Lifesigns - Tavistock Review

This November has quite possibly my busiest month ever when it comes to gigging. With nine shows, in various cities, already under my belt during the month there was still time for a tenth! With lots of hard rock and classic heavy metal filling up my November calendar, the tenth gig of the month was something altogether more gentle. The venue for gig number ten was The Wharf in Tavistock, one of my favourite venues, and the band was Lifesigns - a  progressive rock act that has been around for a decade or so now. The band were put together by John Young (vocals/keyboards) as a vehicle for his more progressive pieces, with the band's self-titled seeing the light of day in 2013. A second album Cardington was released last year to rave reviews, and this year the band seem to have been trying to play as many shows as they can to get the word about the band and their two albums out. This tour saw the band's first visit to the South West, and I am glad that the band chose The Wharf as their destination. I have been going to gigs at The Wharf for years now, and nights out there are always great. There are quite a few die-hard music fans in the Devon area who often make the effort to make rock shows that The Wharf puts on. This often means the turnout and atmosphere at The Wharf is better compared to other similar local venues, and I believe that is often why bands choose to keep coming back. This was the case with Lifesign's Devon debut. While the turnout could have certainly been better, there were certainly more in the venue that I had expected there to be! I have seen bands there occasionally play for a handful of people, but Lifesigns managed to attract a strong little crowd. Those who had turned up were all ready to have a good time too, and made quite a lot of noise throughout the show - which seemed to spur the band on to greater heights. There was still plenty of room in the venue however, and I took my place down at the front ready for the evening's entertainment.

With the scheduled support act having to cancel at the last minute due to illness, Lifesigns were the only band of the night and took to the stage at 8:30pm, and played throughout until around 10:30pm with a bar break around half way through. Despite having heard Lifesigns a few times when it came out around five years ago, I have not really kept up with the band since. I had not heard Cardington before the show, so was unfamiliar with most of the material played. This did not affect my enjoyment of the night however, as the band's pastoral progressive rock music is very melodically-focused. Shorter songs made up much of the first half, with Young's vocal melodies standing out as the washes of keyboards and the soaring leads of ex-Iona man Dave Bainbridge (guitar/keyboards/vocals) added colour here and there. Songs like the catchy Chasing Rainbows and Impossible stood out early on, with the band often striking up a strong rock groove. Young and Jon Poole (bass guitar/vocals) often sang in harmony for a bit sound, and the set flowed really nicely. The first half closed with the lengthy, chaotic N which proved to be the most progressive and technical piece of the night. Bainbridge juggled guitar and keyboards, often playing a lead on one and immediately switching to the other, while the rest of the band handled the frantic nature of the song with ease. It unsurprisingly brought a big cheer, and ended the show's first half on a high. The second half featured more longer songs, with Cardington's title track starting things off. This song is very representative of the band's core sound so was unsurprisingly lapped up by the faithful. It ended with an explosive drum solo from Frosty Beedle which led nicely into the next song. The highlight of the second half of the show for me was the powerful Touch, which had some big duelling synths from the band's two keyboardists, as well as a powerful bassline from Poole. While most of the band were quite static throughout the set, Poole was a ball of energy throughout. He spent most of the show jumping around and throwing rockstar shapes, which certainly helped to liven up the visual aspect of the concert. Carousel brought the show a close, but the crowd's reaction encouraged a couple more. A frantic instrumental piece was up first, before the evening came to an end proper with the old Qango piece The Last One Home which was dedicated to the late John Wetton.

Overall, I really enjoyed the show and it was great to see something a bit different after a month or so of more full on hard rock and metal shows. I am now the proud owner of Cardington, and will enjoy playing it over the next few months.