Synchronicity in the news. Tory minister Maria Miller says “British culture must become a commodity“, a statement that speaks volumes for their values. Then the news that the manufactured talent-show boy-band JLS are to split up, but not until after they’ve raked in the money from a farewell tour and album.
Fish has been giving updates on the progress of his new album “Feast of Consequences” over the past months. Today we get a glimpse of what the deluxe edition of the album will look like, with a 100 page hardback book filled with Mark Wilkinson’s artwork.
This is the precisely the sort of thing artists need to do to sell physical product in a day of low-margin download sales. There is likely to be a pre-order campaign, much as he did with his previous studio album, 2007′s “13th Star”.
Six years is a long gap between albums, but I’m confident it will be worth the wait. The album is due out in the Summer, with a lot of the new material to be played on his UK tour in May, with 13 dates covering about as much of the UK as it’s possible to do in two week tour.
Marillion are a band who have always had an especially strong long-term relationship with their fans, and the way they’ve made full use of this goes a long way towards explaining how they’ve prospered over such a long career. Weekend-long fan conventions have been a regular feature of the Marillion calendar since the first one at an out-of-season Pontins back in 2002. Such has been the demand that this year they held three separate events, the first in Port Zelande in Holland, the second in Montreal, and the third at The Civic in Wolverhampton.
While each one featured different support acts and other activities, the concerts at each convention took the same format. On each of the three days, the band would play one album in its entirety, with the other half of the show made up from complimentary material. Friday’s album was 1998′s Radiation. It would be fair to say it’s a much-discussed album which has divided fan opinion over the years. It dates from a time when each Marillion album was a reaction against the one before as the band tried to reinvent themselves in a very different musical climate from when they started out. It was a time when “prog” was at it’s lowest ebb, and some of Radiation adopted a more contemporary alternative rock sound with as much in common with the music bands such as Radiohead and Suede were making at the time than it did with the Marillion of old. Certainly the raw, lo-fi production was a bit of a shock to the system.
In completely contract, Saturday’s album would be Brave, the 1994 concept album inspired by a news story of a girl found wandering on the Severn Bridge. Recorded as a return to their progressive roots after the relative failure of its more commercially-orientated predecessor, the album was one of the most musically ambitious things they’ve ever done. Dark, intense, and utterly lacking in radio-friendly singles, it’s always been a firm fan favourite. Finally on the Sunday, they would play their current album, “Sounds That Can’t Be Made”, released at the tail end of last year, and never before played live in its entirety. On their November tour they only played selected highlights of the album at a time when a lot of fans hadn’t had the opportunity to hear the record.
There was a different support act on each of the three nights. Friday’s was virtuoso guitarist Aziz Ibrahim, accompanied by tabla player Dalbir Singh Rattan, who served as a complete rhythm section on his own; some of the tabla fills came over more as bass riffs than percussion. They began with a fifteen minute instrumental (very prog) with some amazing fluid guitar work and good use of effects, the two of them making as rich a sound as a whole band. The rest of the set was a little more song-based, and there were moments when it felt as if the singer-songwriter part of his act needed more work, as if things were marking time until he took off on another solo. But by the end of the set it was Aziz’ phenomenal guitar work that remained etched the mind.
There was a huge buzz of anticipation by the time Marillion themselves hit the stage. From the opening hard rocker “Under the Sun” to the beautifully melodic ballad “Three Minute Boy”, whatever Radiation’s merits on record, the material came over strongly live, and might even have prompted a few doubters to reassess the album. The closing two numbers were especially powerful, with intense takes on “Cathedral Wall”, and “A Few Words From The Dead”, retrospectively made relevant by the terrible events in America two days later.
They filled the second half with crowd-pleasers, drawing surprising heavily from pre-1988 material. “Slainte Mhath” has featured in setlists a few times in recent years, and Steve Hogarth’s raising a glass to Fish was a nice touch. But I doubt many expected the band to reach further back, with the hits “Lavender” and “Heart of Lothian”, and jaws dropped even further with “Script for a Jesters” Tear, the title track of their debut album as the first encore. They signed off with “Happiness is the Road”, the crowd singing the refrain over and over long after the band had left the stage. The whole thing was recorded as a DVD, and in a successful attempt to break the record for the time to produce a DVD had the finished product “Clocks Already Ticking” on sale the next evening.
On Saturday afternoon tribute band Stillmarillion played a charity gig at Bilston Robin 2. I don’t normally do tribute bands, but since I was staying two minutes from the venue, it would have been rude not to. Stillmarillion are a tribute to the 1982-87 era of Marillion, so this one was a trip down memory lane. The obvious highlight was when Marillion’s own Steve Rothery joined them for two numbers, “Chelsea Monday” and “Incubus”, but even without him they pull off the music very effectively. When the final notes of “Market Square Heroes” died away I looked at my watch and was amazed to realise they’d been on stage for two and a half hours, with a set including all of “Script for a Jesters Tear”, most of “Misplaced Childhood”, the highlights of “Fugazi”, selections from “Clutching at Straws” and quite a few non-album b-sides. No “Grendel”, but that did get played on the jukebox in The Old White Rose after the gig, which was fill of people dressed as jesters.
Then it was back to Wolverhampton for the second night of the convention proper. This time were two supports. First up was an acoustic solo spot from Marillion’s bassist Pete Trewevas, accompanied on some songs by Eric Blackwood of Edison’s Children playing some electric lead lines. Appearance-wise, if not musically, they gave me flashbacks to The Two Ronnie’s Big Jim Jehosaphat and Fat Belly Jones. Next up were Relish, a trio playing an energetic mix of rock, funk and soul. After a rather weak opening number, they got progressively better as the set went on, with some strong grooves and some impressive lead guitar.
Then came what many fans were eagerly waiting for, Marillion’s performance of “Brave” in full. They did not disappoint, and proceeded to play one of the most incredible live performances I’ve ever seen them do in 30 years of attending their gigs. Through the emotional maelstroms of “Living with the Big Lie” and “Mad”, the atmospherics of “The Hollow Man” and the title track, and the climax of “The Great Escape” the whole thing built in intensity, and the five minute standing ovation at the end of “The Great Escape”, really said it all. Many of the songs have featured individually in live sets over the years, but played as a whole it turns into something much greater than the sum of the parts. By the time the applause died down and the band played the coda to the album, “Made Again”, minds has been blown.
Following that wasn’t going to be easy, and for the second set they again they dipped back into the earlier days of the extensive back catalogue. We had fantastic versions of “Out Of This World” and “Seasons End”, encoring with “Warm Wet Circles/This Time of the Night” from “Clutching at Straws”, with that incredible solo from Steve Rothery.
Sunday’s support was Touchstone, a band best described as being at the rock end of prog-rock. Despite a poor sound mix that rather took the edge off things, they played a spirited set which still managed to make a strong impression on the crowd. Kicking off with the epic “Wintercoast” their short but sweet set took in all of their three albums, and it was nice to hear the Discordant Dreams/Beggars Song medley back in the set, something they’ve not played for a while. Kim Seviour, as ever, makes an engaging frontwoman and visual focus, and the three-part vocal harmonies with Rob Cottingham and Moo Bass were particularly effective when the sound mix did them justice.
Marillion took a slightly different approach for the third night, playing just a single set without an interval. “Sounds That Can’t Me Made” is more a collection of songs than a concept album like “Brave”. So beginning with the 17-minute “Gaza”, one of their most overtly political songs, they interspersed the new material with older songs. Even if it couldn’t quite top Saturday’s incredible performance it was still another great show. The crowd was more enthusiastic than ever, at one point singing the prominent guitar line at the end of the title track as a refrain, much in the same way as we’d sung “Happiness is the Road” on Friday. The band even went into a holding pattern on “This Strange Engine” waiting for the extended applause for Steve Rothery’s final solo to die down before carrying on with the song.
The main set ended with what may have been the best version of the epic “Neverland” I’ve ever heard them play. And for the final encore they took us back down memory lane with “Garden Party”, in which Steve Hogarth paid no heed to Heath and Safety and climbed via the PA stack to the balcony.
And so ended another Marillion convention. If you only know “Kayleigh” and their other 80s hits, and still ask if Fish is still with them (I got asked that more than once over the course of the weekend!), then you don’t know Marillion at all.
The Marillion of the 21st century is one of British music’s best-kept secrets. They’ve weathered a great many changes in musical trends. They’ve lived through a music business that’s changed out of all recognition and pioneered the art of staying afloat without the aid of a record company. How many other bands can rehearse and play more than seven hours worth of music over the course of a weekend? What band can omit their biggest hit, yet nobody cares? Who else can continue to make relevant and challenging music more than thirty years into their career? And who else combines that level of emotional intensity with such an incredible level of musicianship?
But above all, what makes an event like this is the fans. At it’s best, live music can be as much about the audience as it is about the people on stage, when the band feed off the energy they get from the crowd. So it was here; it went from being able to hear a pin drop in the quiet moments to mid-song standing ovations, and occasions where the crowd became a 2000-strong choir. Marillion plan return to the UK towards the end of the year. But as good as the tours can be, nothing can quite match the atmosphere of these fan weekends.
The new Black Sabbath track “God is Dead?”, from the forthcoming album “13″, the first Black Sabbath studio album with Ozzy Osborne since 1978′s “Never Say Die”. First couple of listens and I think it sounds a lot better than anything from the aformentioned album, but give it a listen for yourself.
Sign of the times that we now refer to promos uploaded to YouTube as “singles”, but I guess they serve exactly the same purpose as releasing “radio singles” used to for album-orientated bands like Black Sabbath.
HRH Prog 2 will take place at Havan y Mor, Pwhelli, North Wales, on March 20-23 next year. And Chic Festivals boss Jonni Davis promises the change of site offers a better experience for prog fans.
It’s always a good thing for any organisation to learn from it’s mistakes, and in this case Version 2 seems to have fixed many of the bugs in the first festival. The organisers promise it won’t be freezing cold (One lead guitarist reported on Facebook that he couldn’t feel his fingers on stage!), and there will be more variety of food, not just pies. There is also just one main stage, meaning the festival won’t be bedevilled with the number of clashes that this year’s event suffered (Mostly Autumn vs. Also Eden, and Karnataka vs. Hawkwind were just two).
Just as significantly they’ve announced it almost a full year in advance, in relatively remote location. This means that it will be an epic journey to get there, although Snowdonia is rather more scenic than Rotherham. But it also means it’s not going to tread on the toes of other competing events, and should hopefully avoid the unfortunate situation with the collapse Y-Prog festival.
Ebony tower have existed in some shape or form for well over a decade. The band made a strong impression at the 2011 Cambridge Rock Festival with an interestingly varied sound, including electric violin, and frontwoman Zanda King’s strong stage presence. With earlier recordings featuring a previous singer, “The Magic Box Pt 1″ is the band’s first release with Zanda King on vocals.
Despite their occasional use of the term “prog” in promotion, they don’t really go in for grandiose epics. The EP is made up of short punchy songs with little in the way of extended soloing; all four numbers clock in at around the four-and-a-half minute mark, but they still manage to pack plenty of music in a short space. There are a lot of musical influences on display; some classic rock with a strong psychedelic flavour mixed in with a bit of garage-style rock’n'roll. Recorded in Real World studios, the record has a raw, live-sounding in-your-face feel, especially on the rockier numbers.
The four songs are individually quite different, starting with the opening rocker “The Passing” based around a serpentine guitar riff, and continuing with the shimmering but sinister “The Labyrinth”. “LSD” has a raw, almost punky feel, and the closing “The Vision” has a summery West Coast vibe with some delightfully atmospheric organ. Despite the variety, when added together they still make for a coherent sounding whole.
Throughout the record, Zanda King demonstrates both a strong voice and a very feisty rock and roll attitude. Instrumentally Wilson McQueen’s guitar is the dominant sound; his playing emphasises inventive riffs rather than flashy soloing. The record might have benefited from greater use of Skye Sheridan’s electric violin. It’s particularly effective weaving around the guitar line in “The Passing” but elsewhere it’s used more for colour and isn’t always that prominent in the mix.
Ebony Tower plan to release a full-length album later in the year, and on the basis of this EP, it should be well worth waiting for. The EP has a physical release on May 6th, but you can hear it now at http://www.reverbnation.com/ebonytower.
It was a last minute decision to go to this gig, at the end of what had been a rather rough week. A strong bill with three acts I was keen to see made it worth travelling to another country involving rail replacement buses and a stay in a cheap B&B. Sometimes it’s gigs like this where I’m reminded of the line in Mötorhead’s “We Are The Road Crew” ‘Another hotel I can’t find‘. But in this case I did manage to find the hotel, but got hopelessly lost in the decidedly non-Euclidian geography between the hotel and the venue. I was in a maze of small twisty streets, all alike. Fortunately I did eventually manage to find The Globe in time for the start.
Opener was the solo acoustic guitar virtuoso Matt Stevens. Matt plays acoustic guitar through a series of looping pedals and effects enabling him to turn a single guitar into a multilayered tapestry of sound. At times he uses his pedal board as an instrument as much as the guitar itself, and at one point was on his knees pressing buttons and making Hawkwind-like electronic effects. For the second half of his set, he was joined by virtuoso bassist and former Panic Room member Alun Vaughan, who played some imaginative bass parts to Matt’s solo compositions and added an interesting extra layer to the music.
They now sound like a completely different band. Having two guitars fills out the sound significantly, with Jay and new addition Paul having contrasting and complementary styles. While their music still lies somewhere on the hard rock/AOR spectrum, they’ve now got a bigger, tougher and heavier sound than they had either as a four-piece or on record.
Their lengthy set including the majority of both the album and their earlier EP “Enigma”. Gareth Jones again impressed as a frontman, switching between the front of the stage and the occasional number sung from behind the keys. High spots included a very emotive “Lullaby for a Lost Boy”, which Gareth introduced as inspired by his day job in housing; ‘A song about homelessness’. Sankara have come on a lot in a very short time, and it will be interesting to see where they go from here.
Also Eden are another band in the throes of lineup changes. They’ve got a new bassist since I saw them last, and their current run of gigs marks the farewell appearances of founder member, keyboardist Ian Hodson. And although he’s established himself as the voice of the band over the last couple of years, Rich Harding wasn’t their original singer.
Their set drew heavily from their third album “Think of the Children”. For the older “Skipping Stones” they were joined on stage by their original singer Huw Lloyd Jones. They also played a substantial amount of brand-new material from the forthcoming “[Redacted]“. On first listen the new songs came over strongly, darker and heavier than their older songs, with “Chronologic” a particular standout.
From this performance Also Eden came over as a band who have significantly raised their game, and provided they manage to negotiate the speedbump of finding a replacement keyboard player they look about to move up to the next level. Certainly “[Redacted]” is now one of the most eagerly anticipated albums of the year.
In these cash-strapped times shows like this are exactly the sort of thing more bands ought to be doing, putting together a bill of two or three contrasting but complementary acts that give audiences their money’s worth regardless of who is the nominal headliner. It works for audiences, and I think it works for the bands as well.
So it’s confirmed that there will be no High Voltage Festival this year. When April rolled around with no announcement about the bill, did anyone seriously think there was still going to be a festival?
It appears as though the prog-metal power trio Kyrbgrinder have split. A statement on The Kyrbgrinder Facebook page on Friday 29th March said that the band were calling it a day, and gathered a large number of tributes from fans. A couple of days later the announcement disappeared without explanation, and since then there’s been no unambiguous statement from either band or management on precisely what the true situation is. The official website at Kyrbgrinder.net is unreachable, and neither their MySpace or Twitter accounts have been updated for a very long time.
I never got to see Kyrbgrinder at one of their own gigs, but I was fortunate enough to see them no fewer than four times at the Cambridge Rock Festival, inccluding two headline spots on second stage. Kyrbgrinder were one of those bands for whom the recorded and live experiences were two quite different things. On record, examplified by their excellent album “Cold War Technology”, they packed a powerful metal punch, but they could also be quite melodic, even soulful. Live, they were visceral and in-your-face, with the intensity of something like Rage Against The Machine. Johanne James, fronting the band from behind the kit has a magnetic stage presense, singing lead and playing full-on metal drums at the same time. They were always a bit bonkers, and always entertaining, and I’ll never forget the way Johanne invited several young children on stage to sing backing vocals on one song.
If, as seems likely, they really have split, they will be much missed.
I’ve uploaded some photos of Chantel McGregor at The Bullingdon Club in Oxford a couple of weeks ago. As is always the case with Chantel, it was an great gig, her two-hour set mixing original songs from her album “Like No Other” with incendiary takes on blues standards, and covers ranging from Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” to the “Würm” section of Yes’ “Starship Trooper”.
If you haven’t seen Chantel live, you really should get yourself to one of her gigs. She’s a phenominal guitarist as well as a great singer-songwriter, with music that goes from blues to pop to hard rock. Not many people can cover Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile” and have the audience forget that it’s a cover. And her own songs are impressive too, by no means overshadowed by the standards in the set.
Ebony tower have existed in some shape or form for well over a decade. The band made a strong impression at the 2011 Cambridge Rock Festival with an interestingly varied sound, including electric violin, and frontwoman Zanda King’s strong stage presence. With earlier recordings featuring a previous singer, “The Magic Box Pt 1″ is the band’s first release with Zanda King on vocals.
