ReGenesis @ Holmfirth 20/10/12

One of my major musical formative experiences, back in the 1970s, was my introduction to the music of Genesis: they were the first Progressive band that I really connected with. Sadly I never managed to see them perform live, and by then anyway they had lost Peter Gabriel as vocalist and were just about to part company with Steve Hackett too. But their early material, from what many regard as the 'classic' era of Genesis, always had a certain magic and allure about it.

So I was delighted to have the opportunity last Saturday to see one of the leading Genesis tribute bands - ReGenesis - perform at the Picturedome in Holmfirth. And what a show they put on for a packed house!

The tour is billed as a 40th Anniversary of Foxtrot tour, but the set was replete with material from all the Gabriel-era albums bar the first, and contained songs rarely if ever performed live by Genesis themselves.

The set opened with 'The Return of the Giant Hogweed', and immediately we were treated to a faithful rendition of the original material, but with all the flair of a live performance, and without the pretence of trying to impersonate the band - truly a tribute, rather than a mimicking. Then the opening bars of 'Firth of Fifth', which, unlike any live takes by Genesis I've heard, began with the iconic piano solo rather than the striking chord immediately before the vocals. Andy Gray, as he did throughout the set, gave a faultless rendition of Steve Hackett's guitar solo here.

The set continued with 'Harold the Barrel', which seemed just a little fast for me, but it was great to hear this oft-neglected track included; then 'Stagnation' and 'The Musical Box', which gave singer Tony Patterson his first opportunity to don one of his Gabriel-esqe masks as the Old Man at the end of the song.

To huge acclaim the band then gave us 'The Knife', a barnstorming rocker of a song, again maybe performed a little quickly, but producing a great response from the gathered throng. Then, the main course (so to speak): Foxtrot, Genesis's acclaimed 1972 album, performed in its entirety. From the opening haunting chords of 'Watcher of the Skies' to the climax of 'Supper's Ready', again this was a moving and almost faultless performance, with Patterson again employing the theatrics that Peter Gabriel made his own back in the day. It was wonderful to hear little-known songs like 'Time Table' and 'Can-Utility and the Coastliners' played live, and Andy Gray gave a splendid rendition of 'Horizons' too.

For an encore, we were treated to 'The Lamb lies down on Broadway' and 'Fly on the Windshield', before ending with 'I Know What I Like'.

The end of a perfect evening of timeless Progressive Rock that is still delighting audiences 40 years on. The musicianship from all of the band was impeccable, and I would recommend anyone to see this group of talented musicians.

Clegg's Apology

I'm not ashamed to say it: for the greater part of my voting life I have supported the Liberal Democrats or their political predecessors the Liberals & the Social Democratic Party (SDP) - in fact in my 20s I was a member of the SDP.

At the last General election in 2010 I, like many others across the country, was excited about the prospect of the Lib Dems being involved in the nations political life in a way that they hadn't for the best part of a century. Nick Clegg was coming across as a leader-in-waiting, and one particular policy - opposing any rise in University tuition fees - was hitting a nerve nationally, and certainly in Clegg's adopted city of Sheffield where I live and work. Many of us remember the scenes of frustrated students unable to vote on election night because the polling stations simply couldn't cope with the numbers who turned out.

Following the election, Clegg and his party executive took the decision to form a coalition with the Tories - the largest single party in the poll, but with no clear majority - and a government was formed. Sadly, very early on in that administration, the pledge on university tuition fees was scrapped as financially unworkable, and much to my distress and anger, Clegg then stated that he hadn't really meant what he'd publicly promised.

From that point, I felt that I could no longer support the party in any election for the foreseeable future. And so far I have maintained that feeling.

Over the last 24 hours (as I write) Clegg has sought to set the record straight, to un-muddy the waters and - wait for it - to apologise (a rare word with politicians). But he's not apologised for breaking his word - for lying to voters and potential voters: no, he's simply apologised for making the pledge in the first place.

He believes that the decision to sign the pledge and then to break his word has become a weight round his and the party's ankles: too true, but he's showing no remorse at all for lying, simply for making the decision that won him so many votes in the first place. This move, ahead of the Party Conference next week, where Clegg will probably face anger from some local activists, is certainly not going to convince me to go back on my pledge, not to support the party I have most clearly empathised with for the majority of my adult life, certainly while Clegg is still leader and is still legitimising Cameron's divisive, elitist regime - a Government this country did not vote for and does not want.

English Electric (Part 1)

Every now and then something comes along that makes me sit up and take notice. In recent years one such has been the band Big Big Train.

I first encountered them early in 2010, when many people were raving about their album 'The Underfall Yard', and on listening I could understand why there was so much interest in their music. Since then I have immersed myself in most of their back catalogue, which surprisingly stretches back to the mid-1990s, and have discovered the same standard of musical excellence throughout.

Later in 2010 saw the release of what was strangely called an EP (40 minutes of music used to be called a single album!) 'Far Skies Deep Time', and then came the promise of new material some time this year. That promise is now fulfilled, with more to come in 2013, with appearance of 'English Electric (Part1)'.

This is, again, a beautiful collection of songs, steeped in the Progressive rock tradition, but also suffused throughout with a celebration of England. Images of railway sidings, hedgerows, views of 'Winchester from the Hill', echoes of Betjeman in 'Summoned by Bells', and the eulogising of 'a charming old lovable rogue' of an art forger in the wondrously joyous 'Judas Unrepentant'.

Full of exquisite vocal harmonies, folky touches to the music, as well as hints of 'Selling England by the Pound'-era Genesis, this is music that your ears will love you for listening to. This band deserve to be more widely known and appreciated, and I hope this collection of songs will go some way to achieving this.

The album is available through Amazon, or you can listen and /or download from the band's Bandcamp site.

Macbeth at The Crucible

Shakespeare's tragic history of Macbeth is a play that many are familiar with, if only from struggling through it at school: the timeless tale of ambition, destiny, guilt, murder and madness; of the equally swift ascent and descent of Scotland's king, Macbeth. The autumn season at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre opens with a production of this play, following on from acclaimed performances of Hamlet, starring John Simm and Othello with Clarke Peters & Dominic West.

I attended the Public Dress Rehearsal last evening, and was part of a packed house. For the first time that I can remember the theatre was completely in the round, with seats where the back-stage area usually is, and the performance area central. The set was sparse but effective: a circle of stones around the outside, with an area that could be raised later to fashion a table for the banquet scene. The lighting was well designed and effective.

The performances, I have to say, were mixed. Andrew Jarvis came across well as Duncan, the Old Man and Siward; the two local youngsters, Joseph Pass (Fleance) and particularly Ethan Carley as Macduff's son also performed well; and Christopher Logan, who took seven parts in the play, effused as the drunken porter and camped it up as Hecate. John Dougall as Macduff, I'm afraid, seemed to shout rather than project, and much of his dialogue was lost as a result. Other cast members, on the whole, put in creditable performances.

Of the principals, both Claudie Blakley as Lady Macbeth and Geoffrey Streatfeild as the troubled king sadly came across just a little flat, delivering their lines but at times just that. I and others left the theatre a little disappointed, feeling relieved that we had only paid £1 for the night. I have come to expect better from Daniel Evans' direction: I hope that, as the run goes on, other will not be as disappointed as I sadly was.

20 years on...

Today marks the end of my first 20 years in Circuit ministry in the Methodist Church in Great Britain as a Presbyter. I say that last thing because I spent 2 years prior to being selected for ministry serving as a Lay Pastor to 2 congregations in Leicestershire. But this could very well be the mid-point of my active ministry: How has the experience been?

Following 3 years training in Bristol, the first 6 years were spent in post-industrial County Durham, in the town of Stanley. Well, I call it a town - that's how it seemed to me when I arrived there fresh from college - but I soon discovered that it was more of a collection of pit villages, each with their own particular identity and each lacking the one thing that gave them that identity - the pit. These had closed back in the 1970s, but their shadow still hung heavily in the air and in the hearts and lives of the people.

Methodism in County Durham is, to all intents and purposes, the established church: it was easier to start a Methodist Society as these communities were being built than it was to establish an Anglican parish. Consequently, if people didn't go to church there it was the Methodist Church they didn't go to - unless they needed a christening, a wedding (often after the second christening) or a funeral. So, my time there was largely spent on what were laughingly called 'occasional offices', making many contacts with the 'unchurched', but having very little time to develop those contacts as a fresh 'batch' came along with at times alarming regularity. I averaged 20 Weddings a year, around 60 christenings ('wet' and 'dry'), and roughly 80 funerals: many opportunities to 'sow the seed' of the gospel, but little time for harvest.

After 6 years, and having guided one of the churches through their centenary celebrations, I moved from Stanley to Wetherby in West Yorkshire - only about 10 miles from home - to take charge of 3 churches there. Sociologically a very different appointment, in that Wetherby is, in many areas, a lot more affluent a place, with the consequent challenges that that brings in ministry terms. Together we saw in the new millennium and explored new ways of worship and of doing and being church - explorations that did not come without issues, in-fighting and insensitivity - from me as well as them. I learned a lot about people and about ministry there, but not without considerable cost to my soul and my psyche at times.

The Wetherby years were also the time when I spent a lot of time engaged in Chaplaincy. Alongside the 3 churches I had care of, I was also the Free Churches chaplain at HMYOI Wetherby. This not only provided many opportunities to engage these young lads in conversations about important issues, but also to introduce them to stories that had been a part of my life almost from the beginning. There is a particular joy to being able to tell the story of the Prodigal Son to a 17 year-old lad for the first time and to see the recognition in his face as he reflects with you on its timeless qualities. In contrast to the work in the prison, I was also chaplain to 35 (Wetherby) Squadron of the Air Training Corps: a generally motivated bunch of young people, more or less the same age as the YOIs. No generation can be stereotyped: hopefully all generations can be given hope and purpose for their lives.

And so, in 2004, to Sheffield. For the last 8 years I have been minister of Wesley Hall, Crookes, a large Methodist Chapel with a relatively small congregation, sitting in the shadow of one of the largest Anglican churches in the country (St Thomas' Crookes). In that time we have together sought to catch a vision for our place in that community, and to develop Wesley Hall as a focus for many activities in the Crookes area. From there we reach out to young families through the Toddler Group, to the elderly with the Lunch Club, and to young lads through Boy's Brigade. Our buildings are used by MENCAP to house offices, by choirs and opera groups, for Tae Kwon Do and Zumba classes. We struggle with what to do with a building that is Grade 2-listed and showing increasing signs of being 104 years-old, but increasingly rely on God's strength to get us through.

Alongside Wesley Hall, my only consistent 'charge' over the 8 year, I have cared for congregations at Stanwood for 6 years, Rivelin Glen & Stannington for 5 years, Walkley for 2 years and Dungworth for 1 year. Each have had their own opportunities and challenges, yet remain cheerful. For the last 2 years Wesley Hall & Walkley have functioned as one church, sharing a church council but retaining their separate buildings and worshipping communities. We are still working out the implications of this for both communities, but it has been good to share in mission, worship and fellowship over the past 2 years.

So, 20 years of outreach, mission, ministry, worship, frustration, sadness and joy; sharing Christ with God's people within and outside the church building and the church community. And after 20 years, if I'm honest, I don't really think I'd rather be anywhere else (though I would be lying if I said I'm not tempted on an almost daily basis to pack it all in!) Only God really knows where the next 20 years will take me - I hope, by God's grace, to still be active then