Post by preston on Jan 25, 2007 18:43:25 GMT -5
Molly Bloom at the Bury Met Friday 10 /11/06
A storm filled Friday night did not blunt or darken the crowds enjoyment of Molly Bloom. Molly performed a wonderful set in front of a capacity audience at the Bury Met.
This gig saw Molly Bloom act as the support band to the highly rated and popular flute folk band Flook .
As such, Molly’s set was acoustic in nature , perhaps designed to appeal to those who had bought tickets to see Flook. Nevertheless, the acoustic interpretation of the songs took nothing away from the bands energy and dynamism.
Molly Bloom are hard to categorise , their music would be well received at folk Festivals such as Fairports Cropedy ,but elements of their compositions would equally appeal to a prog audience such as that found at the recent UKs Summers End Festival.
Stevie Dundon certainly has a foot in both musical genres having recently guested superbly on Guy Mannings Ansers tree . He has also appeared in Manning’s band at Summers End and at the September ‘Tangent’ gig in Rotherham. More recently , it is rumoured that his flute playing will be featured in Phideaux’s next release.
The core of Molly Bloom continues to be
Stephen Dundon vocals and Flute
Tyrion Moses guitars
Derek Smith Mandolin & bass
This year also saw the introduction of Andy Hunt on drums and percussion
The addition of a drummer & percussionist has given Molly acoustic gigs an extra depth. Andy Hunts extrovert playing noticeably drove the band along and was great to watch.
The set started with a shortened version of Mistress Winter. I was immediately struck by the wonderful clarity of the sound. Steve Dundons voice was expressive , powerful yet clear. Next up was a superb version of Green Fence. In this song and throughout the set Steve Dundon showed that he has perfected a theatrical delivery of Molly’s material . His approach of facial contortions and expansive gesturing successfully complemented the lyrical content of Molly’s songs. Many of Molly’s songs are about human relationships ;Green fence being no exception , dealing with the angst caused by envy and greed.
The instrumental Molly Bloom followed . This song showed the bands command of their instruments beginning with a beautiful melody before exploding into its snorting flute parts with accompanying acoustic guitar and mandolin. The band received sustained applause from an audience who were clearly enjoying the performance
The unreleased ‘Who’s there’ followed. This featured some fine mandolin playing from Derek. A newly recorded version of this song appears on the bands My space site
I was delighted that a personal favourite ‘Wax works’ was then played. It was one of many highlights in this short set and for me was worth the price of admission.
A new tune ‘A little bit of Nothing’ was then performed. The song contained a memorable chorus. At first this tune appeared as a straight forward folk rock song . However ,the melody stayed in my head long afterwards. Parts of it were driven on by ferocious ,snorting flute playing which has become a trademark of Molly’s music. This song for me illustrated a partial dilemma Molly have in finding an audience. A few ‘folk purists’ around me were clearly not impressed with Steve’s rock approach to the flute but the majority were clearly appreciative.
Another favourite and highlight was the bands performance of Sprite Night. This was dedicated to Guy Manning who was in the audience. Sprite Night is a crazy song of insanity and its effects . The middle section was a platform for fast paced acoustic guitar runs by the richly talented Terry Moses. A great song wonderfully performed.
This performance of Sprite Night was note perfect , the best performance of this song ever .The set ended with another unreleased tune the happy sounding ‘ Jiggy’. Immediately accessible but containing enough interesting elements to keep even the most ardent fans of folk prog content .
A breath taking set by a hugely talented band.
Set list
Mistress Winter
Green Fence
Molly Bloom
Who’s there
Waxworks
A little Bit of Nothing
Sprite Night
Jiggy
A storm filled Friday night did not blunt or darken the crowds enjoyment of Molly Bloom. Molly performed a wonderful set in front of a capacity audience at the Bury Met.
This gig saw Molly Bloom act as the support band to the highly rated and popular flute folk band Flook .
As such, Molly’s set was acoustic in nature , perhaps designed to appeal to those who had bought tickets to see Flook. Nevertheless, the acoustic interpretation of the songs took nothing away from the bands energy and dynamism.
Molly Bloom are hard to categorise , their music would be well received at folk Festivals such as Fairports Cropedy ,but elements of their compositions would equally appeal to a prog audience such as that found at the recent UKs Summers End Festival.
Stevie Dundon certainly has a foot in both musical genres having recently guested superbly on Guy Mannings Ansers tree . He has also appeared in Manning’s band at Summers End and at the September ‘Tangent’ gig in Rotherham. More recently , it is rumoured that his flute playing will be featured in Phideaux’s next release.
The core of Molly Bloom continues to be
Stephen Dundon vocals and Flute
Tyrion Moses guitars
Derek Smith Mandolin & bass
This year also saw the introduction of Andy Hunt on drums and percussion
The addition of a drummer & percussionist has given Molly acoustic gigs an extra depth. Andy Hunts extrovert playing noticeably drove the band along and was great to watch.
The set started with a shortened version of Mistress Winter. I was immediately struck by the wonderful clarity of the sound. Steve Dundons voice was expressive , powerful yet clear. Next up was a superb version of Green Fence. In this song and throughout the set Steve Dundon showed that he has perfected a theatrical delivery of Molly’s material . His approach of facial contortions and expansive gesturing successfully complemented the lyrical content of Molly’s songs. Many of Molly’s songs are about human relationships ;Green fence being no exception , dealing with the angst caused by envy and greed.
The instrumental Molly Bloom followed . This song showed the bands command of their instruments beginning with a beautiful melody before exploding into its snorting flute parts with accompanying acoustic guitar and mandolin. The band received sustained applause from an audience who were clearly enjoying the performance
The unreleased ‘Who’s there’ followed. This featured some fine mandolin playing from Derek. A newly recorded version of this song appears on the bands My space site
I was delighted that a personal favourite ‘Wax works’ was then played. It was one of many highlights in this short set and for me was worth the price of admission.
A new tune ‘A little bit of Nothing’ was then performed. The song contained a memorable chorus. At first this tune appeared as a straight forward folk rock song . However ,the melody stayed in my head long afterwards. Parts of it were driven on by ferocious ,snorting flute playing which has become a trademark of Molly’s music. This song for me illustrated a partial dilemma Molly have in finding an audience. A few ‘folk purists’ around me were clearly not impressed with Steve’s rock approach to the flute but the majority were clearly appreciative.
Another favourite and highlight was the bands performance of Sprite Night. This was dedicated to Guy Manning who was in the audience. Sprite Night is a crazy song of insanity and its effects . The middle section was a platform for fast paced acoustic guitar runs by the richly talented Terry Moses. A great song wonderfully performed.
This performance of Sprite Night was note perfect , the best performance of this song ever .The set ended with another unreleased tune the happy sounding ‘ Jiggy’. Immediately accessible but containing enough interesting elements to keep even the most ardent fans of folk prog content .
A breath taking set by a hugely talented band.
Set list
Mistress Winter
Green Fence
Molly Bloom
Who’s there
Waxworks
A little Bit of Nothing
Sprite Night
Jiggy