secondSight and friends

I almost decided not to go to the Grey Horse on Friday night, but what a mistake that would have been!

The only reason for going that I had was the promise of some classic prog rock delivered by secondSight, a band unknown to me at the time. Against that were stacked the formidable attractions of a quiet night in after a difficult week.

In the end the call of the prog rock pulled through and I walked through some light rain to the pub just in time to grab a pint of Guinness (I asked for Youngs!) before their set.

secondSight did what they said they would do and and played a selection of Genesis, Pink Floyd, Yes and King Crimson covers. Some were expected, e.g. Money, and others not so, e.g. Epitaph.


The balance of the sound was good with lead guitar and keyboards to provide the highlights and it would be a little churlish to say that a flute would have been good too.

It would be equally churlish to mention that the newish lead singer fluffed a few lyrics as that mattered little, we all knew them anyway.

Retired to the bar and was soon joined by Nick from the band and some other prog fans and the fun started.

This was helped in no small measure by the unexpected presence of three members of Hoaxwind. Even more conversions on music followed. The Cardicacs got a lot of mentions, not least because Adrian is writing a book about them, but I had to leave that debate alone as I've never managed to get in to the band. I did say that I would try again and must dig out their best-of CD that I bought the last time a fan of theirs said I must listen to them.

All too soon the bar closed and it was time to go home, or rather to head for the Willoughby for a night-cap. The pub was buzzing with familiar and friendly regulars and we were joined, unexpectedly for the second time that night, by some of Hoaxwind also looking for one for the road.

The last bus home made its journey just after 1am but it was too good an evening to leave early so I lingered and talked for about another hour before deciding that it really was time for bed.

So what could have been a quiet night in alone became a social night out with friends. Good call me.