Blog entry recovered from MySpace archive, first published Wednesday January 31, 2007.
Progress down a well worn street
It's been a while since I wrote anything here. But then it's been a while since I had anything to write about here.
Last Friday (January 26th) was the first in what may hopefully be a regular monthly night at The Peel in Kingston - House of Progression. Featuring on the bill were (supposedly) the John Young Band and Landmarq.
As it happened, I was too late to catch John Young (who made a solo appearance), hearing just a handful of chords before he said farewell and left the stage, whilst apologising for the absence of the remainder of the band.
Landmarq were interesting, and passably good save for one major problem - no originality. Bands and artistes have in the past been described - sometimes by themselves - as magpies, but it's a cliche that is particularly apt when describing Landmarq. Think every major prog band you've ever heard up until the 90s, think of all their key phrases and characteristics. Think of a band which manages to aggregate all those different fragments together into whole pieces, then front it with a female singer who sounds just like Toyah Willcox (circa "Mystery") minus the lisp, with a soupcon of Kate Bush, and you have Landmarq. As musicians they are competent enough, and the performances solid, but unfortunately even though you haven't, you can't help wondering of you haven't heard it all before, and this is unfortunate because the nett result is an overwhelming feeling that each of the songs (or instrumentals) go on just a little bit too long, and eminently forgettable.
