A Word From The Editor The crappy weather isn’t stopping the county’s musical offerings and thank goodness! Cheltenham’s listings for April are over two pages long showing just how much we have going on before festival season gets into full swing.
A word from the Editor Pg 1 Cheltenham’s MND Pg 2 Cathodes EP Review PG 2 Glos-Tone-Beret Review Pg 3-4 10 Minute Review Pg 4
Elsewhere in this issue we have an important announcement from regular columnist and Cheltenham’s Music Network Developer. An EP review of local band Cathodes, Dan Gutteridge’s review of Tone Radio’s mighty French themed all dayer Glos-Tone-Beret. Fabio Thomas reviews Gloucester Guildhall’s ‘Past, Present & Future’ gig of local bands while our 10 Minute Review this month is of Welcome to Marathon’s Rise Records instore gig. Festival season is nearly upon us and what better time to take advantage of our local music scene. We are really lucky in Gloucestershire with such a wide variety of festivals there is definitely something going on that appeals to everyone. Look out in coming issues for news and reviews on local music festivals across the county.
What’s On Listings Pg 5-9 Fabio Thomas Pg 10 MAG Needs You!
Don’t forget it’s Record Store Day Saturday 20th April, get down and support Gloucestershire’s independent record stores and take advantage of the exclusive records released specially for the day!
We are always looking for news and reviews for MAG Amelia x from lovely people like you! Being a non-profit initiative we don’t pay but can get you MAG would like to say a into gigs and publish your special thank you to the work. Please contact Amelia Popular Music course at if you want to contribute anyThe University of Gloucestershire for their contrithing to this fanzine: bution to the distribution of the fanzine. musicatglos@gmail.com
Cheltenham’s Music Network Developer
Cathodes EP Review Words: Andrew Hammond | Picture: Cathodes
I have had the pleasure of seeing Cathodes live only once and can comfortably say that they are one of my favourite bands from the West Midlands. Hailing from Birmingham, the instrumental four-piece have audibly spent a lot of time in the studio to create an incredibly professional sounding debut EP. Despite MAG being established as the music listings fanzine for Gloucestershire for some time now (yay!) it’s only this month that I’ve realised that we’re now cycling through the years at pace, with each column I get to write for this wonderful publication acting as my monthly checkpoint for all things good in this county. Looking at last year, this is about the time I normally say “we’re out of the winter months of less shows and cold weather” and “Spring is soon to kick off with festival season just around the corner.” The truth is that the county has been most prolific in these ‘down times’ of the gigging calendar, with plenty available for all, as ably documented in the listings section of this fanzine... This realisation is coupled with an unavoidable certainty - that I will cease to be the Music Network Developer in Cheltenham pretty soon. Five years ago when I started this role there was plenty to do, plenty of people to help and plenty of opportunities to develop projects. This is not the case anymore. I’m in the process of putting together an annual report for my bosses and it’s quite obvious that my work is no longer a direct front line effort, but in organising and facilitating larger projects that benefit the hard work and self-sufficiency of this town’s musicians, venues and promoters. Seeing as this effectively puts me in the ugly role of middle-management, the right thing to do would be to hand in my notice. I will always act as an advocate for local music and endeavour to help anyone who asks, but I feel this work no longer demands a title - I’m happy to do it anyway. I’d say a regular column of a publicly available (and popular) fanzine is probably not the best place to announce this - especially as I’ve not spoken to the bosses yet - but it only seems right to let the people I work for know first. A
Available for a pay-what-you-want download, Ghosts of People We Should Have Been features four unique grooving instrumental tracks each of which are entirely captivating throughout their wandering paths. Writing instrumental music must be an impossibly difficult process considering the lack of a vocal melody for listener’s to latch onto. Yet, Cathodes have successfully written intense, mature tracks with a deep musical intricacy that never relents. The final track: I Am The Big I Am, rounds off their debut record perfectly with its tangible hook, and leaves you with a desperate urge to hear more. Cathodes are a fantastic band on record, and they are equally as entertaining live. The band deserve your attention if you’re curious to hear a new promising instrumental rock group. They can be seen at ‘Live Music Scene Turns Six’ in Bristol at The Exchange on 28th April 2013.
Glos-Tone-Beret Review Words: Dan Gutteridge | Picture: Tone Radio I walk into the Frog on Saturday 9th February and the first thing I see is a bearded gentleman balancing two baguettes and two pints in his arms. He’s got a beret rather precariously balanced on his head, some garlic wrapped around his neck and he’s draped in a striped t-shirt. Then the inevitable happens. The pints hit the floor. Cider gushes everywhere. But he stands proudly holding his prized baguettes. On any other day I would have been straight out of the pub, but not today. For today is one of my favourite music all dayers. Today is Glos-Tone-Beret. Glos-Tone-Beret is a daylong festival, taking place at The Frog and Fiddle with the goal of raising as much money as possible for the University of Gloucestershire’s student radio station, Tone. Two stages of great local music, everyone donned in French fancy dress and a live radio broadcast happening from the Frog’s loft. What is there not to love? The boys from local record label ‘Over The Hill’ were hosting the second stage, neatly tucked away in the Green Room. The stage, and the day was kicked off by Nina Condron. A set full of folky originals and unique covers, it was a great way to kick off the stage. She was followed by Jim Wain. Jim was joined by two members of Thrill Collins, who would be playing later, and served up a particular highlight a cover of ‘King of Spain’. Medik and Atrevido kicked off the Barn stage in fine fashion. Two very different rock bands but both were very finally skilled in what they did. The heavier Medik brought energy, passion and scream. Atrevido were incredibly tight, and had a front man with one of the smoothest voices ever to grace The Frog. Mic D, known by many others as one fifth of KSH and The Going Goods, managed to put me in some kind of trance. His vocals are to put it simply, outstanding. It was the quietest the room was all day as everybody hung on every word that he sang. I then made my way back into The Barn, and was absolutely stunned. We Used To Have Horses were next to the stage. Instead of the band I thought would greet me. It was in fact one man. He played, guitar, bass, keys and the drums all to an incredibly high standard. After he’d finish playing one instrument it would loop round whilst he played the next. This continued whilst he got behind his drums and beat the hell out of them. This all built into one sensational crescendo that simply blew me away. Metropolis and Terrors followed in the Barn. Two very organised bands that have a great catalogue of catchy, intriguing rock songs. It seemed to be the day of the vocalist as the Terrors front man pulled me in with his unique vocals. Metropolis whose EP I walked home with at the end of the night certainly caught my imagination. One particular song ‘Okay’ was stuck in my head for some time. Aquation played next on the Over The Hill stage. In a music scene where theres so many rock and indie bands, Aquation offer something new and unique. Alternative, guitar lead RnB which was superbly placed, early in the evening, on the line up.
Thrill Collins brought their fun loving skiffle pop to the Barn and inevitably packed it out. It now seems that if you live in Cheltenham and do not know and love Thrill Collins then you simply don’t belong here. Marle Hill Parade set the sage awesomely well for ‘The Over The Hill Records’ headliner Welcome To Marathon. Marle, still a relatively new band, are certainly ones to keep tabs on. Marathon packed out The Green Room and although they were a drummer down they still brought their A game. Their entire set had the whole crowd singing lyrics back to the band. This was quite a testament to the bands song writing ability and just how big they have become in Cheltenham. Up and Out of Memphis and Balfour served up particular highlights in their set. KSH and The Going Goods, were next up and sub-headlining on the main stage and showed just why they have become a highly established act. Mic D’s vocals that blew me away earlier returned but this time were accompanied by some tremendous beat boxing and intelligent rap. What KSH and The Going Goods have created is something unique, something special, that I haven’t heard in the county or in deed the whole country. They know how to put on a Fun show as well. Jake Watson and his band capped of the evening. At risk of sounding like a broken record, Jake again brought something totally different to Glos-Tone-Beret. He promised a Ho-Down and boy did he deliver. Foot stomping ‘Indie-Swamp’ that had people hugging, dancing and shouting at each other, all at the same time. Jakes energy and passion for his songs is something that is infectious and spreads to everybody in attendance. His talented backing band, truly do back up his ability and add something extra to the show. An excellent, more than worthy headliner. No band on display at Glos-Tone warranted a bad review. Something that is incredibly rare for a music all dayer. Each act brought their all, played their hearts out and delivered their part in a great day of incredible music. So well done to everybody that played for this, everybody that attended for making the day so fun and everybody at Tone Radio for once again delivering on a great event.
10 Minute Review Welcome To Marathon @ Rise Records, Cheltenham (17.03.13)
Five minutes before an instore performance starts, it’s hard to tell just who is already in the shop browsing and who is there to actually watch the band. Sure, there are a couple of people with cameras who look ‘in the know’, but mostly, men with beards and girls with tote bags hang around the aisles either chatting politely or stealthily looking through the racks for that twelfth Mountain Goats album. As a result, when the band starts playing, most people stop what they are doing and shuffle small dainty steps forward out of politeness or curiosity. Their curiosity is well-placed because Welcome To Marathon are good. They are young and have accents and attract more girls than boys to see them. They sound like Bruce Springsteen and REM before they got boring (ok, Springsteen never got boring). The vocalist is great and the keyboard player propels the songs to sound like how Belle & Sebastian used to before they got boring (they did get boring). Between songs, people in the audience pick DVD’s from the racks and ask their mates, “Have you seen this yet?” That wouldn’t happen if they were playing in a pub. Two girls have come from Taunton to see the band. I wonder if they’ll be able to catch the last train home? It is a Sunday after all. There may be a rail replacement service. I suppose Taunton’s only an hour and a half away on the M5. Oh…I guess I’ve got old and boring too. www.10minutereviews.tumblr.com
April GIG LISTINGS
Cheltenham
01/04/2013
Royal Union
Steve Franks
20:00
02/04/2013 02/04/2013
Royal Union The Bayshill
Steve Franks Kim Cypher Band
20:00 20:30
03/04/2013
The Bayshill
Gordon Wood
20:30
04/04/2013 04/04/2013
The Wheatsheaf Zizi
Bex & Franks Quartet Peter Nemesvari
20:00 19:00
05/04/2013 05/04/2013 05/04/2013 05/04/2013 05/04/2013 05/04/2013
The Bayshill The Cotswold St Paul’s Tavern United Services The Royal 2pigs
Sons of the Delta Coronettes Emmett Brown Tubby Blues Club Sweet, Short & Curly JUDDER!
21:00 21:00 21:00 20:00 21:00 22:00
06/04/2013 06/04/2013 06/04/2013 06/04/2013 06/04/2013 06/04/2013 06/04/2013 06/04/2013
The Daffodil The Bayshill The Cotswold Subtone The Beaufort Arms Sound Music Venue St Paul’s Tavern Frog & Fiddle
Huw Johnson Trio Toadstool Los Bandidios Del Tempo The Cuginis Emily J Mew Duo Stereo Influence Rabbit Foot Kick it for Cancer Fest
12:30 21:00 21:00 12:00 21:00 20:00 21:00 15:00
07/04/2013 07/04/2013 07/04/2013 07/04/2013
Royal Union The Exmouth Royal Union Albion House
Ska Henchman Swing From Paris Brunch with Guitar Music Nobby
21:00 14:30 11:30 14:30
08/04/2013 08/04/2013
The Daffodil Royal Union
Kim Cypher Quartet Steve Franks
20:00 20:00
09/04/2013
Royal Union
Steve Franks
20:00
11/04/2013 11/04/2013
Zizi The Wheatsheaf
Peter Nemesvari Mrs Peel
19:00 20:00
12/04/2013 12/04/2013 12/04/2013
London Inn The Bayshill The Cotswold
Last Man Standing Beaujacks Lyrical Lottery
21:00 21:00 21:00
April GIG LISTINGS 12/04/2013 12/04/2013
Reddings Community Centre G’s
Swingtime Quartet Crying Parents
20:00 20:30
13/04/2013 13/04/2013 13/04/2013 13/04/2013 13/04/2013 13/04/2013
The Daffodil The Bayshill Sound Music Venue St Paul’s Tavern Pates School 2pigs
Huw Johnson Michigan Avenue Canary Swing Beaujacks Cate Cody The Noble Experiment
12:30 21:00 20:00 21:00 20:00 20:00
14/04/2013 14/04/2013 14/04/2013
Royal Union Albion House The Playhouse
Groove Front Nobby John Etheridge
21:00 14:30 19:45
15/04/2013 15/04/2013
Royal Union The Strand
Steve Franks Brown Torpedo
20:00 20:00
16/04/2013 16/04/2013
The Bayshil The Frog & Fddle
Bayshill Jam Session Edenfall
21:00 19:30
18/04/2013 18/04/2013
Zizi The Wheatsheaf
Peter Nemesvari Kim Cypher Quartet
19:00 20:00
19/04/2013 19/04/2013 19/04/2013 19/04/2013 19/04/2013 19/04/2013 19/04/2013
2pigs The Bayshill London Inn St Paul’s Tavern Sound Music Venue Bacon Theatre Tithe Barn
Noise Agents To Be Advised Allstars Dub Band Steamroller Packed Elephant Jerry Lee Lewis Story The Jaguars
19:30 21:00 21:00 21:00 20:00 TBC 20:30
20/04/2013 2pigs 20/04/2013 The Exmouth Arms 20/04/2013 The Cotswold 20/04/2013 The Bayshill 20/04/2013 Sound Music Venue 20/04/2013 St Paul’s Tavern
Slageri Emily J, Peter N, Paul Newman Funk Bomb To Be Advised Emmett Brown & Swift Manouver My Design
20:00 21:00
21/04/2013 21/04/2013
Royal Union Parabola Arts Centre
Paul Newmans Jazz Mess Midland Youth Orchestra
21:00 19:30
22/04/2013
Royal Union
Steve Franks
20:00
21:00 21:00 20:00 21:00
April GIG LISTINGS
23/04/2013
Royal Union
Steve Franks
20:00
25/04/2013 25/04/2013
Zizi The Wheatsheaf
Peter Nemesvari Wheatsheaf Jam Night
19:00 20:00
26/04/2013
St Paul’s Tavern
Thrill Collins
21:00
26/04/2013 26/04/2013
The Bayshill London Inn
To Be Advised Charlton Kings Blues
21:00 21:00
26/04/2013
The Wheatsheaf
Galeforce
20:00
27/04/2013 27/04/2013 27/04/2013 27/04/2013 27/04/2013
2pigs Beaufort Arms The Bayshill The Exmouth Arms St Paul’s Tavern
Lord Misery Vicki Swan & Johnny Dyer Boogaloos Life O’Reilly MEMEME’S
20:00 20:00 21:00 21:00 21:00
28/04/2013 28/04/2013 28/04/2013
Royal Union Exmouth Arm Tithe Barn
Brunch with Guitar Music Will be a Jazz Band Stackridge
11:30 14:30 19:45
29/04/2013
Royal Union
Steve Franks
20:00
30/04/2013 30/04/2013
Norwood Arms Royal Union
Norwood Jam Steve Franks
20:30 20:00
Gloucester 04/04/2013
Ridge & Furrow
Jam Night
21:00
05/04/2013
Wotton Hall
Keep it Cash
19:30
06/04/2013
Old Richeans Club
Sax N Axe
21:00
11/04/2013
Guildhall
Duke Special
19:30
13/04/2013
Guildhall
Dexy’s
19:30
18/04/2013
Blackfriars
Martyn Joesph
19:30
19/04/2013
Guildhall
Gaz Coombes
19:30
21/04/2013
Guildhall
Peace
19:30
April GIG LISTINGS
26/04/2013
Guildhall
Dog is Dead
19:30
27/04/2013 27/04/2013
Guildhall Ridge & Furrow
Kate Nash Zachery Boot
19:30 20:00
05/04/2013
Sub Rooms
Sheelanagig
20:00
06/04/2013
Sub Rooms
Stroud Ceilidhs - Bedlam
20:00
10/04/2013
Sub Rooms
Fake Thackeray
19:30
11/04/2013 11/04/2013
Sub Rooms Stroud Valley Artspace
Peatbog Faeries Three Band Retrospective
19:30 21:00
18/04/2013
Sub Rooms
Flossie Malavialle
19:30
19/04/2013
Sub Rooms
Take Fat
19:30
26/04/2013 26/04/2013
Sub Rooms Stroud Brewery
Friday Night Live Triple Sec
20:00 20:00
27/04/2013
Sub Rooms
Hélélé
20:00
Stroud
Tewkesbury 06/04/2013
DD’s
Too Rock For Country
21:00
10/04/2013
Theoc House
Rod Kelly Trio
20:00
13/04/2013
Croft Farm
Otis Mack & The Tubby Bluesters 21:00
24/04/2013
Theoc House
JB3
20:00
05/04/2013
Royal George
Greg Winters
21:00
19/04/2013
Royal George
MI Brown
21:00
26/04/2013
Royal George
Damsons Sky Duo
21:00
Birdlip
April GIG LISTINGS Cinderford 12/04/2013
Miners Hall
Dean Austin
21:00
13/04/2013
Miners Hall
Hells Bells
21:00
27/04/2013
Miners Hall
Too Rock For Country
21:00
Winchcombe
02/04/2013
White Hart
Folk Club
20:00
02/04/2013
Corner Cupboard
Bluegras Session
21:00
Kim Cypher Quartet
21:00
Conderton
05/04/2013
Yew Tree
Open Mic Nights Tuesday Tuesday
St Paul’s Tavern, Cheltenham Salisbury Inn, Cheltenham
Wednesday Wednesday
Cross Keys, Gloucester Norwood Arms, Cheltenham
Thursday Thursday Thursday Thursday
The Strand Bar, Cheltenham Hogs Head, Cheltenham The Restoration, Cheltenh am St Paul’s Tavern, Cheltenham
Friday Friday Friday
The Fiery Angel, Cheltenham Royal George Hotel, Cheltenham Gardners Arms, Tewkesbury
Sunday Sunday
Royal Union, Cheltenham The Cotswold Inn, Cheltenham
If you want your gig in MAG email us: musicatglos@gmail.com
Fabio Thomas on... Gloucestershire College’s ’Past, Present & Future’ Many of the area’s young musicians took to the stage for Gloucestershire College’s ‘Past Present & Future’ gig at the Guildhall on March 15th. The free gig aimed to display a range of the college music department’s most talented musicians from the past, the present and the future (funnily enough). The line-up, which ranged from Gloucestershire gigging veterans Swift Manouver to a seemingly new collaboration The Year One All Stars, certainly delivered an eclectic mix of the collage’s bands through the ages. First on were young punk four piece Strange Things Frighten Us. After recently signing to Red Zebra records, big things were expected from this group, who delivered a slick performance. The band’s quintessentially punk / metal sound, seemed inspired by the female lead vocals of Paramore crossed with double bass drum precision of System of a Down. The Year One All Star’s followed STFU’s opening set and immediately flicked off the distortion pedals opting for a mellower tone. The group played a set of pop covers which seemed a little loosely thrown together. However, considering this is a collaboration of first year musicians, who presumably (considering their name) had been put together for this one off show, they entertained the crowd sufficiently. Feed the Moose had announced prior to the gig that this would be their final ever performance. The fact seems slightly disappointing now, as they were one of my favourite acts of the evening. Their borderline psychedelic sound, mixed with their long instrumental breaks and ‘jam-band’ vibe made for an enjoyable performance. A highlight was them even slipping into some Pink Floyd at one point. The Acrylics again picked up the acoustic covers theme, but with a much tighter sound than The First Year All Stars. They again pleased the crowd with a range of covers, before ending the set with a well thought out original track; delivered with a superb female vocal line. Regular readers of the column will have heard me rant and rave about Swift Manouver time and time again, and this is no exception. Their set provoked the crowd to finally start loosening up and moving their hips – this was in stark contrast to the circular mosh pit that erupted during Feed the Moose. SM left Stereo Influence with a difficult job – but the synth-pop headliners seemed to engage an adoring crowd, even if they didn’t make them move their skanking feet.
W
ant to contribute? We like listings, reviews, editorial, previews, pictures, art, cartoons and would like to fill these pages with things you care about. We‘d love to hear about anything to do with live music in the county really and can help with anything from promoting you here to getting you reviewed, played on student and local radio, putting you in touch with venues, musicians and artists across the county and just about anything else you can think of! Want to advertise? Put your gig posters in with the MAG for distribution? Ask what our favourite kind of ham is? You can contact Amelia – musicatglos@gmail.com MAG Editor Amelia Scognamiglio | Cover Design Robbie Pert | Listings Contributor Ollie West | Staff Writers Fabio Thomas, Andrew Hammond, Tom of 10 Minute Reviews & Dan Gutteridge| Thanks to all the people who contributed to issue TWENTY SEVEN of MAG, special thanks (again) goes to Robbie Pert for designing the awesome covers and to Andrew Lansley for continuing to support MAG and everything musical in Gloucestershire| All work remains property of the original owner, used with permission. Reproduction in whole or any part (especially the listings) of this fanzine would be awesome as it’s great to spread the word people, just make sure you credit the fanzine.