An expedition to the 1865 in Southampton to see a prog-tastic double bill (or so we thought) of Colosseum and Soft Machine, both in their 2025 incarnations.

The venue filled up with, to quote a review of a previous night on this tour, "97% old white men who go and watch 70's bands."

Soft Machine kicked off proceedings : the mighty quartet of guitarist John Etheridge, saxophone and keys player Theo Travis, bassist Fred Thelonious Baker and drummer Asaf Sirkis gave the audience a complete and utter masterclass in progressive jazz-rock. Such a powerful display we were left wondering how Colosseum could follow it.

Unfortunately, they couldn't. Their bassist Mark Clarke came onstage and took the mic to announce that guitarist Dave "Clem" Clempson had been taken seriously unwell, and thus Colosseum couldn't perform without him.

After exchanging a few conspiratorial whispers with the rest of Soft Machine, John Etheridge called a 15 minute intermission and informed us they'd be playing another set for us imminently.

Our disappointment at not getting to see Colosseum was ameliorated by another 45 spontaneous minutes of Soft Machine's musical excellence, and they did not disappoint.

Overall, this was the sort of live gig that inspires and feeds the musical soul, especially when events took an unexpected turn. Hope Clem makes a speedy recovery and is back in action asap...

Martyn Joseph at the Laundry Theatre, Bowness. First time there for us but won’t be the last - a lovely space, virtually in the round and very good acoustics. MJ on great form with a mixture of old favourites and songs from the new album, Troubled Horses. Looking forward to playing it later.

Evening made by meeting old friends whom we hadn’t seen for25 years. It was if we had been with them last week.

Ah, that's a shame. Great band, Caedmon. Listened to their albums just a couple of weeks ago. A very enjoyable couple of hours.

The majesty of rock!
The fantasy of roll!
The ticking of the clock,
The wailing of the soul!

https://skirky.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-dog-ate-my-amplifier.html

An, I think, excellent 'metal' cover of Peter Hammill's (In the) Black Room

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wbLHJDs7T0

Not a well known name from a not well known band, but Simon Jaquet, vocalist of Caedmon, Christian folk-rock band, much loved in some circles, has died.

Here's one of his https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5vGMSGKsys

Quite a few people were disappointed this year because the reduced capacity meant that it sold out before they realised, so it's a juggling act. Also, prices go up after the first tranche.

But I do think that a number of people will leave it until the New Year.

Seeing, given recent history, it's unlikely to sell out before early Summer at best, surely waiting?

I see Thompy will be in the country. To wait for the line up, or to blow it out on the off chance, that is the question…

I’ve signed up for Neil and Elvis in Chelmsford. After all, one of us might be dead before I get another chance to see the man who inspired my collection of plaid shirts in person again.* Upon discussing this with a friend he commented that “He’s gone, can’t sing, I wouldn’t bother” before realising he was talking about Declan. By coincidence, I’ve just been reading Tom Hibbert on the subject of Charlie Sexton, who is playing with EC.


*I know - that doesn’t really make sense, but it’s late.