Reading band A Genuine Freakshow have called it a day.

We have decided after many years to bring an end to A Genuine Freakshow.

Our reasons are three fold: financial (we haven’t got any money), geographical (we now live further away from each other than we did before) and musical (less of this than the previous two).

First of all we would like to thank everyone who has ever come to one of our gigs, bought a record or a tee shirt (or an Ultimate Fighting Combo!). You have quite literally kept this band going for longer than we thought was possible, so thank you.

A Genuine Freakshow were an impossible band to categorise, with elements of post-rock, indie-pop and progressive rock in their music. The seven-piece made a huge sound, featuring cello and violin and trumpet alongside guitars and drums. I first saw them playing in a medieval church in Reading playing a set that climaxed with the shimmering wall-of-sound of “Luckmore Drive”, enhanced by the wonderful acoustics of the building.

It’s always sad when a band calls it a day, but I hope the various band members will resurface in new projects.

“Low”, from A Genuine Freakshow‘s forthcoming EP “Where The River Bends”.

We have decided to release an EP called ‘Where The River Bends’. We will be announcing the release date for this very soon, but it will be before the end of the year. It will be a digital EP with 4 new tracks:

Low
Claw and Grasp
Where The River Bends
Albert Trophy

I’ve seen this band live a couple of times; they are the sort of band it’s more or less impossible to pidgeonhole them to any one genre. They’ve got a huge, shimmering sound with elements of pop, post-rock, indie and prog, with classically-trained string players as the lead instruments. Not only have played the Reading Festival, they were also one of the special guests at the 2009 Marillion convention in Holland.