[Reviews] Morpheus Rising + Crimson Dream, Whitby 21/9/2012, and Warhorns
Bugger, how did I miss doing this? I really have had too much on my mind. The last Iron Lord Promotions gig was a few weeks back now, and I just realised I didn't write up a review! Apologies for that. Here we go.
I'd been looking forward to this gig for ages. Morpheus Rising and Crimson Dream had both offered to play a while back when I was looking for bands for the July show, and on hearing their material I immediately decided that I wanted to put them on as a double bill. Unfortunately, the only date I could get to do this was Friday September 21st... which turned out to be a bit of a busy day to say the least. I'd already known that this would clash with Day 1 of Warhorns Festival in York, but I didn't think there'd be that much demographic overlap between the two shows so I just resigned myself to missing the first half of Warhorns and losing a couple of my regular punters. What I didn't bargain for, as I'm not sure it had even been publicised when I put the booking in, was Limehouse Lizzy (Thin Lizzy tribute band) playing at the Whitby Pavilion on the same night. That was bad enough, but when a travelling funfair came breezing through and pitched up in the car park outside the Rifle Club, on the Tuesday immediately prior to the gig? I started to feel like the gods were laughing at me.
Still, the show goes on. Since my usual support staff scars_of_jude was unfortunately unavailable due to a family commitment, I recruited the help of my minion Tom (not on LJ) to carry a large stack of beer and food up to the venue, just in time to get there... slightly after the guys from Morpheus Rising and considerably before anyone from the venue. >_< Oops. Still, it was great to hang around and chat to their singer Simon, who is a bang-up bloke and excellent company, and have the opportunity to admire the band's tour bus - actually a cleverly converted minibus, but still, that's the first band we've had who have brought their own bus. Pretty cool. We were finally let in around six, and setup went ahead in the usual confusion of wires, amps, speakers, and venue staff telling me multiple entirely different and contradictory things about what we were supposed to/allowed to be doing. Morpheus Rising turned out, in a stroke of inspiration I've yet to see from another band, to have brought their own kettle. Somewhere in the middle of the madness Crimson Dream arrived, having made a seven-hour drive from Bedfordshire(!) and therefore being more than entitled to a bit of flexibility in their schedule, and we got going on the soundchecks.
When the doors opened, I quickly realised it was a bit quiet. More than a bit quiet. And it was dark outside, and cold and drizzly. Even the fair looked under-attended. We went ahead regardless, Crimson Dream going on at the usual 9pm or so.
I'd been won over by Crimson Dream's imaginative brand of classic NWOBHM-inspired metal on record despite the fact that they had nothing up online but a couple of instrumental-only demos, and I'd picked them for this gig very much out of a sense that this was a band who were going to go somewhere if they got the breaks. Given which, I can only say how much I regret that they ended up playing to such a thin crowd. Seeing them live they actually reminded me - in the best possible way - of my own beloved, much-missed Fire & Forget, in that while their sound is strictly metal, they put an almost punkish energy and immediacy across on stage. Performance-wise they were a little ragged here and there, but never casually slipshod - they sounded like they were giving the absolute best they had in them, they played with conviction and determination and love for their music, and they have definitely got the songs. I am really pulling for these guys, and if you see them around your neck of the woods, I recommend you give them a chance to impress you.
At changeover time I was distressed to come back to the door and find that we still only had a bare handful of people in. Indeed, we weren't the only victims of the desolation that had seized Whitby that night, as outside even the fair had shut down (which at half-nine on a Friday night was borderline unbelievable). I was righteously pissed off, though, to discover that about twice that many people were sitting in the other bar and repeatedly trying to sneak the connecting door open so that they could watch the gig from there, for free. I cannot believe the lengths people are willing to go to to avoid forking over the price of a couple of beers. :(
Morpheus Rising, though, took the stage in style, apparently unfazed by the entire situation. From the moment they started their set, I was spellbound; these guys are professionals to their fingertips, and it shows. Their sound is an epic-tinged blend of classic rock and melodic metal (think somewhere between NWOBHM, Dream Theater and Magnum and you'll be about right), brought smoothly up to date and polished to perfection. Frontman Simon is a great, physical performer, pacing and gesturing as he delivered his lines despite the restrictive confines of the Rifle Club's small stage. Their set was effectively a runthrough of their current album Let the Sleeper Awake, but that was hardly a downside as the album is great (check it out here if you don't believe me) and when they finished with my own favourite track Lord of the North, I had to be happy. A fantastic set from a brilliant band, and it was an absolute privilege to have them play for us.
In the aftermath of their set, I went round to thank the people who'd come out for the show and was impressed to discover that the furthest afield we'd had anyone attend from was... Cambridge. Yes, we had managed to beat our previous record (Nottingham) for furthest-travelled punters, courtesy of one truly diehard Morpheus Rising fan and her other half. Said other half also added that of the times he'd seen Morpheus Rising, Crimson Dream were the best support act they'd had. Good to hear.
Unfortunately I don't know whether that was much consolation to Crimson Dream themselves as, due to their crash space arrangements falling through, they were left with a choice of either forking out for a Travelodge/b&b or driving another seven hours home. They eventually settled on the seven-hour drive, and departed. Morpheus Rising cleared up and cleared out, and I wound the night down in the company of our sound team, Peter and his son Wayne, eating our way through what was left of the cake from the bands' rider. Once again, as with Northern Oak and Aonia a couple of months earlier, it had been a great show in all regards except turnout.
But still. Thanks are due to the bands for giving us two great sets; to everyone who did turn out; to Peter and Wayne for the engineering; to the Rifle Club and staff; and to Tom and Adam for helping me fetch, carry and cover the door. Cheers everyone, much appreciated.
Alarmingly, though, there was a bit of a horror hangover from this show. That weekend Crimson Dream's drummer left, and I believe they haven't yet found a replacement (any drummers in Bedfordshire looking for a gig?) and I afterwards found out that a few days later, Peter had been hospitalised following a mild heart attack! (He's fine now, thankfully.) I don't know what we did to draw that kind of bad luck (unless someone at Warhorns called down the wrath of the old gods on us for clashing with them) and I really hope that never happens again! O_O Still, our next gig is Stuka Squadron on the 26th of this month with Spekulus, and I'm pretty sure the vampire aces can take care of themselves... ;)
Laters,
Rath
I'd been looking forward to this gig for ages. Morpheus Rising and Crimson Dream had both offered to play a while back when I was looking for bands for the July show, and on hearing their material I immediately decided that I wanted to put them on as a double bill. Unfortunately, the only date I could get to do this was Friday September 21st... which turned out to be a bit of a busy day to say the least. I'd already known that this would clash with Day 1 of Warhorns Festival in York, but I didn't think there'd be that much demographic overlap between the two shows so I just resigned myself to missing the first half of Warhorns and losing a couple of my regular punters. What I didn't bargain for, as I'm not sure it had even been publicised when I put the booking in, was Limehouse Lizzy (Thin Lizzy tribute band) playing at the Whitby Pavilion on the same night. That was bad enough, but when a travelling funfair came breezing through and pitched up in the car park outside the Rifle Club, on the Tuesday immediately prior to the gig? I started to feel like the gods were laughing at me.
Still, the show goes on. Since my usual support staff scars_of_jude was unfortunately unavailable due to a family commitment, I recruited the help of my minion Tom (not on LJ) to carry a large stack of beer and food up to the venue, just in time to get there... slightly after the guys from Morpheus Rising and considerably before anyone from the venue. >_< Oops. Still, it was great to hang around and chat to their singer Simon, who is a bang-up bloke and excellent company, and have the opportunity to admire the band's tour bus - actually a cleverly converted minibus, but still, that's the first band we've had who have brought their own bus. Pretty cool. We were finally let in around six, and setup went ahead in the usual confusion of wires, amps, speakers, and venue staff telling me multiple entirely different and contradictory things about what we were supposed to/allowed to be doing. Morpheus Rising turned out, in a stroke of inspiration I've yet to see from another band, to have brought their own kettle. Somewhere in the middle of the madness Crimson Dream arrived, having made a seven-hour drive from Bedfordshire(!) and therefore being more than entitled to a bit of flexibility in their schedule, and we got going on the soundchecks.
When the doors opened, I quickly realised it was a bit quiet. More than a bit quiet. And it was dark outside, and cold and drizzly. Even the fair looked under-attended. We went ahead regardless, Crimson Dream going on at the usual 9pm or so.
I'd been won over by Crimson Dream's imaginative brand of classic NWOBHM-inspired metal on record despite the fact that they had nothing up online but a couple of instrumental-only demos, and I'd picked them for this gig very much out of a sense that this was a band who were going to go somewhere if they got the breaks. Given which, I can only say how much I regret that they ended up playing to such a thin crowd. Seeing them live they actually reminded me - in the best possible way - of my own beloved, much-missed Fire & Forget, in that while their sound is strictly metal, they put an almost punkish energy and immediacy across on stage. Performance-wise they were a little ragged here and there, but never casually slipshod - they sounded like they were giving the absolute best they had in them, they played with conviction and determination and love for their music, and they have definitely got the songs. I am really pulling for these guys, and if you see them around your neck of the woods, I recommend you give them a chance to impress you.
At changeover time I was distressed to come back to the door and find that we still only had a bare handful of people in. Indeed, we weren't the only victims of the desolation that had seized Whitby that night, as outside even the fair had shut down (which at half-nine on a Friday night was borderline unbelievable). I was righteously pissed off, though, to discover that about twice that many people were sitting in the other bar and repeatedly trying to sneak the connecting door open so that they could watch the gig from there, for free. I cannot believe the lengths people are willing to go to to avoid forking over the price of a couple of beers. :(
Morpheus Rising, though, took the stage in style, apparently unfazed by the entire situation. From the moment they started their set, I was spellbound; these guys are professionals to their fingertips, and it shows. Their sound is an epic-tinged blend of classic rock and melodic metal (think somewhere between NWOBHM, Dream Theater and Magnum and you'll be about right), brought smoothly up to date and polished to perfection. Frontman Simon is a great, physical performer, pacing and gesturing as he delivered his lines despite the restrictive confines of the Rifle Club's small stage. Their set was effectively a runthrough of their current album Let the Sleeper Awake, but that was hardly a downside as the album is great (check it out here if you don't believe me) and when they finished with my own favourite track Lord of the North, I had to be happy. A fantastic set from a brilliant band, and it was an absolute privilege to have them play for us.
In the aftermath of their set, I went round to thank the people who'd come out for the show and was impressed to discover that the furthest afield we'd had anyone attend from was... Cambridge. Yes, we had managed to beat our previous record (Nottingham) for furthest-travelled punters, courtesy of one truly diehard Morpheus Rising fan and her other half. Said other half also added that of the times he'd seen Morpheus Rising, Crimson Dream were the best support act they'd had. Good to hear.
Unfortunately I don't know whether that was much consolation to Crimson Dream themselves as, due to their crash space arrangements falling through, they were left with a choice of either forking out for a Travelodge/b&b or driving another seven hours home. They eventually settled on the seven-hour drive, and departed. Morpheus Rising cleared up and cleared out, and I wound the night down in the company of our sound team, Peter and his son Wayne, eating our way through what was left of the cake from the bands' rider. Once again, as with Northern Oak and Aonia a couple of months earlier, it had been a great show in all regards except turnout.
But still. Thanks are due to the bands for giving us two great sets; to everyone who did turn out; to Peter and Wayne for the engineering; to the Rifle Club and staff; and to Tom and Adam for helping me fetch, carry and cover the door. Cheers everyone, much appreciated.
Alarmingly, though, there was a bit of a horror hangover from this show. That weekend Crimson Dream's drummer left, and I believe they haven't yet found a replacement (any drummers in Bedfordshire looking for a gig?) and I afterwards found out that a few days later, Peter had been hospitalised following a mild heart attack! (He's fine now, thankfully.) I don't know what we did to draw that kind of bad luck (unless someone at Warhorns called down the wrath of the old gods on us for clashing with them) and I really hope that never happens again! O_O Still, our next gig is Stuka Squadron on the 26th of this month with Spekulus, and I'm pretty sure the vampire aces can take care of themselves... ;)
Laters,
Rath