Trinity Live 2019

From it's birth as a tour featuring Touchstone, The Reasoning, and Magenta each playing their debut albums in full, the Trinity Live festival has grown into a bit of a staple in the prog calendar. The event became a charity prog festival after Magenta's Christina Booth was diagnosed with cancer - so the planned tour was cancelled, with one of the dates in Leamington Spa retained and turned into an all-day festival featuring all three bands, and headlined by Arena. The event was a success, and three years later in 2017 there was a second festival. Headlined by John Mitchell's Lonely Robot project, the line-up was perhaps not as strong as the 2014 edition, but was also a success. 2018 saw Trinity move from Leamington Spa to London, with possibly the best line-up yet as Marillion's Steve Rothery headlined with his solo band. Sadly I could not make the 2018 edition of Trinity, and at the time it was thought that it was to be the last event of its kind. It was announced towards the end of last year however that Trinity was returning to its spiritual home of Leamington for its fourth iteration, and that Mostly Autumn would headline the day. This was enough to guarantee my attendance, as Mostly Autumn are one of my favourite bands, even if the drip-fed bill was personally quite disappointing for me overall. Mostly Autumn are always worth travelling for however, so even though the rest of the bill failed to excite I was prepared to go with an open mind. At the end of the day, this is an event that raises money for various charities, so supporting the event and contributing to the overall pot of charity money is just as important as the bands. I am glad that Trinity decided to return to Leamington Spa again this year too. While I always enjoy a trip to London, visiting Leamington Spa is always fun and The Assembly is a great place to watch live music. Leamington Spa is quite centrally located too, meaning that it is relatively easy for most people to get to. The only problem with The Assembly however is the amount of time that it takes to get into the venue. Every time I have been to the venue the doors seem to open really late, and the ticket checking takes far longer than is necessary. After the long drive up from Devon, I did not really want to stand in the rain waiting for the small amount of people in front of me in the queue to be let in! The venue is one of the best, but this seems to be a persistent issue for them, so it is something that really needs looking into.

When I finally got into the venue it was about 1:10pm and the day's first act, The C:Live Collective, were already well into their half an hour set. Formed by former Twelfth Night multi-instrumentalist Clive Mitten, the four-piece band ran through a short set of Twelfth Night songs that seemed to impress many in the audience. Twelfth Night were one of the bigger names in the 1980s neo-prog scene which, apart from Marillion, I have never really investigated. My impression is that many of the bands in that scene were formed in the wake of Marillion's early success, and attempted to re-create their sound without having the potent lyrics of then-frontman Fish or the songwriting chops of the rest of the band. I knew nothing about Twelfth Night really prior to The C:Live Collective's set, and the songs played certainly confirmed my existing view somewhat. While there were some enjoyable moments in the set, it did feel as if the band had tried to re-write Script for a Jester's Tear and had not quite pulled it off. There were some strong solos from both of the band's guitarists, and the bass and keyboard work from Mitten was pretty impressive at times, especially hearing his Rickenbacker bass rumbling around the venue, but the songwriting was lacking. A lengthy, keyboard-heavy ballad with some of the most cliché 'let's all love everyone'-esque lyrics I have ever heard confirmed that Twelfth Night were probably not for me! That being said, there were clearly lots of Twelfth Night fans in attendance, as plenty down at the front were really getting into The C:Live Collective's set. As a festival opener however, the band did not overstay their welcome and they were an enjoyable enough opening act despite not really being my thing.

Up next was an acoustic set from the former Enid frontman Joe Payne, who is now going under the name That Joe Payne. I have never been a big fan of The Enid, but his era of the band produced some strong albums and I actually made the effort to go and see them a couple of times during his tenure. His stint in the band was brief however, as the band have now gone back to their usual instrumental format with an ever-changing line-up, leaving Payne to do his own thing. Over the past couple of years, Payne has released a few singles and is now also part of the progressive rock project Zio with some former members of Karnataka. His set an Trinity however was a much more low-key affair, and saw him presenting some of his recent singles in a stripped-back, acoustic format. He was sat behind a keyboard for the whole set, and delivered the moody songs with the gravity that you would expect from a performer of his calibre. I knew that he is a fantastic singer, but I did not know that he is also an excellent pianist. His songs are full of classically-inspired piano runs, which allowed his versatile voice to soar above the stripped-back music. He comes off as a classically-trained Freddie Mercury at times, with songs that a full of pop melodies as well as dark undertones - which became clear as he explained what many of the songs were about. On a bill where many of the bands had big, involved sounds - it was nice to hear something a little more raw and exposed. Payne is a fantastic singer, and I hope that he continues to find success.

Wales' Last Flight to Pluto were the final band of the 'afternoon' session, and took the festival up to a two hour break that allowed people to go and check into hotels and grab a bite to eat. I had heard of Last Flight to Pluto before they were announced, but had never checked them out before. While certainly a progressive band, the five-piece certainly a bit more attitude than you might expect, and their 45 minute set flew by. With three guitars, and only a limited amount of keyboards on a backing track, the band's sound was a bit spikier than your average progressive rock act, but their sound still left plenty of room for classic prog tropes such as extended guitar solos and lengthy songs consisting of multiple sections. There are many female-fronted progressive rock acts, but in frontwoman Alice Freya Last Flight to Pluto have more of a traditional 'rock' singer. Her voice has a slightly gritty edge, and this allowed her to really belt out the band's rockier material. She added extra textures with her guitar too, while guitarists Jack Parry and Ryan Alexander traded riffs, melodies, and solos. The crowd seemed to warm to the band as they progressed through their set too, and by the end I think Last Flight to Pluto had earned themselves some new fans. They are a band I shall keep an eye on going forward, and will probably get around to checking out their albums in due course.

There was a two hour break following Last Flight Pluto's set which gave me a chance to go and check into the rather grand Travelodge which is always a big part of any Leamington Spa adventure. It also transpired that a new record shop had opened up across the road from The Assembly, so I took the opportunity to peruse their extensive stock and came away with a few new additions to my vinyl collection. Festival days are always long ones, so an opportunity to rest up a little in the Travelodge was a welcome one. I got back to The Assembly not long before former Pallas frontman Alan Reed started his set as the last few charity raffle items were being handed out. Many of these had already been distributed earlier in the day between the acts, with the charity auction lots mostly filling the slots between the evening's three bands. Throughout the day all of the auction lots sold which I'm sure will have added quite a lot of money to the overall pot. One item, a limited edition King Crimson guitar, sold for over £1500.00, which was certainly an achievement!

Not long after the raffle finished, Reed and his band took to the stage to perform a 45 minute set of retro melodic progressive rock. Pallas are a band that I always threw into that post-Marillion pot described above, but it turns out I have been being unfair to them all of these years as their first releases actually pre-dated anything Marillion put out! With me firmly put in my place, I went into Reed's set with an open mind and actually enjoyed much of what he had to offer. Most of the set was made up of his recent solo material, which certainly made use of the band's two guitarists and keyboardist to great effect. The songs had a retro sound, but were packed full of melodies that were easy to latch onto. Reed opened the first Trinity event back in 2014 with an acoustic set which did little for me at the time, but this full-band offering was a lot more enjoyable. Being a progressive rock act, much of the songs were lengthy with many sections, but there were a couple that were somewhat stripped back. One in particular, which will be featured on Reed's upcoming album, was particularly poignant and dealt with issues he faces as part of his day job working as a journalist for BBC News. His passion came through in his delivery, and this seemed to fuel the rest of the set. The last couple of numbers played were old Pallas songs, and it was these that impressed the most. They shared similarities with early Marillion, but were perfectly enjoyable in their own right - with Reed's energetic stage presence and strong voice really carrying the songs. I will certainly be investigating some Pallas albums in future, and I will most likely also check out Reed's new album when it gets released - as the new songs featured in the set were all very enjoyable.

After the main bulk of the auction lots, the day's special guests Godsticks took to the stage. The Welsh progressive rock band have been on my radar for some time, but I had never previously got around to checking them out. Like Reed they had a 45 minute set but, unlike Reed, their set really dragged. The band's sound is very un-melodic, and is built around dry guitar tones, strange vocals, and a real lack of dynamics. There is quite a lot of similarities between Godsticks' sound and many of the djent/tech metal acts that are popular at the moment like TesseracT and Periphery, with plenty of 7 and 8-string guitars to crank out dry, monotonous riffs to build their songs on. I was prepared to give the band a chance, and stuck out their whole set, but the same cannot be said for many of the other attendees! While the overall turnout during the day was not actually too bad, and was certainly better than the second Trinity in 2017 which was very poorly attended in my opinion, Godsticks' set had a certain room-emptying affect! After a couple of their songs I looked around to see that much of the room was now empty, with lots of people retreating to the bar or to local food establishments! While this is always a shame to see, I cannot say that I really blame anyone for sitting the set out. Godsticks were the heaviest band on the bill by quite some way, and to say that their sound is an acquired taste is a bit of understatement. The band have done well for themselves over the years, and clearly have their fans, but I think it is fair to say that they are not for me!

The King Crimson guitar was auctioned off after Godsticks' set, although this was delayed somewhat as barely anyone was left in the room at this point! It took host Jerry Ewing, who actually started to grate on me towards the end of the night, quite a lot of bellowing to entice people out of the bar - but eventually people trickled back into the hall and the guitar was sold for a good price. While all this was going on, Mostly Autumn were setting up their gear. Sadly however, despite much of the day running to time by this point, Mostly Autumn's set was about 20 minute late in starting due to what looked like a dodgy microphone that saw a lot of standing around and staring by the crew until someone seemed to rush in and save the day. This was frustrating, especially as Ewing decided to take up more time talking after the issues were fixed, but luckily I do not think the band had to cut out any of the songs they were intending to play as they just played on for longer than they were supposed to! As headliners, Mostly Autumn had 75 minutes to play with. By the band's standards this was a short set, at around half of their usual show length, but their eight-song set was packed full of the band's usual power and beauty. Despite having a new album in White Rainbow under their belts, the band decided to retain the epic Sight of Day as the set opener. The song has become a real fan favourite already, with the slow burning intro featuring some gorgeous vocals from frontwoman Olivia Sparnenn-Josh. The lengthy song allows everyone to shine, with Bryan Josh (vocals/guitar) stealing the show during the song's mid-section with some Pink Floyd-esque soloing, before the up-tempo rocking outro saw the whole band locking in for the acoustic-based romp.

This really set the tone for what was to come, before earthier efforts in Simple Ways and the golden Evergreen took the crowd back to the band's past and a more organic sound. The first couple of numbers featured a somewhat muddy sound, but by Evergreen the band sounded clear, and Sparnenn-Josh in particular was really shining. The set was built around her it seemed, with very little lead vocal from Josh, and she stole nearly every number. The dancy beats of Tomorrow Dies also allowed her to let rip vocally, and also provided Iain Jennings (keyboards) to lay down some excellent synth work. Unsurprisingly, Mostly Autumn had the biggest crowd of the day and it seemed that everyone in attendance was really into what the band were doing by this point. Huge cheers followed each song, and even the brand new songs, such as the slightly poppy Into the Stars, went down a storm. A personal highlight for me was a stunning rendition of Chris Johnson's (vocals/guitar) Changing Lives, another song from the previous album that has been retained in the set. Johnson's vocals always give the band a different edge, and the lengthy instrumental outro saw the crowd really joining in with clapping and singing. It was the best live version of the song yet, and it was only eclipsed by the set's closing number - the epic 19 minute epic White Rainbow. I was not expecting to hear the song in a festival context, but it totally blew me away and was the song of the day by quite some way. From the moody intro with Josh's dark vocals to the heavier mid section featuring some quite stratospheric vocals from Sparnenn-Josh and some heavy drumming from Henry Rogers, White Rainbow was a triumph. The cheers that erupted as the band finished the song and took their bows ensured their award of Band of the Day by quite some margin. The setlist was:

Sight of Day
Simple Ways
Evergreen
Tomorrow Dies
Into the Stars
Nowhere to Hide (Close My Eyes)
Changing Lives
White Rainbow

Mostly Autumn's set was a triumphant end to a solid day of live music in Leamington Spa that hopefully raised plenty of money for good causes. At the end of the evening, it was announced that Trinity Live V will take place next year with Touchstone, Magenta, and Omega Point playing - with other bands, including the headline act, to be announced. I imagine that I will also be in attendance next year, other plans permitting, as the Trinity Live days are always worth the effort. As an aside, it certainly was strange to see Mostly Autumn not play Heroes Never Die - as that has never happened before in over 40 concerts in the 13 years I have now been following the band!