Mag july 13 by MusicAtGlos

A Word From The Editor Firstly I’d like to apologise for last month’s issue. After some timing and technical issues we wer unable to provide you with the usual standard that we like to provide. Thankfully we have resumed our full service and have a fully stocked issue for July.

A word from the Editor Pg 1 Fabio Thomas On... Pg 2 10 Minute Review PG 2 Wychwood 2013 Review Pg 3 Welcome to the Marathon EP Review Pg 4 What’s On Listings Pg 5-9

With so much going on in the county and an overflowing amount of musical talent July is full of live and EP reviews. Fabio Thomas reviews Captain Accident and the Disaster’s latest album, the band play the Frog and Fiddle on the 19th alongside Swift Manouvre. Tom Brunsdon reviews Scott Ian’s ‘Speaking Words’ tour when he stopped off at Gloucester Guildhall at the end of May. Festival season has been in full swing for a good couple of months for Gloucestershire, Jamie Wade reviews one of the county’s largest music festivals Wychwood. July sees another of Gloucestershire’s hotly anticipated festivals 2000trees check out the review in August’s issue. Finally we have a review of local band Welcome to Marathon’s new EP. You can see Welcome to Marathon play Cafe Rene in Gloucester on the 24th. To find out what else is happening across the county this month check out the What’s On Listings.

Hopefully the weather has picked up for the summer so there really is no excuse not to MAG Needs You! get out there and support local music. There’s We are always looking for loads on this month, gigs, festivals and fiestas, news and reviews for MAG so something for everyone. from lovely people like you! Being a non-profit initiative Don’t forget you can like us on Facebook, folwe don’t pay but can get you low us on Twitter, read us at www.musicatglos. into gigs and publish your wordpress.com or email us at musicatglos@ work. Please contact Amelia gmail.com if you want to contribute anything to this fanzine: Amelia musicatglos@gmail.com

Fabio Thomas On.... Captain Accident and the Disasters

From its humble roots in the backstreets of Kingston, Jamaica, reggae, ska, rocksteady and bluebeat has spread across globe. From the Brummy reggae grooves of UB40, to the smooth New Zealand dub of Fat Freddy’s Drop to the world vibes of Alpha Blondy from the Ivory Coast; there is no doubt that reggae music is a thriving part of international music culture. Part of this thriving reggae community are Captain Accident and the Disasters from Cardiff. Their new album, ‘Slippin’ Up’, has all the hallmarks of a reggae classic; as shown through the small touches, such as the pronunciation of “me” as “mi” (there’s a rat in the Captain’s kitchen) and tracks like ‘Business’ which uphold the tradition of reggae song-writing. The song picks up the issues shown in Peter Tosh’s ‘Legalize it’, when Mr Accident himself declares “no this ain’t hurting anybody but me / so can’t you just let me be”. However, the given reggae hallmarks do not suggest that the band have been lazy in their song-writing. The album is delivered with effortless grace. Nothing is forced on any track, giving a wonderfully laid back feel to its sound. This is mainly shown through the Captain’s rugged but soulful lead vocal, which is offset by the pitch perfect backing harmonies. Whilst many may moan that the Captain and his clumsy counterparts have not achieved anything particularly ground-breaking in ‘Slippin’ Up’, there is no denying that what has been created is brilliant out-and-out reggae album. ‘Slippin’ Up’ is released on 13th July, before they hit the second date of their tour at The Frog and Fiddle on the 19th.

10 Minute Review Words: Tom Brunsdon | Picture: Gloucester Guildhall

Scott Ian @ Guildhall, Gloucester (26.05.13) The Guildhall is fairly quiet – I suppose it is a Sunday night after all. A man in a black t-shirt plays air guitar to Slayer as it booms from the sound system. Many other men are wearing black t-shirts too, emblazoned with large prints that say things like, ‘Metallica Tour 1993, Milton Keynes Bowl.’ There are several Scott Ian clones dotted around the rows of chairs – bald heads, beards and…umm…black t-shirts too. Twenty-five years ago they probably wanted to be the lead guitarist in Anthrax as well. So what is one of the pioneers of heavy metal doing on stage in Gloucester on a Sunday evening in May without a Flying V in his hands? Well, quite simply, telling stories from ‘the road’ as part of his Speaking Words tour. He introduces himself as not your usual heavy metal star – he doesn’t really drink, or do drugs. It sounds interesting; this could be an alternative take on the rock star life style. But to tell you the truth, there is nothing new to see here. I mean, there was this story about getting drunk with Lemmy and another about taking drugs with someone or other, and this other one about playing a prank call on someone in a band with someone else in some other band. For a man who doesn’t really drink, Ian sure has a lot of drinking stories (an hour’s worth in fact). It reminded me a bit of a potential script for American Pie 7 – The Headbangers Ball Reunion. [Scene 12: Scott Ian regaled Stiffler (now aged 49) with another of his stories]: “This one time when I was at thrash metal band camp…” Everyone else seemed to enjoy it though. There were a few laughs and a chance for the audience to ask, ‘Who would you rather be stuck in a lift?’ type questions at the end. I guess, all in all, if you are a big Anthrax fan then sitting within spitting distance of one of your heroes would be worth the ticket price alone. Just what came out of his mouth didn’t tell me anything about being in a band that I couldn’t get from reading that Motley Crue autobiography.

Wychwood 2013 Words: Jamie Wade

It’s very difficult for a festival to attract not just one group or class of people but the whole family and yet Wychwood, which is annually held at the Cheltenham Racecourse, manages to always effortlessly do this. You may wonder how can a festival be for a family. Well to start with for the kids, this year there was activities such as go-karting, paintballing, workshops and even a children’s literature festival. Nevertheless, just because there were activities for children does not mean they would have not liked the music, because trust me they would have. For the whole family and in particular the older ones, there was a huge variety of music over the weekend – music being the main source of entertainment of the festival. From calm yet powerful acoustics sets to heavy blues and from classic 80s electronic tunes to the modern dance tracks, this festival had music for everyone (old and young). There was even a ukulele orchestra! Some my favourites over the weekend had to be The Human League (Sing it: Don’t You Want Me Baby! Don’t You Want Me! Ooohhhh!), who headlined the main stage on Saturday night, Bill Bailey, The Other Tribe, Mausi, Caravan Palace (electro swing and gypsy jazz – who’d have thought?) and Craig Charles and his 2 hour Funk & Soul DJ Set. If anyone went to the Big Top on Sunday to see Craig Charles you’d remember how crazily energetic he was and mouthed every word of every song he played. Amazing! Like Craig Charles, all of the artists did not just stand and play their music, they looked like they cared and wanted you to enjoy their music and be at the festival; they wanted to be part of the Wychwood gang too. If the music ever got too much then there was a Healing Garden, an Oxygen Bar and a Hot Tub area to relax you… or you could go and grab some food – that worked for me. Although, the prices for the food and drinks were a bit expensive than normally, you realise that the festival is only for the weekend and spending a little bit of money is OK. Then at the end of the day, after dancing to the incredible music, if you were slightly tired of hearing music then there were a variety of hilarious comedians at the Hobgoblin stage every night that were astonishing. However, if you still wanted to carry on listening to music and have a bit of a dance then there was a nightly silent disco at the Big Top – where you put on some headphones and can choose which DJ out of the two you would like to listen too – it’s a weird concept but it has it’s benefits and works. I went on the last night and there was this one moment that has stuck in my head ever since. It was the end of the night and one of the DJs put on Monty Python’s All Ways Look On The Bright Side Of Life (I bet you all just whistled then, didn’t you?) and without thinking about it everyone made a huge circle, put their arms over other people’s shoulders, started kicking in time and sang along to the song. I didn’t know everyone – not even the guy I was standing next too. However, that is what this festival is about; whether it is standing next to someone who also likes the band or comedian you are watching, eating with other people, playing paintball with some strangers or even singing some amazingly weird songs with everyone at the silent disco, Wychwood is about having fun, enjoying music, making friends, connecting with people and yet most important of all it is about being a family.

Welcome to Marathon EP Review Words: Phil Cooper | Picture: Welcome to Marathon

Earlier this year local Gloucestershire based four-piece Welcome To Marathon released their latest recording to the public. In a bold move the EP was released in three parts with each CD containing four tracks. This idea has the potential to backfire because it can alienate the public to what a band is trying to promote, that is to say they may not be receptive to the idea of buying three separate CDs at once and would rather have an album containing all of the tracks and only pay one price for it. However, this does not appear to be the case for ‘Marathon, whose fans have been more than receptive of the three CD release particularly because each one is a perfect stand alone EP. Each group of four tracks displays the excellent versatility of the band; from straight up boogie rock ‘n’ roll through to mellow reflectivity. It is possible to pick anyone of these EPs to suit your mood, with stand out tracks such as I’ll Be Right Back, Manhattan, Night Running and Gotta Get Out there truly is something for everyone contained within these 12 tracks.

Welcome To Marathon are clearly highly adept young musicians who make no effort to hide their influences. There are clear elements of Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, The Gaslight Anthem and Radiohead (to name a few) contained within these songs, indeed it is highly possible to imagine Balfour being in the Springsteen repertoire whilst the punk like aggressiveness of the guitars would sit perfectly in any Gaslight Anthem record. Lyrically, the songs contain a wide variety of hooks that just cry out for an audience to sing their hearts out too. I dare you not to crank up Gotta Get Out and get your groove on while singing loud. Hot on the heels of the release of the triple EP Welcome To Marathon played at Rise record store in Cheltenham as part of the International Record Store Day as well as playing a prime time slot on the Pomme Stage at Wychwood festival held at Cheltenham Racecourse. If this fresh batch of recordings is anything to go by, these guys won’t be hanging around for long and will be on their way to bigger and brighter things. Go see them, get an EP and enjoy the Marathon Stand out tracks: I’ll Be Right Back, Manhattan, Night Running and Gotta Get Out For fans of: Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, The Gaslight Anthem

July GIG LISTINGS

Cheltenham

01/07/2013

Royal Union

Steve Franks

20:00

02/07/2013

Royal Union

Steve Franks

20:00

03/07/2013 Frog & Fiddle 03/07/2013 The Bayshill

Vanna, Former Friends & Black Art Gordon Wood

19:30

04/07/2013

ZiZi

Peter Nemesvari

19:00

05/07/2013 05/07/2013 05/07/2013 05/07/201

SoundMusicVenue 2pigs The Brown Jug London Inn

StressEchoes JUDDER Big Black Car Don’t Tell Gerry

18:00 22:00 21:00 21:00

06/07/2013 SoundMusicVenue 06/07/2013 Montpellier Gardens 06/07/2013 2pigs 06/07/2013 The Exmouth Arms 06/07/2013 The Bayshill 06/07/2013 The Strand 06/07/201 Subtone

Brit Pop Midsummer Fiesta Stillbust, FAUSTO,Milk Teeth, Former Friends, White Crosses, Down He Falls Which One’s Gerry MyDesign Flight of K The Cuginis

18:00 12:00 19:00

07/07/2013 07/07/2013 07/07/201

Royal Union Montpellier Brasserie The Exmouth Arms

Jazz Session Kim Cypher Quartet Short & Sweet

21:00 10:00 14:30

08/07/2013

Royal Union

Steve Franks

20:00

09/07/2013 11/07/2013

Royal Union ZiZi

Steve Franks Peter Nemesvari

20:00 19:00

12/07/2013 12/07/2013 12/07/2013 12/07/2013

SoundMusicVenue London Inn The Bayshill Beaufort Arms

Jazz Monkey Live Big Black Car Ker G Cheltenham Folk Club

18:00 21:00 21:00 21:00

13/07/2013 13/07/2013 13/07/2013

Albion House The Bayshill Subtone

Over The Hill Toadstool The Cuginis

20:45 21:00 12:00

20:30

21:00 21:00 21:00 12:00

July GIG LISTINGS 13/07/2013

Brizen Field

Dancin’ Easy

17:00

14/07/2013 14/07/2013

Royal Union The Playhouse

Jazz Session Peter & Geoff Simkins

21:00 19:30

15/07/2013

Royal Union

Steve Franks

20:00

16/07/2013

Royal Union

Steve Franks

20:00

17/07/2013

The Bayshill

Jam Session

21:00

18/07/2013

ZiZi

Peter Nemesvari

19:00

19/07/2013 Frog & Fiddle 19/07/2013 The London Inn 19/07/2013 The Bayshill 19/07/2013 Th Strand 19/07/2013 Tithe Barn

Captain Accidents 20:00 and the Disasters, Swift Manouvre, Passengers Last Man Standing 21:00 Mike Maddams 21:00 Kim Cypher Quartet 21:00 Affinity 20:00

20/07/2013 20/07/2013 20/07/2013 20/07/2013 20/07/2013

The Daffodil The Exmouth Arms The Bayshill The Cotswold Inn Subtone

Dirty Trainers Synergy Dirty Trainers Featherstone The Cuginis

12:30 21:00 21:00 21:00 12:00

21/07/2013

Royal Union

Jazz Session