Futures at the Night Owl Cheltenham – photos.

Thrill Collins at Cheltenham Folk Festival – photos.

Stagecoach, Elephants, Thrill Collins, Candidates at the Frog and Fiddle – photos.

Below are some reviews of the bands written by Modesty Blaise:

Stagecoach

A slightly weird and satirical approach to making pop songs is always welcomed in my opinion and with a huge side order of talent and big guitary noises it makes for a musical haymaker of awesomeness. With tones of nineties Pop Punk running through and strangely enough The Cure at points through the vessel of rolling floral guitar parts.

The vocal is almost sarcastic sometimes and the lyrics compliment this unique approach; singing about tazers and chequers in the same breath is not something you hear all too often but Stagecoach manages to make it fit. It’s voices and string snapping scalelectrics riffs all over the shop with inexorable quality that makes the songs stick in your head. Also the classic rock undercurrent keeps this experimental Pop Grunge magic grounded firmly in the zone of utterly cool music. Hieroglyphics is a song that must be heard by all who have ears.

Once again the on stage antics are wildly entertaining, with stiffened limbs; myoclonic jerks and wide eyed bellowing. At the end of the set there is a riotous stage invasion by Elephants – equipment goes flying and singers get on each other’s shoulders and of course plenty of forward rolls. Their fun and frolics are totally infectious and so are they’re tunes – Stagecoach are hit and will continue to be for a while yet.

Elephants

This is a careering riot of enthusiastic trash pop that is a shock to the system and totally unavoidable, this is certainly not the Elephant in the room. It’s good for Pop to get a little out of control sometimes and that’s exactly what’s going on here, with a very stylish frontman at the helm steering writhing utter guitar madness around your ear drums with a voice both equally as powerful as it is effortless.

There wild and eccentric style is enthralling and enticing, absolutely laden with hooks and ingeniously catchy riffs also making Elephants utterly irresistible – all handclap drumming and clattering guitar work. The vocals have this slightly droning quality yet also have an awesomely honest clarity to them and coupling this with the quote-a-minute lyrics makes for something pretty unforgettable.

Not the only unforgettable thing either… stage presence and live performance has just been stepped up a notch or eighty! Utter lunacy breaks out and the band are throwing themselves around on floor and bashing guitars against their heads – total hysteria but all in the name of good clean fun. So if you are looking for some spectacularly cool pop songs and a live show that will literally excite you beyond the help of Valium then look no further than Elephants… coming to a room near you.

Coxson’s Riot

Minus one guitarist Coxson’s Riot begin their lively, raucous Pop Ska to a sparse crowd; with their fresh faced and extrovert enthusiasm that has come to be expected. Despite the apparent lack of audience the boys still frolic about the stage with wild vitality. These are a set of cooler than the cats pyjamas kids that mix their big band brass sounds with deep, fringe bobbing rock riffs to make a noise that you’d have to be a reclusive silence enthusiast not to enjoy.

Their performances are often riddled with errors and although tonight these had been largely weeded out, this shambolic and naïve approach gives this band an irresistible and endearing fun quality. This is a giant clap around the ears for all those trendier-than-thou regurgitated Synth Pop acts. Something truly fresh has been born from the vast swell of copycat youngsters that have become so arse achingly hip with their electronic experimental din that it’s now dull, bring on the trumpets indeed!

Think Vampire Weekend – Cousins. It is a teeming, sporadic instrument brawl.

Bloody Murder has this loud, dictating vocal hook complete with accusatory drumming, deeper than the ocean floor guitar riff and a trumpet that sublimely squeals it’s classy caterwaul at perfectly placed presentation slots throughout; this is a sure-fire hit. The Monkey Song is, as you would expect, like a score from the jungle book that has been ruffed up in the back streets by a group of The Special’s fans. And, of course, the unforgettable start to everyone’s weekend – Saturday Night.

So if you fancy being entertained by some trendy on the eye, youthful music enthusiasts who make music that isn’t too cool to enjoy then jump on the freight train to a Coxson’s Riot gig.

The Echoes

A band I find that is frequently mentioned around the town and often found billed at shows I never actually manage to attend The Echoes have finally finished eluding my journal notes and typewriter. So after this extended period of evasion I find a band that is not so much the sly fox of intricate boundary pushing Kindness like musical regalement I hoped it would be but rather a shiny teenage Pop noise that occasionally dips it’s toes into the fiery waters of Rock; mostly to find they couldn’t take the heat. It’s all very sweet, pin – up type Rock Pop that you can forecast to be plastered over teenage girls bedroom walls and emulated in the form of check shirt and grey hoody wearing boys pissing off their parents by playing it at 80 thousand decibels in their parents houses. But, you can’t knock it for what it is, all be it commercial and repackaged form of what has been done many times before.

All elements are present and correct – crooning Americanised vocals, tic-tac drums with the occasional symbol smash and riff and vocal hooks ah-hoy and your ready for some serious fun time Paramore, Blink mixture.

Look, this is not music for the muso, or for anyone of particular musical decorum but it is fun and it is surely listenable and for those of a younger generation could be a great gateway onto bigger and better things on the Rock Pop plane.

Stone Saloon

As Stone Saloon takes the stage it is enthralling to hear, from the off, something which I would call – proper music. This is the stuff that makes you smile uncontrollably, overwhelmed with the feeling of nostalgia, true folk in its most fabulous, reinvented form. Tones of Paul Simon run through the sound, which grounds that old school feel. The drums make you shake your ankles like a one-man band and the strong vocal harmonies gently roar though you making for some of the most easily enjoyable music you will hear for a while, or have heard for that matter.

Everything about this unfussy and natural, it puts all recent musical happenings in perspective for me; sometimes you just don’t need to tamper, just let them alone and you can be left with a joyous jamboree of uncomplicated class. Well, I lie there was a slight bit of atypical behaviour (maybe not in the deep South end of the Folk spectrum but for Cheltenham, yes) with the use of a Lapslide; this filled me up with inquisitiveness.

All though this music is fabulously unfussy it does leave you slightly parched for that real heart wrenching lyricism that features so often in Folk. It’s memorable in the sense of performance and honest in feeling yet a small amount lacking in vocal integrity and that my life is hard on the highway grit.

As the set ends I am left feeling utterly happy because that’s just how Stone Saloon makes you feel, I could very easily and willingly wear out my record needles with Stone Saloon and, I have a sneaking suspicion, that you wouldn’t mind either.

Justin Hartree who represented the charity on the night said “On behalf of Oxfam, thank you for the money raised by Kiss My Face Music. The sum of £116.64 has been passed to the fund-raising team. Please pass on thanks to the bands, their friends, and music fans who attended the event and donated.”

Photo by United Nations Development Programme.

Catherine Feeny

So the hotly anticipated Catherine Feeny now graces the Barn Stage at the Frog and Fiddle. It is clear she has rather a sizable following and I can see why, her quirky guitar and whispering, cooing vocal layering is completely captivating. She has this small, tiny little voice that bursts into the occasional soulful bellow as the guitar noises become deeper and wilder. It’s dreamlike and wondrous in parts and incredibly fingertip gentle.

A little way through the set a man called Sebastian is entered into the mix, he ups the harmony anti. Although of course there is more power with two vocals the sound still manages to cling onto its eerie bashfulness.

I think it is safe to say (despite the Netball team in the other room roaring at the top of their unrealistically manly voices) that Catherine Feeny is an incredible songstress. With her smooth and temperate voice and Sebastian’s dramatic and ardent Spanish esq guitar skills this is lovely, soulful stuff.

Chris Pureka

As this shy looking little thing walks onto the stage, guitar in arm it is to be expected that there will be no raucous stage antics here. As she begins to strum away it is a challenge to tear your ears away from this completely stripped back raw music. It builds up from quiet, meek little string picks that resonate at every note waver and then into this melodic strumming with a pulsating beat gently given off from the little box beneath her feet (it probably has some name but hey ho).

Her vocals remind me of Tracey Chapman and some of the picky bits and kaleidoscopic rhythms could be likened to that of Elliot Smith. It’s infectious and enticing as it feels just so very personal as though you were looking through the pages of a private diary, well one with a musical ability anyway. This is the kind of stuff that leaves a shiver down your spine and a thousand thoughts in your head. With haunting deep rhythms and that feeling of traditional American folk it is not surprising that the audience is completely mute and the silence is only broken by rapturous applause. So my suggestion to you is to get your self a scummy apartment or a barn, sit there and put this on vinyl; however I very much doubt that A – you can afford a barn (or a scummy apartment for that matter) or that Chris Pureka has vinyl but either way this nostalgic heart wrenching folk deserves to be appreciated for all it’s bare, rare beauty.

Midnight Mile

Sumptuous, chilled out and beautiful acoustic Folk is Midnight Mile, just gorgeous. With a female vocal that is incredibly soft with this breathy quality making you hang on every word, completely arresting. The lyricism is uncomplicated and honest fitting perfectly with the deliberately unfussy and beautiful music.

“Want to be” has this quirky little drum beat which pitter-patters like rain-wash and yet still remains prominent enough to hold your attention. Yet it would to be nice to hear a little triangle or perhaps some xylophone in the percussion section just to lift everything and give it a more of a dreamy feel. But, with banjos and harmonicas there isn’t really a lot of complaining to be done here; it’s fantastical folk perfection.

This is gentle, inoffensive ditties coupled with pensive, heart felt vocals to lift your spirits and to calm your soul. As cheesy as I sound here it is this truth, Midnight Mile are just lovely.