one more gig before the year end, Steve Hackett at Newcastle City Hall. This was probably around the time of the Defector album and the set list no doubt featured a few songs from it. I remember the gig as being peculiarly flat, possibly due to having seats in the balcony. It was only the last 3 or 4 songs that brought the audience to life, I'd guess it was Spectral Mornings that closed the show.

Harvest from the Deep

So on the weekend of 13th and 14th August, North Shields showed just what can be done when you put your mind to it! Take note North Tyneside, this would have been a fabulous event to hold in the Dome. A two day festival celebrating local talent and finishing with headliners British Sea Power, more of that later.

We only bought tickets for the second day, though in retrospect I'd have liked to see Richard Dawson and The Lake Poets do a full set. Still there was plenty to enjoy on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Arriving early (we like to get our monies worth!) we caught the first two performances, sadly I don't recall their names. At this point we decided to grab something to eat and headed to the Maggie Bank, very surprised to find they no longer do food but the guy behind the bar recommended we try the Bell and Bucket, so off we headed.

The Bell and Bucket was packed, interestingly there was no one in the Maggie Bank at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon! We ordered the Sunday dinner and when it arrived we were faced with a mountain of food, 5 different veg alongside roast and mashed potato great value but way too much, even I couldn't finish it!

Feeling full we went back to The Exchange for the rest of the days performances, arriving in time to catch Shrug who were great to watch, Nev Clay followed with a meandering song and chat set, things were running late and up next were High Tide 15.47 who were energetic, but for me at least just didn't work. I'm now a little unsure of the running order but Ryan - Bugman - Siddle delivered a really good set full of songs from his album, if you see it give it a listen.

Matt Abbott followed with some interesting poetry, commenting on what is left of working class life, out of touch politicians and apathy he received some of the warmest applause of the day and it was well deserved. Following came Jazz Riot another spoken word performance with some noodling guitar as an accompaniment.

The highlight for me was British Sea Power performing the soundtrack to 'From the Sea to the Land Beyond'. As a documentary film it trawls through the history of the United Kingdoms relationship with the sea, from the fishing industry to bathing belles. All accompanied by BSP's rising and falling tide of sound, The soundtrack followed every twist and turn, every sadness and joy the high's and lows of life as an island nation.

The whole performance was simply excellent, I'm not sure how many times they've performed this piece but if you ever get the chance, go see it. Sunday's performance was something a bit special and the standing ovation the band received at the end was heartfelt appreciation of a great evening.

Sunshine on Bents Park South Shields

With a line up that consisted of Beth Macari, Rod Clements Lindisfarne and The Proclaimers and a day bathed in bright sunshine this promised to be a fun Sunday afternoon and all for FREE!

Arriving early Sheelagh and I got to enjoy the delight that is a long, winding queue to get in. We actually debated whether we should head off and come back later, we no longer feel the need to be 'right at the front', but hearing from others in the queue that the gates were closed for the previous free gig we decided to stick it out.

After close to an hour we began the slow move towards the main gate eventually getting in to the park around 1.30, some 45 minutes later the gates were closed as the capacity of 24,000 was reached.

A quick note on planning, this was pretty much a spur of the moment decision so we were certainly in the minority arriving without portable seats or picnic! Next time we'll make sure we are suitably prepared, the on-site catering and drinks were basic to say the least - limited to Burgers and Fish 'n' Chips and the obligatory sugar rush that is the doughnut stall (not great for a a diabetic!). £4.00 for a pint or glass of wine, pretty standard for this type of event but £7.00 for a glass of Prosecco was a joke.

Any hows we hadn't come to eat and drink, we'd primarily come to see The Proclaimers who we'd recently gained some new appreciation of after watching the movie, Sunshine On Leith (well worth seeing by the way).

Just before 2pm on came Beth Macari, now I'd seen this girl a few years earlier when she played a sound plagued set at Stanley Festival. I'm going to be honest, I don't think the open air gig was the best place to listen to Beth's soulful vocals and sadly she failed to impress, lost in the endless chatter of other people at the gig.

Next up were  Rod Clements Lindisfarne who, to put it mildly, were dreadful. Even though they probably played all the songs you would want to hear they were distinctly lack lustre, the harmonies never meshed and the vocals were flat and disinterested. Yet afterwards, hearing people talk about them, I heard the word 'brilliant' used to describe their performance, I'm left to conclude I need my hearing tested or my definition of 'brilliant' is out of step with the majority of those at the gig!

Finishing off a sunny Sunday afternoon were The Proclaimers, easily the loudest cheer of the day greeting them as brothers, Charlie and Craig Reid, arrived on stage and they played a set full of classics. Best song, probably 'Letter from America' although, not surprisingly the loudest cheer was for 'I'm gonna be (500 miles)'.

The Proclaimers were, tight, on form and proved you cannot beat a good solid live performance to bring a  smile to your face.

To be honest it was The Proclaimers that rescued what was turning in to a rather uninteresting day and left me wondering at what point, if there's only one original member, do the band (Rod Clement's Lindisfarne) effectively become a tribute act!

Sometimes it snows in April

I don't feel I can let 2016 go on any longer without commenting on the sad losses music has had to endure this year. Starting off with Bowie in January, every few weeks it seems someones passed away. Glenn Frey of The Eagles, Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airship, the tragic suicide of Keith Emerson, theres been a couple of country stars too and now just a couple of days ago Prince. It feels like a reaping of the great and good of music.

Bowie was a shock, he did at least almost make it to his three score years and ten, but Prince I still cannot quite believe and at only 57 too. The man had so many years of producing great music in him.

I recall the very first time I became aware of him. Sheelagh and I were full of cold one late winters night, huddled in the small bedroom of my flat in Jesmond, there was to be an Old Grey Whistle Test special, a live concert broadcast from Syracuse. Bursting on to the small (15") screen came this boundless ball of energy and colour, launching in to Let's go Crazy, Prince and The Revolution had arrived. The highlight, a near 20 minute version of Purple Rain, I was hooked!

The output from Prince during the eighties was unmatched and perhaps unsurpassed for pure creative output, albums, tours and movies followed in quick succession, why oh why did I never go see the man? It's now become one of my biggest regrets that I never saw him play live.

I have the music, though Purple Rain is proving a tough listen. Tracks like Raspberry Beret, Little Red Corvette, Cream and Sign o The Times still make me smile and if I were ever to get up and dance, it's going to be to a Prince song!

Musicians come and go, gaining and then losing popularity and sometimes regaining it once more, for me, popular or not, Prince was always going to do something new, something challenging. I didn't like everything he put out.  But what I did like, I REALLY like. I'll be playing many of his albums over the next days and weeks not as some sad remembrance but a celebration of a unique talent.

RIP PRINCE Rogers Nelson 1958 - 2016

The Machine Stops at The Sage

Hawkwind returning to form with a new album and a classic show at the Sage on 18th April 2016.

No support act or onstage dancers/theatrics but a much improved lightshow from last time I saw them and a much better sound, though that's probably down to the excellent acoustics in The Sage.

With a set list that relied heavily on the new album, The Machine Stops, which is based around EP Forster’s dystopian classic,  the band have not sounded this good since their Space Ritual pomp as they take you into their own unique world.

The music they play tonight is mesmerising. Their new bassist is a great find and does all those great Lemmy style bass runs that were so key to the band’s Space Ritual era. Some of the songs stretch out in to long, 10 minute jams, ever changing and evolving with Dave Brock's churning rhyming rhythm guitar at the heart and soul of this performance.

Hawkind 2016 sound like they are on a mission and for a set that is new song heavy and has rare moments of old material like a pulsating Orgone Acculamator and encores, You better Believe It and Silver Machine, this was a very well received playlist from a band that is still pushing the boundaries as well as sounding fresh and relevant.

EM Forsters cult classic is available as a free download if anyone wants an alternative vision of the future!

Lanterns on the Lake

This February brought a very, very special gig. Locals, Lanterns on the Lake performing at The Sage with the Royal Northern Sinfonia.

Before heading to the gig I was to be treated to a birthday meal at River Beat where the food was fabulous, being served in 2 separate platters of a sharing tapas.

On to The Sage and first on stage was Ditte Elly, a voice that was wistful and aching, but far to close to Hazel Wildes to really stand out. Still I'm sure she'll go far.

After a short interval it was time for the main event. The orchestra were already in place when we returned to the hall and a few moments later on trouped the band. Opening strongly with 'Of Dust and Matter' they were on fine form. Playing tracks from new album Beings as well as raiding the back catalogue for some well chosen older songs. You can see the full setlist here.

A real highlight was a wonderful version of Lungs Quicken from debut album Gracious Tide Take Me Home - my personal favourite. Unfortunately pretty much for the entire gig, the guitar was lost in the mix, although it didn't spoil the evening with the Royal Northern Sinfonia providing a real depth of sound.

Like all the best gigs it was over to soon and we wandered on to the concourse to meet up with Lani and Pete. It was quite a surprise to see Simon Raymonde (ex Cocteau Twin) doing a DJ set, We didn't stay to hear his choice of music, instead heading out in to the cold air to grab a couple of drinks before heading home. Little did I realise we'd be visiting a 'secret' bar hidden underneath Bierrex and be sampling a few choice cocktails finally getting home sometime after 2am! A rather good night out.

Last and First

Bit of an apology here as it's been a while now since I updated this and I still have gigs from 1979 onwards to add!

I'm going to jump forward to what was my last gig of 2015, Steven Wilson at The Royal Albert Hall, London, Sept 29th.

Supporting was Matt Berry and his band, sadly they suffered from the fate of many a supporting band in that no-one knew any of their songs. They played an interesting set without really hitting any 'wow' moments.

Of course what a near sell out crowd was waiting for was the main event and what a gig this was, featuring a setlist that pretty much covered his whole career from early Porcupine Tree to songs from his latest solo release Hand. Cannot. Erase. Lots of guest appearances made for a great night and visually it was stunning.

Moving on to 2016 and it's that man Steven Wilson again, this time at Newcastle City Hall on Jan 30th. Two sets, the first being a full performance of Hand. Cannot. Erase. Followed by a mix of Porcupine Tree material and 3 songs from the latest release 4 1/2. You can view the set list here.

Sitting near the back this time, I'd left it late to get the tickets, but at least we had a good view of the projections, which were amazing and fitted the whole tone of the gig perfectly. Opening with First Regret, this was clearly going to be an intense first set. Dave Kilminsters guitar playing was simply superb and the band were really on top form as they played the full album.

The second set was for me the better part of the evening, a much heavier sound as the Porcupine Tree back catalogue was raided as well as early solo work, Index was particularly haunting. The stand out's were Lazarus, dedicated to David Bowie and the encore which included some audience participation... yes audience participation at a sit down 'prog' gig as we all got to our feet and sang the chorus to The Sound of Muzak! The highlight was the last song of the night as we were treated to what's probably the best version of The Raven Who Refused to Sing that I've seen. A great start to 2016's gig going.

I'll leave you with a video of that song, it's well worth watching and listening to.