On the eleventh day of Christmas

On the eleventh day of Christmas music gave to me, the Here and Now band at Unit 23 Totnes. Ah, Here and Now, a band like no other, a band which holds a special place in my heart. The band has seen a few line up changes over the years, comings and goings, though throughout there's always been one consistent, the governor, Keith The Bass. And, with him in the bands current manifestation are those Andys of 'Music of the Andys', Andy Roger on twiddly tings and Andy Burrows on guitar, and Kangaroo Moon's Mark Robson on keyboards and Gem Quinn on drums, and, man, are they good. They've always been good. Shit, man, what am I saying, Here and Now have never just been 'good', they've always been at least 'great', though more often than not, bloody marvellous. And so it was at Totnes, the chemistry and energy of the current line up made this gig as good a Here and Now gig as I've seen, and over the years that's a fair few. It was an evening to immerse yourself in the joy of familiar tunes played with new twists and be enthralled by new material, solid gold shit too. Word is that they've been in the studio since and that a new release is in the offing. Oh happy days. Click this for a nice rendition of 'So Glad You're Here' filmed by John Peters.

On the seventh day of Christmas

On the seventh day of Christmas, music gave to me a surprise, which really shouldn't have been a surprise. Back in March we ventured west to Totnes to see Gong, I'd last seen some years back on the 2023 tour when Daevid and Gilli were still with us. I'd not seen the band since and I have to admit to being a touch concerned that something may have been missing. I know it was essentially the same line up of consummate artists, minus Daevid and Gilli, as Gongs 2014's 'I see you' (which was both fabulous and moving in equal measure), but still, I don't know. From the performances get go I felt foolish, no, I felt guilty that I'd had any doubts or concerns. This was Gong! No doubt about it. I should have known better, Gong has always been fluid, emerging in different forms and guises, though always in essence Gong, that was Daevid's magic, his creation, his gift. Kavus steps up and takes the lead with a charisma and attitude befitting a Gong front man, I was pleasantly surprised with the air of continuity and continuation the band exuded. Dave Sturt on bass is fantastic, as is Fabio on guitar and Cheb on drums, and Ian East as well as being a superb sax player was also very funny to watch. All round it was a wonderful evening of glorious Gong, I was a bit of a twat for fearing it would be anything else.

Here & Now @ Unit 23 Totnes 17.6.2017

Ah, the Here and Now Band. Since I first heard Here and Now's 'All Over The Show' album in the early 80's, the bands music has remained a constant on the soundtrack of my life.  The bands line up may have changed over the years, though a consistent throughout has been the quality of musicians and the quality of the music, both have remained very high.  The current line up of Keith da Bass, Mark Robson, Andy Roger, Andy Burrows and Gem Quinn is fantastic, and together they have an amazing chemistry, the energy created fair crackled across the stage tonight.  Andy B on guitar and Gem drums are newbies, though you'd never know it, so tight is the band sound you'd think they'd been there forever; credit to them as musicians, you should see them in their other bands too, Andy with MOTA and Gem with Kangaroo Moon, wow.  As for the other band members, well, Keith's Keith, a bass legend who deserves the title, a man with Vibranium fingers; Mark, no matter in what manifestation (H&N, Kangaroo Moon, Magic Brothers) a multi instrumentalist par excellence; and Andy R, a master of the electronic universe, a wizard of soundscape creation.  Naturally, our expectations were high, Here and Now have set themselves a high bar over the years and have never failed to reach beyond it, other than... only kidding, of course they've never failed to produce the goods, they're feckin ace! Tonight the set list was outstanding, a smorgasbord of tracks from the bands extensive back catalogue; some tracks that when we were first seeing them we could could only dream of hearing (they weren't included in the live sets at the time), like 'Surgeons Knife' and 'little things' (two particular favourites of mine), and then there were tracks of the 'Secrets' and 'The Mega Number' period, aw, man, the 'The Mega Number', a track I remember blissing out to at so many gigs through the 80's. The band delivered every track perfectly, and with gusto and panache. But that's not all, no, there were new tracks! Yup, we thought we heard one during Here and Now's Avalon Ballroom set at the King Arthur, but tonight, there were more! All good strong stuff too, one in particular, a long number, was outstanding! That's an exclamation mark at the end of the last three sentences, if that's not an indication of how good the evening was, then I give up! We the audience were loving it, man, you couldn't help but move; the band too looked like they were enjoying it, which is when the magic happens. And, magic was happening. Each time I looked about, everyone was smiling, people dancing and moving (there was some great moves on show too), people were really feeling the energy. Life can kick the shit out of you, and it's bands like Here and Now who can put the wind back into your sails, and for that we thank them and love them. And, there was certainly love in the room this evening. Now, we've seen Here and Now many many times over the years and it would be fair to say that tonight their performance ranked with the very best of them, and as I said, that's a high bar. They finished with, of course, 'So Glad You're Here', the joy in the room was palpable. Every member of the band had brought their best game. Special credit though needs to go to both the Andy's who'd already performed a stella set this evening as MOTA, bravo fellows. What a stunning performance, and one that will raise a smile for a long time to come. I can't wait for the new album, yeah, that's right, that's what I heard from a reputable source, and if that doesn't excite any Here and Now fan, I'd check your pulse. Finally, a big thanks to Mike (I'd found out from a friend that Mike was the guy who put the gig on), when ever I'd seen him he was bobbing about beaming, and why not, he'd put on a beautiful thing, nice one, man. And thanks to the venue and sound guy, both top draw, big up. 'Till the next time, thank you Here and Now.

MOTA Music of the Andys @ Unit 23 Totnes 17.6.2017

Excited, car packed with camping gear, we made our way west to the picturesque town of Totnes, down in Devon, and to the excellent Unit 23 venue, in order to see the magnificent Here and Now Band, supported by the equally magnificent Music of the Andys. We'd been to Unit 23 back in March to see Gong and Magic Bus supported by The Invisible Opera Company of Tibet (what a top evening that was), though arriving only shortly before the gig we had no time to explore the town. Today we arrived in plenty of time allowing us time for a good look around, what a lovely town, full of character, good pastries and cake.  After a lazy afternoon milling about it was off to unit 23 for the evenings entertainment. First up, Music of the Andys. If you've not heard the Music of the Andys you've been missing out, and if you have, then you'll understand our excitement at seeing them again was well placed. As has become their style, the 'Andys' gifted us a unique and entrancing set of psychedelic trance. 'Andience' is how the band describes their sound. Andy Roger, keyboard wizard and professor of synth-tastic sounds, looking studiously out from his nest of wires and gizmo’s, laid down a solid foundation of deeply layered hypnotic beats and spaced out sounds, creating a rich flowing sound-scape through which Andy Burrows deftly thread some wonderful noodled guitar, not just noodling, mind, Andy 'B' uses his guitar in a bewildering range of ways to create a plethora of mind melting sounds, and has a whale of a time doing so, by the look of it. Together the 'Andys' created a wonderful musical universe to become lost in, and the audience were loving it, shuffling throughout and showing their appreciation noisily at the end of each track.  We first saw Music of the Andys last year and they were good, though over the last year their sound has grown exponentially, deeper and more layered, producing a tight style which easily moves from the heavy trancey drone of tracks like the 'the Banger' to the more drifty meditative trance flavours of 'the Goose of Perception'. And, each time we've heard these tracks, they've evolved in some way from the last performance, each time they have slightly different aspects and qualities to them, 'Andience' is clearly fluid.  What a splendid start to proceeding, another stellar performance, bravo, Music of the Andys!

Music of the Andys have a couple of tracks available on Bandcamp, check them out; with any luck there'll be an album at some point. 

Totnes gig at Unit23, part 1: Invisible Opera Company of Tibet

Totnes on the River Dart, Devon's Glastonbury, they say, was our destination this evening for a night of musical entertainment at Unit23. Unit23 a great little venue well suited to the times, a unit on an industrial estate, it's well laid out, a good sized space with balconies/mezzanine on three sides, no frills, but well functional, with good sound too; a great place. At a time when small/medium town centre venues are being pushed out, places on the periphery are ideally suited to fill a need.  A need for live music. No neighbours to piss off, either.  We were here to catch Magic Bus and Gong, although when we arrived we discovered that that Gong family favourite, the Invisible Opera Company of Tibet had been added to the evening, and what a great way to start the evening. There's a nice funky punky rock vibe to the Invisible Opera Company of Tibet, they're a band which always keep it real.  A nice mix of tracks, a couple of old Here & Now/Gong numbers from the 'Floating Anarchy' period, one which was 'Stoned Innocent Frankenstein' which was interrupted by interference from guitarist Brian Zero's musical t shirt.  All the bands tracks have lyrics that have something to say, this is proper festy/protest music, it's got a DIY feel to it, and is performed with fashion and humour.  That not to suggest that it's amateur or anything, not at all, they're all great well seasoned musicians and performers.  Jackie Juno delivers her vocals with gusto, and both her and Catriona McTeabag, on backing vocals, give flamboyant expressive performances. Tracy Austin-tatious Loquacious, on drums, and Phil Whitehouse, on bass, effortlessly created a bouncy uplifting rhythm section. Whilst Julian Veasy put in a solid performance on keys and synth. All great musicians. Even though there's a punky element to the sound and performance, it's also warm and engaging. The band didn't do a very long set, though what they did do was quality, and was a great appetizer for what was to come. As I say, the Invisible Opera Company of Tibet's music and performance has a real old school free festy feel to it and it's lovely. And, hey, a bit of Tory cussing too. Can't be bad.

Totnes gig at Unit23, part 2: Magic Bus

Well, the Invisible Opera Company of Tibet had got our evening off to a great start. The place was now filling up with an interesting selection of the colourful and goodly folk of Totnes, ready for one of tonight’s headline acts, the fantastic, Magic Bus. We discovered Magic Bus a couple of years ago, and if you've stumbled across my past blog posts about them, then you'll know I dig the bands sound and the atmosphere of musical joy they create. Magic Bus are Viv Goodwin-Darke on flute and vocals; Paul Evans on guitar and vocals; Terence Waldstradt on guitar and vocals, Wihll Mellorz on bass, Mitch Pike on drums and of course Jay Darlington on all things key and twiddly; all are splendid musicians and masters of the craft. I always feel uncomfortable about 'they're like' statements, though do it all the time,  it's a useful descriptive tool. So, if you like that 70's Canterbury psychedelic prog sound, with a soupçon of West coast and a handful of mushrooms, you'll f*cking love Magic Bus, they're in that tradition, it's the organ/flute/harmonies combo thing. I really dig the fluty/organ sound combo, which create the ethereal stream of wistful magic which meanders through all the 'Bus's' tracks. Lovely! As expected tonight’s performance didn't disappoint, in fact from the get go tonight the band took their performance to new heights. Whenever we've seen them they've delivered great performances, tonight though they were cooking on gas. Maybe it's because Totnes is home territory, that the band appeared really relaxed, in a way we'd not seen them before. Maybe it's the addition of a heavier drummer (not in any way a criticism of previous drummer Connor, who is a top drummer and lovely chap), that the tracks seemed performed with added gusto. I don't know. Whatever the reason, there was a different energy this evening and a sense of freedom and joyful abandon in their performance. They kicked off with 'Sunflower', off of 'Transmissions from Sogmore's Garden'; a sunny afternoon under dappled sun type of a song, a beautiful track to create an uplifting atmosphere.  And, we were off on a magical bus journey. They played a nice mix of favourites from their previous two albums, and a good sprinkling of new songs from their forthcoming album too.  All took you smiling through worlds of psychedelic bliss.  Their new tracks have a jazzier flavour to them, still distinctively Magic Bus though; they certainly all sounded great. I'm definitely looking forward to their upcoming release, released in a month or so, on vinyl too! The jazzy sound made a complimentary addition to the bands more established psychedelic, folky, prog, rock sound. Paul mentioned the influence of Gong on them, that's no bad thing, I can think of worse things to be influenced by.  We all take influence, it's where those influences take our mind and creativity that's important. And Magic Bus have clearly created something of their very own, you know a Magic Bus track when you hear one. Every track was played to perfection. The best Magic Bus performance we'd seen, by a country mile, and I've thought every performance we'd seen has been bloody marvellous. Everybody was having a whale of a time, and the band looked like they were really enjoying it too, all smiles (it was the smiley-est I'd seen Jay, who usually looks quite studious), and that's what it's all about, everyone having a good time. Well, job done. A big thanks to the band, the venue and the inhabitants of Totnes who made for a memorable evening. I can't wait to see Magic Bus at the Avalon Weekender, nor wait for their latest waxing. Check Magic Bus out, or lose out, it's as simple as that.

Now, Gong!