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The Sail Pattern

Venue: Topic Folk Club
Town: Glyde House, Bradford
Date: 16/1/14
Websitehttp://www.thesailpattern.com/

To my disappointment I had missed the Topic's first two nights at its new venue. This was due to being away in Whitby for the first one (the monthly Singers' and Musicians' Night) and illness at the time of the second one (when Roger Davies unsurprisingly pulled in a large crowd to fill the room). Despite still not being 100% well I was determined not to miss The Sail Pattern's visit as they have been one of my favourite bands since I took up a recommendation and booked them for the Aire Do Festival a few years ago.

Glyde House is well located in the 'Cultural Quarter' of Bradford's City Centre not far from both the stunning new Mirror Pool and the much longer established Alhambra Theatre. The room used for the club holds just over 60 people and is thus a slightly cosier venue than the Irish Club which the Topic sadly had to leave due to its imminent closure. The reduced capacity shouldn't be a problem for the club as typical audience numbers currently vary between 30 and 60. Real ale from local breweries Salamander and Saltaire were on the bar (which is in an adjacent separate room) and so those of us of a discerning palate are well catered for.

Floor spots by club regulars John Waller and Stuart Douglas opened the night before The Sail Pattern took to the stage. I have to confess at this stage that, whilst I had been getting used to the new venue, I managed to forgot my intention to review the gig and thus my memory of the songs performed in the first set has not been helped by lack of notes. However I do recall that personal favourites included the shanty 'Haul Away Joe', Ron Angel's wonderful 'Chemical Workers Song', the excellent self penned 'Smoke and Mirrors' (think Spirit of the West if you know them!) and a superb a capella version of the 'North West Passage' to lead into the interval.

What I haven't forgotten, however, is that the band's usual energy and passion were there in spades and the audience were responding with wide smiles and exchanged glances of appreciation. Both lead singer Joe Alderson and Alex Haydock are superb guitarists whilst the driving cajon of James Bentham and the perfectly judged bass of Joe's brother Bob fill out the sound to make a perfect whole. The other strength of The Sail Pattern is their inventive arrangements of material which is constantly a delight and, occasionally, a pleasant surprise.

After the obligatory raffle ticket sales and drink refill the second half of the evening began with Jon Palmer, Nick Settle and Matt Nelson performing a brace of songs including Jon's ever popular and topical 'Eton Mess'.

Highlights of The Sail Pattern's second set included their own rather beautiful interpretation of 'Spanish Ladies' (where Joe and Alex's guitar interplay was particularly entrancing), the band's unique take on 'Bonny Ship The Diamond', the anthemic 'The Monument' (what a chorus!) and the breathless 'Merry Mac' which, as always, brought the house down at the end of the set. The encore was a creditable version of The Beatles' 'I've Just Seen a Face' which ended a great evening of music that had confirmed without any doubt that The Sail Pattern are one of the best bands on the acoustic music circuit and also that the Topic's days as the oldest folk club in the UK would be continuing happily in its new venue.

I really would urge you to check out The Sail Pattern if they come anywhere near you - and, of course, if you are near Bradford on a Thursday night call into the Topic too!

Joe Grint