2016 in review

It has been another great year for music in Llanelli, with the reputation of live music in the town growing all the time. I was surprised when the band, Discount Columbo, told me that they came from Bristol Institute of Music to play after hearing about The Masons Arms though the university. This should not have come as much of shock to me as I always hear good feedback from bands playing there for the first time. The best example of this was in an interview that American band, The Vim Dicta, did for a London-based music magazine. When asked about their best gigs, they spoke about playing in The Viper Rooms in Hollywood with the bass player from Rage Against the Machine’s new band and about the stars that they mingled with back stage. They then went on to say that one of their favourite gigs on tour was in a small bar in West Wales called Masons. It can’t be bad to be compared to one of the most famous bars in Los Angeles. They were also excited to take a copy of The Llanelli Herald back to L.A. with them to show the folks back home their interview and review in this column. It is not just the bands who enjoy themselves, a number of Cardiff bands who have travelled to town, have brought fans with them who have told me that they wished that they had smaller venues in Cardiff as good as we have in town.

It is not just The Masons putting bands on of course; venues such as The Queen Vic Club, Ruby’s and The Kilkenny Cat continue to

host some great cover bands, as well as regular acoustic nights at The Star and The Thomas Arms and original rock bands in the Kazbar, to cater for all tastes. The bigger venues are also getting involved with the Ffwrnes theatre hosting bands, including the long-awaited Sierra Alpha comeback and Parc Y Scarlets hosting The Mams, Cut Ribbons, Void and the legendary, Andy Pandemonium for the Macmillan charity concert. There was also the small matter of the mighty Status Quo playing at the Parc in front of a crowd of 6,000 fans. With UB40 and Level 42 already confirmed for next year hopefully this will lead to even more big name bands wanting to play here.

There have been too many great bands playing in town this year for me to name them all individually but I will mention a couple of the more unusual sounding bands that have impressed me. The pyschogroove of The Vim Dicta absolutely blew me away with their grunge-jazz hybrid and I will be following their career closely. If they do tour the UK again, I will do my best to try to get them back to town, although I think they will need a bigger venue than the Masons next

time. Another band that stood out, that I did not expect to be so good, was instrumental prog three-piece, Ezra V from Bridgend. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy their music but they are another one that will stick long in my memory. I have had the privilege to support some great bands with my own band, Fighting Fifth Husky, The Himalyas and Mumbleman were a big favourites of our singer and I also enjoyed opening up for King Goon on my ukulele.

Back to the local bands, we have seen some great gigs from established bands Greenmailer and E11ven, who have produced a great album and great EP respectively, not forgetting the always popular, Beautiful Strangers, who seem to be the go-to band for any big touring band playing in Swansea. We’ve also seen great new-comers new-comers; Oblong, Holoson and Black Stereo. It is always great to be thanked by visiting bands for promoting their gigs through our facebook page and column but even more encouraging is the amount of local people who tell me that they always look forward to our column each week and it has encouraged them to get out and get involved in The Llanelli Rock Scene.