RiverSea - The Reasoning...

The Reasoning (acoustic) gig at Rotherham was good, the gig at Crewe great but the Bilston gig last night was simply awesome! In fact, I’d go as far as to say it was my best gig of the year - I even found my bouncy feet again when the band played Fallen Angels! The Reasoning are now well established on “the circuit” and the ever-growing band of followers are more than ready to let their hair down. This summer I’ve missed the Bluehorses crowd, and the fun we have, but The Reasoning have more than made up for it this past week!

Last night started off for me with a couple of minor problems... half way to Bilston I realised I’d forgotten my camera. Never mind, no time to turn back, live without it. Once at Bilston I hit a slightly bigger problem, the chip shop was shut! This was not so easy to live with! After walking the streets for a while, and even asking a Policewoman if she knew where I could get food, I came across a Chinese takeaway. A short while later I was back in the car eating a huge bag of chips and battered onion rings! Not gourmet stuff, but just what I needed.

As for the music, the evening started off with a support slot by new band RiverSea. This was their first live gig with a full sound system but you’d never have known it - they played one of the better support gigs I’ve seen in a long while. The band are still looking to add a bass player and a drummer to the line up - at the moment they are “getting by” with keyboards, acoustic and lead guitars - but the foundations are certainly in place. I’ll be watching out for more live dates in the future.

At 9:15PM The Reasoning started their set and from then until almost 11:00PM it was non-stop quality rock. The band played 13 tracks in all with the full set list being...

Sharp Sea
Dark Angel
Fallen Angels
Aching Hunger
Chasing Rainbows
Shadows Of The Mind
Call Me God
Absolute Zero
Breaking The 4th Wall
How Far To Fall
Talk To Me
A Musing Dream
Awakening

Best track on the night, for me, had to be Fallen Angels, the track that had me joining in with the bouncing! Rachel Cohen started it all off on stage, the crowd quickly joined in! Okay, we’re not quite talking Bluehorses quality from the “dance crowd” yet but it’s getting there!

Over the past week one track has taken a real turn with me, Call Me God. When I first heard this track, on the Dark Angel CD, I wasn’t sure what to make of it, having heard Rachel explain the song, and it’s meaning, I’ve seen (or should that be heard?) it in a whole new light. It’s now become one of my favourite tracks on the CD.

So, that’s the end of my own little “Autumn Chill” music tour for now. My next gig will be the Oysterband in a month’s time, quickly followed by the mighty Neverland - unless something else comes along in the mean time!

A Dark Angel day!

It’s been “one of those days” today. One of those days when all I wanted to do was get on my bike and get away from work as quickly as possible. At 5:30PM that’s just what I did - got on my bike and rode home like a man possessed! Not only did the ride help to burn off some of the stress it also pushed my mileage over the 500-mile mark. I only started to log my cycle rides on June 13 so I’m reasonably pleased with how quickly I’ve reached 500 miles. My next target is to have ridden 1000 miles by the end of the year.

Another reason for wanting to be at home was the possibility of arriving home to find that the Dark Angel was waiting for me on the doorstep. Sure enough, when I went to check the mail she was there - the Dark Angel has arrived! For those “not in the know” Dark Angel is the latest musical offering from one of my favourite bands, The Reasoning. It was back in January that I first got word of Dark Angel whilst chatting with Matt and Dylan after the gig they played in Crewe. The talk was of a limited edition of the album that would have a bonus DVD with it. Matt was unsure about the viability of such a venture - I was trying as hard as I could to convince him it was a good idea!

Today, fans of The Reasoning have started to receive their pre-ordered limited edition CD/DVD album and I reckon that there will be some very happy people this evening! The album is a stunning piece of work! I’ve read one review already that describes the album as coming at you “like a hurricane wielding a baseball bat!!!”. I can see what they are trying to say but I think that the effect is more like a gentle summer’s breeze that suddenly attacks you with an AK47! The first album from The Reasoning, Awakening, received critical acclaim in the music press - Dark Angel is set to raise the profile of the band even higher.

The official release date for Dark Angel is October 6 but, if you’re quick, you may still be able to get your hands on the limited edition CD/DVD. I can’t guarantee that they haven’t already all gone though!

Full details at... http://www.thereasoning.com/

Whilst you’re checking the web site for details of the Dark Angel make sure you have a look at the TOUR page too - lots of live dates are just around the corner! See you there!