This is the first time I’ve been to York Grand Opera House. Mostly Autumn traditionally play this venue towards the end of the year, and this time around they bought it forward by a month so Angie Gordon could play one last show before going on maternity leave.
This show also marked the return of Andy Jennings on drums, and saw Anne Marie Helder, who will be standing in for Angie for the December dates, joining the band, making them an eight-piece for one night only. It always takes a few dates for any new lineup to gel properly, so while this was still a very good gig, it couldn’t quite match the intensity of Bury Met back in June.
The set list was much the same as during the spring tour, although they dropped ‘Further from Home’, and bought back the oldies Heart Life, ‘Out of the Inn’ (the song about Hobbits), Angie’s flute showcase ‘Which Wood’, and the 12 minute epic Mother Nature, which I haven’t heard for far too long.
The biggest applause of the night went to Angie Gordon after her superb flute solo on ‘The Last Climb’; it must take some courage to play a gig when eight months pregnant.
Worst thing about the gig for me was that my seat was so far off to the right hand side of the theatre that, I couldn’t see Livvy Sparnenn. I’ll have to take care when booking seats next time round.
As seems to be a tradition after gigs in York, many hardcore fans ended up at the Old White Swan (I’ve been in this pub more times than my local this year!), where we were joined by a couple of members of the band.
