Mega Update time Part 2: Beyond the veil (Sunday)/York
Sunday started with a trip to the Brewery Tap near the station which had a good selection of Leeds brewery beer and also really good food. We then made our way to the Cockpit for day 2 of Beyond the Veil. I got there in time for the opening band Legion who I wanted to see as Maisey is their singer. They reminded me a lot of Rosetta Stone (I think they even did a song called Rosetta [edit: apparently it is called Rosanna after a little research]) but that is no bad thing for me. Maisey was a very charismatic frontman as predicted, and I did enjoy their set. They were followed by a synth duo called John Merrick's Remains who notably wore masks presumably in homage to the Elephant Man himself. I wasn't too impressed with their opening but I came back to watch them half-way through and they definitely grew on me. I even recognised their Dark Angel song from a Black Veil I previously went to. The next band on were Ghostfire. I admit I know very little about steampunk as a music genre but these guys impressed me. Good to see they were actually a live band too, kind of cross between Tom Waits and mid-80s era Damned. Not sure if all steampunk generally sounds like that.
We then went to the other stage where Rosa Crux equipment was all set up. However, before them was the one-man violin project Sieben. This was the third time I had seen him live and I have to say the best. Watching him playing the instrument in a variety of ways (including use of his stubble!) and using his loop pedal is totally mesmerising. The songs are wonderfully constructed and I look forward to seeing him again the boat in London next month. He seemed to really enjoy playing on stage, and is a humble man for his talent too. The highlight of the festival for me. The French band Rosa Crux followed and it was impressive seeing 10 church bells, a grand piano (which looks small in comparison) and an array of percussion that played itself (truly that had to be seen to be believed!) fit on the stage. I was mesmerised by watching the electro-mechanical drum machine so much that the fact that the music wasn't really my thing seemed irrelevant. The band make an effort in putting on an interesting stage show. I was a little confused why a large box appeared directly behind where I was standing, I thought it would be a prop for a magic trick. However, a couple of songs later I realised that it was for two ladies covered in dust to do some performance art! Let's just say I was sneezing a bit for the rest of the night and looked like I had come out of 3 days at Wacken Open Air festival!
Follwing that must have been very difficult but we returned to the other stage whilst people in dust masks cleared the other room. The next band were The Eternal Fall from Spain who I had first seen at the same festival 2 years before. I have to say they were much better than last time, having a third band member really helped them and some of their songs are more well known now. Noticed Maisey on the towers again like at the Sisters gig and they got a very good reception from the crowd. This left German electro-rockers Heavy Current to close the festival. It was good to hear something a bit stompier and they were very professional in what they did. I enjoyed them so much that I stayed until the end of their set which meant a queue for food when I returned to the hotel. There were a few problems as the water wasn't working and the fire alarms kept gong off, but that didn't affect me as much as other people. I went to bed at about 3am.
On Monday I said goodbye to people I could find at the festival and made my way to York for the day. I met up with Alex at his really cool house very near the minster and we enjoyed a picnic outside the Treasurers House. We then went to Pivo's near the Shambles market which is another pub specialising in European beers set in a wonderful timber-frame building. They even had a gargoyle urinal! Noticed that they served Weihenstephan Dunkel and Rauchbier on tap but went for a Trappist beer. Whilst there my friend Nicky from Manchester texted to say she was in York for the day, what a coincidence! After collecting my belongings from alex's place, we then went to Guy Fawkes Hotel near the Minster, which was nicely dark and atmospheric and had a good beer selection. I had a pint of the local beer, Centurion's Ghost. I'm surprised I've never made it to this pub whilst I lived there. Nicky and Chris then came to meet us and it was great to catch up, though unfortunately I only saw them for about half an hour as I had to return to Leeds to get the coach back to London. It was a fantastic weekend though and great to see so many friends. :)
We then went to the other stage where Rosa Crux equipment was all set up. However, before them was the one-man violin project Sieben. This was the third time I had seen him live and I have to say the best. Watching him playing the instrument in a variety of ways (including use of his stubble!) and using his loop pedal is totally mesmerising. The songs are wonderfully constructed and I look forward to seeing him again the boat in London next month. He seemed to really enjoy playing on stage, and is a humble man for his talent too. The highlight of the festival for me. The French band Rosa Crux followed and it was impressive seeing 10 church bells, a grand piano (which looks small in comparison) and an array of percussion that played itself (truly that had to be seen to be believed!) fit on the stage. I was mesmerised by watching the electro-mechanical drum machine so much that the fact that the music wasn't really my thing seemed irrelevant. The band make an effort in putting on an interesting stage show. I was a little confused why a large box appeared directly behind where I was standing, I thought it would be a prop for a magic trick. However, a couple of songs later I realised that it was for two ladies covered in dust to do some performance art! Let's just say I was sneezing a bit for the rest of the night and looked like I had come out of 3 days at Wacken Open Air festival!
Follwing that must have been very difficult but we returned to the other stage whilst people in dust masks cleared the other room. The next band were The Eternal Fall from Spain who I had first seen at the same festival 2 years before. I have to say they were much better than last time, having a third band member really helped them and some of their songs are more well known now. Noticed Maisey on the towers again like at the Sisters gig and they got a very good reception from the crowd. This left German electro-rockers Heavy Current to close the festival. It was good to hear something a bit stompier and they were very professional in what they did. I enjoyed them so much that I stayed until the end of their set which meant a queue for food when I returned to the hotel. There were a few problems as the water wasn't working and the fire alarms kept gong off, but that didn't affect me as much as other people. I went to bed at about 3am.
On Monday I said goodbye to people I could find at the festival and made my way to York for the day. I met up with Alex at his really cool house very near the minster and we enjoyed a picnic outside the Treasurers House. We then went to Pivo's near the Shambles market which is another pub specialising in European beers set in a wonderful timber-frame building. They even had a gargoyle urinal! Noticed that they served Weihenstephan Dunkel and Rauchbier on tap but went for a Trappist beer. Whilst there my friend Nicky from Manchester texted to say she was in York for the day, what a coincidence! After collecting my belongings from alex's place, we then went to Guy Fawkes Hotel near the Minster, which was nicely dark and atmospheric and had a good beer selection. I had a pint of the local beer, Centurion's Ghost. I'm surprised I've never made it to this pub whilst I lived there. Nicky and Chris then came to meet us and it was great to catch up, though unfortunately I only saw them for about half an hour as I had to return to Leeds to get the coach back to London. It was a fantastic weekend though and great to see so many friends. :)