Venue: The Mean Fiddler, London      Date: September 3rd 2005

I had been looking forward to this gig for a long time having liked Strangefish ever since I first heard the cd 'Full Scale', although I have to admit that never having listened to anything by Echolyn before, I was somewhat intrigued to see what the Americans had to offer.

Strangefish came on stage and went straight into "Shifting Sands and Turning Tides", a personal favourite of mine, followed by "Listening to Ghosts".

We were then told that the new album "Fortune Telling",  would be out soon, although no release date could be given, and we were treated to the a song from it titled "Have you seen the light", which was warmly recieved. This was followed by "Ignorance of bliss" and "Wallflower".

The small crowd was lapping this up. Everyone in the Mean Fiddler was gathered around the stage and as each song ended it was met with rapturous applause.

"Reflection" came next, again from the new album, followed by the epic "This is me" (parts one and two) after which there was something of a party atmosphere for "Lighthouse Jig", with major audience paticipation. Beach balls and inflatables were thrown from the stage and back again - who says prog fans can't dance? Strangefish certainly put the fun back into gigs, and I'm sure they will get a bigger following, with every gig they play.

The band had originally intended to finish the set with "Holiday" but it had to be abandoned as regreatably they had ran out of time.

Although this was the first time that I had seen Strangefish live, it will definitely not be the last. They rank as one of the best bands I have seen live and I urge everyone to go and check them out given the chance - You won't be disappointed!.

STRANGEFISH. ARE; Steve-Vocals,  Paul-Keyboards, Bob- Guitars, Julian, Bass and Fiddle, Dave, Drums.

Set List - Shifting sands and turning tides, Listening to ghosts, Have you seen the light, Ignorance of bliss, Wallflower, This is me 1 and 2, Lighthouse jig, Holiday(not play ed lack of time).

ECHOLYN.

I am not a expert on Echolyn and am not going to pretend to be as I have never seen or heard them before, but I was determined to keep a  completely open mind at this show, and I have to admit that I liked what I saw.

The band played a two hour set, containing a mixture of new material and older crowd favourites, and the only disappointment in the whole evening was that after two encores they had to stop because of the venues restrictions.

Echolyn came across as a very professional and tight band. It appears that this was the first time they have left the USA to perform infront of a non American audience, and the small crowd in London loved them.

Having heard them play live I will certainly go and buy some of there releases, and this is after all why bands gig! After this one showing they have certainly converted me to the cause - I very much hope that they enjoy there brief stay in England and plan to return to these shores before too long - I for one will be there when they do!

Mick Lloyd.

Footnote - The crowd (numbers) for a Saturday night in London was appalling. I am getting kind of fed up going to gigs where the turnout is low,  and I felt sorry for both bands on this occassion. This show gave us some three hours of quality live music - both acts were superb, and the crowd that was there had a great time.  However,  people have got to realise that if they don't support bands, the band's will stop gigging.   What more do prog crowds want? I don't know the answer to this but I do know that this is a nationwide problem, with London seemingly suffering this lack of attendance more than most.  Please everyone, make the effort and support live music before it's too late!