Mostly Autumn - Bilston Review

As I mentioned in yesterday's post covering a strong showing from Ethyrfield here in Plymouth on Saturday, this past weekend I also headed up to Wolverhampton for yet more live music. I have said this quite often on this blog over the past few years, but Wolverhampton has become one of my favourite cities for live music of late - with both KK's Steel Mill and the refurbished Civic Hall complex providing the working class and very honest city with some top-class venues of their size. This was not always the case, though, as the Civic Hall was closed for a number of years for refurbishment - and KK's Steel Mill is a relatively new space, which took a little while to build up the excellent reputation that it now has. As such, Wolverhampton was a bit of a live music wasteland for a few years, and it was only really The Robin 2 in nearby Bilston that was providing quality live music to the Black Country. I think that the town of Bilston actually falls under the remit of the City of Wolverhampton Council these days - but as a historic town with its own identity The Robin 2 never quite feels like a product of Wolverhampton itself, despite its proximity. When travelling from Wolverhampton to the venue, though, I am not sure exactly where Wolverhampton stops and Bilston begins - but I am sure that proud Bilston residents know, and that is all that matters. Despite this, though, the triumvirate of KK's Steel Mill, the Civic Hall complex, and The Robin 2 makes for a powerful and busy Black Country hot-bed of live music - which is why I seem to spend so much time in Wolverhampton these days. The Robin 2 largely seems to cater for some of the bigger name tribute bands these days, but plenty of original acts still perform there - and one regular visitor is the York-based progressive rock seven-piece Mostly Autumn. Regular readers of this blog are likely sick of me going on about Mostly Autumn at this point - but as they are one of my very favourite bands they come up a lot. Historically, I have generally seen the band live multiple times a year - and they have often been quite prolific when it comes to new studio albums, meaning that there is often something to talk about when it comes Mostly Autumn. Sadly, though, unless the band surprise us with a new album release before 2026 is out, which is unlikely given that their last album Seawater (which I reviewed here) only dropped last year, this will likely be my only Mostly Autumn coverage this year. I will miss sadly the band's yearly trip to Devon in July, as I will be up in London catching Def Leppard and two Metallica shows over that weekend, so I cannot complain too much, and they have not, as yet in any case, announced a pre-Christmas show in Bilston - something which I have made the effort to attend over the past couple of years, as well as a handful of other times previously. Even if they were now to announce a pre-Christmas show it is unlikely that I would be able to make it due to being quite low on annual leave already - so I decided instead a few months ago to get to the band's June Bilston show instead. The band have been playing at the venue for years, always attract a healthy turnout, and it has become a real haunt in more recent years as they have scaled back on the venues which they regularly play. With the venue happy to open early on a Sunday, it also means that the last few shows I have been to there have finished at around 8pm - which makes getting back to Wolverhampton afterwards a real breeze. As such, after a quick wander around Wolverhampton, a Wetherspoons lunch, and a brief rest in my regular Premier Inn - it was time to catch the 79 bus to Bilston for another excellent afternoon/evening of live music.

5pm rolled around, and the now-familiar country-esque strains of Stefan's Hope rang around the venue as the seven members of Mostly Autumn took to the stage - but soon the synth intro of Tomorrow Dies replaced it, with the band soon attacking the upbeat rocker with venom. As is generally the case at The Robin 2, the sound mix was excellent. All of the levels were spot on, with each instrument clear in the mix, and frontwoman Olivia Sparnenn-Josh powered through the dancing synths and grooving drums of the set-opener. Setlist-wise, the songs played were similar to the setlists of last year - with a few tweaks. Six of the eight songs played live from Seawater remained, but a few older favourites, including Tomorrow Dies, returned. The band recently undertook a short tour of Germany for the first time in quite a while, and the setlist looked to be the same as the one played on that tour - presumably to give a better balance of material for those who likely had not seen the band before. As such, the decade-old Tomorrow Dies returned to kick things off, before the band went right back to their first album for the folk/AOR of Nowhere to Hide (Close My Eyes) - a sing-a-long number that pulls back on some of the band's progressive tendencies to deliver a hooky chorus and a more organic sound. This allowed Bryan Josh (vocals/guitar) to take the lead vocally for the first time, with the rest of the band harmonising during the chorus and the later fade-out. The symphonic metal-adjacent Western Skies later rounded out an opening trio of 'older' cuts - with the song building from its delicate piano and flute base, the latter courtesy of multi-instrumentalist Angela Gordon, to a full-blown metallic workout with driving symphonic keyboard riffs, hard rock guitars, and pounding drums from Henry Rogers. The songs from Seawater were largely held back for the second half of the show - but two of the best were showcased early on. The folky Why Do We Remember All the Rain really harks back to the early days of the band. Chris Johnson (vocals/guitar) backed the song with his acoustic guitar, whilst Sparnenn-Josh sang the song in a warmer manner to contrast her siren-like delivery of the previous song. Gordon also added plenty of whistle - with the song closing with a great instrumental jig. Future Is a Child, which followed, is likely Seawater's greatest cut - and the song deserves to be a setlist staple going forward. Josh and Sparnenn-Josh traded vocals throughout, the former taking the verses and the latter the chorus, but it is always the bridge section that moves me the most - before the band morphed into epic instrumental mode with a connecting flute solo and one of Josh's most searing guitar solos of the night. The rest of the first half of the show focused on older material. The slow-burning yet uplifting Passengers never feels too far from a Mostly Autumn setlist, and Sparnenn-Josh delivered it with real emotion as she has done since she took over the band's lead singer role in 2010. The spotlight was then turned over to Johnson for the first of three lead vocals from him - with his magnus opus Silver Glass winning over the crowd as it always does. His shimmering voice always gives the band something different - and the piano-led piece feels different from other similarly-arranged songs in the band's canon. Before the band took a break, there was time for one more, though, and a melancholic synth melody from Iain Jennings (keyboards) heralded the introduction of The Night Sky - a song which Josh often describes as the first that he wrote for the band. It has been great hearing it live again over the past couple of years, after a very lengthy absence from regular rotation - with the current arrangement featuring a lengthy flute workout from Gordon after the Pink Floyd-esque opening vocal section, before Josh's dynamic guitar solo. This solo contains perhaps my favourite individual lick that Josh has ever played - and hearing the song live is always an emotional moment.

The band's 20 minute break actually pushed to around half an hour, but when the lights went down again the crowd were well watered and toileted - and ready for more. There was a lot more focus on the now during the second half, but another very old song in the form of the bluesy, folky The Last Climb opened things up. The largely instrumental piece has come and gone from the set with regularity since Sparnenn-Josh became the lead singer - but she has not featured during recent arrangements, with Gordon instead singing the early harmonies alongside Josh's lead vocals, before launching into another lengthy flute solo. Hearing the song live always transports me back to what I imagine the band's early gigs were like, and Josh's bluesier solo in the song often feels a little different to his usual approach. Three new songs in a row followed, each taking on a different mood. Josh led the downbeat and emotional My Home, although a later instrumental section does feel a little more upbeat, and he again took the lead on the organic harder rock of Be Something - one of Seawater's more straight ahead pieces. Be Something has never been one of my favourite newer cuts, but hearing it live a few times now has made me more of a fan - as it has a strong sing-a-long vibe and positive message. Jennings was really belting out the lyrics during the song, too, and he seemed especially animated throughout the gig - often singing along and headbanging. He often used to seem quite reserved up there behind his bank of keyboards, but more recently he seems to have cut loose a bit - and he always seems to be having a great time up there on stage. Sparnenn-Josh then had her first real showcase of the second half with If Only for a Day - Seawater's big ballad. There was a lot of power in her delivery as always - and the song builds from its base with Jennings' piano and Sparnnen-Josh's vocals through to a whole-band arrangement with another big guitar solo. Back in These Arms then looked back one album, with the post-COVID anthem seemingly now a live staple. The synth-led intro also builds pleasingly live, before the folky melodies thanks to Gordon's whistle playing and the twin lead guitars of Josh and Johnson added plenty of positivity to the set. Josh always really gets into the chorus of the song live, and it is notable for the harmonising throughout by the band's two main singers. Into the Stars, another of the band's shorter, poppier pieces, was fun as always - but the song could likely do with being rested at this point (as could a couple of others in my opinion). As such, the next big highlight was Johnson's Changing Lives - a song which always adds something to the set despite also having been played live a lot in recent years. I think that Johnson's differing songwriting style mean that his songs provide a point of difference live in a way that a song like Into the Stars does not - although it would be fun to hear one of his other songs given a chance live, such as either The Undertow or a re-arranged version of Blue Light with him singing. There were only two songs left in the main set to go at this point, and one more new one in the form of a somewhat condensed When We Ran proved to be a real highlight (it is probably my second favourite song on the latest album) before the gargantuan White Rainbow, with the synth intro reinstated, rounded things out. There was time for a few more, though, and a three-song encore followed. Johnson and Gordon first took to stage alone, delivering a delicate version of Gaze. Various versions of this song have been played live over the years, but this version was one of the more stripped back - with Gordon adding delicate vocal harmonies and the occasional flute melody. It was the calm before the dramatic encore storm, though, with heartfelt renditions of both Heroes Never Die and Tonight rounding out what, by that point, had essentially been two and a half triumphant hours of music. The setlist was:

Tomorrow Dies

Nowhere to Hide (Close My Eyes)

Western Skies

Why Do We Remember All the Rain

Future Is a Child

Passengers

Silver Glass

The Night Sky

-

The Last Climb

My Home

Be Something

If Only for a Day

Back in These Arms

Into the Stars

Changing Lives

When We Ran

White Rainbow

-

Gaze

Heroes Never Die

Tonight

Mostly Autumn shows are always events, and I was pleased to get my 2026 live fix this past weekend. It is a real shame that this show will likely be my only experience of the band live this year, as I often get to multiple shows each year, but I am glad that I still managed to get to one - and The Robin 2 is always a great place to see them. With the Seawater material still riding high, too, the set felt current despite plenty of older favourites being included - and it was great to hear some of those songs live again as they entrench themselves in the canon.