The Illustrators.

This is a group of young Ashington musicians that don’t seem to realise they have cracked it. When I say ’it’ I mean the hard to describe thing that a band rarely has that can make a room full of people actually stop what they are doing and listen to a band they have never heard of, or seen before. This event was a real ale festival, and a good one, in that I mean one with LOTS of beer, all very strong and all being slopped down the punters as if they hadn’t had any before. The illustrators came onto stage as a bit of an interuption to this sloshing of ale, and with a combination of really, well, ’beautiful’ songs, albeit some with a bit of attitude and punkiness in them, they took command of the room and held the attention of everyone there. By the time the short set concluded with all the band joining on vocals and sending pins and needles to the backs of the crowd, it had become a ‘gig’, not a drinkathon!

Taking advantage of this, BIG HAND took the audience and physically dragged them from the seats, ska and gypsy rhythms being churned together with the joint vocals of tim and drummer paul, and ‘mad’ phil the trumpeter skanked and leapt across table tops to pull people onto the dance floor,( a space hastily created by dragging tables apart!)

Reggae Basslines interspersed with folkish and political lyrics, the music of Big Hand is hard to pin down in description, but safe to say it is very danceable, and the good people of gosforth obliged by following phil in a conga around the room and out into the foyer! Aaah! I luv bands me!!!

By Tony on November 29, 2009