The Eighteenth Day of May present an appetising proposition. Bucking the trend somewhat in their choice of influences, this quietly happening six-piece have been earmarked as disciples of Fairport Convention, The Byrds and other mainstays of the Sixties/Seventies folk revival/psychedelic rock tradition. However, as is always the question with band any that chooses to wear its influences on its sleeve, can The Eighteenth Day of May add up to more than the sum of their record collections?
The live sound doesn’t help to begin with. Alison Cotton’s viola and Alison Brices’s dulcimer seem lost in the mid-range frequency muddle during opener “Lady Margaret”. Brice’s vocals, a Sandy Denny/Linda Thompson flavour filtered via New Orleans, do shine through on occasion, at least enough for folk favourite Sweet William to make a lyrical appearance.
Things begin to gel on “Sir Casey Jones” it must be said, it’s anglo-american title pointing towards a melding of country-twang guitar and jug band bass line with lead and harmony vocal melodies rooted on this side of the Atlantic.
From there on in The Eighteenth Day of May impress with their musical chops, knowledge (we learn about the origin of the autoharp cradling from drummer / auto-harpist Karl) and commitment. Bert Jansch cover “’Deed I Do” (never actually recorded by Jansch apparently) and “Flowers of the Forest” stand out, convincing blueprints for a synthesis of folk, psychedelia and a 21st Century sensibility which result in a genuinely exciting sound.
By closer “18 Days”, a jubilant jangle of a tune, The Eighteenth Day of May, if never exactly transcending their influences on the night, have demonstrated potential in spades. Watch this space…
Robyn Hitchcock thanks us for coming to see his ‘electric music show’ at the beginning of the set, and as the night unfolds, it turns out that his description fits nicely. Opener “If You Were A Priest” is a definite statement of intent, choppy power chords and dual guitar riffing from Hitchcock & Peter Buck, a heavy backbeat supplied by Bill Rieflin locked into a solid bass-line courtesy of Scott McCaughey, who also chips in with some spot on harmonies on the 'please don’t lock away your eyes' chorus.
“Acid Bird”, introduced by Hitchcock as a piece of psychedelic nostalgia, and the rambunctious “Viva Sea-Tac” (a tribute to his backing band’s home city) follow, setting a trend of smart (but rarely clever clever), melodic and catchy-as-all-hell power pop tunes, the emphasis on Tune.
And, lest we forget, jangly. Buck hasn’t knocked out quite so many arpeggios on his trusty Rickenbackers since the Reckoning tour I’d wager.
Highlights are genuinely too numerous to mention: “Flesh Number One”, a summer melt of a pop song into which Robyn drops a verse or two from Roxy Music’s “More Than This”, a bona-fide set closer played about 6 songs in…“A Man’s Got to Know His Limitations, Briggs”, essentially the plot of the second Clint Eastwood/Dirty Harry movie “Magnum Force” recounted with a sun-drenched west coast country-rock (good Byrdsy country rock as opposed to bland Eaglesy country rock) chorus… “Madonna of the Wasps”, genuinely nuts and heartbreakingly melodic, complete with fluffed intro…”Creeped Out”, transformed from its initial acoustic setting on the Gillian Welch / Dave Rawlings assisted “Spooked” album into a grinding Iggy & The Stooges affair that the Minus 3 clearly relish…
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Part of Hitchcock’s undeniable charm is his effortlessly ridiculous between song patter (sample line: 'there are 6 stages to every movement and the 7th is Glasgow'???), covering a range of subjects from trams (an old favourite) to Dirty Harry & the DVD revolution. What one tends to forget is that he can also be a wonderfully spidery guitar player, in the best Tom Verlaine tradition, though there is surprisingly little Television style (or even Soft Boys style) sparring between Hitchcock & Buck. One such moment does occur during urgent main set closer “Driving Aloud”, where Buck may even be seen to crack a smile!
Scott McCaughey takes the lead vocal and guitar positions to open the encores with two from the forthcoming eponymously titled Minus Five album. “Cigarettes, Coffee & Booze” tells its tale of debauchery against a ragged Uncle Tupelo style electric country groove, while “Aw Shit Man”, counted in by Scott with a 1-2-3-4 worthy of Dee Dee himself, is a raucous punk wonder. Promising stuff indeed.
A magical history tour follows, Robyn back at the helm for a ragged run through Dylan's “Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues”, which leads further back in time for ‘the original folk rock song’ “Bells of Rhymney”, which in turn takes us into Hitchcock’s own back pages for a glorious “Queen of Eyes”, The Minus 3 sounding like there were purpose built to do the song just as much justice as The Soft Boys themselves.
It’s all change for finale “Listening to the Higsons”, Scott takes guitar, Bill takes bass (!) and Peter hits (quite literally) the drums. It may not be the world’s most musically accomplished performance, but it’s jolly good fun and in many ways the perfect end to a perfect evening. Long may Robyn Hitchcock (and whomever he chooses to bring along on the ride) run.
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