It was absolutely gorgeous last week, but
if there was any good weather around on Thursday then I certainly
didn't see it.
Perhaps not the best of times to hold an outdoor gig, especially
at the highest and most remote spot on the entire North York Moors.
Ah, but they're a hardy breed up at the Lion Inn, Blakey Ridge,
and when the entertainment on offer is of this calibre then let
the weather do it's worse for nothing could take the shine off
the night.
One of the greatest gigs I've ever witnessed - it brings a lump to my throat just thinking about it. It was Chris Helme's triumphant return to Blakey.
How unlucky were the organisers in picking out the worst night for months for an outdoor gig? The Lion Inn seemed more remote than ever. After dodging through those grim chicanes of the foot and mouth frontline, the detergent laced cattle grids, we struck on taking the high road where you could hardly see the white lines in front of you. The sheep were making their point by standing still like ancient monuments in the middle of the road.
Amazingly the fog lifted (or rather descended down into the dales) for a while as rocky trio Lucas took to the covered stage, loud and proud.
The weather closed in again as Chris Helme's
band tuned up and plucky deputies were sent off to raid their
cars for extra fleeces, scarves and stray hats. But, hand on heart,
I'd have braved the cold all night to bathe in this quite intoxicating
performance. Well, almost all night.
OK, so you've heard me raving about this fella before but put
quite simply he just gets better and better. I'll come clean here,
I didn't like The Seahorses at all, so I'm a total convert to
Chris Helme as the solo performer.
His soaring, emotion-laden vocals scaled new peaks for me. We were hanging on every nuance. The band, marshalled by James Nesbitt of St Etienne, are beginning to make their mark on Helme's compositions. There's a spring in their step. There's a complexity to the arrangement that enhances every twist and turn of the songs.
It's pretty apt that many of the songs revolve around the weather and the natural elements. But doesn't everything? Mind you we seemed a long, long way from the sun he beckoned to. But then that just added to the mystery.
The biggest mystery of all is why this genius still hasn't got a record contract and why he isn't headlining nationwide tours. It surely won't be long before his star is shining.
At the end of the night, Chris Helme was roared back for a couple of solo songs. It was a moving finale. Sitting up there in the foggy, freezing night, beneath the old stone walls of the lonely pub. Utterly spellbound by the fragile beauty of Chris Helme's voice and acoustic guitar.
One of my table mates, Andy Landscapes saw
a shooting star fly across the tiny patch of sky poking out above
the swirling white mists. I bet there were a few tears welling
in a few eyes. And two of them were mine.
Simply awesome.
Rob Nichols, Evening Gazette
Admittedly I went to see Chris Helme (former
singer/sometime guitarist with the late Seahorses) out of curiosity.
Mainly to see if he was any good. You always tended to think of
The Seahorses as ex- Stone Roses man, John Squire's 'new band'
and Chris Helme was more of an afterthought, the singer with a
bit of a dodgy haircut. Having seen him do an acoustic set at
York Fibbers, a couple of months ago, I was quite interested to
see what he was like with a full band behind him.
So on a scorching hot evening we set out across the North Yorkshire Moors in search of this small country pub, which boasts past gigs by Chris Rea and such like. We make our way outside into the venue, to discover cloud had settled over the moors and the scorching hot evening was no more. Dry-ice was certainly going to be redundant tonight!
You can't help feeling a bit sorry for Chris Helme. Only 3 years ago he was playing to large crowds at T-in the Park and the Leeds festivals, now he tunes in his own guitars and sets his own gear up, at the front of a stage smaller than anything the Duchess or The Roadhouse could offer, to play in front of a crowd of around 200 people in a beer garden. It doesn't seem to bother him though. Brief introductions and then it's straight into the set. The set, showing more than a trace of his Seahorses days, rocks along nicely. Tunes galore, a good sound and Chris Helme's voice is superb. It doesn't take you long to realise who actually DID have the talent in The Seahorses.
The main set is all new songs. You get the feeling he would rather forget his past and start afresh. And rightly so. His songs translate really well from his acoustic versions, "Matter of Time", "Fire Flies", a typical Seahorse-ish track, and another one which may be called "Cut You Deeper" provide the more rockier aspect of the gig, whereas "There Goes My Sunrise" and a song about the floods are slower and more chilled out. The 'Bob Dylan tribute song' "Masters of War" is excellent, even if some of the crowd start singing Travis' "Blue Flashing Light" over the beginning.
Maybe
not quite out and out rock, not quite indie, it's quite hard to
fit Chris Helme and his band into one genre. Over all, plenty
of guitars, melodies and mature lyrics make this set seem to pass
in record time. The only criticism may be that half way through
the 'chilled section' you feel the set has lost it's way slightly,
that it starts to wander a bit, but perhaps that's because the
songs are unfamiliar. You certainly don't miss the incessant 'noodling'
of John Squire or anything else he may have added.
The encore starts off in fantastic style with a solo acoustic version of "Blinded by the Sun", which has the crowd singing along, followed by a Rolling Stones cover. "Morning Sun" finishes off the set. By popular demand he came back on to finish off with "Hello", announcing that he had decided it would be the last time this song would ever be played. I hope not!
Chris Helme has well and truly laid his ghosts to rest. Mourn the passing of the Seahorses, if you will, but enjoy the beginning of a new, fresher era. Roll on Stockton!!
Reviewed by Ann for Blindsummit
I must apologise to The Lion Inn on two accounts, last month I mentioned in my review of the Midsummer Night Festival that there was a 150 strong crowd, well I was wrong, there was over 350 people. Well, it was difficult to see in the dark, sorry! Also I had pencilled in for this issue a review of Chris Helme and Lucas who performed on the outdoor stage on 5th July, but I'm afraid too much happened in between now and then, but I will say it was a fantastic night, with Lucas playing out of their skins. They had an amp problem which could not be resolved, so they had to run with it for the sake of the show, and boy, did they! The best set I've seen from Lucas since the SONNGS 1 concert back in November 2000. Chris Helme was magnificent. The band has a settled line-up and it really is coming together nicely, it won't be long before we see Chris back in the charts and claiming his rightful slot as a nationally recognised artist in his own right.
............ Anyone present at Chris Helme's summer concert at The Lion Inn, Blakey could not have failed to feel themselves touched by by the presence of a genius. On a bitterly cold, foggy evening up on the top of the world, Mr Helme gripped us with one of the warmest sets imaginable. Along with Middlesbrough Music Live it will probably end up as my outstanding memory of the Summer of 2001.......
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