Monday 19 November 2012

Forever On The Ride



Brothers Gary and Dave Cotton have been putting on amazing gigs in Wakefield for years now. They don’t do gigs once a week or every other month, simply when the whim takes and they come across someone brilliant that they just have to share with Wakefield. Because of them amazing people like The Lovely Eggs, Clemence Freschard, Stanley Brinks, The Dead Trees, Malcolm Middleton, The Wave Pictures, James Yorkston, Rozi Plain, Francois & The Atlas Mountains, Kid Canaveral… and oh so many more have visited us.

They have two gigs left in 2012, both at The Hop. The first is this coming Thursday (22nd), when they welcome Mark Wynn to town on his first UK tour. Press-friendly quotes refer to him as being from the same lineage as Mark E Smith, John Cooper Clarke and Lou Reed. A cursory listen to his most recent album James Dean Makes Me Insecure, Why Does He Have To Be So Shexy reveals a equal appreciation of ultra lo-fi with a distinctly idiosyncratic, anxious songcraft (most songs are done in under two minutes).


Support comes from the superb Sam Forrest (Nine Black Alps) and local boyish popster Michael Ainsley. It’s a bargain four pound in for someone whom Tom Robinson said this about on BBC6 Music: “Like the early John Cooper Clarke or Mark E Smith, Mark Wynn has the potential for national treasure status twenty years down the line. And that's not something you'll hear me say often or lightly.”

The last show of the year is a very special one; a double headlining duo of Withered Hand and Darren Hayman. Withered Hand was another fantastic booking On The Ride secured for this year’s Long Division. After an amazing Autumn tour, sadly cut short by illness, this is one last chance to see him in 2012. Widely regarded (in the smarter circles) as one of the best lyricist and songwriters around at the moment, Withered Hand would be worth the £8 in alone. But the added attraction of an all too rare live performance from Darren Hayman sweetens the pill to sickeningly good levels.



Treat yourself before the Winter dip; nothing good ever happens in December does it…

Dean Freeman



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