Unattended Moments

So I’m preparing a big photo update and an entry on my recent holiday on the Isle of Mull, but in the meantime I wanted to write a quick post on the Mostly Autumn concert I went to on Saturday.  This is a band I started listening to about a year ago and they’re becoming a favourite, leading me to hunt down most of their back catalogue despite some of the earliest albums only being available on ebay or marketplace. I was therefore delighted to discover that they were coming to Gateshead; they played in Hall 2 at the Sage, which is a really nice venue - not too big so quite an intimate feel and a good view of the stage from anywhere in the auditorium.

I hadn’t seen them live before so can’t compare with other line-ups, but the band worked really well together on stage and there was a good energy to the performance. The only slight hitch - when Bryan Josh suffered a temporary lapse of memory over the words to ‘The Spirit of Autumn Past Pt. 2′ - simply served to lighten the mood.  New lead vocalist Olivia Sparnenn was in good voice and got a great reception for her rendition of  older material, including ‘Evergreen’, as well as the songs from their most recent album, ‘Go Well Diamond Heart’.

They were on stage for close to two and half hours, playing most of the tracks from ‘Go Well Diamond Heart’ - including two songs from the special edition which I hadn’t heard before - as well as a good range of songs from their earlier albums.  There was one other song which was new to me, ‘Questioning Eyes’, which was written by Iain Jennings and Olivia Sparnenn for Breathing Space (the band formed by Iain during a temporary absence from Mostly Autumn).

Seeing them live, though, brought a freshness to all the songs and sent me back to some of the albums with even more enthusiastic ears.  All in all a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

For the first time in my life, I’m not thoroughly depressed by the prospect of a Conservative prime minister.  Going into the election I wasn’t entirely thrilled by the prospect of any party forming a majority government, and though my first choice might have been a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition, I can see potential in a Conservative-Leb Dem alliance.  Particularly if, as is being suggested, we get fairer taxation plans and potential electoral reform out of the deal.  It also means that for the first time in my lifetime, we could have a government which in some sense reflects the votes of the majority of the population, rather than a majority government elected on less than 50% of the vote.  It may not be exactly what voters thought they were signing up for, but I’d rather have a government in which my party has some say than no say at all.  Of course it may not work out, but here’s hoping this really could be the start of a new style of politics - one that’s more about genuine dialogue and less about party-political point scoring (I can dream, can’t I?).