ALTRES + MAYA 29 + STARRY WISDOM CULT - The Retreat, Perth 20-10-06
With about 3 hours notice - and that was just the band!! - I found that this gig was taking place and duly ferried Altres' guitarist Brian plus associated hangers on (hehehe!!!) to the pub in Perth to meet up with the rest of the band. Got there and chatted to the promotor and found that they had around 6 minutes to set up - the rest of the band had already done that - and then on. The pub was pretty full - but what a bizarre bunch of people - everything from punks to hippies and all points in between (not to mention one lady who I'm sure wasn't even on this planet and another who shouldn't have been!!) - so it was with great interest that I anticipated how well Altres would go down - the pub essentialy being a rock pub, anyway.
I elected to introduce them - knowing how good they are at self promotion - duly did so, then stood back and watched and listened - as did the pub. Unless any of the associated throong were ancient enough to have witnessed some old seventies concert from Tangerine Dream, they'd clearly never seen anything like Altres, let alons in a pub in Perth! With Joe providing the melodies on the synths while Kev would be the "Chris Franke" of the band and drive it all forward on waves of sequencer rhythms and varied electronic undercurrents, it was left to the guitarists Mike and Brian, with two distinctive and individual styles, to put the icing on the cake. The first half of the half hour set was a combination of the rhythmic foundations used in a more laid-back manner while the chief melody content came from Joe's synths as Brian provided textural guitar soundscapes and Mike a set of sinewy leads to give an added bite to the proceedings. Around half way and the band paused - I though more by accident than design, but that's an Altres set for you - but barely allowing a few seconds for the audience to applaud (they did!!!) - it was straight into a much more rousing and heavier section with Mike providing this amazing series of repeated Fripp-like guitar chords as the backbone of the melodies while Kev was firing up the electro-percussive and synth rhythms as Joe let loose on a series of high-flying melodies and Brian topped it all off with a searing lead guitar that was as heavy as it was cutting edge. The whole place was rocking to the sound of this electronics and guitars driven quartet and, as I've seen so often before, the audience was just hypnotised, glued to what they were seeing and hearing. The set ended, and the band received a really huge round of applause from practically the entire place, several of whom went to the front of stage to congratulate them on a great set, the promotor wanting to headline them on a few occasions, early on in 2007 - always a good sign. But it just shows - even in today's electro-dominated world, there is most definitely a place on the live scene for a group who can combine the best elements of Tangerine Dream and King Crimson, wrap them up in a heavy and melodic coat and produce something that has a massive cross-audince appeal.
After them, came two bands from Edinburgh. First up were Maya 29, a quartet with a female vocalist and what you'd possibly label a rock band with progressive leanings. Their vocalist had one of those mid-range voices - bit similar to Mel out of Leather Zoo, in that respect - that, on the first number, was way overshadowed by the guitarist, and you feared the worst. Luckily, she realised this and things were put right for the second track - and, indeed, the rest of the set. Instrumentally, and initially, the band reminded me very much of classic seventies Rush, although this comparison became less clear as the set moved on and the thought of Rush on downers became more prevalent, that's to say that the songs the band played were quite introspective, although they still rocked with some superb musicianship throughout. Karen Bradford's vocals fitted the songs to a tee as this relatively diminutive lady showed off her strong vocal talents, with a voice that soared yet didn;t stray too far from the pitch she seemed most happy to inhabit. A song was introduced about female circumcision - yeh, we're talking heavy duty lyrics here - but as with most of the set, performed with a quite engaging feel to it all as the chiming guitar leads rang out and the bass really boomed down below. The arrangements provided quite a few twists and turns, the band relying more on dynamics for effect than out and out power. Overall, an engaging if quite intense set, but a band I'd definitely want to catch again, down the line.
Starry Wisdom Cult were a metal-edged quartet with a neat line in riffing, a sort of more metal and less thrashy answer to something like Dundee's Third Born Sun, as they unleashed a set of solid hard rock with some heavy duty riffs and rhythms providing the backbone for the two guitarists to take a variety of leads as the rock continued to roll. Vocally, good enough to be engaging, but nothing out of the ordinary, while song-wise, it was all really enjoyable on first hearing , although no one track leapt out at me. A good band for sure and, again, worth a second look.