Well, the Music of the Andy's had done a superb job in warming up the audiences musical receptors, which were now crackling wildly, and a nicely packed room waited with excited anticipation for tonight’s headline act, the fantastic Cary Grace Band. If you've not heard of Cary Grace, that's something you really need to address, as you're missing out on some top sounds. The Cary Grace Band are a five piece: Cary Grace on guitar and analogue synth, Victoria Reyes on keyboards and other things, Andy Budge on bass, David Payne on drums and Owain Hutchings on lead guitar (although the band has seen additional temporary members such as Steffe Sharpstrings, Graham Clarke and John Garden in the past).
From the out set their performance was right on the money, each track masterfully delivered, each band member playing their part to perfection. Andy Budge provided some rich and full bass lines, and did so with gusto, really belting it out at points, whilst looking as cool as a cucumber throughout. Whilst David Payne's such a powerful drummer and so blistering was his drumming this evening, I watched as the bands logo on his base drum literally blow off in pieces. Get in there! Combined, Payne and Budge made creating a strong rhythm section look effortless and did so with finesse, creating some mighty tight rhythms. Then there was Owain Hutchings on guitar, who last time I saw the band had shared guitar duty, tonight though as solo lead guitarist I think we saw more of his skills and, man, he shone. Owain delivered some far out and nicely performed noodling in a psych rock stylee and looked like he was having a lot of fun doing it too. Now, I do love keyboards (I know I've mentioned this before), and Victoria Reyes again delivered a solid performance on keys, but not just that, she also gifted us with some great oboe (or at least I think it was an oboe, to get technical it was a blowy thing) action, lending some lovely jazz flavours to some numbers. Victoria also has a lovely voice, which she used to good effect, when she joined Cary on the harmonies, which were beautiful. Oh, and then there's Cary Grace herself. Cary has such a great vocal style and range, and she can hold a note clearly and cleanly for what appears an age. Tonight her voice was on top form and sounded fantastic, and as with when I saw her previously, her whole performance was transfixing; mesmerizing, man, Cary really has a powerful stage presence. I've come to the conclusion that playing synth must be incredibly complicated and mentally taxing, as synth players always look so serious, that said, there are a lot of buttons, knobs and slidey things to contend with. Tonight Cary's studiousness clearly paid off as she created some sumptuous musical textures, old school synth sounds are just so much richer, man. The band were firing on all cylinders and it sounded out of this world! I loved it, we all loved it. Tonight’s performance was different from the last time we saw the band. I thought tonight’s set felt and sounded heavier, with a far rockier aspect. Hey, that's no complaint, it was a slap up feast of psychedelic rock flavours and the audience were lapping it up, showing their appreciation with rapturous applause between tracks. By the end we'd all feasted like musical Mr Creosotes, that said, we could have still fitted in a waffer thin number, though sadly with only a minute left before the music polices curfew, it was not to be. The band, all smiles, appeared to have had a great time too. They'd played some great tracks from across Cary's catalogue tonight and a few masterful covers, original interpretations of some classics, I especially enjoyed their rendition of Bowie's 'Bitch Queen' (which I understand is released on an upcoming fruits de mer records release). I know, I say it often, but when you're absorbed in great music you want it to go on and on, though as is the way, all too quickly the gig was over. But just...Wow! What a great performance. A band of first class musicians, each expert in their art/s, who together tonight created pure magic in Avalon. Cheers y'all.
I was also lucky enough to pick up a copy of The Uffculme Variations, Cary Grace's live set from this years Kozfest (which I was gutted to have missed), where the band (minus Owain Hutchings), was joined by the legendary Steffe Sharpstrings and Graham Clarke. I can't wait to get my ears round that.
A big thanks to The Music of the Andy's and The Cary Grace Band for such brilliant performances, and thanks to The King Arthur for putting them on. Finally, I mustn't forget to note that, yet again, the sound at the King Arthur was spot on. Well played, dudes!
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