Date: 17/02/19
Support: Chris Laycock, Safeguard, Guts, Holispark
So, I haven’t been to The Fulford Arms in a while. And that truly pains me. It’s because when I’m there, there’s a real sense of community and everyone feels as if they’re friends or family. It’s a truly special place. And the feeling kicked off on the night with Chris Laycock, someone I’m sure the community knows but I had never seen perform before. And I can honestly say, I just wanted to see more of him. His acoustic performance was charming, entertaining and funny. For him, his personality when he’s on stage just takes over and draws the crowd in and with his music, he’s slowly becoming a legend in the making.
Next up was Safeguard, a local band who’ve been around the block a few times. The first band for the evening who began to tear up the stage at first but I feel that their pending hiatus did overshadow them in places, where they just rose and fell between their sets but did this stop the crowd enjoying it? Certainly not, because it was a fun and fond look back at their discography discography and there’s certainly enough flame to keep them going if they decide to return in the future.
I will say this about Guts. They’re a difficult band to place. It’s a sort of band I have a love/hate relationship with but I didn’t dislike them. I’m quite fond of them. Their music was quite different to anything I’d seen perform here before, as it was a little more alternative than most. This is what I enjoyed most about them because they jsut didn’t conform the norms of the current musical genre’s. They’re a band that have branched out and if they continue to do so, will really help them in their future as a group.
Now, Holispark. More recently than anything else, if a band playing at a gig I’m attending, I will not listen to any of their past material. But, I have a good reason for that. I wanted to experience the music they play, not from anything I’d hear on a CD, or a streaming application, I wanted the first experience right there in front of me. When the first note was played, the whole room just exploded, everything about the gig now went to the next level and I don’t know if it was because of the band’s experience or how they played but it changed the room. Honestly, I felt as if their set was a little short because I got so lost in listening to their music, it was as if time sped up and I think I speak for the entirety of the room on the evening, we wanted more. Although, Holispark are one of these bands which will be a treasure for a lot of people, with their set being one of the finest I’ve seen in a while. It was a sense of community when one of their guitars (if I’m remembering the correct instrument.) broke and one of the members of Lyon Estates stepped in to lend their equipment for the common goal of playing. That’s what I do love to see and that’s one reason everyone loves coming to this venue and seeing everyone play.
And finally we came to Lyon Estates as the headliners in the evening. You can tell these guys mean business because they performed a stomping set with love, laugh and a few human pyramids (I’m not joking, this actually happened) to everyone’s amusement in a way that felt as if it was their homecoming, which it was. And you can say a lot about York bands but we stand by them, just as the crowd did. They sang, they cheered, especially when they had to choose between one or two tracks which were an on the spot decision for the band on the night.
What’s more, is that it didn’t take long for everyone to be joining in with their tracks. The great thing about Lyon Estates is they know how to respond to crowds which helps with the consistency of their sets and this makes them a band that when playing live never falls but just constantly keeps raising the bar for what they’re going to be doing in the future. I do hope more people get to see them in the future because they’re a band that just goes criminally under the radar but in the same sense of that, they’re a band that’s just a gem as well.
Rating: 6.5/10
Almost Anything Music 