Playing out their skins
Mostly Autumn, The Cathouse, Glasgow, 6th May 2011

"Hello Cardiff!” might not be the expected cry from the stage after the opening number of Mostly Autumn’s first show on their spring-summer UK tour, especially when you understand the show in question was in Glasgow.
Nor would you expect it to be well received by a Weegie crowd.

But as it relates to what became a humorous to and fro between the audience and singer Olivia Sparnenn at the same venue last year when she accidentally referred to Glasgow as Cardiff, it was met with good-natured acknowledgement.
And one of the loudest cheers of the night.

It also tells you quite a lot about the comfort-level and relationship that exists between the vocalist and Mostly Autumn fans.
Olivia Sparnenn is now very comfortable in her role as lead vocalist, a position that became hers when Heather Findlay decided to step away from the band just over a year ago. And that’s a hard act to follow.

Sparnenn also played her part in moving the band on from their spirit of autumn past and there is a second wind in the song-sails of the good ship Mostly Autumn. Their latest album, ‘Go Well Diamond Heart,’ is arguably their strongest since the brilliant ‘Passengers’ some four albums and seven years before it. 

As regards the gig, the set-list had been changed around a little from the last tour, as would be expected, but the classic staples of the Mostly Autumn songbook still form the core of the show.

It was small crowd in not the greatest of venues (again, which I’ll come back to at the end of this review) but that doesn’t stop founder member and Mostly Autumn main man Bryan Josh bringing the band up north or give anything but 100%.
And they clearly love to play up here, which is genuinely appreciated.
Whether playing to one hundred dedicated fans in a club, larger theatre audiences or thousands at a festival, Mostly Autumn give the same effort of performance every time. And each member plays their part...

Bassist Andy Smith and drummer Gavin Griffiths drive the sound from the engine room and together create an incessant energy, especially evident on heavier numbers like ‘Fading Colours.’
Keyboard player Iain Jennings is an important part of the Autumn sound while guitarist Liam Davison is the perfect foil for Bryan Josh, adding his own six-string flourishes on occasion (such as the intro to ‘Spirit of Autumn Past’).
Ann-Marie Helder completes the line-up on additional keyboards, backing vocals and featured spots on flute.

Highlights this time around included fan-favourite ‘Evergreen,’ a return to the set for the Floyd-esque ‘The Last Climb,’ the title track of the latest album, ‘Violet Skies’ (also from Diamond Heart and dedicated to Heather Findlay) and a poignant ‘Passengers.’
There were also two unexpected and impromptu covers performed…

Three songs in to the set there was a very discernable sound like a gunshot from the stage.
That turned out to be courtesy of Gavin Griffiths who, on the night, played out of his skin – his drum skin, to be specific.
The Welsh sticksman (see, this is what happens when you call Glasgow Cardiff) had managed to kick drum pedal the bejesus out of his bass drum skin and, as any drummer or musician will tell you, it’s not exactly an eight second Formula 1 tyre change to switch over a drum skin.
During the ten-minute changeover Iain Jennings entertained the crowd with a solo piano rendition of Errol Garner’s jazz standard ‘Misty,’ which was followed by Bryan Josh twanging out a version of ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky.’

Improvised fun that it was the repercussions were unfortunate, which brings me back to the comments made about the venue earlier.
The Cathouse is also a late-night club venue and more times than not live acts have to be on and off early. Mostly Autumn was no exception and, exactly as had happened last year at the same venue, they were on well before all of the audience had arrived. They were also on a schedule and had to finish by a specified time.

The pre-arranged break in their performance along with the drum skin issue meant the second set was a little rushed, including a truncated version of their traditional finale ‘Heroes Never Die,’ a few blistering bars of Bryan Josh’s emotional soloing shorter than usual.
 
The Cathouse is also notorious for not advertising acts that are playing if they don’t fit the profile more commonly associated with the venue and it’s clear that many of what I would describe as the band’s sleeper fan-base didn’t even know they were playing. Or didn’t find out until it was too late.

Bryan Josh did mention they would be back again around October and they are clearly doing everything they can to re-establish themselves as one of the premier classic rock progressive outfits in the country.

But for that to happen, certainly north of the border, other venues must be considered.

Bryan – we have to talk…

Ross Muir
May 2011