RESONATE FESTIVAL
VENUE ISLINGTON O2 ACADEMY, LONDON DATE 08/09/2018
Six distinctly contrasting bands are up against a very tight venue curfew at the second festival fundraiser under the Resonate/Resonance banner, organised by The Gift’s main man, Mike Morton. However, despite the easy-to-reach central London location, the impressive line-up attracts an enthusiastic but criminally modest-sized crowd.
According to frontman John Dexter Jones, openers Jump are no more a prog band than they are a cat. However, they unfailingly know how to work a crowd. Animate, articulate and amusing, the Bangor Bard leads the folk rock-infused stalwarts through a roistering set that includes new numbers: the nostalgic, wistful The Heroes We’d Be and full-on rant Breaking Point.
Verbal Delirium are fast becoming UK festival favourites, their passionate Greek prog melding classical influences with searing flashes of edgy theatrical tension. This plays out in the brooding Fear, which is full of unexpected tempo twists, and The Decayed Reflection, a tempestuous musical and lyrical meditation. The climax comes when frontman Jargon’s expressive voice hits uncharted, ethereal heights on the unreleased Children Of Water.
Glasgow’s Comedy Of Errors are prog’s Everyman – a band to whom everyone can relate. Though not showy by nature, Joe Cairney’s solid stage presence belies his hallmark high-register pipes and offers a focal point. Both House Of The Mind and In A Lifetime pulsate with intensity and feeling. The only downside is the sound system stymying some of their more intricate musical nuances.
Sometime during the mid-point interval and soundchecks, the sound is surreptitiously cranked up. When The Gift begin part two, it’s not just the sound that’s louder: they’re also engaged in a lurid Battle of the Jackets. Morton and guitarists Leroy James and David Lloyd all arrive on stage garishly attired, more befitting a soul combo, but this doesn’t detract from a particularly upbeat, entertaining set. Gabriele Baldocci unleashes a mighty keytar solo among the unfolding drama of At Sea/Tuesday’s Child, and makes Long Time Dead come alive through some jazzy keyboards.
They may not be prog, but Son Of Man are all about high-energy, bluesy rock, George Jones carrying the torch for his late father
Micky Jones right down to his characteristic cherry red Gibson SG. Spunk Rock and Bananas are timely reminders of the Man heritage, the band also blasting through a selection from their eponymous debut album in compelling, classic style.
There’s less than an hour left on the clock when headliners
Lifesigns finally hit the stage. Gracious, smiley and stunningly melodic as always, they only have time for four songs from Cardington, including the uplifting title track. Fittingly, they sign off tonight’s festivities on a high note, Dave Bainbridge’s exquisite, spine-tingling guitar solo elevating the aptly titled ballad Last One Home.
“LIFESIGNS ARE AS GRACIOUS, SMILEY AND STUNNINGLY MELODIC AS ALWAYS, SIGNING OFF TONIGHT’S FESTIVITIES ON A HIGH NOTE.”