Music / Previews
Metal & Prog Picks: October 2018
Classic rock, progressive doom, comedy dressing up box metal, solo prog piano and a snooker legend. It doesn’t get any more eclectic than this.
Check the coming soons and you’ll find that Toby Jepson enjoys playing the Lousiana so much that he’s doing a solo show there in December. This one sold out instantly, so he’s just added a second night. Grab those tickets while they’re hot.
https://youtu.be/zlL5bv3-Nhs
is needed now More than ever
O2 Academy, Oct 2
It’s perhaps worth bearing in mind that Glenn Hughes is 66 years old. Not only would you love to take a gander at the portrait in his attic, but he’s also one of just a handful of, ahem, mature rockers whose voice seems completely unaffected by the passage of time. David Coverdale, Glenn’s old mucker in Deep Purple, is reduced to a rasp these days, Bob Catley of Magnum is audibly struggling, and even the Golden Godlike Robert Plant now rearranges Zeppelin material to suit his more restricted range. But Glenn is right up there with Paul Rodgers and the late Ronnie James Dio (who was on top form until the end), despite punishing himself with cocaine and Mars bar addiction (no, really) back in the 1980s. Little wonder the KLF dubbed him The Voice of Rock and recruited him to sing on America: What Time is Love? Given that Glenn’s last studio album, Resonate, was so strong after a string of patchy releases, it’s perhaps a little surprising that he’s decided to go full nostalgia for this Classic Deep Purple tour. On the other hand, it’s impossible to resist his return to that trio of funkier Deep Purple albums (Burn, Stormbringer, Come Taste the Band), which have aged rather well despite being dismissed at the time by ornery old Ritchie Blackmore as “shoeshine music”. (Mr. Blackmore currently pursues a career as a mediaeval minstrel.) Setlist? Look no further than Purple’s Made in Europe live album, plus Gettin’ Tighter and You Keep on Moving from the Tommy Bolin era. Oh, and he’ll also be doing Highway Star and Smoke on the Water, despite not playing on the original records, on the grounds that he frequently performed both songs live with Purple.
Fleece, Oct 4
Elder haven’t released any new music since their previous show at the Fleece last August, but the six epic tracks on this Boston trio’s breakthrough album Reflections of a Floating World are a magnificent fusion of stoner/doom and progressive rock that put them right up there with Pallbearer as kings of this pioneering genre. So who cares if we get to hear them all again? And what’s not to love about a band who cite Steely Dan, Uriah Heep, Gentle Giant and Yes as their faves but sound completely unlike any of them? As before, they’re headlining a big-value bill that includes fellow prog-flirting doomsters Ancestors and Earthmass, with local ‘post-doom’ act Cegvera opening the show in their new duo format.
Exchange, Oct 6
Yes – that Steve ‘Interesting’ Davis, known to sports enthusiasts as the most successful professional snooker player of the 1980s. Beer-bellied ball-pocketing enthusiasts may be surprised to learn that he’s also a tireless proponent of progressive rock, from the Canterbury scene to the out-there avant-garde – his fave band being magnificently bonkers French act Magma, who are perhaps best known for inventing their own language. These days he co-presents The Interesting Alternative Show on Phoenix FM with his old chum Kavus Torabi – formerly of The Cardiacs and now juggling roles fronting Gong and Knifeworld. This show will be one of their – ulp! – DJ sets. What to expect? “Across-the-board weird and left-field prog bangers with quality electronic and top end techno slung into the mix,” apparently. Go on Steve, play the whole of Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh. You know you want to. Note that this DJ set starts at 11pm. If you want to make a full evening of it, get there earlier for a set by venerable Bristol institution The Heads.
Fleece, Oct 7
Two years to the day since their previous headlining show at the Fleece, splendidly named Oregon trio Yob return bearing their eighth album Our Raw Heart (“…an album that boasts as much ingenuity, charisma and excoriating emotion as it does skull-powdering heaviness” – Metal Hammer). It’s informed largely by guitarist/vocalist Mike Scheidt having been through the wringer with a near-fatal intestinal disease that saw him almost die on the operating table three times back in January 2017. What can newcomers expect from Yob? Scheidt put it rather well when he was asked to describe his band’s sound for the benefit of anyone who’d never heard them: “Well, it depends on if they know the genre or not. If they don’t know the genre, I’d say, ‘Well, you’ve heard of Black Sabbath. You’ve heard of King Crimson and Led Zeppelin. You’ve probably heard of Pink Floyd too. So you take all that, you make it more metal, and then you play it on 33 instead of 45.’ That’s kind of getting in the ballpark. I wouldn’t say that we’re a progressive rock band, but we do have some of those elements, and King Crimson is definitely a big influence on us.” Support comes from Wiegedood – black metal from the Belgian Church of Ra, featuring members of Oathbreaker and Amenra. They’ve released three albums all with the same title, De Doden Hebben Het Goed (‘The Dead Have It Good’), each of which has just four lengthy songs. It’s all relentlessly bleak and extreme with not a great deal of variation, but De Doden Hebben Het Goed III, released back in April, saw Wiegedood move up to the Century Media label after putting out the first two albums independently.
Motion, Oct 11
Stepping up to Motion after their last Bristol appearance at the Thekla, this jolly dressing up box metal act have been billed as “the finest parody metal band from Nottingham to have written a song about a robot.” Dr. Rabid Hell, Brother Dimitri Pain, Kraven Morrdeth, Princess Luxury and Ringmaster Monty Blitzfist have released three albums thus far – Crowcifiction, Sixty Six Minutes Past Six and Galactic Hunt – and moved Metal Hammer to hail them as “an affable blend of Pythonesque absurdity, artfully drawn from an evident love of metal”. Newie Chapter IV: Antartarctica (no misprint) is out shortly and is every bit as silly as its predecessors. There’s even a song about a cosmic goth moth.
SWX, Oct 14
Last seen locally supporting the mighty Opeth at the Academy back in November 2017, hugely impressive Norwegians Enslaved have charted the now-familiar journey from black metal to atmospheric prog, while celebrating their Viking heritage in song. Back home, current album E bagged the Spellemann award for Best Metal Album. Yep, unlike our own wretched Mercury Music Prize judges, they actually value their metal in Norway. Last time Enslaved headlined a UK tour they were welcomed by the Norwegian Embassy (Imagine, if you will, British embassies around the world hosting receptions for our globally popular export Iron Maiden. Not gonna happen) and back in 2014 guitarist Ivar Bjørnson and Einar Selvik of Warduna were commissioned by the government to compose a piece in celebration of the 200th anniersary of the Norwegian constitution. They’re back as part of a big-value co-headlining tour with Oakland veterans High On Fire, whose perenially shirtless founder Matt Pike does double duty as guitarist in stoner metallers Sleep. Just released on the E1 music label, High On Fire’s eighth album, Electric Messiah, is a tribute to Lemmy. If Sleep are just a little too somnambulant for your taste, worry not: High on Fire are much faster.
The Forum, Bath, Oct 19
The affable, curry-loving self-styled Grumpy Old Rock Star takes a break from The Other Yes (with Jon Anderson and Hollywood blockbuster soundtrack king Trevor Rabin) for this Piano Odyssey tour. It’s in support of his new album of the same title; the follow-up to 2017’s Piano Portraits, which became his biggest chart hit since The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table back in 1975, eventually reaching number six. That album arose from Wakeman’s solo piano performance of Bowie’s Life on Mars? (he played on the 1971 original), which he performed live on Radio 2 after the Dame’s death and which subsequently became a viral online hit. As the title suggests, the new album comprises another collection of piano reworkings of his favourite songs, including Bohemian Rhapsody (which originally defeated him). We can presumably expect many of them to be played tonight, along with a selection of vintage Wakeman anecdotage. That’s all the excuse we need to revisit this splendid yarn from his Further Adventures of a Grumpy Old Rock Star. It’s the late ’90s and thanks to his frequent TV appearances (Countdown, etc) Rick is attracting a more mixed and frequently elderly audience to his shows. At a signing session, he looks down the queue and sees a mother with an attractive daughter who’s about 20 years old, behind whom are a pair of old biddies. When the mother and daughter reach the front, the former looks rather embarrassed while the latter says: “Go on mum, ask him!” When the mother refuses to speak, the daughter continues: “You met my mum at one of your rock concerts 20 years ago.” The queue falls silent. Rick blanches and fears the worst. Fortunately, it turns out that he signed her knickers back in the day and she wants him to do so again. Relieved, Rick waits for her to produce a pair of bloomers from her handbag. But instead, she drops her jeans to reveal the skimpiest of thongs. As he does his professional duty, he overhears one of the biddies behind them remark to the other: “Oh dear, Ethel, we don’t have to do that, do we?”
Exchange, Oct 20 &21
For when a single evening of doom and sludge simply isn’t enough, here’s an entire weekend of it, featuring bands with names like Mothertrucker, Ghold, Morag Tong, Monolithian, Tuskar, Hundred Year Old Man, and – perhaps inevitably – Bong.
Fleece, Oct 31
Had they pitched up 40 years ago, Canuck classic rockers The Sheepdogs would have swiftly become arena-filling rock royalty. Things are rather different today, which means they face more of a struggle. Nonetheless, the quartet from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, boast the distinction of being the first unsigned band ever to make the prestigious cover of Rolling Stone magazine back in 2011, landing them a deal with the legendary Atlantic Records, and were the winners of three 2012 Grammy-equivalent Juno Awards (New Group of the Year, Single of the Year and Rock Album of the Year). These suitably shaggy Sheepdogs were last in Bristol five years ago when they played a brilliant show at the Louisiana. Hipsters requiring permission to rock would probably cite The Black Keys as their chief inspiration, especially as that band’s Patrick Carney produced the Sheepdogs’ eponymous 2012 album. But their heritage runs a lot deeper than that, taking in fellow countrymen The Band and heading across the border to worship at the southern rock altar of the Allman Brothers. Hell, they even chuck in the occasional trombone solo. Sixth album Changing Colours is out now. Highly recommended. (No, they haven’t played here twice in four months. Their June tour was rescheduled at the last minute.)
COMING SOON
Here’s our essential diary of upcoming gigs that should be of interest to anyone of a rockin’ disposition.
Caligula’s Horse, The Lanes, Nov 6
Shinedown, O2 Academy, Nov 6
Saxon/Doro/Wayward Sons, The Forum, Bath, Nov 8
MC50, O2 Academy, Nov 9
Blackberry Smoke, O2 Academy, Nov 11
The Vintage Caravan, Exchange, Nov 14
Dan Reed Network, Fleece, Nov 18
Hawkwind, The Forum, Bath, Nov 24
The New Roses, Louisiana, Nov 27
TesseracT, SWX, Nov 27
Lazuli, Exchange, Nov 28
Bowling for Soup, O2 Academy, Nov 28
Zeal & Ardour, Fleece, Nov 30
The Magpie Salute, Fiddlers, Dec 1
Tremonti, O2 Academy, Dec 2
Von Hertzen Brothers, Thekla, Dec 4
Graveyard, Thekla, Dec 12
Toby Jepson, Lousiana, Dec 13 &14
Rick Wakeman, St. George’s, Dec 16
Solstafir, Fleece, Dec 17
Clutch, O2 Academy, Dec 18
Myrkur, Fleece, Dec 19
Damian Wilson & Adam Wakeman, Chapel Arts Centre, Bath, Jan 10
Skid Row, O2 Academy, Jan 25
Inglorious, O2 Academy, Jan 29
Behemoth/At the Gates/Wolves in the Throne Room, Motion, Feb 6
Buckcherry/Hoobastank, O2 Academy, Feb 6
Haken, Fleece, Feb 17
Blue Oyster Cult/The Temperance Movement, St. Philips Gate, Feb 28
UFO, O2 Academy, March 7
Windhand, Exchange, March 12
Astral Festival, SWX/The Lanes/Rough Trade, July 6
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