Defence of the Realm - Summer's End

[Mooncat]

OK, thought some eager beavers may have beaten me to it (barring Mike's Photo's) but alas it seems I'm the first so here goes.......................
First up, hello to everyone I met (Dena, VitP(Sorry for all the 'missed ideas'(camo tshirts etc)!!!!), Pedders, MooBass, plus a few whose names I didn't catch or can't recall) , equally big hello to those who you whom I was 'aware of' (couldn't really miss Fogeyspasm is full fighter pilot garb, despite the heat, Mouse and MikeEvs and to those whom I missed too.

Anyway, on with the gig.
The Resonace Assocaition were up first - an instrumental duo playing guitars and theremin over some preprogrammed beats and backing. Entertaining, but I think that by not having any vocals they didn't seem to connect with the audience. But the opening slot is always going to prove difficult for any band, and I thought they did well.

Next up Tinyfish  - as Simon pointed out fronted by 'the first Godfrey to come out' to which the reply came that how come it wasn't headline news that Simon was 'out' and that it also implied Jem had done likewise!!! Cue some swift backtracking from SG and 'don't tell the wives!!!'
I've seen them before 'in the flesh' (have got the Poland DVD tho') and was mightily impressed. The sound was really good and despite a few technical problems from Simon's guitar synth they played a great set which should have won them some fans of anyone not already aware of them.

But from the brisk trade being done on the merchandise stall (manned, or should that be personed, by the lovely Nellie replete in Frost*ied army uniform) a lot of people were here to see the 'DotR' - lost of Frost* shirts in the audience as you'd expect.
And they didn't disappoint - a nice mix of Frost* tracks (including the live debut of Dividing Line), Kino and Marillion, plus a few other which I can't put my finger on. plus the kind of banter and general madness that we know and love (and any veterans of the Esoteric shows will know the added lunacy these 'unofficial'  Frost gigs bring).
(Toomy) hats off to JM for managing to get a room of 400-ish people to crouch down during the 'air raid' - only bettered by the sight of watching 400-ish people trying to stand back up again afterwards!!!
And Jem's intro for JM left the latter in tears and lost for words - another piece of Godfrey genius..............
Pete T. looked to be having the time of his life, nailed some pretty complex songs (TDL, BLM) and really got into the spirit of the gig - his presence also meaning we got an awesome rendition of Afraid of Sunlight.
Also quality voice over bits done by Matt Berry (from the IT Crowd and Aboslute Radio).

BUT a MASSIVE pat on the back to Corporal Blunders. Having met him several times over the last few years he was my 'bookies favourite' to land the drum stool when TBE departed. Alas, it wasn't to be at the time, but all good things come to those who wait - and boy was it good!!!
It's got to be fairly nerve wracking to start your first gig with 3/4 of your new band by playing a song like The Dividing Line, which was bang on (with a new middle section featuring Jem and his loop station vocal thingy) and he settled down nicely into the gig. His sense of humoour (as you'll have seen from the Frost* report) is a natural fit for the rest of the guys and the biggest compliment is that by the end of the night I was no longer thinking of him as 'the new boy'.
Anyone who was worried about how Frost* v3.0 will sound come December, fear not - the 4-piece line up last night sounded immense and I have no doubt it will be a leaner, meaner gigging machine by then.

In fact, in the words of almost everyone - we can KEEP CALM and MELLOTRON

[L33VEY]

Cheers Mooncat - top review

[rogerg]

thanks Mooncat for the excellent review!

[keithd]

Excellent night last night, nice to see the usual gang  

Next up...Bilston.

[Trapezium Artist]

Nice work, Mooncat.

Looking forward to some of the other blitz victims pitching in with their stories of how it was down in the underground tunnels last night, hopefully with some video and sound as accompaniments  

[Blunders73]

It was great to meet so many Frost* fans, so sorry I didn't get chance to chat to all. Thank you for making me feel so welcome

Blunders

[RiK]

It was great to meet so many Frost* fans, so sorry I didn't get chance to chat to all. Thank you for making me feel so welcome

Blunders

Nice to meet you too mate, and you played a blinder too. Good show old chap!

[rogerg]

It was great to meet so many Frost* fans, so sorry I didn't get chance to chat to all. Thank you for making me feel so welcome

Blunders

sounds like it was a smashing debut, Craig!!  What ho!!

[shadowphiar]

Awesome set! Great to hear all those Kino songs again even if that does make them (as Simon put it) a 'covers band'...

PS. One of the the songs you didn't put your finger on was Camouflage In Blue, from the middle of All Of The Above by Transatlantic.

[Gig Buddy]

Bloody marvellous!

Great to meet up with some of the usual subjects again and wish I could've stayed for the whole weekend.
Absolutely brilliant set choice. Great to see Tinyfish in electric mode, enjoyed every minute of them.

Roll on Bilston

[Fogeyspasm]

Great review, Couldn't have put it better myself!

[MikeEvs]

Have updated my flickr sets with new photos from Friday:

The Resonance Association

Tinyfish

Defence of The Realm

[johninblack]

That is just so cool.  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)

[gr8gonzo]

That is just so cool.  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)

Ditto! Awesome pic, Fogey!

[Tricky]

That is just so cool.  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)  8-)

I don't think that cool can describe it properly.

More like 'dying of heatstroke'

Was that a gunfire sample I heard at the end of the air-raid, or just the mass cracking of kneejoints?