On Saturday 14th April, 2007, we (that is, me and Ian) finally got to the first gig of the year since our 'gig-a-month' idea; Mostly Autumn at the Oakwood Centre in Rotherham. I was quite excited about this one, because it's a band that I've been wanting to see live for ages but have never managed to get to a gig.

To add to the fun, I took the car and fetched Vee and Chris, too and we all headed out to the people's republic of Rotherham to the Oakwood centre. The more astute of you may notice that it's the second time I've been there this year, the first time being the Oakwood Real Ale festival. While the journey last time was arduous and scary, and the taxi ride home was confusing, this time I discovered it's actually very easy to get to. Up the parkway to Rotherham Hospital and next left ... Oh well.

Being a Classic Rock Society gig, the crowd were a mixed bunch. Entire families turned up complete with kids, grandparents and matching t-shirts. Compared to the massing crowds of the Corporation, the setting was very sedate. Chairs were available, along with 3 real ales and a complete lack of moshing 14 year olds.

The support band were a Tamworth trio of middle aged gents with guitars and a laptop. They called themselves Glow, and the lead guitar (Mr Dave) wore a fetching glow-stick adorned waistcoat. The sound was quite interesting, being a bit industrial, a bit rock and a bit electronic, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Ian commented that they were like Pelican in 40 years time, although that seemed a bit harsh given they were barely older than him!

   

There was a CSR raffle drawn between acts, and some random bloke making 'comedy' remarks about Prince William. Oh my sides hurt. I don't know who he was, but we could have done without. Also, we were clearly sold duff tickets; the winners weren't even drawn from the same book, never mind in the same range.

Anyway, that's all irrelevent. We went to see Mostly Autumn and see them we did. They played for a good two and a half hours, with only a 10 minute break in the middle. The sound quality wasn't up to much (the sound engineers clearly figured that increasing volume would make up for lousy quality) but, perhaps due to my less-than-perfect ears, I didn't find it as offensively bad as others appeared to.

The band certainly appear to be heading toward being the Heather Findlay Show, with even Bryan Josh taking a side position while Heather danced around centre stage with a tambourine. Of course, that's not necessarily a bad thing; while I appreciate his music, I don't think Bryan could carry off the tambourine with the same elegance. That being said, the band appeared to move around for every song, with each member taking over singing, guitar, keyboard or whatever as required. They're certainly a multi-talented bunch.

It was slightly disappointing that they didn't play Shrinking Violets, but that is the only minor grumble at the song selection. Of course, playing for so long meant that they covered a bit of everything from the late 90s onward. Chris Johnson also performed some of his own songs from Heartful of Sky which went down very well.

   

Overall, I'd rate this gig well, sound issues notwithstanding. I recognised about three quarters of the songs, not being overly familiar with Heartful of Sky just yet (but that will improve over time). Certainly well worth going, and I'd see them again. Might be nice to see if there's a better equipped venue in the local vicinity in the future.

As usual, more photos are available at SimplySpiffing.com.