End of year gigs: The Unthanks in Winter and a bunch of old punks

A couple of Wednesdays ago, Sarah and I met up with our good friend Tom in the People's Republic of Stroud (TM) for a very seasonal concert from Northumberland's finest, The Unthanks. The venue was The Sub Rooms ( formerly and formally The Subscription Rooms ), where I'd previously seen the likes of Tenpole Tudor, Buzzcocks and the Poison Girls. This time, however, the recently-restored ballroom wasn't hosting crusty Punk rockers ( more of them later! ) but some good old folkin' folk music. It was a very civilised affair: an all-seated venue with signs forbidding us from taking photos or filming the concert. At least this means you're spared more of my blurry gig photos...

Support came from Katherine Priddy, a young folk singer / guitarist with a gorgeous voice ( and face! ) and some gently confessional songs. Apparently, her recorded work features more instrumentation but, for this tour, it was just her and a guitar. She said the song Does She Hold You Like I Did? should feature some mariachi-type horns, but we'd just have to imagine them. Songs like that one and First House on the Left were quietly lovely and showcased Katherine's virtuoso guitar-playing, which really was something special to witness. Her set was a short, sweet treat and expertly set the scene for the main event.

The show was billed as "The Unthanks In Winter" and that was exactly what they delivered as all the songs were themed around Winter and Christmas, with familiar tunes and carols expertly weaved into the folk music, old and contemporary. The band's instruments included saxophone, fiddle and vibraphone, and many of the 8-piece ensemble swapped instruments throughout the evening. The music ebbed and flowed, from joyous to melancholy, taking in echoes of jazz and classical, always impeccably played and with a lovely, counterintuitively warm sound. Of course, the main feature of the show was the gorgeous sound of Rachel and Becky Unthank's voices. Their Tyneside burr brings a naturalistic, conversational tone to their songs of love, work, family and history, and it was also a pleasure to hear them talk candidly about themselves, their music and their father, who is a huge influence on their career. 

At times they encouraged the audience to sing along, which many did with gusto, especially the woman sitting next to me who is apparently part of a choir. ( I kept quiet. ) Those more connected to the folk world would probably know which songs were new and which traditional, but I'm ignorant of such things, and thought they all sounded wonderful anyway. The sisters told us how cool they thought Stroud was, which obviously delighted the ageing-hipster "Stroudie" audience, as they're always up for some back-slapping. It was a lovely evening, with some fantastic, emotionally-charged music, only slightly marred by the bloody uncomfortable "school chairs" we had to sit on...

After the show, the sisters stood and talked to the punters as we filed out of the venue. Sarah spoke to Rachel, telling her they were "beautiful girls with beautiful voices"  -  can't argue with that. Sarah, Tom and I sloped off to The Lord John, Stroud's cheap 'n' cheerful Wetherspoons, for a post-gig catch-up and then we all headed for home. It was, after all, a school night...

As a total change of pace, we went to our beloved Gloucester Guildhall on Friday night to see legendary Gloucester punks Demob play their 45th anniversary celebration show. Lead "singer" Andy K came back from California for this one, and a load of old punks turned up in support. We picked up our friend Caz and roared into town for some rock 'n' roll action...

We missed the first band, The Youth Within, ( probably no great loss ) but were of course down the front dead on time for Stroud Disco Punks (TM), Chinese Burn! Ed from the Burn had got me in on the guest list, so it was the least we could do ;-)

Chinese Burn surprised absolutely no-one by being the best band of the night. Their melodic R&B-inflected Pop Punk was as fun as ever, and the short set meant they played ( most of ) their best songs with a minimum of fuss. I hadn't seen them for a few years so it was an absolute pleasure to catch them yet again. Ben emotionally dedicated the set to the late, great Shane MacGowan who passed away recently, which was a lovely touch. They closed with the epic Defending Stalingrad, which I still think has one of the greatest lyrics I've ever heard from a Punk band, famous or otherwise.

Next up were Cheltenham "Horror Punks" The Screaming Dead, a local band who've seemingly been going forever but whom I've strangely never seen. They were average Goth fare, entertaining enough but not too memorable. I did remark to Sarah that the singer looked like Alice Cooper if he'd been dead in a river for a couple of weeks... which was probably a bit harsh.

At last, Demob themselves hit the stage, following a video about the band by my mate Glenn, which was sadly a failure as one of the Guildhall techies had turned the sound off. Oops! Demob kicked off in true Street Punk style with early-80s anthem Anti-Police, its lyrics about police brutality still sadly relevant. They pounded out their meat 'n' potatoes, no frills Punk with a surprisingly ferocious energy for a band who hadn't played together for a couple of years and had had only one practice. Never the most subtle of bands, Demob can still be relied on for some raw, angry music, and certainly got the crowd going nuts down the front. I definitely enjoyed this kind of thing more when I was about 16, but it was fun to relive the days of Teenage Adolescence, to quote another Demob song title. After their best song No Room For You, the set kind of fizzled out but I think Andy and the boys ( including half of Borrowed Time ) did themselves proud and certainly pulled the biggest crowd I can remember them having. After the gig I asked Andy how his California accent was coming along  -  he said he's still a Gloucester boy at heart: "You can take the boy out of the Shire, but you can't take the Shire out of the boy."

It was a good night out with some great music, and some half-decent music, but mostly it was lovely to catch up with a whole load of people I hadn't seen in ages. A great evening to round out what has been an outstanding year for live gigs.