I often mention that live music is my main diversion from the intellectual and the mundane. Music, and/or walking in the wilds that is. After our regular annual walking holiday the last week in February – some great walks around Porte Soller in the Serra Tramuntana mountains of North-West Mallorca – these last two weekends have involved gigs.
The well-ordered writing project(s) haven’t quite recovered since being distracted from getting them back on track in the new year. Technical content-wise – the ongoing dialogue with Dave Snowden really needs some attention, his recent extensive blogs as well as our exchanges (Dave responded to my last post) – and the “more than science” conversation with ISSS members needs an update since I had a one-to-one with president Gary Smith. We’re in a good place. Onwards and upward.
The first of the two gigs was last weekend in Hull. Avalanche Party headlining their promotional tour on the release of their latest album recorded with the resources of the Joshua Tree studios and record company backing on the back of previous Austin TX “SXSW” success. (See more in the footnotes to my previous reference.) The Polar Bear Club is a famed UK venue with a great history in grass-roots music. The relatively low turnout – 40/50 people tops including the two support bands and their hangers-on? – might have something to do with the foggy Sunday night(*) and the surrounding road-construction access and parking difficulties – but the atmosphere could have been better.
Avalanche Party themselves were excellent again, with sympathetic support from the mixing desk and lighting, also now knowing most of their numbers, thanks to regularly playing the new CD recently. Full-on intensity, bass-driven riffs, with dynamic range and rhythm changes, as I’ve said before, puts one in mind of QOTSA with extra keyboards and sax (before I’d heard bassist Joe – originally met in our local bar – was a QOTSA fan too, and of course that Joshua Tree connection).
Support bands were a mixed bag. Second band were Bleach, competent but a little too conventional for me, very much led by their guitarist. But, first up were Wormfood, a bit “art-school”, chaotic but fun and bouncy, not taking themselves too seriously – self-identifying as “pretentious twats”. Really enjoyed them, and could easily get into them.
Hope the rest of Avalanche Party’s tour goes well, London and Belgium / Holland / Germany included, followed by France, Spain, Poland, Czechia and more. With recent serious signs of success and support behind them, it feels like now or never for fame and fortune. “Last roll of the dice” someone said. Good luck guys.
After the Polar Bear in Hull last weekend, this weekend was The Georgian Theatre in Stockton – again really about grass-roots support for original performers, and the evergreen question of what does it take – or even mean – to make it as a musical success these days? Creativity needs to be experienced and appreciated.
Headline were Wave Pictures, a band I didn’t previously know, and with some obvious “fame” behind them, commanding the £20+ ticket price, but I’d actually come along specifically to see the support, The Middle Management.
Although my own musical taste is rooted in blues-guitar-based and singer-songwriter “Americana”, Wave Pictures, like Bleach last weekend, were just a tad too conventional – led by the lead guitar – to be interesting for me, though obviously some quirky wit in the songs themselves which you can only ever get a hint of in one live listening.
The three fellas in Middle Management were previously in a band called The Young Hegelians (did I mention pretentious, but witty) and Simone the new member on keyboards and vocals is also someone we see regularly with her partner in our local bar (seeing the connection?) It was my first opportunity to see them, from previous enquiries they were busy rehearsing and recording. They were very much worth the entry fee. All I knew before were comparisons to Talking Heads and hearing their new single Influencer Influenza. Last time I saw Talking Heads live would have been Hammersmith Odeon (now Apollo) late 70’s, probably their first UK tour, so what’s not to like?
Actually, Middle Management were refreshing, much more original and a long way from any kind of tribute act – the covers bands that seem to fill every local music slot these days. It’s the rhythmic variety and dynamic range that gets you viscerally, but the fun of originality and intelligent wit that shines through. Loved them. When can I see and hear – embody the experience – more?
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FootNotes:
(*) Foggy Sunday Night? Being in Hull searching for the M62 home in the small hours of Monday 10th March 2025 – did I mention the road construction / closures? – I can vouch for the local fog on that night / morning. That weird coincidence meant I’ve been taking more than passing interest in the Russian connection in the Solong ramming of the Stena Immaculate that morning.
Perhaps not obvious, but with my intellectual topic being systems thinking – aka Cybernetics (or Psybernetics) being literally “governance” – the less-than / more-than science – of politics of government, local, national and international are integral to my interests. The fact that everything IS connected, doesn’t mean there’s a conspiracy or that you’re paranoid 😉
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Post Note (3 to 6 May 2025)
Can’t really afford many new musical review posts with the ongoing writing project, but wanted to capture one experience from the bank holiday weekend, especially as I made a disparaging comment above about tribute acts and covers bands.
Historically, I was into The Hamsters for a while (2000 to 2005?), despite having overlooked their previous two decades. Famously covering almost the entire Jimi Hendrix and ZZ-Top catalogues as well as their original material. True to the music without being a tribute act in terms of physical presentation.
Told Ya Once are a local covers band, where bassist Steve Henwood is also in two other covers bands, one an Iron Maiden tribute act called Tyne Maiden the other a more general “showband” as we used to call them. And, as I’ve opined before on my travels, almost entirely manned by “gentlemen of a certain age” playing many of the same popular classics.
Told Ya Once I was seeing for the second time -they don’t seem to play that often – and the first time I was very impressed with the range of (heavy) numbers they covered, and covered so well. A younger lead vocalist who could do all the screaming / shouty heavy metal vocals when needed – the kind I don’t normally care for – but also great presence and delivery of the songs themselves. The guitarist clearly took his work seriously too – two output channels on each guitar separately feeding the pedals / loops / amps and the PA(?) so far as I could tell. Tuning via screw-down nut and bridge fine-tuning. Either way, guitarist, vocalist and bassist also took the sound mix for the audience seriously, roving the floor during sound-checking to get the settings right. Much appreciated.
What I didn’t spot until this second time from the ongoing banter, tuning and adjusting levels, was that the guitarist and vocalist are a father-son combo, which explained the range of older and newer bands being covered – songs they liked together whether they were popular hits or not. Reminded me of my own relationship with our son(s). I’ve always been a live Americana / Rock music fan though never to any performance level myself, they both are or have been. I’ve mentioned before, not only introducing them to acts I liked in my own collection but that second life being introduced to and becoming a fan of acts they were into and not just next generation stuff, but older stuff that had passed me by too. Anyway long story short here’s the two set-lists. And a mention for the drummer – great job on QOTSA’s “No-One knows”:
1 Led Zeppelin – Rock & Roll 2
1 AC/DC – You Shook Me All Night Long 2
(Loosening up those “classic” rock vocals.)
2 redup trouble I de o know the reason
Murder what’s the word.
Iron Maidenesqe stuff
1 Kinks – You Really Got Me 2
Engaging the audience
1 The Who – Substitute 2
X Iron Maidenesqe stuff
2 Myrder – what’s the word
1 Muse – Starlight 2
1 Foo Fighters – Times Like These 2
1 QOTSA – No-One Knows (drummer) 2
2 White Wedding – Billy Idol.
2 Darkness – growing on me
2 Break
2 X – The Cult – She Sells Sanctuary
1 Darkness – I Believe in a Thing Called Love 2 later
Start 2 Erasure discover I’m so in love with you
1 The Osmonds – Crazy Horses 2
(The birth of heavy metal)
1 Michael Sembello – Maniac 2
1(Guitar snap hammer.)
Guest singer? Teenage Dream
1 Billy Idol – Rebel Yell 2
1 Erasure – A Little Respect 2 earlier
1 Snow Patrol – Chasing Cars X
1 Iron Maiden – Play With Madness 2
2 Green day ? Time of your life
Darkness 2 (thing called love)
2?
What you might say?
What if I say
Who are you
Jack is singer
1 Stereophonics – Dakota 2
P
1 SPweet – Ballroom Blitz 2
P
2 next acdc below?
End
2 Encore heavy same as soud check?
Go there’s?
1 Metallica – Sandman X
extext
1 AC/DC – Whole lotta Rosie X? AC
Much too much?
2 The cult? Come on little sister?
2 End
Disco – everything will be all right.