Where Worlds Collide

Bryan Josh, Guitar Hero

Mostly Autumn’s Heart Full of Sky tour came to a triumphal end at the Met Theatre in Bury. Bury Met isn’t my favourite MA venue. If I’d had to choose between this and Crewe Limelight three weeks ago, I would have chosen the former. But Bury turned out to be the best gig of the tour.

Heather Findlay

This really was Mostly Autumn at their very best, with a 110% performance from the whole band. The setlist was identical to the set played at Crewe three weeks ago, starting with the apocalyptic “Fading Colours” (The Bells! The Bells!) and ending with the magnificent “Carpe Diem”. The only change was the addition of extended jam at the beginning of “Nowhere to Hide”, a song I don’t think I’ve ever heard played in quite the same way twice.

Andy Smith rocks out

Yet again I was right down the front with the hardcore fans; next to Maria, DT, Roger Newport, Paul Quinton and Aneil Jangra, all of whom have clocked up far more MA gigs than I have. So I have no idea what the sound was like further back, because I was getting monitors and stage amps rather than the PA. But it all sounded fantastic where I was, not too loud, with just the right balance between Bryan’s guitar and those multi-layered vocal harmonies..

Angie Gordon

This was one of those gigs where I really can’t single out any one band member as the star of the show; everyone was on top form; Bryan Josh proved yet again that the guitar hero is not extinct, Heather’s vocals were sublime and Gavin’s precise drumming has really tightened up the band’s sound. This lineup has really gelled, and people who wrote the band off following the departures of Iain Jennings and Liam Davidson clearly haven’t seen this incarnation of the band on stage.

Chris Johnson

The gig was tinged with sadness, in that there’s a real possibility that we may never see all seven this particular lineup together on stage again. Chris Johnson and Gavin Griffiths will be spending most of the rest of the year on tour with Fish, and the Murrayfield gig in July will feature a one-off reunion of the 2005 lineup with Iain and Andy Jennings and Liam Davidson. And by the time the Christmas gigs roll around, Angie will be on maternity leave.

Livvy Sparnenn

This is the first time I’ve taken my camera to a Mostly Autumn gig in a venue with decent stage lighting. All the above pictures are mine; I’ve uploaded a lot more to my fotopic site, which can be found here

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 1st, 2007 at 6:10 pm and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.