The Drill Hall, Chepstow
Saturday, 13th April 2024
My discovery of the weekend! This was, for me, the most ultimate progressive performance of the festival! I was a tad late for the start, as I’d left my camera in the flat, and on arrival, a friend said to me outside, “Oooh, it’s a bit disjointed for me!” so I knew I had to hurry in! I was blown away by the music’s structure, the musicians on-stage presence, power, and aplomb – I surmised that this stuff must’ve been well tricky to learn – plus the intricacy of Dominic’s guitar-playing! Near-genius inventive compositions, influenced by all sorts (who isn’t much?) and self-declared as such re King Crimson, Marillion, and Steven Wilson, and Dominic has even written a book documenting Nick Cave’s output. It was all there, in multi-parts – packed full of wonderment and soul-baring scrutiny; atmospheric, introspective, gothic-doom, startlingly unnerving and, enticingly, slightly traumatic! Everything was thrown into the mix, then investigated, re-examined, and seemingly re-ordered, but still highly original. Impressive playing skills were revealed too, and from a band of relative youngsters! The set showcased Dominic’s ‘concept’ album, Impermanence, with tracks such as I Don’t Think I Can Get Over This After All, and This Night And The Wounds It Will Bring serving to demonstrate and reassure me how progressive music will survive, and not get bogged down by past glories or indulgence. A new generation for the genre can, and will prevail, under such advanced example and tutelage as this!
Catching and holding on firmly to the relay baton left onstage by Mr. Sanderson before them, these young purveyors of fresh-sounding neo-vintage prog carried forth aloft another swirling flag declaring that the prog past is firmly alive and kicking, and, multi-facetedly, rejuvenated! An incredible sound via brilliant musicianship. Mostly instrumental, with a meandering, jazzy, gloriously charming Canterbury/Zappa-esque, vibe that drew us in, welcoming, comforting, and stimulating our brains eager for fulfilment. Songs and tunes from only their second album Dominion comprised most of the set, and so crammed were these lengthy displays of virtuosity, that we not only didn’t get to hear their last planned track, but almost didn’t get the most immediately catchy and alerting last but one, Toxicity, starting only a couple of minutes before set-time-zero. Stalwart head tech/stage manager, the ever reliable Graham Harris, kindly allowed them a few more minutes to finish – the off-stage but visible countdown clock going into the negative/red without incident, as surely no plug-pulling could have been borne!
Retro-moustachioed band leader Ryan Stevenson in seated keyboard command, invoked alternately Ray Manzarek and Mike Ratledge, plus sang lead, while puckish guitarist Richard Lucas supplied stunning complementary elements and solos, as well as backing vocals. Ashley Raynor’s fluid melodic bass provided yet another dimension. It was astonishing to find out that the core musicians here had only started performing together last year! They also had the best design & background colour T-shirts of the entire festival, no boring black here for the Dominion ones, and even a turquoise cassette as an option for their first album Zopp, on sale. Bravo for eschewing the generic!
Originally from Hungary, now based in Romania, not a Yes tribute band but still exuding traditional, many-layered inventive prog fare with atmosphere galore, complex cross rhythms, and a classical folksy edge with the addition of flute, played sensitively by Mesi on their current tour. Energetic lead singer and chief hair and poncho flailer Stéphanie Semeniuc sung mostly in Hungarian – fascinating to hear! Multi-guitarist Bogáti-Bokor Ákos simply wowed us with his dexterity and skill, as the band mainly worked their way through the newest album, a lockdown creation, Saint Exupery Alma, based on the writings of The Little Prince author. This was a most impressive band who had something different to say musically with each track. I hope they can return to the UK very soon, as this music requires a further live experience to take it all in, but to satisfy in the meantime, I bought everything from the merch desk – well, one of each of their four CDs.
The long dinner-break, next on the schedule, afforded many the opportunity to savour the delights of local eateries, as well as more of the in-house kitchen goodies, and for those enjoying their allocated seats during the performances, an extended chance to stretch their legs.
Next to last were the brilliant multifaceted songs of Tim Bowness plus band, taking their collective name from Tim’s latest album, Butterfly Mind. This live supergroup made it seem so easy, so fluent were they at interpreting Tim’s trademark psycho-drama infused compositions, interspersing pure pop-based melodies with catchy tech based rhythmic numbers alongside touching, and at times, heart-wrenching songs that verged on ballads. Tim sometimes appeared to simply breathe his usual compelling vocals, and having strode purposefully around the stage in contemplative mode during the songs, got into the festival spirit and indulged us with bit of on-stage verbal fun. His song-contrasting dry/wry commentary, and banter with the band belied his apparent serious demeanour. He proved that this musically and lyrically intense writer does indeed smile, and snigger!
Funky-dexterous bassist Jon Jowitt was also in cheeky antic mode, as is the norm, this time sneaking a quick sit down in Matt Stevens (from Friday’s Fierce & The Dead) chair, while the guitar maestro himself was induced to stand, giving it not a little large for a sustained and impressive amount of his gob-smacking soloing contribution, ever-reflecting the emotions of the piece at hand, while Tim looked on in approval.
Our day’s headliners, the most joyous nine-piece collective as could ever be thought possible, with the fun aspect in full bounce, plus the serene beauty of a couple of more tranquil numbers. No drama of broken strings or admissions of struggling through any songs playing the ‘wrong’ guitar this time, but we did get an amusingly slightly perplexed Andy Glass (leader/guitarist) at the very beginning, regarding their usual opening build-up music – the main theme from the gorgeous A New Day. Some last minute off-stage faff had meant he simply hadn’t heard it, so laid back as ever, he just carried on, “Alright then!”, as they launched into their classic instant dynamism with the get-everyone-on-their-feet Shout (from Sia).
The choice songs were mostly taken from recent album Light Up as well as the previous Sia, with the rendition of Wongle No. 9 being the most soulful funky non-prog-like number of the weekend – it’s perfect for a festival as it allows for a few solo spots with Jenny’s fiddle at her most fluid and Andy’s guitar at its growliest.
Jess Holland, the most energetic of lead singers, and expressive of acoustic guitar players as on A New Day, was in fine vocal fettle, complemented by enthusiastic backing plus dancing from Dyane Crutcher and Ebony Buckle, who revealed her gorgeous voice guesting solo for one song. The set culminated in multi-harmonious triumphant mood via old favourite, the glorious Sacred Run (from Circles), with Andy’s re-stated guitar theme most exultant.
Andy had announced that there were some intriguing additions at bargain prices to the merch table with some prototypes carrying unlikely but hilariously harsh slogans depicting various actual criticisms received via another festival’s bemused web-critics. I couldn’t find an, “Are They A Cult?” Tee in my size but emerged from the scrum successfully holding aloft a coveted crimson Sweatshirt!
Suitably convivial and jubilant to end the day, Solstice sent us off, purchases in hand or not, blissed-out and beaming to our beds – or most likely to the pub first – on a suitably joyful high!
[All photos by Rosamund Tomlins]
DAY TWO REPORT: HERE
DAY FOUR REPORT: HERE
