Yellowknife Bay, The Bluebook Project, Adiescar, The Basilisk.

Lev 1 Esquires Bedford. Friday 4th September 2015.

Bedford Alternative Music (B.A.M.) bought us a mixed bag of musical treats tonight, a veritable all sorts of styles and genres. The gig is held principally to say farewell to YELLOWKNIFE BAY . The Bedford based post punk band have decided (after three years) to call it a day. They bow out to aa packed bar. The quartet step on to the raised stage, where they are joined by promoter Keith. He then proceeded to fish out a piece of paper which has a list of notable dates in the bands career. It starts with their very first show back in September 2012. To their credit. Yellowknife Bay have never been afraid to musically experiment, but with tonight being somewhat special, they treated their party loving mates by opening with a cover of When The Sun Goes Down. Judging by the crowds reaction, its amazing how many Artic Monkeys fans we’ve hot in here, another cover follows and for this they are joined by their friend Stephen Hinds. This effervescent and lively lad is perfect for performing Billy Braggs To Have And To Have Not. Their own compositions begin in earnest with Maria, Pandoras Box and Breakdown soon follow. Songs that perfectly express their jerky post punk sound. The whole set seems to be a bit of a free for all, both musically and bandwise, with uni starting up in a couple of weeks, tonight is the perfect and final opportunity to make the most of the last knockings of their holiday time. Yellowknife Bay collectively capture the flavour of the occasion when they bring us Barnyard. The audience are instructed to move to the front and nod their heads in unison, if this is a devious ploy to get everyone closer to them, then it works perfectly. A nice touch by the band is when they perform a song called Keeef, its dedicated to Keith of B.A.M., who gave the band its first chance and has subsequently promoted them on many occasions. Keith in fact, recently received a most glowing tribute in a Kerrang Magazine article. He was described by Rob Damiani, frontman of Don Broco as this; and I quote the singer “There’s an awesome website called Bedford Alternative Music, there’s a legendary guy called Keith who started it years ago and he’s been supporting local talent for years. He’s never in it for the money or the prestige, its all about the scene and he’ll spot a band and then give them a push in the right direction or help get them gigs.” Nice one Rob.
Although this has been officially listed as Yellowknife Bay’s final gig, vocalist Roger Fowler does tantalisingly hint at a future reappearance, by saying. They “will be dormant till October.” This is further borne out by the bands closing statement of “Well! That’s been Yellowknife Bay for now.” Good luck for the future fellas. I’ve not always been a devoted fan of this band but I will constantly have both time and huge respect for any band that concentrates fully on writing their own original compositions. Yellowknife Bay always have.

In respect to Yellowknife Bay, a strong and varied array of support acts has been assembled. One of the most exciting new bands to emerge in Bedford during the past year or so are THE BASILISK . Teenage angst and spirit are perfectly captured with this vibrant quartet. They offer an early ear marmalising start. Unfortunately a few sound issues cloud their first couple of songs and our cheerful sound engineer could perhaps have been a little more tactful when rectifying the problem, as he barged past the vocalist like a rugby scrum half! The Basilisk already possess great stage presence which fits in perfectly with their battlecry songs. The combination looks impressive. Things appear bright for the band at present. Tomorrow night they have a first appearance at The Castle in Luton, while early next year they have plans to record their debut E.P. One thing is for certain, their crossover rock metal set is enough to make this reviewer amazingly happy and totally ‘Discombobulated’!!

In a night dominated by the men, its great to see and hear the return of ADIESCAR . The voice and violin of the rocking Near Moments is always a pleasure to watch. Her wordy compositions enchant, as she is armed with her trusty acoustic guitar. Adi offers up a constant and descriptive introduction to most of her songs. Considering the rather damp August we have just experienced. Dancing In The Rain is a rather apt song to perform. As anyone who has seen this classy songstress before Adi is a total perfectionist and regularly between songs is skilfully tuning up her guitar. Adi explains in detail the deft procedure and questions the audience on their strings ability and knowledge. The resulting – Naivety; bears such musical fruit. Always confident, Adi is a tad nervous or should I perhaps say apprehensive, about a new song of which she only wrote just yesterday. Adi is worried about forgetting the words, so she has conveniently printed the lyrics on a sheet of paper and placed it on a nearby mic stand. Meant To Be is the guitar version of a song that at present is her only one online, although she does hope to have more soon. Unstoppable is dedicated to Hazel, a young lady sitting at the front. It is an anthemic song for women. One More Night is slower and about “relationships and things gained.” Riverbound offers feisty thought provoking lyrics. It encapsulates a set written from the head, heart and soul.

After a somewhat lengthy absence from the stages of Esquires, it was nice to welcome back THE BLUEBOOK PROJECT . An indie rock band who’s set always flies by far too quickly for my liking. Although they have not been seen in Bedford for a while. The band have been extremely busy. They have just recently recorded and released a second E.P. which is entitled Take Me Away, as well as embarking on plenty of gigs, which included venturing to Northern parts of the country. There is hardly time to take breath as their eight songs are powered out with such extreme precision to me, most of them sit so comfortably, in fact as snug with my tapping feet, as a well worn favourite pair of shoes. This is a band who do not over complicate things, they just do the right things right. An Apparent Delusion is newish, while Dreadful Scene is bang up to date new. The Bluebook Project proudly tell of being played on Planet Rock Radio, while they close with their old favourite song, a lethal dose of Hurricane Blues. A job very well done lads!

Bluebook Project Interview Interview

Yellowknife Bay Video