Many years ago a friend recommended a Saturday afternoon music event at the Union Chapel. He thought I might like the mix of music. That event was Daylight Music and the event has been a big part of my weekend ever since.

If you are not aware, Daylight Music is a music series that started at the Union Chapel 15 years ago. It always aimed to bring an eclectic range of music to willing ears, both young and old. Daylight curate interesting lineups that feature everything from classical to indie, folk to jazz, experimental electronic music to sitar.

Since lockdown, the series has faced new challenges. The Union Chapel is no longer available and it has faced a challenging time building new audiences in new venues across London. Through constant crowdfunding and grants from the Arts Council, it has continued to bring its unique mix of accessible music to a number of new venues in London. It has even extended its reach, bringing events to venues in Kent.

While the Union Chapel is an amazing building, Daylight has managed to find some equally wonderful and charming new venues. I guess it’s London home is now St John’s in Leytonstone. But it regularly uses St John’s in Bethnal Green and St Catherine’s in Telegraph Hill. Grand Junction and St Matthias have also hosted events. In Kent, it has found a wonderful home in the homely The Hot Tin in Faversham, which has become one of my favourite venues anywhere. They have also hosted events in the Arc in Margate. This weekend, for its 15th birthday, they venture to a new venue, St Mary Magdalene Church in Islington and on Sunday, the Arc.

While the loss of the Union Chapel has made life more difficult building a regular audience and finding volunteers to help run the events. It has been an opportunity to bring music to new audiences across London and to work with new people who have the same passion to discover music as the Daylight team. They’ve even partnered up with the London Jazz Festival to challenge the jazz-heads with their eclectic approach to music.

The word eclectic is used by people who like to put things in boxes and label them. I, like most music fans, like my boxes. I have to admit to restricting my music listening habits to music that fits in genres I am comfortable with. 

Over the years my collection of boxes has expanded. Watching a friend singing in a choir at the Proms opened the classical box. Only for me to find ‘classical’ itself is dozens of boxes defining radically different music styles, leading me off into music as diverse as Pärt and Xenakis. A band like Led Zeppelin opened the door to Blues, Blues led back to 50s rock and roll, rockabilly, and Elvis and Elvis led to… and so on. We all have a spider diagram of our discoveries and for most of us, there is a clear logical procession and it’s very rare that we jump too far from what we know we like.

So imagine an event that takes all your nice comfortably arrange boxes and throws them in the air. Putting a post-classical pianist next to a folk musician and an experimental electronic artist. That’s Daylight Music. Think of it as a genreless curated musical discovery service designed to open your ears to new music. I don’t think there is anything else like it.

But let’s back up a bit and head back to the beginning and my connection to Daylight Music.

12 years ago, I was backing away from working seven days a week, trying to become a normal person. I found gigging stopped me working and at the time, I was looking for weekend activities to keep me away from the computer. The Daylight Music suggestion came just at the right time.

The first few months, I selected sessions based on the description and I pretty much stuck to weeks where there was music in genres I was comfortable with.

To some extent things changed at the first Christmas event where the Trans-Siberian March Band were playing. I had gone along before Christmas shopping and while the Trans Siberian Orchestra weren’t really the type of music I would listen to, I thought I would call in anyway. It turned out they were just really good fun. After this, I started to go to more events, trusting the Daylight team to do the selection for me.

Ben, who runs Daylight Music spends a ridiculous amount of time putting together each season. I’ve found he is a very capable guide through these new musical landscapes. I am impressed how he sets out to curate interesting lineups each week. He doesn’t take the easy option of putting on the same artists each week. If an artist plays Daylight more than once, it’s because they have something new to contribute to the Daylight ethos. Artists regularly become the curators of their own sessions and become part of the Daylight family. Sometimes a week will have a theme. Other times, Ben is simply tries to bring great music to a wider audience.

As I attended more events, my music taste widened, admittedly, often building upon genres I had partially explored. But also new opportunities opened up and I made some good friends.

I already took a lot of gig photos. At that point, I attended around 100 gigs a year, but it was rare for me to use my SLR due to venue restrictions. As Daylight Music is relaxed, most weekends I was taking photos from the crowd. Most were just ‘snaps’ as I never took long lenses with me. However, a member of the Daylight team contacted me and asked if I wanted to photograph an event for them. Hell, why not?

Early one Saturday morning I turned with my camera bag and everything changed. Daylight Music took on a much bigger picture (no pun intended). I discovered Daylight Music is much more than a music event. It truly is an opportunity for many.

At my first event, I quickly became aware how much effort goes into Daylight Music. There is a team of volunteers who make sure this ‘pay what you can event’ happens every weekend. 

Each weekend Daylight volunteers give up their time to set up the venue, work on the door, provide a friendly welcome, supporting the artists, running the cafe, work the march desk and ensure everything is safe. A large part of the success of the series, are the volunteers who help make the events so welcoming.

The excellent sound engineers are always there very early to soundcheck each artist and with the range of music styles covered, mic’ing instruments can often be challenging. They always do an excellent job and I don’t think I have ever heard poor sound at a Daylight event.

With its inclusive policy, you will regularly see families at Daylight Music. At Daylight, no one tells children to be quiet. It gives families an opportunity to introduce children to live music and it is always a pleasure watching children come down to the front and be totally wrapped-up in a performance. Something many in the audience don’t realise, this is often the first time an artist’s children have had to see them play. How nice is that? And thankfully, because Daylight Music shows respect to families, the majority replay that respect.

From a music perspective. The music is nearly always for adults, but just occasionally, when Ben is being his most mischievous, he puts together a fantastical session that is for the child in all of us and has featured things like musical dummies, an automatic piano and even the odd event where children themselves make the music through programmes, like the School of Noise.

I have been involved with Daylight Music for over 10 years. I go most weekends. At the time or writing, it has been running for 385 sessions and I have attended around half of them. With a small team of wonderful photographers, we take turns to photograph and document each session for Daylight.

Sadly, Daylight Music is now under constant threat. It is difficult to maintain a pay what you can approach while funding these performances. Ben is constantly having to try and raise money through crowdfunding, merchandise sales (I now have so many tea towels) and Arts Council grants. If you haven’t been to a Daylight event. I really would recommend coming along to help keep these events going.

So what makes this series so special musically? I thought I would look back at some of my favourite sessions over the last few years. This isn’t an exhaustive list, all Daylight Music sessions have something for everyone and this list is missing many of my favourite Daylight Music performers who are too many to mention. Hopefully this list gives you an idea of the scope Ben brings to Daylight Music and is enough for you to give it a try.

9th November 2013 (DM146?)

I think my first event was November 2013 with Frank Chicken, Dead Flowers and Ben Calvert and the Swifts. I admit I left perplexed. I wrote a one word note on a photo of Frank Chicken from the event. It just said ‘weird’. I guess this was the perfect introduction to Daylight. It clearly didn’t put me off as I went to the next few weeks.

17th May 2014 (DM162)

My first time covering an event was in May 2014. This is when my view of Daylight started to change. I remember turning up during the soundcheck and enjoying watching the Stuart Masters play some amazing guitar music while I explored the chapel. It felt a privilege to be there listening to the soundcheck (and still does).

I have to admit early on, I very much turned up, took photos and then left. Initially my interaction with the volunteers was limited as I felt I was a guest and didn’t want to get in the way of anyone. Now, I get under the feet all the time.

My first full set is available on Flickr

1st November 2014 (DM176)

This was a good lineup. Musically, everything worked. Digitonal played classical inspired electronica, combining violin and harp. Harps always sound beautiful in the chapel and it was great to be able to photograph a harpist up close. Dean McPhee played a great guitar set. But it was Rachael that made the set so special.  She plays some enchanting folk music, often with her husband, Japanese artist ICHI.

As mentioned, I love photographing the soundcheck. The soundcheck is an opportunity to grab performance photos without disturbing the crowd with my shutter sound (although sadly, far too often artists change clothes for the live performance, and I have to get more shots anyway). What was extra special about this session was that it was the first time I saw an artist take a short timeout to prepare themselves for the event and take in the amazing space. After her soundcheck finished, Rachel literally lay down on the stage and stared at the amazing chapel roof. It was at this point that I realised that the artists themselves really love playing the space. And it’s still one of my favourite photographs.

Poppy Ackroyd (DM190, DM221, DM273)

I think the first time a Daylight Music artist took my breath away was Poppy Ackroyd.

I think Poppy had played Daylight Music before, but this was my first encounter with her music. If you are not aware, Poppy is a violinist and pianist who uses a loop pedal to build up beautiful multi-layered music.

Often with artists who use loop pedals, it feel laborious as they build up the layers and you lose interest before the piece gets goings. But that isn’t the case with Poppy. It’s fascinating to watch her move between instruments building up each layer. This was my first encounter with her and I immediately bought everything she had released an made sure I caught her solo performances.

For DM273, I was lucky enough to be photographing that weekend, so had a double dose, catching the soundcheck too. Also on the lineup was Matt Emery, a composer of some equally beautiful music who is another favourite Daylight discovery.

Daylight Music 190

Daylight Music 273

Emily Hall with Ana Silvera (DM236)

Often, the audience isn’t aware that some of the performers come together to create special pieces for Daylight Music. It happens more often than you think. These collaborations often break genre boundaries. For example last year Britten Sinfonia Academy combined with folk artists Stick In The Wheel to produce really interesting results. Other times, it’s simply the first time a piece has been played by artists and they need to tweak the performance in soundcheck.

Occasionally when this happens, it’s an honour to see a performance come together at soundcheck and the reaction of the audience. This Daylight Music session was probably my favourite session of this kind.

Composer Emily Hall was joined by the Khoros Choir and Ana Silvera to perform her music. Clearly it had been rehearsed but in soundcheck Emily was able to clarify how she wanted it performed, tweaking in little areas, improving the work ready for midday. It was clear from soundcheck that it was going to be a stunning and to this day, this is still one of my favourite performances. Okay, I know I am lucky to be around the soundcheck. But I feel so much gratitude that I get to experience these little moments and it makes Daylight Music all the more special.

Jherek Bischoff (DM252 and DM323)

I knew nothing about Jherek before I covered this event. He is an American composer and musician who has worked with the likes of Amanda Palmer. He has played twice at Daylight and both sessions featured Jherek playing bass with an ensemble.

His first session was a real pleasure. Jherek was working with an ensemble of young musicians. He had no airs and graces and was completely down to earth and a thoroughly nice person. He seemed to genuinely want to help these young musicians develop as musicians. These collaborations seem to happen regularly at Daylight Music and Ben seems to find thoroughly nice people to play his event who are interested in other artists. The music they produced reflected the warmth of the soundcheck. The bass became it’s own unique voice complementing, never competing with the ensemble. It turns out not only is he a great composer, he is also a brilliant bass player.

The second session was equally impressive. For the last three years, Daylight Music has been part of the the London Jazz Festival. These sessions are a good example of how Ben challenges our genre boxes. Jazz isn’t something I listen to very often and much of my idea of what jazz is, is constrained by the kind of jazz I hear on TV or radio. Daylight’s LJF seem to try to challenge our preconceived ideas of jazz aiming to explore the spaces where jazz is pushing against other genres creating something unique. For example, jazz overlapping with folk music and post-classical.

Jherek’s second session, was one of these LFJ events.

The lineup was as I would expect, one trying to push our ideas of what jazz is. Robert Stillman on sax and Andres Holst on 12 string guitar explored how two quite different instruments could complement each other. A young artist, Rose Frazier-Taylor stuck to a more traditional jazz sound but showed there is a new generation of artists finding their voice through jazz.

Jherek, accompanied by a string quartet combined his amazing bass tone with violins and cello to explore the dark edges of jazz, with some heavily Twin Peaks inspired music. The Wolf, a piece from his Cistern album has a Jherek’s bass acting like a possessed metronome, constantly ticking and increasing in loudness and aggression. While strings weave a dark tale around him gradually taking over the lead, as his guitar fades away into the background. I think this is my favourite piece ever to be played at Daylight.

As if this wasn’t enough. Terry Edwards, who is a great supported of the series, joined Jherek to bring an early, but very dark Christmas twist. Playing a Twin Peaks inspired version of Silent Night.

Official video from DM252: Jherek Bischoff – Cistern

8-bit special (DM256)

The 256th Daylight took its inspiration from computer music and the chapel echoed to the beeps of synths and old computers. For example Deerful, (Emma Winson) played music on gameboys. While the film composer David Julyan and Héloïse Werner combined analogue synths and cello. A perfect illustration of the risks Daylight Music takes. A simple idea excuted brilliantely and fascinating to watch.

‘The foghorn lady’ (DM267)

Now on to one of the weirdest Daylight sessions I can remember. Often the curration of a Daylight session is handed over to record labels or individuals. This session was handed over to Laura Cannell and her ‘Modern Ritual’ series.

Laura Cannell is a musician who has chosen the recorder has her instrument. Not the nasty little plastic recorders we used at school, but the classic wooden versions. Her music is always interesting and she isn’t afraid of taking her music into different environments, often supporting indie musicians playing over noisy crowds. So this session was always going to be interesting, I’m just not sure I was ready for how interesting it would be.

The sessions expored rituals through words and music. This session featured a whole bunch of weird. Charles Hayward simply drummed on a snare drum for 30 minutes. With the speed and pitch increasing and reducing. It really was something to behold. It was also something I really didn’t like! (I always skip drum solos!)

These Feathers Have Plumes, used electronics and played wine glasses to create a facinating soundscape.

Then there was the ‘foghorn lady’ as I call her. Jennifer Lucy Allan, who is the wonderful presenter of Radio 3’s Late Junction, performed ‘Foulis’s Daughter: A short history of the foghorn in 30 interrupted acts’. In the performance, Jennifer traces the history of the foghorn and performance combines spoken word with the sounds of foghorns captured round the UK. It was initially really interesting, then started to drag and it just didn’t work for me. Others though loved it.

And that is the point. Daylight Music isn’t simply trying to regurgitate music. It gives artists the chance to perform pieces that will challenge us. In this case, it didn’t connect with me. At times, it permits itself the risk to be a glorious failure by being adventurous. This session was one of them and I’m glad I was there to experience it.

From Call to Choir (DM309)

Possibly one of the most adventurous events Daylight Music has put on was ‘From Call to the Choir’. It was a simple premise. Could one singer bring the chapel to one voice?

Throughout the afternoon, starting with one singer, the size of each act grew, one became two, two because four, one choir became two choirs. A ‘scratch choir’ formed from amateur singers who only met the night before, combined with these artists, bands and other choirs to perform one large piece. Eventually for the last piece, the audience joined in. It was a thrill watching the performance build from one person up to the the entire chapel.

I photographed the rehearsals the night before and it was a pleasure to see how excited the volunteer choir were. It was also great seeing so many Daylight alumni giving up their time to make the event work. Chatting to several of the choir, many hadn’t sung before in public and were thrilled at the opportunity to sing in such an amazing venue.

This is probably the best example of what makes Daylight special. How many events would take a risk and give a composer a chance to perform a piece on such a scale and give so many people a chance to participate?

Majestic Euro-Musical Showcase Special (DM223)

I am not a fan of Eurovision. But in 2017, Ben decided to invite many of the international artists who have played Daylight to celebrate Eurovision by playing playing their own songs and covering one Eurovision song. It was great to see so many musicians collaborate to produce a great feel good event. And, the highlight was a live rendition of Father Ted’s My Lovely Horse. Unusually, I tried to capture a video to give people a favour of the event. You can tell, I’m not a videographer from the whacky clips and sound quality.

Piano Day (DM221, DM251, DM279, DM306, DM335, DM342, DM358, DM360)

For the last few years, Piano Day has been an annual highlight. Ben loves post-classical and early Daylight’s featured now world renown artist Nils Frahm who created Piano Day. It takes place on the 88th day of the year, or in Daylight Music’s case the nearest Saturday to it.

The piano is a wonderful instrument and Daylight Music always makes an effort by hiring in a baby grand piano which when combined with the wonderful acoustics of the chapel, is always special.

Some of my favourite discoveries have come via Piano Day. I have already mentioned the wonderful Poppy Ackryod, who I had already seen before a Piano Day session.

Another discovery is the talented pianist and composer, Xenia Pestova Bennett. My first experience of Xenia was when she played a tiny toy piano at her first appearance. Over different sessions, some of which she has helped curate, we have had the opportunity to see Xenia experiments with how the piano can sound. One amazing session she brought a magnetic resonance piano that sounds like an electric guitar, where each note can be held indefinitely.

What I’ve found amazing, is the often subtle ways each pianist plays the piano and interprets each piece. Often watching their hands is like watching a ballet. Each hand dancing around the keys hypnotically.

Piano day is always a special Daylight. If you want one session to try. I would always recommend a Piano Day session. They are always magical.

‘That wasn’t jazz’ (DM338)

Doing to the jazz-heads, what they’ve done to us for a long time. Since lockdown, Daylight Music has curated a number of EFG: London Jazz Festival related events. Longtime collaborator and supporter of the series, Terry Edwards, curated this event for Daylight. Featuring his excellent Near Jazz Experience, Terry decided to challenge the jazz crowd audience with a ‘near jazz experience’ leading to two people leaving after the first act telling the team on the door ‘That wasn’t jazz’.

What it was, was everything Daylight prides itself on being. BAG, the offending opening artists, mixed spoken word with various electronic sounds and music. They used vocals to deconstruct our expectations of musical structures, a bit like improvisation in jazz. With vocals speeding up and slowing down, accenting different bits of variable length sentences forcing the music to shift form. It was a fascinating performance, and I could see why it was ‘near jazz’.

Thankfully, the people who left didn’t see the next piece which would have probably been even more frustrating. Terry, with soprano Jan Goodkin and Rod Melvin, explored an idea of Terry’s that the songs of the Smiths have similarities to plainsong chants. While not jazz, a set of musicians who had never met before using their musical knowledge of plainsong to work with each other’s performance, clearly has some of the spirit of jazz.

I’ve never liked the Smiths. Or rather, I’ve never liked Smiths when sung by Morrissey. I enjoy their songs far more when covered by other bands without Morrissey’s annoying voice. But I will begrudgingly admit the music and lyrics are often brilliant. Today, stripped back to a minimalistic interpretation on the piano and Jan’s terrific singing of plainsong, the songs also gained an absurdist humour that I would never have connected to the Smiths.

The people who left would have hated it.

Continuing with the theme. Jem Moore gave us his fascinating interpretation of Shelley’s The Masque of Anarchy. His bass playing perfectly complementing the darkness in the poem.

The people who left would have hated it.

Closing Terry’s curation was his own band, The Near Jazz Experience and for once there was some improvised jazz. Always musical and never inappropriately noodley, I’m sure this was more of what those two people who left were looking for. Although, I’m not sure they would have appreciated the NJE’s excellent take on Hendrix. Maybe they were right to leave after all? Me, I loved every second.

But this session was everything Daylight is. Daylight’s strength has always been its ability to challenge. Occasionally these invited curations play it safe. But more often than not, the curator rises to the challenge of selecting a range of music that embraces Daylight’s ethos. Terry’s session more than did that.

Heartbreak (DM343)

Ted Barnes curated DM343 with a theme of postcards from the artist to the audience. How they represent themselves in song. An interesting idea and one song in particular laid bare a heartbreaking moment.

There were the usual three acts. Ted Barnes, a Daylight stalwart had brought other Daylight stalwarts, the brilliant Samantha Waites and Gill Sandell (though sadly underused today). Julia Biel and Me For Queen. All complementing each other and all great.

I was photographing this one for Daylight. The other photographers were unavailable this week. I have to admit. I was hoping not to as I was trying to keep track of the final day of the Championship (Boro lost and didn’t get into the playoffs). I was expecting to take breaks from photographing to catch up on the football scores, but I wasn’t expecting to be knocked off my feet by one of the performers. It was Me For Queen’s song about her feelings after a miscarriage that was beautifully devastating. As a man, I can never understand the pain. But the song opened the door slightly on the pain and loss experienced after a miscarriage. It was truly special. It is these little moments that make Daylight so special.

A privilege (DM349)

Daylight regularly showcases young early-career artists from places like Goldsmiths and some of the feeder ensembles orchestras have. These are truly some of the most inspirational Daylight sessions. Seeing the talent of young musicians is humbling. However, one that was very special was DM349 featuring The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s Experience Ensemble. The performance was simply wonderful. I felt privileged to photograph the soundcheck and see the frankly amazing tutoring of Maggie, the professional leading the ensemble. The time she gave these young musicians was great to see. She never once criticised their playing. Instead, helped each young artist find the right way to play each piece. I work in education. I’ve seen many good educators, so I know how to judge one. Maggie was inspirational. It was honestly a privilege to see behind the curtain and see the inspirational people who help turn a good musician into a great musician.

The Snow Queen: DM331

Daylight always tries new things. DM331 was something different. The entire session was given over to London Dreamtime, who along with Cunning Folk, told the story of the Snow Queen through words and music.

It was an enchanting afternoon with audience participation and lots of smiling children (and many adults) and as Hans Christian Andersen’s story vividly unfolded, Cunning Folk added songs from the likes of Bowie, Nirvana, Doors and Led Zeppelin which oddly didn’t seem out of place.

Lost Map

Closing off why I feel Daylight Music is so special. Let me introduce you to the Pictish Trail and more precisely Lost Maps Records.

As mentioned, Daylight Music regularly explores building relationships with small record labels. Lost Map is a Scottish label based on the Isle of Eigg, with a great stable of artists that has included artists such Rozi Plain, Callum Easter, Bas Jan, Alabaster dePlume, Tuff Love, Ed Dowie, plus the inimitable Pictish Trail himself.

Several of the label’s artists have played at different sessions. Every few years, Daylight effectively hosts Lost Maps’ London Christmas party. Each of these sessions is a fun event. If you have never seen the Pictish Trail, he is extremely charismatic and extremely enthusiastic about his artists. These Christmas events are usually very popular. Since Lockdown, the relationship has grown even stronger, with additional summer sessions in London and Kent.

It is these close relationships with small labels that makes Daylight so important. It provide labels and artists with an audience who are willing to listen to something new and they in return provide Daylight Music with a constant stream of new and interesting artists that keep the sessions going.

I’m sure many of these small labels appreciate the efforts Ben put in to keep Daylight Music going, allowing their artists a chance to play an amazing venue. I know I appreciate Ben bringing these artists to me.

Daylight Music is special. Come along and see for yourself and if you are feeling generous, you might want to help support the series through their regular crowdfunders or buy a tea towel! Discover more about Daylight Music at https://www.daylightmusic.co.uk

I had started 2020 positively. This website was completely revamped. I switched the site from blog to more of a magazine layout. I moved my music tweets and photographs to new accounts under the relaunched ‘Down at the Front’ name. My intention was to pick up a few more photo passes and to document more of the gigs I photographed. I also planned to go to less gigs to help me save for another SXSW trip in 2021. Hopefully, using the revamped content filled website as a means of getting a SXSW photo pass.

In March, everything stopped. While there has been limited socially distanced gigs since September, I personally do not feel COVID numbers justified venues opening, so I’ve stayed away. Online gigs have been mildly diverting, but most suffer from a lack of production values, with artists playing to their mobile phone with inevitable poor sound, video and a lack of atmosphere.

Best Festival: Rockaway Beach

Unbelievably, I managed to get to a festival. Rockaway Beach takes place in January at Butlins in Bognor Regis. It’s usually has a small lineup which usually leaves me wanting more. But this year, I decided to use the festival to blow away the post-Christmas blues and I am really glad I did. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have managed to get to a festival.

Best Gig: Life at Rockaway Beach

Gig of the year was by Life. Again showing they are ready to play bigger stages. They blew away the Rockaway Beach crowd with their usual mixture of great tunes and exuberant performance.

Band of the year: The Murder Capital

I gave my album of the year in 2019 to the Fontaines DC. But in hindsight, The Murder Capital’s ‘When I Have Fears’ should have been album of the year. It’s the album I’ve returned to most often. I find ‘On Twisted Ground’ simply beautiful and its emotion heft makes the Murder Capital live gigs special. A moment of reflection their counterparts lack. The Electric Ballroom gig, unfortunately showed this song may not make the transition with them to the larger venues. With a number of the drunk crowd struggling to keep quiet. But I hope to god it stays in the set. It’s a beautiful song.

Best new band: Black Country New Road

It wasn’t the greatest year for discovering new music. Odd Morris and Working Men’s Club were both excellent supports for Murder Capital at the 100 Club and I will definitely try and catch both again.

At this year’s Rockaway Beach festival, the afternoon sessions again threw up some interesting new bands. Eyesore and the Jinx,  The Sweet Release of Death and Trupa Trupa were new discoveries. Rockaway also gave me the opportunity to finally catch up with a band I’ve had tickets to see, but never managed to catch them, Black Country New Road.

Best gig photo: Life

Life were great to photograph at Rockaway Beach. I think this photo tells it’s own story

Album of the Year: Now Here’s An Echo From Your Future – Girls In Synthesis

As mentioned on my rundown of 2020 albums. It’s been a very odd year. I’ve listened to more music. But I’ve not listened to the same depth as normal due to the lack of commuting to work in the car or on the train to gigs. I’m still very much in my post-punk phase. There’s so many good bands out there at the moment. The one that stood out this year was Girls In Synthesis’ excellent album ‘Now Here’s an echo from your Future’.

EP of the Year: 176 – POZI

I don’t normally list EPs. But I’ve played 176 by Pozi, more than anything else. Catchy post-punk violin fused pop at its best.

January

Despite the sudden end to 2020’s gigging. I did manage to get to one festival. Rockaway Beach festival in January.

February

March

However, normally, while I listen to music while working. Most of my listening is on my drive to work, travelling to gigs or my weekend walks. Without those activities, I’ve think overall, I’ve spent less time listening to music. This has meant many albums only got a single listen and it has made it really difficult to draw up a ‘top’ list this year. So I have a top five (plus an EP) that I listened to a lot, then the rest aren’t ranked. Rather controversially, my ‘Album’ of the Year is an EP!

1. 176 – EP – Pozi
2. Now Here’s An Echo From Your Future – Girls In Sythessis
3. Navaraa: Nine Emotions – Yorkston/Thorne/Khan
4. Architecture – Ist Ist
5. Kompromat – I Like Trains
6. In This Moment – Polly Scatrgood

And in no particular order, the rest of my ‘Top 20’

• Rebecca – Clint Mansell
• The Cool Greenhouse – The Cool Greenhouse
• Hether Blether – Elrand Cooper
• In The House – Lewsberg
• Folkesange – Mykrur
• Some Time Alone – Pale Honey
• Every Bad – Porridge Radio
• Fad – Silverbacks
• Yesterday’s Gone – Dana Gavanski
• West of Eden – HMTLD
• Kitchen Sink – Nadine Shah
• Idles – Fontaines DC
• True History of the Kelly Gang – Jed Kurzel
• Atomic Legacies – Xenia Pestova Benntet
• All or Nothing – Shopping

Day 1

Unlike the real TGE, I travelled virtually down to Brighton on the day. Luckily, the real world power cuts on the line to Brighton, didn’t affect my virtual train.

There were no issues with early check-in and TGE registration was amazingly quick (although to be fair, I’m usually pretty much first in the queue on a Wednesday night, so I’ve never had issues registering in the past)

Virtual festival going, is a breeze.

Arrived in virtual Brighton. Time to check-in and pick up my photo pass. #virtualtge2020 pic.twitter.com/EWleT03pPJ

— Down At The Front (@DownFront) May 14, 2020

The way I had decided to make it work was to use my living room, office and garden as venues. Each time, I changed venues, I had to move location, sometimes also doing five minutes on the exercise bike. It’s not the same as the 15 minute rush between venues, but it meant moving venue had some penalty.

Starting the festival were Sons of Raphael at the Hope and Ruin. They are two brothers with a fixation of religious imagery and noisy guitars. Most of the Youtube clips I could find were promotional videos. They were one of the few bands without any kind of live video presence. It’s hard therefore to judge them. I enjoyed what I saw. But the few Youtube clips were a bit shouty. Because of this, I decided to move on to the Prince Albert

Belako are a Basque band and completely new to me. As I was essentially catching the end of their set. I only watched two clips. Both featured a strong keyboard sound. The lineup appeared to be different in each clip, as did the sound. The earlier video had a strong post-punk vibe. The second clip seemed pretty unremarkable bland indie ballad. This had the later date. I guess they have changed their sound. But I would be willing to give them another listen.

Next up was Tragic Sasha at the Green Door Store for two songs – as I wanted to catch San Cisco at Patterns, which is a good 20 minute walk in the real world. She had a nice voice, but the music was pretty much generic singer songwriter fare. Far too much of it around. You need to have more than a good voice to stand out.

San Cisco were a band I saw at SXSW. I seem to remember enjoying them at the time. But in all honesty, I couldn’t remember anything about them. I thought I would give them another go and see if they would leave a strong memory this time. They’re an Aussie band with a breezy indie pop sound. The perfect sound for having a lazy day in the sun. (I was watching them in the ‘garden venue’). It’s probably why I enjoyed them in Austin. I could listen to the music all day as I kicked back in the sun. But that’s kind of the problem. It’s the sound that accompanies you, rather than taking hold and giving you a good shake. Again, I couldn’t tell you what they sounded like. Just that I enjoyed their set and I’m honestly not sure that is good enough.

My original plan was to see Miss Jane at the Hope and Ruin. But playing the game fairly. It would be pretty impossible to catch much of their set in the real world. Patterns to Hope is a good 20 minutes. So I decided to stick to a close-by venue and head to watch a band based purely on their name, Walt Disco. I am really glad I did. Just like the real festival, it’s stumbling upon unexpected bands that make festivals like The Great Escape so good.

Walt Disco are a theatrical Glaswegian band. Very much in the mould of the New Romantics and similar in the style of fellow Glaswegian band, Ninth Wave. I wasn’t initially keen on the singer’s voice. But on the second track, he went all ‘Freddie Mercury operatic’. All gloriously campy gothic. I decided to go with it there were some great clips of live shows in Glasgow.

After Walt Disco it was the short hop to Komedia for Diana Gavanski. Another singer songwriter. I enjoyed her set, but again, I felt like I had heard it all before.

You hit the point in every festival where you hit an artist your really don’t like. The thing I love about SXSW is that I can simply walk next door. This is why it’s the greatest music festival in the World. I have mentioned this in previous TGE reviews, the venues in Brighton are too widely spaced. which means if you do make a poor choice, you often have no easy alternatives. This was the first time my virtual festival threw in one of these bands.

The band in question was an Australian band called ‘Gang of Youths’. They really weren’t my thing. They have a big rock band sound. You know the type. All anthemic but without any edge. Radio friendly for indie music fans who don’t like indie music. I virtually moved on.

Next up were shouty punk from Chroma. I struggled to find any real live stuff. Mainly because their name was so generic (why don’t bands google their bloody names) and they seem to share their name with a long standing wedding covers band. So it was difficult to judge them. I liked what I saw. But I reserve judgement

Nearing the end of the first afternoon session, I decide to stick to the nearest venue. Again, a band with no live output, this time Toshin. Not much I can say. I called it quits and decided to head off to find some food.

When I constructed the schedule, there was a bit of method and a lot of madness. Taking my queue from past festivals. I decided the Dome (I don’t like the newer beach venue) was to be my headliner stage. The two obvious headliners were Fontaines and Hayley Williams. So both were given 1 hour slots on consecutive nights. I decided Concorde would have ‘2nd headliners’. Putting the local band Magic Gang on one evening and Ghostpoet the other.

I then created a few themed sessions.

Often a music magazine curates one of the stages, so DIY were given Green Door Store. The BBC always have an Introducing stage, usually at Paganini’s. Then were are the regional stages, with the usual suspects, Australia and Canada, joined by Ireland, as there appeared to be a lot of Irish artist on this year’s lists. I also filled up the slots at the Unitarian Church and One Church with classical and singer songwriters.

There’s the method.

The madness came from the fact every other artist was randomly pasted into a venue without really taking notice of their popularity or if they clashed. (or on my own pre-festival list of who to catch)

And this was where the problem came. When I went through the list of artists I had pencilled in. I suddenly had a very ‘clashy’ Thursday evening. With the hand-picked DIY stage being full or bands I wanted to see and the clashes often in venues like Patterns or The Hub. There was simply no way in the real world I could move between them. So it meant a lot of interesting bands, were off the agenda. Like the real world, it was the case of sticking to a venue for most of the evening. In this case the DIY stage.

First up were Lazarus Kane. I’ve seen them before. I didn’t particularly like them. Tonight, I was a little bit more impressed, but still left at the end with a fairly ambivalent attitude to them. I just can’t connect with the singer.

Dream Nails followed on the DIY stage at the Green Door Store. I hadn’t realised I had seen them before. They were a support band for Cherry Glazer (who I didn’t like). But I had first been to a Rough Trade gig, so arrived late, catching one song. What I saw on YouTube I enjoyed. But they aren’t somebody I would necessary rush out to see as a headline act

It turned out I had also seen the next band, Silverbacks, supporting Fontaines D.C.. I really enjoyed them tonight. They have a post-punk sound, often veering off in the Sonic Youth style guitar noise. But for most the time, pretty chilled in a Parquet Courts kind of way

One band I wanted to catch were ARXX who I had been listening to pre-festival. It turns out the racket I had been listening to was made by two people in pretty much a classic garage rock format. While, I enjoyed the clips I saw, they mainly featured the same songs. So again, I will reserve judgement.

In this fictional TGE, I decided that unlike in the real world. There was a chance to catch the end of the Fontaines set at the Dome. At the real festival, the headliners tend to be popular and the Dome often fills up early with big queues outside. I’ve only had a photo pass since they moved to the Beach venue. I assume though, I would have been allowed in for three songs – so I applied the ‘three songs and I’m out’ rule. As you would expect. There are some excellent Fontaines clips on Youtube.

I called it quits after the Fontaines and headed to a bar (fridge).

Day 2

The afternoon of Day 2 was dominated by Canada and Ireland’s showcase at Green Door Store and Horatios. This is the nightmare schedule. Two extremes of the map and a 20-25 minute walk between the two. As often with this festival. The scheduler really needs to be replaced. This is also why TGE will never be SXSW as it often seems to aspire to be. At SXSW, there’s 30 venues in a 15 minute walk. At TGE, there’s a 15 minute walk between venues. Making the wrong choice is costly at TGE.

Starting off to Horatios. The plan was to see Melts, meander up to Hope and Ruin and then finally end up back at Horatios for Sinead O’Brien.

It turns out this was a good plan. Melts, the first band, were one of my favourites of the weekend. Waves upon waves to great psych music.

After Melts I made a quick dash to Queens Hotel for Alicia Edelweiss. I really wish I hadn’t bothered. While I enjoyed some aspects of the music. I really did not enjoy Alicia’s voice. At times, I found it too affected and really out of tune. I ‘left’ after two songs and went back to Horatios to catch a song of Soda Blonde, who were too pop for me, before treking up to Komedia to catch the last song of Eve Owen.

Another cool band, The Cool Greenhouse, with an infectious sound played the Hope and Ruin. They were new to me, but I will definitely try and catch them again.

After a short trip to see Taylor Janzen at the Green Door Store as part of the Canadian showcase, I headed down to Komedia to see on the of buzzy bands of the festival PVA. I’m sure TGE place the buzzy bands into Komedia Studio on purpose so people have to queue to see them and these queues help contribute to the ‘buzz’ around the band. In PVAs case. While I can kind of see why there is a buzz. But they didn’t work for me.

Closing off the morning was Sinead O’Brien via one song of Mr Ben and the Bens at the Queens Hotel. The Bens are just too fun to miss and perfect indie for any festival.

Closing the afternoon was the always excellent Sinead O’Brien. Sinead and her band have quickly grown into one of my favourite bands around at the moment. Sinead’s storytelling, combined with guitar that arches around the stories, driving everything forward, really works for me.

The evening session started with Talk Show. Starting off a strong evening lineup. They’re one of my tips for 2020. Just a bloody good, fun band. Tonight playing the Green Door Store, they produced a storming performance that left everyone in the room with the same impression.

After Talk Show, I headed to headed to one of my favourite venues. It’s odd. It’s actually a terrible venue. It has terrible beer. It’s basically a posh function room. But, I like it. It’s where BBC host their introducing stage and therefore there’s always decent music. Tonight, was no exception.

I have a rule. If Steve Lamacq is in attendance, you are in the right venue. The next band, Bambara, are one of Steve’s current favourites. In fact I think we might have discovered them at the same time at SXSW where they put in several blistering performances. Tonight, on a much bigger stage, they showed that edge that caused them to stand out at SXSW. You can see why they have supported the Idles. They have that edge missing from many post-punk bands.

After Bambara’s excellent set it was a rush up to The Green Door Store to catch Girls in Synthesis. As is normal with this venue on Friday and Saturday evenings, it was a case of waiting to squeeze in to the back of the packed room. Thankfully I catch one of my favourite sets of the weekend. I’m surprised I’ve not seen them before in London. They are my kind of thing, with an edgy post-punk sound and great live performance. Definitely one to watch.

Sadly, they clashed with one of my other tips for 2020, Egyptian Blue, who were playing the Hope and Anchor. In real life, there’s pretty much no chance of getting into this venue on a Friday night without having to queue. (Can’t remember if you can jump the queue with a photo pass). So normally, it wouldn’t be worth heading down to catch their last song. But I made an exception in the virtual world, as it was good to catch up with them again (and another excuse for a real photo!)

The three options at this point were to stay and watch Public Practice, who I enjoyed at SXSW 2019, watch Chubby and the Gang at Paganini’s or Hayley Williams at the Dome. In real life, I think at this time of night. I wouldn’t go rushing off and I would stick with the the Hope and Ruin and take the opportunity when the crowd grabs a beer to get to the front to grab some photos. So that’s what I decided and I stayed and watched Public Practice who were every bit as good as I remember from SXSW.

Closing the evening were another a band I had seen before, Qlowski. They had played the Horn in St Albans in February as one of the support acts and while initially I wasn’t sure, as the set progressed, I really enjoyed where it headed and I was left really impressed. Tonight, was equally good. Another band to keep an eye on.

Day 3

I hate reaching the last day of a festival. You know you are going to soon have to leave the festival bubble and return to the real world. Even at a city festival like The Great Escape, you end up in a bubble. While everyone else goes about the weekend shop or is heading to work, I’m rushing between venues, always focused on who to see next. Even food is controlled by the festival, grab a bite here, bite there. I’d stay in festival world forever. Oddly, the same had happened with my virtual festival. Everything was revolving around the timings of the festival.

Like at SXSW, Australia always put on a strong showing at The Great Escape. While there’s usually free food and drink at SXSW, Australia still make sure they bring a healthy supply of new acts to the UK.

At a normal TGE I rarely go to the Australian events. It’s not because the bands are poor. Far from it. Australia has many fine acts. No, it’s simply because on the Sunday after TGE, they take their Aussie BBQ to London’s Hoxton Square and I know I can catch most of the acts the next day.

With ‘one thing and another’, I decided to catch as many of the bands as I could at the VTGE and spent most of the morning bouncing between the two Komedia stages catching Bananagun, Ali Baxter, Lime Cordial, Evie Irie, and Spacey Jane before heading out of the venue to catch The Snuts at the Green Door Store (who I thought were awful).

Overall, the standard was high. Bananagun and Spacey Jane were good. Ali Baxter was a big surprise. However, Eviei Irie was far too pop and did little for me and I took the opportunity to grab some lunch

Closing the morning was Mabes at the Green Door Store (pleasant) and Hayley Mary, the lead singer of a band I’ve seen quite a few times, the Jezabels, playing her solo stuff. I was really impressed.

As Jezabels lead singer, Hayley doesn’t play instruments and does a proper front-person job of performing each song, discarding the mic stand and making sure she earns her keep. But playing her own stuff, she stayed behind the microphone playing guitar and the performance was more through her vocals. I have to admit, I really enjoyed her performance.

I find at every festival, even SXSW, there are times when you hit a quiet spot where it’s not possible to find anything interesting. Saturday evening turned into one of those periods.

The Lazy Eyes started the evening off well in Patterns. Enjoyable psych. Although I did feel that there wasn’t anything particularly different to set them apart from recent psych bands

The next band, John, I have tried to catch and have missed. I have heard many great reviews about them and was looking forward to seeing them. However, I wasn’t overly impressed. Another garage setup. I thought they sounded a bit like Japandroids, quite heavy but nothing jumped out and new or interesting. Enjoyable, but not enough to drag me into London to catch them another time.

Eventually, Love’N’Joy popped up and surprised me. Another psych band, but one with an expanded sound palette drawing in other 60s and 70s styles, giving them an edge.

Closing my evening were Los Bitchos. An instrumental Psych band with a touch of the latin groove. I’ve seen them before. They are good. I just feel they are missing a vocalist.

So there you go. Thanks to a lot of YouTube clips. I managed to put together my own virtual TGE. It wasn’t the same. How could it be? But, I have to admit. I rarely trawl Youtube for new music, assuming most videos are pretty rubbish. But there’s some really good live recordings for many bands and as somebody missing live music. This was a welcome and enjoyable diversion.

As it happened (on Twitter)

The Subways returned to touring at Club 85 to celebrate 15 years of their album ‘Young for Eternity’. This was a warmup gig before they head out on the road and it felt like a bit of a party with lots of smiles, lots of talking to the audience and just generally a really nice atmosphere.

Playing the album in full and in order. The Subways played some lesser played songs such as She Sun along with the 3 minute album versions of fan favourite Rock and Roll Queen.

Support was from Salvation Jayne

Set List:

• I Want To Hear What You Have Got to Say
• Holiday
• Rock and Roll Queen (Album edit)
• Mary
• Young For Eternith
• Lines of Light
• Oh Yeah
• City Pavement
• No Goodbyes
• With You
• She Sun
• Somewhere
• At 1am
• We Don’t Need Money To Have A Good Time
• Girls and Boys
• This Is The Club
• Just Like Jude
• Audience choice: Turnaround? Celebrity? Shake! Shake!
• Clock
• I Won’t Let You Down
• Incantation
• Rock and Roll Queen (Live version)

I never expected to write this review.

Sometimes surprises aren’t all positive

Torres over the last few years has been consistently amongst my favourite artists. All her albums have been amongst my favourites of the year and in 2015, Torres was my favourite artist who produced the best album and put on the best gig of the year . I have never seen a bad performance from Torres, and I still haven’t. Kind of…

The evening started badly. It wasn’t possible to drive to my home railway station as the motorway was closed so I had to drive a station where there are less frequent and slower trains which meant it was going to be a very late night.

Arriving at Highbury and Islington, I was directed to catch a bus as the Overground was closed due to a power failure. The bus had just departed and the next one was 20 minutes later. So I headed off walking to Hackney, figuring that I could pick a bus up on the way.

20 minutes later, the right bus hadn’t passed so I took a more direct route to the venue. Arriving drenched through, thinking I would buy a Torres t-shirt so I had dry clothes. No, no merch. I had to apply the old drying clothes under the hand dryer routine. To cap off the trip, it turns out Beats headphones aren’t waterproof and they started to play up when I tried to switch them off! Not a good start to the evening…..

Still…… It’s Torres. Torres. Torres who never fails to impress…….

Torres was touring with a new band to support her new excellent album, Silver Tongue. While, I don’t think it is her strongest album, by all other metrics, it’s a great album and will most likely feature in my top albums of the year. So I had no worries about this being another blinding Torres gig.

Unfortunately, I didn’t factor in both the venue’s sound and the new band. In my usual position, ‘Down at the Front’, there’s always the risk that the sound in a small venue is a mixture of sound system, amps and monitors. I’m not sure if some of the monitors were really loud, but the sound balance was awful. With Torres low in the mix and her new guitarist and drummer over-powering the sound.

Normally, this isn’t too detrimental. But I’m not sure the band members were suited for Torres music and the sound balance seemed to highlight this. The drummer (who looked familiar) had a very big sound, like he was backing an arena rock band. Often, the drum patterns didn’t seem to be for the same songs. At certain points it was really distracting as he powered through songs significantly altering their dynamics.

Also really distracting was the second guitarist/slide guitarist. Slide is an acquired taste and to be honest, the slide guitar wasn’t too distracting but equally, it didn’t enhance songs I had heard previously. However, it was when the guitarist switched from slide and acted as a second guitar that things went really wrong.

I have seen Thurston Moore loads of times. Thurston likes surrounding himself with guitarists who are interested in building music from lawyers of noise and who can improvise. The guitarist seemed to be a lost member of a defunct Thurston Moore band. Playing lots of noise and feedback on his guitar that often appeared to be improvised. I suspect this would actually work if it wasn’t for how loud he was in the mix. Whenever he played, he completely drowned out Torres’s guitar and vocals and his scratchy guitar became really distracting. I hope it was monitor leak and on a different night at a different venue, I would love the sound. But tonight, the balance really undermined my enjoyment of the gig.

Given all the travel issues and how much I had been looking forward to this gig. This was a major disappointment. When I could hear Torres she was her usual self. Her stage and vocal performance was up to her usual standards, but tonight it seemed like there was less of Torres performing and this was more of a shared performance. Maybe that’s the direction she wants to head. But having seen Torres hold a Primevera crowd in rapt appreciation with just her guitar and her amazing voice. I didn’t feel new band enhanced her sound. I wanted more Torres

With all the disruption to the Overground, I could see that the later train had been cancelled and it would lead to a lot of waiting around at stations and a very late night before I got home. At all previous Torres performances, I would have been happy to accept this. Tonight, I didn’t feel that way and I sadly bailed on the last song as I didn’t want to hear another song undermined by a poor sound mix. I suspect this was a one-off. I really hope so.

Set List:

• Good Scare
• Dressing America
• Three Futures
• Last Forest
• Cowboy Guilt
• Record of Your Tenderness
• Skim
• Sprinter
• New Skin
• A Few Blue Flowers
• Honey
• Gracious Day
• Good Grief
• Helen In The Woods