Last weekend (30 May - 1 Jun) I had a very enjoyable time at the Celebr8.3 festival in Islington. The festival started with a heady slice of nostalgia with a rare performance from Twelfth Night, featuring the same line-up that played their final “last ever” (!) show in Dec 2012. As with that show, their performance concentrated on Fact and Fiction and Live and Let Live – two very important albums from my youth. It was great to see Andy, Brian and Clive on stage together once again, and Mark Spencer did another fantastic job handling the vocals. Aside from having a great voice and stage presence in his own right, Mark perfectly captures the atmosphere of the band from that era whilst simultaneously bringing a different twist to these classic songs. It was a bit weird seeing the band playing at 2 o’clock in the afternoon (it’s just wrong!!) and, unfortunately, (as with all of Twelfth Night’s performances since they started playing live again) there were more than a few cock-ups. When the band got things right, however, it was a joy to behold. No one else makes music the way TN does and when the set finished I was left with a host of mixed emotions – gratitude that we’d had one final and unexpected chance to witness this particular line-up play this wonderful music, sadness that it was all apparently over (again!) and a big dose of frustration over what might’ve and could’ve been: the idea of a confident, well-rehearsed and finely-honed performance by this band on a hot, sweaty summer evening is a truly mouth-watering prospect. Alas, it looks like one that will never come to pass.
Twelfth Night were followed by the superbly-named Thumpermonkey. I’d not heard anything by them before, and I have to say there was nothing in the band’s short set that really caught by imagination. That said, they had a pretty dreadful sound so it could be that their music has hidden depths that weren’t necessarily revealed on the day. After Thumpermonkey, came Karamkanic from Sweden. Now, I’d not heard this band before either, but I must say I really enjoyed their set – very classy musicians, with keyboard player Lalle Larson, drummer Morgan Agren and young-gun English guitarist Luke Machin particularly standing out. I’m not sure I’d say that they were particularly original, but when music is played by such a quality band, that doesn’t really matter. For me, the only downside to their sound was the singer – there’s no question he has a good voice, but his delivery (quite a lot of crooner-style vibrato) and the lyrics made it seem an odd fit with the music. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he should have been singing in a 80s American AOR band!
It was a surprising twist to learn that the six musicians performing as Karmakanic were the very same musicians who would later perform as Saturday-night headliners The Tangent. I’d heard quite a bit of The Tangent before and come to the conclusion that they weren’t really my cup of tea, so my travel plans were made on the assumption that I would skip their set. This turned out to be a shame, as I’m sure the second performance of the day from these fine musicians would’ve been well worth seeing.
As it was, however, the day ended for me on a real high – seeing Danny, Vincent and Lee from Anathema perform their very special acoustic show. What can I say – they were superb! After all the millions of notes that had been played during the day, to see the three of them perform such sparse, stripped down songs and deliver a killer set based on faultless vocals and a deep emotional intensity was breathtaking. It was all over far too soon, but it felt right to leave after their performance as there is no way anyone would have been able to top them. I can’t wait for Mister Postie to bring me their new album – for sure, one of the most anticipated releases of the year in the Beaney household.
Day 2 of the festival began with Galahad. I’d never seen the band before and, although they were not really my thing, it’s very hard to say anything negative about them – they were competent, tight and performed with a kind of energy and enthusiasm that has to be commended. They were the only band of the weekend that bothered to dress up for their show, and although their dress sense left a LOT to be desired it all added to the impression that they wanted to put on a real show. As ridiculous as they looked, you could tell that they loved every minute of what they did – I doubt they could’ve been happier if they were on stage at Wembley performing before thousands of adoring fans. When they first started, I thought they might have hit upon quite a unique sound with their use of modern electronica (assuming that’s the right description for it!) but, alas, as time went on I’m afraid their music just fell short for me, settling into a “prog-by-numbers” kind of sound that felt like a pale imitation of countless other bands.
After Galahad it was time for another one of my current faves – Sanguine Hum. I’d fortuitously happened upon this band last year when I caught them at the Peel supporting Moon Safari. I thought they were excellent that night and was quick to invest in their two albums. Filling the same spot on the Sunday bill as Thumpermonkey had the day before, it was a shame they were let down by a similarly dreadful sound. Knowing most of the material really well (they also played a couple of new songs), it was frustrating to hear the subtleties of so much of their music lost in a thick wash of sound. That said, they were still fantastic, providing a welcome blast of quirky individuality to proceedings. Epic number The Weight of the World was sublime and it seemed their set was over all too quickly. Everyone has their own opinion, of course, but for me it was criminal that they’d been given such a lowly spot on the bill – particularly in view of what was to come later that day. Still, it was nice to catch up with some of the band outside the venue afterwards and wish them well on the recording of their new album. I really hope that proves the catalyst to bring them to a much wider audience.
Sanguine Hum were followed by Cosmograf who, I’m afraid, were not my cup of tea at all. To my ears, they were another band of uninspiring prog-by-numbers mediocrity, but this time without any of Galahad’s energy or swagger. The only saving grace in their set was the fact that they were joined by Luke Machin on guitar, putting in an incredible 3rd show of the weekend. This young man is definitely a star in the making and his solos added a much-needed quality to an otherwise tedious collection of dreary songs. Things did not improve after the break when The Fierce and the Dead took to the stage to perform an uninspiring set of instrumental noise. To give them credit, they at least delivered their wares with an a spot of passion, but whenever something remotely interesting raised its head from the wall of noise they produced it only proved to be ripped off from King Crimson. How this band managed to blag being second on the bill is quite beyond me, but at least it only served to heighten the expectation for the final band of the weekend – the mighty Frost*.
It had been far too long since I’d seen them live (I believe their only gig since I saw them in Dec 2012 was last year’s Celebr8.2 festival, which I missed) and they were just as superb as everyone in the room knew they would be – highly original prog for the 21st century filled with killer melodies and delivered with style, energy and no shortage of humour. Uber-bass player Nathan King has obviously been working on his backing vocals and this added yet more quality to an already superlative palette of sound. As with all great gigs, their set seemed over in a flash, and the only disappointment was that they didn’t perform The Dividing Line.
So there you have it. All in all, a great weekend of music that saw the end of an era with the last ever show by Twelfth Night, the promise of bright, shiny futures for Sanguine Hum and Luke Machin (I must check out his own band, Maschine) and Frost* and Anathema proving that they are absolutely at the top of their game.
P.S. Keep a watch out for some exciting news coming in the next couple of weeks regarding new soft-back editions of Painted Gold and Five for Silver!
