Old Friends Book Ends

Saturday March 4th
Old Friends Book Ends is a unique folkie, indie evening about once a month that is held at Independent in Sunderland. What it provides is the chance to listen to local and international musicians, in a small, friendly environment.
Saturday saw the 8th of these evenings and what a musical extravaganza it was. First of all the evening kicked off with North East based band, Chased by Wolves. This five piece band are absolutely amazing with more than a hint of bluesy rock. The vocals are shared between frontman guitarist Richard and female vocalist Elfy. The harmonising tones of their voices had me thinking i was sitting in a club in the deep south of the US. They went down a storm.

To follow was four piece band The Wooden Sky, from Ontario, Canada. I first saw these guys about 4 months ago at the same venue, where they just blew me away. I was excited to see if they lived up to my expectations and memories of their previous visit. And boy did they. I sat waiting with anticipation for them to play "Oh My God", a song that I have listened to so much and couldn't wait to hear live. They announced "this is our last song". At last my wait was over. They'd played it during sound check, so i knew this was it. It wasn't. I spoke to drummer Kip, who explained they didn't have time to play them all and had to lose a song. Never the less, they were still amazing, and were received with as much enthusiasm as they had when I first saw them.

The final act of the night was London based band, Dan Michaelson and the Coastguards, whose vocalist Dan used to be with band Absentee. I had heard one of their tracks,as it had been played on Radio 2's Radcliffe and Maconie show, but nothing had prepared me for how low and intoxicating his voice was. He reminded me of Leonard Cohen, or Tom Waits, slow and hesitant with a velvety undertone that draws the listener in to songs that are delivered, in an effortlessly, layed back fashion. Puting the finishing touches to an all together mind blowing evening.

I couldn't recommend any of these bands enough. If you see them playing anywhere, please take the time to check them out.