So, we're back up in Glastonbury at the towns premier music venue The King Arthur, we'd just seen Yamma's amazing set, next up was The Cary Grace Band.
I love a superlative, me, and may have a tendency towards verbosity,
though I reckon after tonight they're going to have to create some
new superlatives, as none existing could really do the Cary Grace
Band's performances justice, and I'm near dumbstruck by it. We've seen the fabulous Cary Grace Band several times now, and every time has been a wonderfully unique experience, there's always a new dimension to the bands interpretations. Unique, is the bands stock-in-trade, and tonight was to be no different.
There's a magical alchemy to the Cary Grace Band, of course Cary's a fantastic writer/performer and the core members are par excellence, though it's the
fluidity of a line up regularly augmented by guest artists which ensures every performances uniqueness. Tonight’s line up were Cary Grace (Synths, everything electric and vocals), Andy Budge
(Bass), Mike Howlett (Bass), Graham Clark (Violin/Guitar), Steve
Everitt (Synth/Guitar) and Rob Everitt (Drums). Blimey, a who's who of musical pre-eminence, I'm sure you'd agree. Tonight’s set was to give us a nice mix of the past, current and future Cary Grace Band; favourites like War Child, single Without a trace and a first live play of a new track off the forthcoming album (something definitely to look forward to), to name a few, all in all we were spoilt with a nicely curated evening. Of course it goes without saying (though I'll say it anyway), every track was delivered beautifully, these are consummate musicians, one and all. Cary created the wonderfully textured swirling synth and voice soundscapes she's renowned for, through which
the other psychedelic minstrels wound their merry way. Cary's mesmerizing voice is
powerful and has a wide range, and she used it to full effect this
evening, whether singing or as a constituent of the soundscape, it's always superb. Behind the soundscapes was the bands driving heart, the solid rhythm section of Rob and Andy. Rob Everitt may be younger than the others in the band, though that in no way impeded him, he
easily held his own, a talented drummer with a great style. Rob also recently did a
sterling job on Cary's contribution to recent Fruit de Mer release 'Three Seasons' a spectacular
interpretation of Hendrix's '1983 a Merman I shall be'. A drummer to watch for sure, kudos, man. Rob's partner in rhythm is of course CGB core member Andy Budge, who delivered his trademark sumptuous bass lines with the style and panache we've come to expect. One of the best bassists out there, and one who's rightly always in demand, I've lost count of the bands he basses for. The pair worked well, spot on in fact.
Initially, legendary bass player Mike Howlett wasn't on stage, more on that later. Now, Steve Everitt was an interesting addition, I thought Steve brought a whole new dimension to the bands sound, his guitar playing is so sharp with a certain clean rock edge to it, a fantastic guitar sound. Steve was fabulous, unleashing some blistering
guitar riffs which were bliss to the ears. Graham Clark's violin playing is always out of this world, and always grabs your attention, though tonight he had it turned up to 11 at times, man, can he make a violin sing, he's so understated too. A highlight was Mike Howlett joining Andy Budge on bass duties. Howlett is a bass legend making it look so natural that bass lines just flow from him, and Budge has built himself a similar reputation, cucumber cool and adamantium fingered. Together they delivered a storming bass riff, both have great presence and, man, they was just something else to see and hear...really! It was an evening of unique psychedelic aural adventures in music, brought to us by an extraordinary ensemble of visionary frequency explorers. I loved it, the entire audience love it, it was all over too soon though, the audience wanted more and band were willing, though venue legislation was not. Boo! Man, evenings
like this
are
truly priceless, rarer than, and worth more than their weight in, gold pressed latinum, especially in these turbulent times. After the performance I availed myself of one of the quality posters on sale at the merch table and proceeded to bother the artists for their signatures (thanks to Andy B for the use of his Sharpie). On my rounds I remarked to Mike Howlett what a fantastic performance it was, and he replied he agreed and couldn't understand why Cary's wasn't better known, word, man...and Mike Howlett knows his musical onions!
A massive thanks to all
the musicians for an outstanding performance, to Lux Looper for the lovely visuals, and of course to the Arthur, for continuing to put on such splendid evenings. Bravo! And I for one can't wait for the The Cary Grace Band's new album, check out her site in the meantime, there's plenty of musical gems there.
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