So Cardiff’s The Reasoning join Breathing Space, Stolen Earth and Crimson Sky in the roll-call of bands that I’ve travelled considerable distances to see who are now no more. I have often likened being a fan of bands at this level to being an away supporter of a lower-division football club; there’s a camaraderie with fellow-fans, and you end up staying in unfashionable places like Crewe, Swansea or Mansfield.

The Reasoning were one of three bands that emerged following the implosion of the original incarnation of Karnataka, a band I had loved on record but never had the chance to see live, and featured their original lead singer Rachel Jones (as she was then). I travelled down from Cheshire to South Wales by train the day after a hurricane to see their very first gig at The Uplands Tavern in Swansea back in January 2007.

They were still finding their feet at the time, but they still made a strong impression with a melodic twin guitar hard rock sound and three lead vocalists, enabling them to do interesting things with harmonies. I later saw them play a couple of stunning gigs at The Limelight Club in Crewe,and at The Point in Cardiff, when they gave the impression that they were hungry and going places. Not only were they tight but there was also a passionate intensity to their music. At one point, when they managed to get support spots for artists like Fish in sizeable venues, they looked as though they had a chance of breaking through to the next level.

They went through a lot of changes over the following years, which might have cost them some of that early momentum. They had started out as a six-piece band with Rachel sharing lead vocals with guitarist Dylan Thompson and keyboard player Gareth Jones. There was a short-lived seven-piece lineup featuring former Fish keyboard player Tony Turrell and additional backing singer Maria Owen-Midlane. Then they took the form of a slimmed-down five-piece band with Rachel as the main vocalist and Tony Turrell handling the male vocals on the older material live.

Although all the different incarnations had their strengths and their supporters, for me nothing quite equalled the magic of the early days when Dylan, Gareth and original drummer Vinden Wylde were in the band, and the first two albums “Awakening” and “Dark Angel” remain favourites.

I find it impossible as an outsider to imagine just how hard the still-unsolved disappearance of guitarist Owain Roberts in 2012 hit the band. For a while there was considerable doubt as to whether they would continue. They eventually regrouped with new guitarist Keith Hawkins to record what would be their final album, “Adventures in Neverland”. Although they’d announced they were working on a follow-up, provisionally titled “Horrorscopic”, the only live activity in the past two years bar a couple of warm-up gigs were their appearance at the HRH Prog in 2013, and what turned out to be their final live appearance at last year’s Trinity charity event in Leamington Spa. The cancellation of a proposed tour last Autumn and the indefinite postponement of the album meant today’s announcement that the band were finally calling it a day shouldn’t really be a surprise.

While it can be disappointing as a fan to see a band you’ve followed call it a day, sometimes you do have to recognise when something has run its course. Nothing can take away their legacy or their recordings. Sometimes the spirit of a much-loved band lives on in new bands formed by former members. And sometimes the creative forces behind a band take off in exciting new directions.

Announced today on The Reasoning’s Facebook page:

A very good afternoon to you one and all, I hope you are well? I promise to keep what we are about to say very short, sweet and to the point. It is with a very heavy heart that we impart the following bit of news – The Reasoning have decided to call it day. We part in the knowledge that we have achieved many wonderful and great things as a band and as individuals but, the time has come to be honest and realise that as a musical group, we have explored as much as we can. Though we have enjoyed our journey with you immensely, we have also had occasions where it seemed so tough to carry on and as we approach the 3rd anniversary of the disappearance of our dear friend Owain, this seems like the right time to gently put the band to bed.

We want to thank all the bands, press and fans for the amazing loyalty, support and love. We have done many incredible things, been to many amazing places and played to so many amazing people. Our music lives on with you and in our hearts. This is not the last you will hear of us as musicians but I’m afraid, it is the last you will hear from us as a band. We are all parting on good terms and with firm friendships established. This is a decision we all feel is the best thing for the band and its musical legacy.

Thank you all once again, you will never know how much we truly love you all. Be well, take care and we’ll all see you on the road sometime soon. “The View From Where I Stand Begins To Change, Something Is Happening To Me…….”

The Reasoning xxxxx

It’s always sad news when a band splits. The Reasoning made a significant impact on the prog scene since they emerged at the beginning of 2007, and their first two albums in particular remain classics of the modern prog genre.

Matt Cohen and drummer Jake Bradford-Sharp are now working on a new project Ghost Community with Riversea’s Marc Atkinson, Also Eden’s Simon Rogers and former Crimson Sky keyboard player Moray McDonald. As for the rest of the band, I hope we haven’t heard the last of Rachel’s vocals.

The band will be spending more time working on their next album, which currently has the working title of Horrorscopic. They say, “We’ve decided to take some time away from the music, in order to allow it to grow and develop more naturally. This will also enable us to think carefully about how best to produce, record and promote it.

“There’s no finite limit to said breather: whether it takes us six months or two years to create an album that we’re genuinely proud of, then it will have been more than worth the wait. We hope that you will agree and understand. In the interim, of course, you’ll still see many of us out and about at other gigs, pontificating online and (if you’re really lucky) doing the weekly shopping [insert supermarket of your choosing].”

Despite the ostensibly upbeat tone of the announcement, you can’t help wondering about the long-tem future of the band with news like this.

July 2014 news from The Reasoning.

Our album is sounding amazing already, harking back to some of the much-loved musical and vocal elements from our earlier days, but with a great deal of contemporary pizazz. After the whirlwind experiences of the past couple of years, we’re going to take some extra time to really develop and embellish this new piece of work, craft it to its very richest potential and, most importantly, ensure that we give YOU, our dear followers, your most enjoyable Reasoning experience to date. This is going to be a big financial investment for us – outsourcing the recording of drums and, for the first time, vocals, to some “big” studios. We’re also in talks with several mix engineers, both here and on the other side of the Atlantic – more on this soon. Particular time and attention will be paid to the capturing of voices this time around, with Rachel and Seb (our young French floozy) leading the way, ably embellished by Rob and Jake.

The October tour will still be going ahead and will feature some material from the new album as well as their 2007 debut album “Awakening” in full. The tour visits Southampton, London, York, Bolton, Cardiff and Bilston.

Not totally convinced by the SF and fantasy actors as part of the event, and wonder what message that sends and what stereotypes it reinforces.

Trinity Live was originally intended to have been a triple-headlining tour by The Reasoning, Touchstone and Magenta. But the tour had to be cancelled when Magenta’s vocalist Christina Booth was diagnosed with breast cancer last year.

The bands decided to keep one date from the proposed tour, at The Assembly in Leamington Spa, and repurpose it as a charity show in aid of three cancer charities. The Reasoning and Touchstone would still appear, along with Rob Reed of Magenta performing as “Rob Reed and Friends”. The show expanded to a day-long event with a number of prominent additional names from the prog world added to the bill, including the mighty Arena as headliners. Then, only a few days before the show came the announcement that Christina Booth’s cancer treatment was going sufficiently well that she would be well enough to perform a short set, so Rob Reed and Friends became Magenta.

The day started with two acoustic acts. First came an entertaining set from former Pallas frontman Alan Reed accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Mark Spencer, playing stripped-down versions of songs from his most recent solo album along with the odd Pallas oldie. Touchstone’s Kim Seviour joined them for a moving cover of the Twelfth Night classic “Love Song”. Then came acoustic guitar virtuoso Matt Stevens weaving his trademark tapestries of sound with the aid of looping pedals and layers of effects. There is nobody else on the live scene quite like him.

A lengthy pause before Magenta came on built up anticipation for their set. They opened with an intense cover of the instrumental “Cinema” from Yes’ 90125 before Christina joined them to deliver a truly inspired performance. Despite undergoing chemotherapy her voice, energy and stage presence were not diminished in the slightest, with powerful performances of “Gluttony” and “The Lizard King”. But the high point of the set was the cover of the Peter Gabriel/Kate Bush duet “Don’t Give Up” with Alan Reed, which simply bought the house down; there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. The finished up with “Pride” to close a remarkable set; it’s always amazing how tight Magenta can be on stage given how infrequently they perform live.

Heather Findlay

After that it was a short and sweet acoustic set from Heather Findlay and Chris Johnson, running through a selection of Mostly Autumn, Odin Dragonfly and Halo Blind favourites. Heather has been absent from the UK live scene for a long time, so her appearance on the same stage as her emotional farewell from Mostly Autumn four years ago was good to see. The reception for songs like “Silver Glass” and “Evergreen” show that there plenty of people in the prog world who still love her.

Most of the prog fans in the venue knew little or nothing about Lost in Vegas, making them the wild card of the bill. In the event, their foot-on-monitor hard rock seemed out of place on the bill. They were competently and tight, and had all the right stage moves, but came over as rather generic without quite enough in the way of memorable songs.

The Reasoning have also been away for a long while. They’re back with another new lineup, now expanded to a six-piece with Robert Gerrard on keys and Sebastien Flynn-Goze on vocals and acoustic guitar handling the male vocal parts. Opening with “Dark Angel”, the set drew very heavily from their first two albums, with songs like “Awakening”, “Fallen Angels” and “Aching Hunger” well-received by the crowd, with Robert Gerrard’s washes of Hammond giving some songs a Deep Purple feel. While it was still an enthusiastic performance especially from frontwoman Rachel Cohen it didn’t quite reach the levels of their shows two or three years ago when they seemed poised to break through to the next level. Still, it’s early days for a new incarnation of the band, and it will be interesting to see where they go next.

Kim Seviour of Touchstone

Touchstone suffered from a muddy sound at the very beginning, but it didn’t really diminish what soon turned into a very entertaining set. The choice of songs emphasised their most recent album “Oceans of Time”, though they also reached back into their very early days with “Misguided Fool” from the Mad Hatters EP. They were the first band of the day to come back for an encore, at least for those members of the band who got as far as leaving the stage in the first place. The encores included a monstrous “Wintercoast” with its machine gun bass riff, and ended with their rousing rocked-up version of Tears For Fears’ “Mad World” with John Mitchell joining them on guitar.

After the charity auction came headliners Arena, making their sole live appearance of 2014. As a supergroup formed by Pendragon’s keyboard player Clive Nolan and former Marillion drummer Mick Pointer, Arena’s brand of heavy neo-prog is as cheesy as hell. But they do the whole thing so well it just doesn’t matter. At times they come over as a cross between Fish-era Marillion and Queen. Paul Manzi makes a splendidly melodramatic frontman, and there was plenty of John Mitchell’s shredding guitar heroics. They delivered a barnstorming performance that was an ideal way of closing the event.

John Mitchell

The whole day, as well as raising a great deal of money for charity was a gathering of the prog clans, with many, many familiar faces in the crowd. There were great performances all round, and Arena were more than worthy headliners. But good as Arena were, it was still Magenta who ultimately stole the show, and I can’t imagine any other artist begrudging them for it.

Six dates are announced so far, with the possibility of further dates to be announced.

• Talking Heads in Southampton in Friday 24th October
• Venue 2 in London on Saturday 25th October
• The Duchess in York on Thursday 30th October
• The Railway in Bolton on Friday 31st October
• The CFM in Cardiff on Saturday 1st November
• The Robin 2 in Bilston on Sunday 2nd November

Support for all these dates will be Hekz.

The Reasoning will also be playing a support for Lifesigns on Sunday May 11th at The Robin in Bilston, as well as their previously announced slot at Trinity Live at Leamington Spa a week later on 18th May.

The band will be augmented on stage by vocalist Sebastien Flynn-Goze, which answers the question “How will they do the older material justice” since the departure of Tony Turrell who had handled the male vocals originally recorded by Dylan Thompson and Gareth Jones on stage.

Though their email newsletters speak excitedly of activity behind the scenes, The Reasoning have kept a low profile of late compared to some of their peers, with just a single gig in the whole of 2013. This tour, and the forthcoming as-yet-untitled fifth album ought to go some way towards regaining forward momentum.

To mark the second anniversary, the band are to release a new version of the song “Pale Criminal” as a single, with all proceeeds going to the charity Missing People

As they say in Prog Magazine.

The Reasoning say: “Pale Criminal originally appeared on our EP And Another Thing. It’s the last time Owain wrote, recorded and played with the band. The song has taken on a huge personal meaning for all of us who share the great memories of having worked so closely together with him.

“It’s been rearranged and recorded with just piano and vocals – it’s beautiful, haunting and very poignant. We hope that when you hear it you’ll be reminded of the wonderful soul and spirit Owain possesses. We also hope it will help to remind Owain that he is still greatly missed, and raise awareness for missing persons in general.”

The single will be available from The Reasoning’s Bandcamp Page.

A reminder of the Trinity Live cancer charity show at The Assembly in Leamington Spa on May 18th.

The show was originally part of a triple-headline tour featuring The Reasoning, Touchstone and Magenta, postponed because of Magenta’s Christina Booth’s treatment for breast cancer.

Touchstone and The Reasoning decided to go ahead with a charity show on the original date, and have since added acoustic sets from Alan Reed, Heather Findlay and Matt Stevens to the bill.

Announced on The Reasoning’s Facebook page this morning: Tony Turrell is leaving The Reasoning.

“I’m sorry to announce that as of this summer, I am no longer a part of The Reasoning. This is totally my own choice, and down to where I am at the moment in terms of time, health and head space. The band have been incredibly supportive and whilst not wanting me to go, whole-heartedly respected my decision. My reasons are not the ones normally associated with someone leaving a band – fighting, dislike or the good old-fashioned “musical differences” (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) – and every member of the band has become a dear and close friend over the course of the last 3 years (or year in Keith’s case).

It was a bit of a coup for The Reasoning when Tony joined, given his standing and the much higher profile artists he’s played with, such as Fish.

He made a very strong impression live, especially when the band slimmed down to a five-piece leaving his keys to fill out a lot more of the sound. He even too over the male lead vocal role. I did get the feeling the band never quite made as much use of his skills as a composer and arranger as they could have done, and it will be interesting to see what projects he’s involved with next.