Something New On Old Ground

Its 21.30 at the Royal Oak and, living up to its reputation for raucousness, a riot is on the verge of breaking out! It’s clear from the moment you arrive that something’s going on and right now, that something is Strayhorts.

As the band set up the sense of anticipation is heightening amongst the crowd, which has grown to the point where leaving the room would be near impossible. From the way the room is still filling, it looks like Strayhorts fans have turned up in full force tonight. The band have brought with them a guitar driven and very new set, offering only DWYWD as their closer, as has become almost tradition and throwing in crowd pleaser and chaos causer Monkey guaranteed to take the crowd enthusiasm to an insane and almost surreal peak.

Opening with moody ‘Time to Change’ Strayhorts sound tighter than ever, and the crowd instantly responds to the heavily guitar fuelled song, from the off everyone is paying attention and no one is standing still. Jimmy’s guitar in the opener is simply awesome, and it’s clear that he knows it along with everyone else there!

The Pixies cover ‘Where is my mind?’ Fits the anarchic and almost deranged atmosphere at the Royal Oak perfectly and keeps the energy in the tightly packed room at a high. Aidan’s vocals are chillingly perfect and it’s obvious to anyone who stays still long enough to notice that he’s loving performing the song. Bedsheets is equally well received; Evans energetic and enthusiastic drumming carries the song and keeps the crowd moving.

It’s Friday night, and the kids want to bounce, shout and throw themselves around… Monkey in a Tree provides the perfect opportunity for doing just that! One hand raised Aidan begins the song, and a clapping frenzy begins. Everyone who’s ever attended a Strayhorts gig knows exactly what’s coming from the second the bass kicks in and is ready to react the second the tune goes up a notch. Sure enough, by the time Monkey leads into Mr Brightside the crowd has opened up and is literally bouncing off the walls, there’s not a single person in the room who’s not entirely immersed in the crazy atmosphere. The band themselves are no exception to this; Jimmy can’t resist abandoning his guitar on occasions, leaving Aidan to carry the guitar on the songs while he is engulfed by the crowd. Monumentally, Matthew isn’t at a standstill either! He moves to every song, at one point venturing at least half way across the stage. His backing vocals are a solid contribution to the set, adding hugely to the catchy, fast paced Shola, another song packing a real punch.

In favourite cover Mr Brightside, Aidan gets a long awaited crowd sing along and enjoys it to a maximum, holding his microphone out to the crowd and grinning throughout the song. Tonight the Royal Oak is giving the band exactly the right atmosphere for an intense high energy performance and the air is electric. Strayhorts are killing it.

Mr Brightside leads into mellower new track Walk On By, and the crowd, connected with the band responds to this by reducing their jumping to a moderate sway. Amazingly, crowd members are singing along to the newer songs, which just fuels the atmosphere and the band even more. By the time it comes to playing Do What You Wanna Do, the atmosphere is so charged and intense that it’s guaranteed everybody is going to go crazy. Aidan balances precariously on the bass amp throughout the finale, to the loud approval of the audience and the obvious concern of Matt! There’s frenzied clapping, people throwing themselves (and each other!) around and even a couple of crowd surfers. As the song and the set wraps up the shouts and screams of approval are immense. Strayhorts have delivered once again, and in true Royal Oak fashion the crazy atmosphere and sheer energy of the crowd has given the band exactly the enthusiasm and enjoyment they deserve. And, from the turnout of fans and the amount of people singing along confidently to even the newest songs, it’s clear that Strayhorts are snowballing. At 22.30 the band are leaving having hit the Royal Oak once again, and knowing they hit it hard.

Royal Oak, Halifax, 13^th February 2010

Time to Change

Where Is My Mind?

Bedsheets

Monkey- Mr Brightside

Walk On By

Shola

Peer Pressure

DWYWD

De ja vue as Strayhorts make their third Brian Jackson Final!

About 100 people flocked to The Brian Jackson Centre in Huddersfield on Friday night to witness the Strayhort’s return to the Charity Battle of the Bands. And what a triumphant return it turned out to be! The band took to the stage as the final act of the evening after an enthusiastic and clumsy introduction as ‘The Strayhorts!’. After a few moments of silence and anticipation the band stepped onto the stage, Aidan greeting the crowd simply with ‘Good evening’ and a wry smile before the band launched into Indigo, playing it at full strength for the first time in over a year and with an energy and enthusiasm which felt like it was 2008 all over again.

Indigo ran into Cracks in the Wall, resulting in a seamless transtition between the classic Strayhort’s song and the only recently debuted. The high energy and atmosphere continued throughout, reviewing from the crowd it felt like every pair of eyes in the room was firmly fixed on the band and there was movement in the crowd, the new song being well received. Following it ‘Too Close’ stirred the crowd once more. Even in this relatively small audience those who recognised the song were pushing and vying for the front of the stage, bringing their flailing limbs and shouts of appreciation with them as all Strayhorts fans do! Led by Aidan hands were raised and clapping along as the song built to an impressive climax.

Espirit d’Escalier, despite being a relatively new song seemed the perfect way to continue the night, but as Aidan began the synth on the song he must have seen some uncertainty from the audience as he assured the crowd, who had temporarily stilled that ‘it’s good, I promise’. Strayhorts then proceeded to deliver on this promise, immersing themselves entirely in the high energy, pacy song they quickly had the audiences attention and support once more, and perhaps even more than before. Espirit wraps up to great approval from the young audience and its obvious neither the band nor the crowd are ready for the set to finish just yet.

As it is announced the band are to play one more song, calls from the crowd are overwhelming, it’s clear the majority of people here are out to hear the ‘greatest hits’.. or hit in this case, in the form of classic closer ‘Do What You Wanna Do’. The request of the people is one the band can’t refuse and as they launch into the song with vigour they are rewarded by an opening up of the crowd, hand clapping and people singing along.. despite not necessarily knowing the words at the beginning!

2

As the sound of DWYWD faded out, the band left the stage to the applause and cheers of the crowd, it was time for the finalists to be decided. Of the four bands competing, it was clear Strayhorts had won the crowd over and as such receieved the greatest audience support. After several minutes of cooling down and catching breath for the band it was announced that Strayhorts had sailed into the final. The synth heavy set and triumphant return of Indigo after over a year lying dormant, alongside the newer songs had been a success and Strayhorts definitely had a performance to be proud of. The final of the Battle of the Bands will be held at The Brian Jackson Centre on the 19^th of March- definitely a date for your diaries!

Brian Jackson Centre 5th February 2010

Indigo

Cracks In The Wall

TooClose

Espirit

DWYWD

Action Packed February For Strayhorts!

After two months of a gigging drought Strayhorts find themselves filling in their calender feverishly in the month of February with three gigs planned for the 5th, 12th and 19th. The gigs are a great opportunity to keep playing the new songs, eventually planning to record them in the Spring.

The gig on the 5th see's the 'hort's return to the Brain Jackson Centre, Huddersfield, in a 'Rock Fur Charity' fundraiser. Rumours are that Strayhorts are planning to play a synth heavy set saving their new 'guitar' songs for their gig on the 12th where they return to their 'old stumping ground' the Royal Oak in Halifax. The shows are expected to be well followed by diligent Strayhort fan's as they prepare for their biggest gig of the year on Friday 19th. Strayhorts will take part in a unique 7 band marathon gig starting at 6:30 at the Bar 1:22 in Huddersfield. The lineup consists of three relatively popular touring bands Mexicofallz and Dissolved In who have previously preformed at Download Festival. The gig promises to be a sell out.

Check your diaries and see you there!

5th Brian Jackson Centre,Huddersfield, 7pm, £5

12th Royal Oak, Halifax, 7pm, £4

19th Bar 1:22, Huddersfield, £5