Black Tree

Paul Middleton's Angst Band at Blues Bar, Harrogate

Went to see Paul Middleton and his Angst Band at Blues Bar in Harrogate last night and boy are they good. I think most of us take it for granted what a pleasure it is to see and hear them, since they play every Wednesday at Blues. Their residency makes it less of an event to promote and surround with the interest of a single show. So there’s no fuss, just a great band playing away to 40 or 50 people every Wednesday. Part of me feels its criminal that there’s not 100 people or more each week but the idealist in me loves the fact that Paul’s the gnarled journeyman, existing on music (and one or two other substances) alone, under-appreciated by most, a slave to the music, the very essence of rock and roll.

Despite the fact he’s been around for forever and a day, when he sing, shouts and rants it feels like he’s singing those words for the first time in his life. The passion and feeling is tangible and its the same each of the four or five times I’ve seen him. I don’t really know how his voice copes with it. Perhaps a healthy appetite for illicit substances helps?

The band are a lovely motley crew consisting of Paul on vocals and acoustic guitar (he’s all the Angst!), a friendly and very tight youngish drummer, his dad sat tucked away at the back, resembling a American southern drifter, baseball cap pulled down, long white hair and beard on electric guitar and mostly playing one of those country and western style sit down slide guitars. Then there’s a great young base player and a truly amazing lead guitarist with hair that could easily be topped with that trademark black top hat of two famous guitarists. Great licks, great solos and great guitar hero style gurning!

Their music is rock and blues but not just that same rock and blues played in a million pubs up and down the county. There’s something slightly different that makes their music unique and their own. Quite obviously this appears to me to be down to their songs, style and the collective sum of their parts. They don’t just churn out the same old covers, they play their own songs which are clearly Paul’s songs. The band are more just an accompaniment to Paul’s poetic rants and protests. His songs are like old American civil rights protest songs but delivered by a gnarly old Yorkshireman about issues here and issue with modern life. He does have the power to hold your ear with his words and there are sparks of genius. Subsequently let down with his ‘fucked up miserable old Yorkshireman’ off mic ramblings. Last night and another time I’ve seen him he was joined on stage by a fiddle player who is clearly very talented indeed. He adds a even lovelier dimension to the motley crew being well dressed and perhaps Jewish in looks, they just look an incredible sight of different people bought together to make great music. Oh and the fiddle adds a additional layer of feeling and quality to the tunes. I hope he comes back to play with them again.

I spoke briefly to the drummer in the interval who was a nice bloke and said they only get together to play this gig really, never practice and don’t really have a great deal in common. This is obviously a recipe for sometimes intelligent, sometimes ridiculous but always great rock music.

If you’ve never been to Blues or never seen Paul Middleton and the Angst Band, or even if you’ve not been for a while, I definitely recommend it. Have some beer, get tipsy and get down and dirty in Blues on a Wednesday with some great shouty rock poetry. I’ll be the one singing to the ‘Predudice’ song,  swaying a little with a Sagres in hand.