Panic Room, Lydney 20/09/08
Our third and final gig of the month was a pilgrimage to darkest Lydney to see Panic Room play the third date of their second tour, following the "micro-tour" of 4 dates (truncated to 3 due to a power failure at the final venue!) earlier this year. Ironically enough, Lydney town hall was the site of their first ever gig. I certainly had high hopes of a truly memorable evening - the more I hear the band's debut album, Visionary Position, the more I love it, and some friends who hadn't experienced the band before were coming along as well. Add to that the unaccustomed luxury of having our friend Alan chaffeur us to and from the gig (ensuring that the usually enforcedly teetotal Steen could have a drink or two), and our cup was running over before the gig even started.
The journey down was entirely uneventful - even pleasant, since it was a gorgeous day, almost summery in fact. It was the sort of day that was made for screaming down the motorway with some chunky rock music playing; alas we had to miss out on that, as we were only on the motorway for a couple of exits and were too concerned about taking a wrong turn once we got closer to the Forest Of Dean area to play anything too loudly. We parked up outside the venue - there was a space in the parking rank right opposite the doors, which was amazing on a Saturday - and popped into the pub just down the road from the venue to get a pint in and order dinner. Before long we were joined by our friends Taff & Irene, and we ate, drank and swapped war stories together until the doors opened.
We thought we might have had a little explaining to do before we got in, as our tickets for the gig hadn't arrived. Happily, it seemed that a full list of names was on the door and no explanation was required. Call me cynical, but it seems entirely likely to me that the tickets were never posted out, which rather made a mockery of my choosing to pay the £1 postage fee on the site I ordered the tickets from. Still, the ever-amiable Mr Lambe (he of the aforementioned website was on hand to provide me with the (gratis) Magenta sampler I had ordered at the same time, so I guess I can live with it. It hardly encourages one to order one's tickets from the site, though - and if the tickets aren't going to be posted out, perhaps it ought to be mentioned on the site somewhere? Just a thought.
Still, once inside we were playing "spot the familiar face", even more so when further Company Gloster friends, including the ever-reliable Ann & Tony from Worcester, turned up. As the support band, Also Eden, took to the stage, we elected to stay in the bar area and compare notes, intending to go out and join the rest of the (sadly very small - I would have said no more than about 40 people, if that) crowd after a couple of songs, but as is wont to happen at gigs where I'm fortunate enough to know some of the musicians involved, I ended up talking to Jon (Panic Room writer/keyboard player) for about half-an-hour. Before we knew it, Also Eden's set was over. It wouldn't be fair to critique them since my attention wasn't really on the stage, but they seemed to have developed a slightly more epic sound since the last time we saw them, supporting Magenta last year. A band to file, as before, under "I really must listen to them properly some time".
By the time Panic Room took the stage about 20 minutes later, I was starting to feel rather ashamed of the poor turnout - this is a band who really do deserve much, much better. The sparse effect wasn't improved by a general reluctance to go too close to the stage, meaning the audience were standing about 4 yards from the stage. I badly wanted to wander right up to the stage, but didn't dare in case someone decided to take offence at me standing in front of them. I have a feeling that everyone felt the same. Thankfully, after a perfect rendition of Elektra City singer Anne-Marie invited everyone to come up to the stage. I led the charge. Well, the saunter...
For a gig with such a poor turnout, we were an enthusiastic bunch, something that clearly wasn't lost on Anne-Marie who praised us a couple of times for making "nough noise for Wembley"! The band richly deserved it: the set was energetic yet atmospheric, jammed with highlights, and the band were clearly really beginning to gel in a way that went beyond the well-rehearsed slickness which they had exhibited even on those early dates earlier in the year. Bassist Alun Vaughan has really settled in now, his complex, weaving basslines providing a solid yet fluid foundation for Paul, Jon and Anne-Marie's flights of fancy, whilst drummer Gavin's precise yet melodic drumming underpinned the sound, anchoring it to earth. All of the band members seem to have come a long way even from the gigs earlier this year - perhaps it gave them the confidence they needed to go on stage and really "own" the material. That new-found belief really shone through, not least in Anne-Marie's performance, which was quite amazing. Of all the female vocalists I've ever seen, she's one of the very few to have such a technically and emotionally powerful voice, yet still have the stagecraft to hold a crowd.
The set itself contained all of the Visionary Position album except for the epic closing track The Dreaming (probably a wise decision: a 14-minute track is always going to dominate the set!), alongside the familiar cover versions (Banks Of The Ohio and the Zeppelin medley) seen earlier in the year, two of Anne-Marie's own songs (Hadditfeel and Dominoes), alongside no less than five new songs. I was familiar with the wonderful Into The Fire and the feisty Go from the previous live dates, but this time around they were joined by Black Noise (another feisty rocker, with some big riffing and a very powerful Anne-Marie vocal), Sandstorm (an atmospheric yet bouncy, rhythmic number about the joys of "getting away from it all" and the very special moments in life that result from it) and Yasumi, a longer track that opens in a Floydy vein and goes on to become an anthemic envinronmental protest song. Very strong stuff indeed - all the tracks are distinctly different to each other, yet all have a "sound" that is instantly identifiable... It seems like Panic Room have found their niche by almost avoiding one.
Despite a few issues (the sparse crowd, ropey lighting, and the loss early on of an acoustic guitar, which led to a few minutes frantic cable switching), this was a truly incredible show - ample evidence of how far the band have come as a live unit in a very short time, and a very impressive showcase of new material that doesn't just bode well for the band's second album, it pretty much shouts it from the rooftops.
We've got two more outings to see Panic Room planned for next month, at Wolverhampton and Worcester. I have no doubt we're in for a great evening on both nights - all I hope is that the band get to play to a few more people.
The journey down was entirely uneventful - even pleasant, since it was a gorgeous day, almost summery in fact. It was the sort of day that was made for screaming down the motorway with some chunky rock music playing; alas we had to miss out on that, as we were only on the motorway for a couple of exits and were too concerned about taking a wrong turn once we got closer to the Forest Of Dean area to play anything too loudly. We parked up outside the venue - there was a space in the parking rank right opposite the doors, which was amazing on a Saturday - and popped into the pub just down the road from the venue to get a pint in and order dinner. Before long we were joined by our friends Taff & Irene, and we ate, drank and swapped war stories together until the doors opened.
We thought we might have had a little explaining to do before we got in, as our tickets for the gig hadn't arrived. Happily, it seemed that a full list of names was on the door and no explanation was required. Call me cynical, but it seems entirely likely to me that the tickets were never posted out, which rather made a mockery of my choosing to pay the £1 postage fee on the site I ordered the tickets from. Still, the ever-amiable Mr Lambe (he of the aforementioned website was on hand to provide me with the (gratis) Magenta sampler I had ordered at the same time, so I guess I can live with it. It hardly encourages one to order one's tickets from the site, though - and if the tickets aren't going to be posted out, perhaps it ought to be mentioned on the site somewhere? Just a thought.
Still, once inside we were playing "spot the familiar face", even more so when further Company Gloster friends, including the ever-reliable Ann & Tony from Worcester, turned up. As the support band, Also Eden, took to the stage, we elected to stay in the bar area and compare notes, intending to go out and join the rest of the (sadly very small - I would have said no more than about 40 people, if that) crowd after a couple of songs, but as is wont to happen at gigs where I'm fortunate enough to know some of the musicians involved, I ended up talking to Jon (Panic Room writer/keyboard player) for about half-an-hour. Before we knew it, Also Eden's set was over. It wouldn't be fair to critique them since my attention wasn't really on the stage, but they seemed to have developed a slightly more epic sound since the last time we saw them, supporting Magenta last year. A band to file, as before, under "I really must listen to them properly some time".
By the time Panic Room took the stage about 20 minutes later, I was starting to feel rather ashamed of the poor turnout - this is a band who really do deserve much, much better. The sparse effect wasn't improved by a general reluctance to go too close to the stage, meaning the audience were standing about 4 yards from the stage. I badly wanted to wander right up to the stage, but didn't dare in case someone decided to take offence at me standing in front of them. I have a feeling that everyone felt the same. Thankfully, after a perfect rendition of Elektra City singer Anne-Marie invited everyone to come up to the stage. I led the charge. Well, the saunter...
For a gig with such a poor turnout, we were an enthusiastic bunch, something that clearly wasn't lost on Anne-Marie who praised us a couple of times for making "nough noise for Wembley"! The band richly deserved it: the set was energetic yet atmospheric, jammed with highlights, and the band were clearly really beginning to gel in a way that went beyond the well-rehearsed slickness which they had exhibited even on those early dates earlier in the year. Bassist Alun Vaughan has really settled in now, his complex, weaving basslines providing a solid yet fluid foundation for Paul, Jon and Anne-Marie's flights of fancy, whilst drummer Gavin's precise yet melodic drumming underpinned the sound, anchoring it to earth. All of the band members seem to have come a long way even from the gigs earlier this year - perhaps it gave them the confidence they needed to go on stage and really "own" the material. That new-found belief really shone through, not least in Anne-Marie's performance, which was quite amazing. Of all the female vocalists I've ever seen, she's one of the very few to have such a technically and emotionally powerful voice, yet still have the stagecraft to hold a crowd.
The set itself contained all of the Visionary Position album except for the epic closing track The Dreaming (probably a wise decision: a 14-minute track is always going to dominate the set!), alongside the familiar cover versions (Banks Of The Ohio and the Zeppelin medley) seen earlier in the year, two of Anne-Marie's own songs (Hadditfeel and Dominoes), alongside no less than five new songs. I was familiar with the wonderful Into The Fire and the feisty Go from the previous live dates, but this time around they were joined by Black Noise (another feisty rocker, with some big riffing and a very powerful Anne-Marie vocal), Sandstorm (an atmospheric yet bouncy, rhythmic number about the joys of "getting away from it all" and the very special moments in life that result from it) and Yasumi, a longer track that opens in a Floydy vein and goes on to become an anthemic envinronmental protest song. Very strong stuff indeed - all the tracks are distinctly different to each other, yet all have a "sound" that is instantly identifiable... It seems like Panic Room have found their niche by almost avoiding one.
Despite a few issues (the sparse crowd, ropey lighting, and the loss early on of an acoustic guitar, which led to a few minutes frantic cable switching), this was a truly incredible show - ample evidence of how far the band have come as a live unit in a very short time, and a very impressive showcase of new material that doesn't just bode well for the band's second album, it pretty much shouts it from the rooftops.
We've got two more outings to see Panic Room planned for next month, at Wolverhampton and Worcester. I have no doubt we're in for a great evening on both nights - all I hope is that the band get to play to a few more people.