Go Jeff!- Ellen and the Escapades in the North

Ellen and the Escapades  hit the North over the weekend. When I say the North I mean Newcastle at The Cluny and Manchester at The Castle Hotel . The Cluny is a great venue just outside Newcastle city centre. You have to go down a few flights of stairs to get to the gig setting but it's spacious, cool and dark; all the things you want for a night of music! Ellen and the Escapades were as good as ever. The haunting, hypnotic voice of Ellen Smith backed by a tight set of guitars, drums and keyboard. They played a mixture of songs from their current album keeping some of the older tunes in to keep the die hard fans happy. Their more current songs show how the band have matured and become more confident about their own sound. I must say, I do like a dance so I'm always happy when 'Without You' comes on. You can tap your feet and pretend you're surrounded by hay bales-amazing! But then on another song you can be swaying by the beach with a bottle of beer. Enough of my imagination...

At The Cluny in Manchester it was a slightly different vibe. Mostly due to the hot sweaty back room of the pub everyone was crammed into and the £4.50 pints of Peroni. But niggles aside another cracking set by the band. In my hast I tried to record their closing number 'Cast'. Nothing can quite capture the essence of being at a gig but I wanted to try and share a little bit of it.

BE WARNED IT"S QUITE LOUD!


Ellen and the Escapades have built up a loyal fan base and it seems electric guitarist Jeffrey Schneider has adopted the anthem "GO JEFF!" which has begun following him from gig to gig (well maybe just the ones I'm at).  One day it will be trending on Twitter. The band carry on touring throughout the year, so if you can catch them, I would.

Bands, Bristol, Bonadventures...

Folk Night Bristol by bribriwilliam


I haven't been to a gig in Bristol for some time, so when I saw that Ellen and The Escapades were hitting the city I bought my ticket quickly. The band have played the festivals all summer long and even won Michael Eavis' heart at Glastonbury this year. So Bristol bound, I looked forward to night of folky rock.

They played at St Bonaventures Parish Social club which I didn't know even existed let alone held gigs. Trying to find the place to begin with, I asked a man on the street "Is it a real church?" to which he replied "Yes it is...well it's catholic...". I won't linger on that but it made me chuckle!Anyway, the social club is like a working men's club stuck onto the back of a church. Red covered booths and doombar on tap, a classy joint. But it wasn't the decor and choice of drink that was important, it was the bands.

Kicking off the night was singer /song writer Nick Parker with humorous ballads and gentle guitar playing. Nick tried to woo the audience with his vulnerabilty and continuous guitar tuning and it seemed to do the trick!

Next up was Scottish/ Leeds lad Gary Stewart who was surprsingly punchy. A unique voice and some really captivating sounds. For just one man and his guitar he filled the room effortlessly with northern passion and a bit of Bristol soul. I was impressed (which isn't an easy task). One of my favourite tunes was Behind The Door. The lovely Ellen accompanied Gary on stage to sing and it was great. I don't know how else to describe it so I'll let you have a listen and see what you think...



Finally Ellen and the Escapades settled on stage to introduce the backhalls of Bristol to their earthy sound. Each time I hear them play I can't get over the rawness of Ellen's voice and the soft harmonies that trickle through each song, magical. Very much still an emerging band we were treated to a few new, albeit unfinshed, songs. I look forward to hearing more of them. Coming Back Home always puts a smile on my face and the crowd rather enjoyed it too.

(E and the E are missing their bassist Andy Calder who is recovering from pneumonia which isn't very nice. Hopefully he'll be back on the scene soon. Gary had to step in to help and I think he rather liked it.)

What was great about my Bristol folk night is that all of the acts were friendly and engaging. Not one let us forget that it was them we were here to see. Who needs X-Factor?!