Magic Bus @ The King Arthur 20.2.2016

The day may have been washed out, but this evening the Magic Bus pulled into Glastonbury, stopping at that most unique of establishments, the King Arthur. Now, I have to confess I'd not heard of Magic Bus prior to them appearing on the King Arthurs' events page, but they sounded cool and after a quick search on Youtube I decided to take a punt. And, I'm glad we did. 

On arrival at he King Arthur we sat in the bar for a while, imbibing beers, fine whiskies and talking bollocks, whilst watching in wonder at the folk about us and their antics, so different from down our ways, so uninhibited and natural.  I swear there's a portal somewhere in Glastonbury which allows people of a certain mind to slide between the ages, and by some strange gravitational pull they appear all to be drawn through the King Arthur. Well, it's always been like that when I've visited. At the allotted hour we made our way from the bar to the performance area at the rear and gave our money to the smiley door lady (who was later up and dancing herself). Do you know, it was only 3 quid. Mental, aye! As we entered the room the band began to play, and a smile spread across my face, I never thought I'd hear music like this being played live. What do I mean? 

Well, Magic Bus are a 6 piece psychedelic, proggy, folky, jazz type combo. The band are Jay Darlington whose superb organ (amongst other key based instruments) drives many of the pieces.  Above this soars the magical fluting of Viv Goodwin-Darkes' which dances with the organ like a mischievous sprite (Viv also plays a whole load of other instruments). Paul Evans on guitar, conveys finely crafted songs with great vocals. Terence Waldstadt delivers some masterful lead guitar. Rhythm is supplied by Benny Brooks on bass and Connors' (last name unknown) frenetic drumming. Each band member putting in a highly polished performance on their individual instruments, which when combined together created a incredibly tight performance, a rich and mellow tripped out musical sound-scape with a fantastically uplifting and danceable groove.

No doubt influenced and inspired by the sounds of late 60's early 70's from both sides of the Atlantic, Magic Bus are keeping that vibe alive and running with it. Every now and again there’s a nod to the likes of Caravan or  Gong or the echo of west coast harmonies. Don't get me wrong, the Magic Bus are no period tribute band, no sir, Magic Bus are doing their thing very much in the here and now.  You just can't hear organ and flute combined over guitar without being reminded of the early 70's 'Canterbury sound', and that's no bad thing.  I suppose it could be suggested that Magic Bus drink from the same inspirational spring as the afore mentioned, though they've freshened the sound, modernized it, given it a contemporary feel and play it with gusto.

As the band played the room was filled with smiling faces and the dance floor began to fill. First the obligatory ambling hippy type performing the standardized head down zombie shuffle, then a young woman strode purposefully onto the dance floor, flung her coat and proceeded to get down, and before you knew it the floor was filled with bimblers and groovers. One guy must have come through the Glastonbury portal from the 70's, sporting the full corduroy look, jacket and matching cap, he looked like a young Jeremy Corbyn; don't misunderstand me, not everybody can get away with corduroy, and he was rocking it. Respect.  Magic Bus played two sets with a small break in between, each one a real joy. When the second set began nearly everybody was up frooging and dancing, and at the end were left wanting more. Which Magic Bus provided by way of 2 encores, nice!   After the gig we had an opportunity to have a quick chat with the band, they were all lovely and what was nice was that it appeared that the band too had had a really great time; enjoying us, enjoying them.

As for the venue. Well, I love the venue. The King Arthur in Benedict’s Street in Glastonbury is somewhere things happen, it's a pub, you eat there, meet there, hear bands, do stuff. Really, it's a social hub as much as a pub.  I  look forward to the opportunities to visit, keeping my eye out for interesting bands. Both the staff and locals are great, the King Arthur has a unique atmosphere and is well, worth a visit.

All in all a fine time was had by all. I can't wait to see them again. By the way their latest album is 'Transmissions from Sogmore's Garden', and it's great.