Christopher Nosnibor
As was the case with the previous instalment of Blowing Up the House, an event curated by local legends Percy, the lineup on the night bears almost no resemblance to the one advertised when the event was announced, but the one we got was perhaps even better. Certainly, no-one’s complaining, and plenty of people have turned out despite the early stages of a storm bringing some heavy rain.
Tonight is a night of mixed emotions: it’s the penultimate gig hosted by The York Vaults, a grass roots venue within spitting distance of the train station with a capacity of around 100, which has hosted some great, great gigs, hosting out of town touring acts as well as local bands cutting their teeth and building fanbases. It’s also a magnificent celebration of the quality and range of acts on the York scene, the likes of whom have been mainstay features of the venue’s listings – alongside the inevitable tribute acts, who, love them or loathe them, are major draws and bring essential revenue to this type of venue.
The fact the Vaults is closing is a major blow to live music in York, and is just one more example of the painful collapse of the grassroots circuit.
Relative newcomers and homegrown talents Deathlounge, who pitch themselves as exponents of alt-rock / emo, serve up a grungy alty rocky racket, and there’s a hint of Fugazi, a dash of post-hardcore. As much as they do incorporate elements of contemporary alternative, there are times that they sound like a band you’d hear on John Peel in the early 90s. The mid-set slowie, I’m convinced, had the same chord sequence ‘Two Princes’ by The Spin Doctors. They’re far and away at their best when they’re on the attack, whacking out infectious riffs nailed to a solid rhythm section, and as openers, they’re hard to fault.
Deathlounge
The same can’t be said in all honesty of The Sound of Glass… One man, a guitar and a machine that does the rest. Last time I saw ‘them’, back in 2010, they were a full band going simply by the name of Glass. It’s not clear what happened to the rest of the band, but Alexander King, sporting a vest, delivers some terrible posturing, some terrible lyrics, some terrible American affectations, and a terrible mix with the drums almost completely buried. Unfortunately, his chat between songs isn’t: “We are The Sound of Glass… All of us. This is a song about mad cow disease. Sing along if you know the words….” To make matters worse, some ultra-wanky guitar solos interrupt the flow of some cringe AOR cack and the occasional power ballad. It may be forgivable to an extent, and there is absolutely no questioning his technical proficiency – the guy is clearly an outstanding musician: the main issue remains that as a performer and songwriter, he’s just not nearly as good as he thinks he is.
The Sound of Glass
Fat Spatula sit at the opposite end of the spectrum and are completely devoid of pretension. The start of their set is delayed a few minutes by a pedal malfunction, which turns out to be confusing the input and output. Their brand of US -influenced indie rock is definitely best experienced at high volume, and tonight they deliver a rambunctious set with decibels. Singer / guitarist Neil looks like he has to really concentrate to sing and play simultaneously at a hundred miles an hour, and it’s endearing to see such effort going onto a performance – and his level of effort is matched by the rest of the band, who are sounding their tightest yet. It’s indie played like it’s punk, fast and hard. A song that may or may not be called ‘Jesus in my Bed’ resembles The Vaselines’ ‘Molly’s Lips’ (as popularised by Nirvana). Bassist Presh leaps and bounces and pogos endlessly and Jamie’s drumming is so hard-hitting it takes the top off your head, and the band’s energy is infectious.
Fat Spatula
Knitting Circle have been getting out and about further afield in recent months, and there’s a certain pride in thinking that they’re going nationwide representing York as an act of such outstanding quality. They’re still relatively new, but have everything absolutely together, and they’re straight in with jarring guitar lines and thumping bass and drums. The sparsely-arranged songs are played hard and loud. The guitar is a smash of treble, and they push a single chord to its limit. A lot of their set sounds like The Fall circa This Nation’s Saving Grace, and there’s a strong dose of Gang of Four in there, but a whole lot more besides: they sit comfortably in the milieu of math-tinged noise-rock that’s been emerging from Leeds in recent years – think Thank, perhaps.
Knitting Circle
“Is my guitar too loud? I’ll turn it down”, says Jamie Wilson as he switches instruments. There truly is a first time for everything, and to hear a guitarist volunteering to turn their amp down is proof that Knitting Circle are a bit different. The ‘no guns, no borders’ call for peace is genuinely affecting, while the choppy angularity of ‘I Am the Fox’ brings a rush of dynamism and a tight groove.
Knitting Circle
They really earned the calls for an encore, which they obliged with a tidy instrumental cut to round off a top night, the likes of which only happen in venues like this.
Stuck record be damned, you can pay fifty, sixty, a hundred quid – or, indeed, several hundred quid – to see a major-league artist in a massive, massive venue and watch them from afar, or perhaps on screens, but you simply cannot beat the experience of standing within feet of the band, surrounded by people who are deeply passionate about real live music, who shut up and watch the bands instead of gabbing loudly through performances, and where you’ll probably recognise a number of faces, likely some well enough to chat to between acts, and feel the warmth of community. And you cannot put a price on that.
Aural Aggravation 