Let's go round again...
Lifesigns - Backstage at the Green, Kinross, 9th November 2018
Lifesigns - Backstage at the Green, Kinross, 9th November 2018
The irony to the name of the outstanding modern melodic prog outfit featuring the singer-songwriter and keyboard talents of John Young, drummer Martin "Frosty" Beedle, bassist Jon Poole, guitarist / keyboardist Dave Bainbridge and fifth member, sound man par excellence Steve Rispin, is there was the genuine worry of a lack of Lifesigns at the Backstage venue at the Green Hotel in Kinross.
But not because of any lack of noteworthiness or musical sophistication within the progressive musicality of the band.
The concern was more to do with the fact that, prior to the band’s run of three Scottish dates, there had only been a couple of sightings north of the border and never on the other side of the Firth of Forth.
Nor are they a full-time touring proposition – each Lifesigns member has other projects or is in demand elsewhere (prime example being John Young’s long-time role as keyboard player for the seemingly ever-touring Bonnie Tyler).
But the Lifesigns ripple effect is lapping around territories even the band might not have expected.
The intimate, friendly and inviting Backstage room (every Scottish gig going fan needs to attend a concert there at least once in their musical lives) wasn’t a sell-out but it was a very busy night for the all seated venue, given voice by a vociferous and appreciative audience who also gave Lifesigns a standing ovation at set’s end.
It was an ovation that was fully deserved from an audience that was captivated right from first song 'Open Skies,' a rhythmic and pulsating number that goes back to the days of the John Young Band and Young’s excellent 2002 singer-songwriter album Significance, recently re-released via a successful crowd funding campaign (having started out with label support for their 2013 debut album Lifesigns are now a fully independent band, selling themselves and their musical wares by strength of product and ever-growing fan support).
The core of the band’s two sets (split by a twenty minute leg stretching, thirst quenching and band chatting intermission) were, unsurprisingly, based around latest album Cardington, a work that has allowed Lifesigns to express themselves through the atmospheric (the funkily arranged and at times quite touching 'Different,' featuring emotive guitar remarks from Dave Bainbridge), unashamed melodic pop-craft (the radio friendly 'Chasing Rainbows' and infectious, Supertramp-esque pop of 'Impossible') and intricate yet accessible progressive numbers including the album’s tour-de-force brace of 'N' and 'Cardington.'
The former (led by a "you are freedom" non-linear lyric that allows the song to be Nything the listener wants it to be) is a shimmering and slightly jazzy melodic keyboard based affair that opened with Dave Bainbridge on additional keys and interspersed with punchy, rhythmic outbursts from Jon Poole and drummer Frosty Beedle.
Mention of the Lifesigns rhythm section leads to some necessary kudos for the Poole-Beedle tandem.
The ever animated Jon Poole (one half of the pop-tastic Dowling Poole band) was threading a melodic bass line through a song one minute and a set of punctuating, low-end notes the next; and how Frosty Beedle could be so busy on the kit without ever making the songs sound cluttered was, and is, a percussive art in itself.
The drummer is also quite the comical raconteur – his tale of their drive up to Kinross and an unfortunate pheasant heading toward them in the opposite direction, told as part narrative-part drum solo, was as funny as it was surprising (it genuinely caught the rest of the band out; they thought they were getting a simple "next song" introduction).
One of many fun moments of banter on the night, this is a band that could easily support themselves with a twenty minute opening act stand-up routine.
'Cardington,' the album’s flying the skies title track, opened the band’s second set.
A beautifully conceived long-form piece, Lifesigns got their melodic prog on to tell the tale of the famous Cardington Sheds in Bedfordshire and a bygone era that was once seen as the future of air travel.
John Young’s synths floated through the semi-cinematic number in emulation of an airship gliding through the clouds, before suitably airy guitar remarks from Dave Bainbridge and the song’s ethereal bridge set the scene for "fly high" hopes of a pioneering future that never came.
On album 'Cardington' is a song worthy of the story it tells – live, it soars even higher.
Other Cardington highlights included the Gabriel styled 'Touch,' a highly rhythmic number that’s even more spirited and vibrant live – Frosty Beedle’s drumming was so tribal you wanted to get up and shake everything you had (and some things you hadn’t).
Not to be outdone by the high flying Cardington, the band’s self-titled debut album was granted air space with outings for 'At the End of the World' and 'Carousel.'
The former, an uplifting take on a somewhat dark title, built from a melancholic beginning to a melodically rockin' and hook-laden "watch it burn, watch it fall!" lyrical finale.
'Carousel,' which closed out the second set, is a majestic and dynamic rise and fall of a song.
Opening with some striking guitar-play from Dave Bainbridge (a player so fluid it’s a wonder his notes don’t appear as liquid) the song was then dominated by John Young's cathedral like keyboard soundscapes, backed by Jon Poole and Frosty Beedle’s rhythmic interplay.
Encore numbers 'Kings' (an older instrumental piece that Steve Hackett would have been happy to call his own) and emotive ballad 'Last One Home' (a song that dates back to John Young’s time with short-lived Asia off-shoot, Qango) brought to close a show that sounded as good as the musicians' individual and collective performances, courtesy of a stellar audio mix and balance from Steve Rispin.
But then Lifesigns could play in a (Cardington) shed and get a great sound, such is Rispin’s ear and sense of a venue’s acoustics and atmospherics.
"Let’s go round again!" sang John Young at the end of 'Carousel.'
On this performance, and with that ever-increasing ripple effect mentioned earlier, I don’t doubt we all will be going round again; hopefully many times.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
But not because of any lack of noteworthiness or musical sophistication within the progressive musicality of the band.
The concern was more to do with the fact that, prior to the band’s run of three Scottish dates, there had only been a couple of sightings north of the border and never on the other side of the Firth of Forth.
Nor are they a full-time touring proposition – each Lifesigns member has other projects or is in demand elsewhere (prime example being John Young’s long-time role as keyboard player for the seemingly ever-touring Bonnie Tyler).
But the Lifesigns ripple effect is lapping around territories even the band might not have expected.
The intimate, friendly and inviting Backstage room (every Scottish gig going fan needs to attend a concert there at least once in their musical lives) wasn’t a sell-out but it was a very busy night for the all seated venue, given voice by a vociferous and appreciative audience who also gave Lifesigns a standing ovation at set’s end.
It was an ovation that was fully deserved from an audience that was captivated right from first song 'Open Skies,' a rhythmic and pulsating number that goes back to the days of the John Young Band and Young’s excellent 2002 singer-songwriter album Significance, recently re-released via a successful crowd funding campaign (having started out with label support for their 2013 debut album Lifesigns are now a fully independent band, selling themselves and their musical wares by strength of product and ever-growing fan support).
The core of the band’s two sets (split by a twenty minute leg stretching, thirst quenching and band chatting intermission) were, unsurprisingly, based around latest album Cardington, a work that has allowed Lifesigns to express themselves through the atmospheric (the funkily arranged and at times quite touching 'Different,' featuring emotive guitar remarks from Dave Bainbridge), unashamed melodic pop-craft (the radio friendly 'Chasing Rainbows' and infectious, Supertramp-esque pop of 'Impossible') and intricate yet accessible progressive numbers including the album’s tour-de-force brace of 'N' and 'Cardington.'
The former (led by a "you are freedom" non-linear lyric that allows the song to be Nything the listener wants it to be) is a shimmering and slightly jazzy melodic keyboard based affair that opened with Dave Bainbridge on additional keys and interspersed with punchy, rhythmic outbursts from Jon Poole and drummer Frosty Beedle.
Mention of the Lifesigns rhythm section leads to some necessary kudos for the Poole-Beedle tandem.
The ever animated Jon Poole (one half of the pop-tastic Dowling Poole band) was threading a melodic bass line through a song one minute and a set of punctuating, low-end notes the next; and how Frosty Beedle could be so busy on the kit without ever making the songs sound cluttered was, and is, a percussive art in itself.
The drummer is also quite the comical raconteur – his tale of their drive up to Kinross and an unfortunate pheasant heading toward them in the opposite direction, told as part narrative-part drum solo, was as funny as it was surprising (it genuinely caught the rest of the band out; they thought they were getting a simple "next song" introduction).
One of many fun moments of banter on the night, this is a band that could easily support themselves with a twenty minute opening act stand-up routine.
'Cardington,' the album’s flying the skies title track, opened the band’s second set.
A beautifully conceived long-form piece, Lifesigns got their melodic prog on to tell the tale of the famous Cardington Sheds in Bedfordshire and a bygone era that was once seen as the future of air travel.
John Young’s synths floated through the semi-cinematic number in emulation of an airship gliding through the clouds, before suitably airy guitar remarks from Dave Bainbridge and the song’s ethereal bridge set the scene for "fly high" hopes of a pioneering future that never came.
On album 'Cardington' is a song worthy of the story it tells – live, it soars even higher.
Other Cardington highlights included the Gabriel styled 'Touch,' a highly rhythmic number that’s even more spirited and vibrant live – Frosty Beedle’s drumming was so tribal you wanted to get up and shake everything you had (and some things you hadn’t).
Not to be outdone by the high flying Cardington, the band’s self-titled debut album was granted air space with outings for 'At the End of the World' and 'Carousel.'
The former, an uplifting take on a somewhat dark title, built from a melancholic beginning to a melodically rockin' and hook-laden "watch it burn, watch it fall!" lyrical finale.
'Carousel,' which closed out the second set, is a majestic and dynamic rise and fall of a song.
Opening with some striking guitar-play from Dave Bainbridge (a player so fluid it’s a wonder his notes don’t appear as liquid) the song was then dominated by John Young's cathedral like keyboard soundscapes, backed by Jon Poole and Frosty Beedle’s rhythmic interplay.
Encore numbers 'Kings' (an older instrumental piece that Steve Hackett would have been happy to call his own) and emotive ballad 'Last One Home' (a song that dates back to John Young’s time with short-lived Asia off-shoot, Qango) brought to close a show that sounded as good as the musicians' individual and collective performances, courtesy of a stellar audio mix and balance from Steve Rispin.
But then Lifesigns could play in a (Cardington) shed and get a great sound, such is Rispin’s ear and sense of a venue’s acoustics and atmospherics.
"Let’s go round again!" sang John Young at the end of 'Carousel.'
On this performance, and with that ever-increasing ripple effect mentioned earlier, I don’t doubt we all will be going round again; hopefully many times.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ