Tearing Me Apart - Single Launch

When I went to school in Highgate there were all manner of pubs and bars. To the villages credit nearly all have remained as they were when I joined in 1998 and in fact it's rumoured that Highgate has the highest density of pubs per square mile than anywhere else in England. Such was the number that the route of the infamous 'Highgate Ten' pubcrawl purposely left the boundary of Highgate itself to add a bit of distance to the route. Along this route was a bar called the Boogaloo. A small, single level bar the Boogaloo stood out from other Highgate venues not only for its name but for its eclectic artwork, lack of beer garden and the fact it had a stage. And it was on this stage that an unknown band played regularly to a free crowd slowly developing, tweaking and crafting their music until before you knew it they were scooped up by a management company and thrown into world wide superstardom. For years, just down the road from my school were being held almost weekly gigs by Coldplay.

Tonight, I have just returned from a gig that I was desperate to go to despite the fact this is only my first day out of the house having been bed ridden for the best part of the week with flu - possibly of the swine variety. However, with a head full of tamiflu and a stomach full of ibruprofen I wrapped up warm and headed to the two hundred venue down the road aptly named The Library. You can imagine the phone conversations now. "Son, where are you?", "I'm in The Library Dad", "Ah! Good boy, working hard I gather." Actually that would never happen as the reception is terrible and even if a call did connect why on earth would you pick up? Anyway...

I live with the guitarist of band called The Phoenix Fall who, quite recently, have really started to make a sound in Leeds. I've known Ben for nearly four years now and it seems much longer when I first saw him play play with the band in the upstairs of some dodgy pub on the edge of 'student Leeds' next to an industrial estate. Since then I've come to know the rest of the band and have in fact been their very own graphic designer over the last year designing their covers, merchandise material and even a music video here and there.

Tonights gig, their second single launch for "Tearing Me Apart", confirmed for me how much this band have truly developed. It was a long time ago that they played to a static crowd their tinny indie rock under the bare bulbs of a pub gig. Everyone in those rooms were friends yet none were overly interested and as we stood and listened we shifted our weight across legs more to keep the blood flowing than anything else.

I'm starting now, however, to get the feeling they could be going the same way that small band at the Boogaloo went and tonight certainly went someway in proving that. The gig was superbly created ducking in and out of songs, meddling the favourites and getting people off their feet. Everyone in the sold out venue was loving the music and demonstrating it with their voices and bodies. At one point Lewis' bass stopped working, another time Ollie's guitar completely cut out but they rolled with the punches got the crowd involved and absolutely everyone there had a fantastic time.

At the back of the stage they had projected the artwork we had made for the single cover and it helped show how they had also developed in character and style. In the depths of YouTube is a video of their frontman Ollie back in that dreary pub looking more at Ben than the crowd as if he's unsure he's on the right song. Now he lives up to his title and owns the room that he gives his singing soul to. The whole band fit so much better now and it's truly wonderful to see them play at this pivotal point in their career. This transformation hasn't just come through time but unmeasurable effort, patience and self assessment.

The single is out on Monday (on iTunes and Amazon UK) and I implore everyone to purchase it. There is also the option of 'The Bundle' where you can listen to other alternatives and a B Side single called Hold Back the Tears. That track I first heard them play in a venue I still frequent called Carpe Diem at another gig dotted along their growing path. The first time I heard it I was nearly brought to tears (granted that I was very drunk at the time). However, tonight, even through medically induced sobriety and the fact a ripped copy sits in my iTunes 'most played' lists my arms couldn't help but goosebump and the hairs on my neck to mirror the arms and feelings of the crowd.

The Phoenix Fall. Remember them now, listen to them sooner.

(This article has been published without being re read. This is because I am trying to improve my writing and thus am doing a few of these exercises to get an idea of how I write off the cuff. Sorry if it's therefore a load of illegible crap!)