The second half of November goes gig-mad, with five gigs in fifteen days.
Tomorrow night it’s Marillion at Manchester Academy 1. I’ve had their new double album “Happiness is the Road” on almost continuous play for the past three weeks; it blows away the slightly disappointing “Somewhere Else”, and may even ending up topping “Marbles”. So I can’t wait to hear a big chunk of it live. I can’t think of the last time I’ve looked forward to a gig this much.
Then two days later I travel down to London to see Fish, supported by none other than The Reasoning. He’s announced he’s taking an extended break from touring after this UK leg, so this is the last chance to see him for a while. Last year’s Manchester gig was an absolute barnstormer, and I have high hopes for this one. And as you should know from reading this blog, The Reasoning rock.
And two days after that it’s back to Manchester again for the mighty Uriah Heep, well into their fourth decade on the road. It’s a long time since I’ve seen the Heep. They’ve come up with their first album for almost a decade, and it’s a good one.
Five days later it’s Manchester Academy again for a night of cookie-monster death metal from Sweden’s Opeth.  The latest album “Watershed”, mixing swirling metal guitars with mellotrons is a candidate for album of the year. I last saw them in 2006, and they can indeed reproduce all that complexity live.
And another five days after than, what better way to end a sequence of gigs that Mostly Autumn at the Grand Opera House in York?
That is total madness. I wish we had that many bands that I like playing around here (well, not in November, I’ve got homework).
It’s actually fewer gigs that I went to in October
Only three of the five are actually ‘local’ – two involve travelling to other cities.
I am eagerly awaiting the return of my own prog god of sorts, Keiji Haino. He played New York’s Tonic club back in October 2003, and while I missed his last NYC return I’m angling for the next one.