09/11/18
Opening proceedings, local four piece Guranfoe do a sterling job of warming the crowd up with their set of Zappa and Crimson referencing jazz-rock. I enjoyed a lot of this set, particularly the heavier, more math-rock side of things, but the music did om occasion venture too far into jazz-fusion territory for my tastes. That said, I would be more than happy to see them again and it was great to see young, talented musicians having fun playing difficult, complicated music with smiles on their faces. A few more power chords and a bit of feedback and I would be hooked but, hey, that is just my love of post-rock and shoegaze coming out...
And now for the main event and Caravan. I am not a young man and these days it a rare band that formed before I was born. Caravan have – a few hiatuses aside - been playing in one form or another for five decades and are rightly celebrating on this 50th anniversary tour.
It has been a good few years since I last listened to the only album I own by them - In the Land of Grey and Pink - and I am here tonight because I have been told I just must see Caravan. I don’t know what I was expecting really. What I got some really rather good classical, jazz and even folk-inflected progressive rock from these stalwarts of the Canterbury Scene.
Caravan are the consummate, supremely talented musicians that I expected. Yes, what they play is very much in the prog vein but this wasn’t just musicians showing off their chops for the sake of it. The playing was always in the service of the songs, always delivered with melody and structure by five guys who are having fun. It certainly wasn’t dour, serious, po-faced or ludicrous in the way that some prog can often be.