Date - Saturday 20th September 2003
Event - Mostly Autumn with special guests Sevenball
Venue - Grand Opera House, York
Time - Doors open 6pm, show starts 7pm
Tickets - £12 advance tel. 01904-671818
Following the huge success of July's sell-out Blakey Ridge Festival, staged at the top of the rugged North Yorkshire Moors, promoters Blakey Music have teamed up with the festival's headliners MOSTLY AUTUMN for a special show in somewhat cosier surroundings. The concert will be staged at York's 1,000 seater Grand Opera House from 7pm on Saturday 20th September.
The concert has special significance for Mostly Autumn. Not only will the York band be returning from a hectic European touring schedule for this rare home town appearance, they will be capturing the performance on a live album to be released later in the year. Formed in 1998, they are being hailed as the band rock fans have waited twenty years for. The amazing seven-piece have all the hallmarks of the great bands from the seventies - there are echoes of Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Genesis and all of the greats, but the sound is unmistakably their own.
Like the Autumn season itself, their music has a romantic, organic quality and a rare naturalness, but it also combines elements of sheer power and intensity. The songs seem to grow into life rather than emerge as the work of a laboured writing process.
Mostly Autumn also possess a magical stage chemistry resulting in a superb blend of melodic rock produced by seven talented musicians at the peak of their powers. Bryan Josh is the founder member and driving force behind Mostly Autumn, but he is well supported by the outstanding talent of Heather Findlay, one of the most impressive female vocalists to emerge in recent years. As an extra demension to this prestigious York show the band will be joined on stage by a string quartet, full choir and Troy Donockley, the world renowned Uilleann pipes and low whistle player, whose session worked can be heard on Mostly Autumn's studio albums. To make the most of this additional musical talent several of the band's epic album tracks will be performed live for the very first time.
Mostly Autumn's 6 studio albums, including the pre-release issue of the new CD "Passengers" have all been met with overwhelming critical acclaim. The demand for Mostly Autumn's live shows has seen them playing to packed venues throughout the USA, Hungary, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Holland and the UK. And it seems only fitting that in recent years they have won awards from the international Classic Rock Society for Best Band, Best Vocalist, Best Guitarist, Best Song and Best Live Performance. With major record label negotiations currently ongoing, the future for this York band looks very bright indeed.
Opening the night's entertainment will be London-based band SEVENBALL.
The nucleus of the band is the kinetic partnership of Luke Ritchie (vocals, rhythm guitar), and Andrew Dunn (lead guitar), a collaboration of such intensity and passion that has, on more than several occasions, left audiences with aching limbs. Luke's powerhouse vocals rip through a twisted canvas of visceral emotion, guiding, commanding and hauntingly honest. His rich and distinctive tones blend smoke-scarred depth with a gentle, and deceptively bright falsetto, while Andrew's dangerous and inspired guitar drives the unstoppable momentum of their music. His lap slide in particular possesses a charged, mesmerising rhythm that demands support of highest degree.
SEVENBALL's output has been described as "understated power with tinges of sadness and pain" and "Gorgeously intense, serious music" with their music compared to that of Ben Harper, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin and Jeff Buckley; "Imagine Jeff Buckley crossed with Pearl Jam and the result is Sevenball. Emotional stuff!" [Vision newspaper]
With such fine musical talent on show in York's grandest venue this promises to be an event not to be missed. Tickets, priced at £12, are on sale now from the Opera House box office (tel. 01904-671818) and further details are available at
http://www.blakeymusic.com.