Back to Reality

Back to Reality...is the title of my favourite episode of (one of) my favourite TV Series of all time! I speak of the wonderful 'Red Dwarf', of course - a true rarity in TV history being a science-fiction comedy series. I would find it an impossible choice to make if asked to narrow my preference down to just one series (or one album, or one song even...impossible!) yet I admit that most of my TV favourites, at least, have a link...

...The other two contenders would be 'Inspector Morse' and 'Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'...and the most eagle-eyed reader might have already spotted that link...a link of 'well-loved' that extends as far wide as the films 'Still Crazy' 'Sweeny Todd', and 'Lucky Break', as well as the Harry Potter films and the 1989 'Batman', Morse spin-off 'Lewis', and other TV drama series including 'Spender', 'Heartbreak Hotel' and 'Waterloo Road'...yes...all roads lead back to 'Auf Wiedersehen Pet'!

The 'Red Dwarf' episode I mentioned (featuring AWP's Tim Spall - aka Peter Pettigrew/Wormtail) sees the crew of the spaceship coming back down to Earth with a bang when they (mistakenly) come to realise they have only been playing a 'communal video game' for the entire duration of series one to five! In a similar way I have come 'back to reality' today after a week or so of such hectic musical activity it seems like Iwas caught in a (most enjoyable) whirlwind!

First, we had the much-hyped and previously discussed Beatles remasters and a 'Beatley' week par none - interrupted only by 'Last Night Of The Proms' - and this week has been a kind of personal Prog Heaven for me! 'Genesis' on the radio, 'IQ' in the car and both 'It Bites' AND 'Touchstone' live in concert! I don't manage to get to as many gigs as I'd like to these days (can't afford it!!!) but these two were very reasonably priced and with the added bonus of each band being the favourite of one of my 2 older sons (Lewis is the 'It Bites' maniac and Morgan loves 'Touchstone') - so they got a night out each...and I got two (har har!)

What a privilege I have as a dad to share so many musical tastes with my teenage sons! Neither of them are remotely interested in 'RnB' or 'DnB' or 'RaP'...if they were they might be invited to 'RiP'!!! When they 'discover' something I might like they are keen to share with me too...I struggle a little to appreciate 'Muse' as much as Morgan does, or 'McFly' as Lewis did but I do try - and we all listen happily together for the majority of the time!

'Touchstone' ( http://www.touchstonemusic.co.uk/ ) played last night at 'The Peel' in Kingston, Surrey (we arrived early, despite my playing organ for a wedding at 4pm back in Portsmouth) so spent a nice hour with my aunt and 93 year old Nana who still looks a picture of health!). I first encountered 'Touchstone' as a support band...Now, I've seen and heard some BAD support bands/acts in my time - some have been completely the wrong type of music for the audience, some have been so cocky they thought they were there to 'blow the main act offstage'...forgetting it was the main act we'd paid to see and not them! Others have been miles out of tune, boring or FAR TOO LOUD (I was deafened for the night in Brighton before 'Meat Loaf' even got on stage!)

So impressed was I with 'Touchstone' as a support slot that I felt I had to go seek them out by the merchandise stall and tell them/thank them...and a very friendly bunch they are too! Last night I saw them as 'headliners' for the first time in Kingston and a good time was had by all! The five-piece produce a very 'big' sound which would justify their performing in a far larger arena than 'The Peel' but the grandeur lost by playing a small venue is more than made up for by the real intamacy one is able to feel with the performers in venues like last night's!

Like the best of Rick Wakeman-era 'Yes', 'Touchstone's music is dominated by a vast keyboard back-drop courtesy of Rob Cottingham and his trusty Kurzweil (and expansion boards - hey! - the same 3 I use!). The rhythm section of Al (drums) and Moo (bass) are as tight as you could wish to hear; Moo's innovative work on a 5-string fretless bass is, I think, quite unique - and, at times, lightning quick - while Al, complete with new cymbals thanks to a well-deserved Sabian sponsorship, lends plenty of energy as well as thundering fills to the ensemble (though the less said about his flying underpants the better!)

Adam's guitar 'solo-swaps' effectively with Rob's keyboards while his general song playing ranges from power-chords through melodious counter-melody and numerous other styles...and over all this soar the lead vocals of Kim 'Elkie' Seviour. 24 year old Kim joined Touchstone in 2006 having answered an advertisement. In her early days with the band she shared the lead vocal duties with Rob but the latter's share quickly diminished as both the power of Kim's voice was recognised and also as her powerful stage-presence began to exert its sway over a legion of red-blooded proggers! And she's not shy...happy to describe herself as 'pen pusher by day - rock goddess by night!'

Even in these days of 'equal-ops' it is rare for a rock band to be fronted by a female - but as groups like 'Magenta' discovered...and as Touchstone now aver...the idea works...especially in the prog-rock genre - the higher pitch of the natural vocal sits very comfortably in an inevitably 'crowded' arrangement without further clouding that sub-middle C octave, giving the instruments more room to breathe and express themselves. (This is, in reality, also a secret of 'Yes' - Jon Anderson's counter-tenor occupies a similar space in the soundscape.)

Last night we heard most of the band's 2nd full CD 'Wintercoast': highlights, for me, being the title track, 'Voices' and 'Solace', Kim's emotional tour de force. The enthusiastic and noisy audience loved the 'audience participation' number 'Strange Days' while the surprise inclusion of 'Thriller' (yes, THAT 'Thriller'!) as an encore went down well.

There is no pretention with 'Touchstone' - barely going off-stage at all pre-encore (any pretence was merely to give Kim an excuse to tell herself off for succumbing to the tiniest ego-trip) - then, after the 2nd encore, it was straight off the stage and into the audience to thank and chat with their fan-friends! That's not rock and roll...but Touchstone are!

So...I'm a bit of the 'deflated Dwarfer'...'back to reality' today. Tonight, as I type, it's musical edification provided once more by an enjoyable but more mundane family life (watching 'Alvin and the Chipmunks' with youngest son, Ieuan - at just 5 not - yet - weaned onto prog!). When he goes to bed I might watch one of the new series of 'Lewis' that have been waiting patiently in their DVD cases for me...all roads lead to AWP, after all!