Thanks once again to London Prog Gigs, today saw the fourth edition of A Sunday In September, an annual all-day festival held at London's The Bedford in Balham, featuring the very best in eclectic, modern Progressive and Alternative Rock music, namely The Fierce & The Dead, Iamthemorning, L.O.E (Last Of Eden), Wreckless Eric and Message From The Ravens. A delightful and comfortable (mostly seated) Pub venue with its own bar, very close to the station in Balham, South London, it has been a must see for the WRC since its inception, although it was a first for me, despite having attended Progtoberfest 2 at this very same venue back in 2017, that subsequently saw IT walk away that year with our Best Prog Performance award.

With proceedings kicking off at 1.30pm, mein host Chris Parkins had warned me not to miss openers, Message From The Ravens, despite them being "the least Proggy of the day". To be honest, with a totally understandable two hour refuelling break at 5pm, scheduled between L.O.E and Iamthemorning (the duo I really wanted to see), for once I decided to avail myself of The Bedford's excellent Live At The Bedford YouTube streaming service for the first three acts. With the added dimension of the live chat, and one wag suggesting a compulsory flat cap for the baldies in the full house to cut down on the lighting glare, thankfully Message From The Ravens flew above all this, and as recommended, they were indeed very impressive with their original lyrics very much matched by amazing intricate four-part vocal harmonies, as well as the all-girl quartet's charismatic banter and attitude.

Opening with a former WRC Track Of The Day, 'Jupiter's Tears', the Hastings sisterhood comprising ex-Wildflowers Siddy Bennett on guitar and kazoo, Hannah Dennard on organ and flute, Lily Kim on rhythm guitar and Philly Piggott on drums, continued with 'Revenge Of The Banshees' and 'Poison Apples', delightfully introducing to an entranced audience, the lost myths and magical stories behind each song as they went along. Witnesses since the dawn of time, from ancient sea shanties to Southern Gothic ballads, Indie to Punk, haunting Folk to full power 90s feminist sass, they further delivered their joyous message loud and crystal clear to those who cherished the sacred to the sinister, with 'Shivers and Thorns', 'Face To The Sun', the political rap of 'Birds Don't Lie', the very apt 'Scream At The Sea' (given they hail from that wild and mystic East Sussex coastal town), and then closed with 'Moth To The Flame'. Wow! An unexpected start to proceedings but an exceptional beginning to the day, equally measured by the fiery applause from the cheap seats.

Now its not very often that you buy a ticket to a gig and you get to see the soundcheck as well. Thankfully, there was nothing reckless behind Eric Gordon's "hell of a journey" to The Bedford and that this legend, better known as Wreckless Eric, finally arrived safe and sound, albeit without a soundcheck. Cue a delay to his highly anticipated set, but indeed an opportunity for some to witness one of live music's behind the scene secrets! Just twenty minutes later MC Parkins was amusingly justifying the former Punk being on today's London Prog Gigs bill, loosely classifying the former Stiff Tour icon as purveying the Psych genre. "I thought he said Psycho", the immediately lovable Eric joked as he grabbed his fully soundchecked acoustic guitar before launching into his opener, the short but very sweet, 'Father To The Man'.

Eric's banter was infectious as were his endearing Rock career anecdote's that not only had everyone listening intently, but also desperately wanting to check when they got home, that the back of Eric's head was really pictured on the inside cover of 'Colosseum Live"! Continuing with his sharp and forthright vocals and lyrics, Newhaven's finest reeled off 'Southern Rock', 'Drag Time' and 'Badhat Town' in quick succession, before another amusing (political) tale behind his acclaimed 2023 album 'Leisureland' and his classic cattle prod introduction to 'Standing Water' with its beautiful guitar solo segment. Eric's joking concern, given recent worrying experiences, about him running over time, led to him swapping his acoustic for an electric guitar on 'Days Of My Life', twiddling his Psych knobs, before introducing us to the awful background to the very moving 'Dial Painters (Radium Girls)'. The epic guitar intro to his 1977 classic, 'Whole Wild World', saw Eric remove his electric guitar and place it in front of his amp for maximum feedback, before grabbing his acoustic to complete his outstanding set with his trademark song that's not only been a hit for countless other artists such as The Monkees, but his original has also featured in many adverts including the Superbowl. Indeed, this was touch down time for Eric, suitably matched by deafening applause for this Punk/Psych Quarterback.

The final part of the first half, before mandatory afternoon refuelling, was Post-Rock, with a twist and with a kick, namely four guys from Halifax, namely L.O.E aka Last Of Eden. Weaving speech and video into live performance to create a cinematic experience, against a backdrop of blue lighting, the quartet's instrumental wall of sound was immediately jaw dropping, opening with a new composition, 'After All Is Said & Done'.

Playing songs from both last year's debut, 'The World & Everything In It ', plus their sophomore album due out next year, the very apt album single, 'You Can't Keep A Good Man Down', saw them sustain their massive sound. West Yorkshire's finest, comprising Josh Gardziel (guitar), Dominic Marshall (guitar), Ben Walsh (bass) and Ben Hirst drums), then emanated some serious Floyd overtones on the very emotional, '1001', as well as further continuing their big guitar crescendos on 'Lament', another heavy hitting track off their first album, reminiscent of very early The Pineapple Thief.

The first of a run of UK tour dates, another gloriously loud newbie, 'A New Consciousness', complemented by background speech and more visuals built to a stunning crescendo, before another album single 'If They Only Knew'. Their new eight minute + epic, the beautifully constructed and meandering, 'Need Your Help', gave another tantalising taste of what's in store, albeit with a subtle twist of the guys unusually performing vocals on this one, ultimately segueing, in contrast, into current album track, 'People Have The Power'. We would have to wait and see whether these guys were indeed the noisiest band of the day, as they closed their outstanding set with another epic, 'Monsters & Miracles'. Overall an amazing, immersive, thought-provoking live experience, for the delighted audience to discuss during their two hour break, although I would now be heading towards my railway station!

Indeed, not the best day to find out there was a bus replacement service on my Kent railway line! But hey ho - I made it in good time to position myself towards the back, with an excellent view of the stage to welcome Iamthemorning. The last time I saw the Chamber Progressive Dark Folk/Rock project led by singer Marjana Semkina and classical pianist Gleb Kolyadin, was pre-Covid and almost five years to the day, at London's Courtyard Theatre Studio, shortly after the release of their studio album 'The Bell'. Tonight, it was just the Russian duo, now based in the UK, but by pure chance, exiting the door I was standing right next to, Marjana suddenly appeared, and during a very quick chat, she reminded me not to miss the full band performing at the beautiful setting of St Matthias Church in London on Friday 1st November. I will be there!

Opening with 'Human Misery', a tingle passed down my spine, once again being reacquainted with the beauty of Marjana's voice as well the equally magnificent piano playing of Gleb. Spellbinding. The effervescent Marjana then took time out to bring everyone up to date with things Iamthemorning e.g. Thailand, prison, Putin, etc., thus leaving Gleb, a man of few words, to do all the talking with his wonderful fingers on their next song, 'Os Lunatum', all about, you've guessed it, a dead girl, with another outstanding vocal from Marjana. Captivating. The jazzier 'Matches' took on more of a theatrical guise, with a perfect solo from Gleb, equally matched by another on the follow up, the happily entitled (of course) 'Sleeping Pills', complemented by Marjana's haunting vocal, before another theatrical soiree with the tango vibe of 'Libretto Horror'. Mesmerising.

Their palpable chemistry continued on 'Scotland', with not a bagpipe in sight, as the pair nailed another emotional tune, that saw Marjana momentarily leave the stage, in appreciation of yet another Kolyadin solo. With her red hair and dress flowing in time to another Gleb masterclass, Marjana's beautiful vocal on 'Would This Be', was another highlight, plus a delightfully extended solo from Kolyadin on 'The Howler'. Semkina then took the opportunity not only to amusingly explain to the Iamthemorning virgins in the crowd that the band were a little bit weird, and most of their songs were about death, but also that each further song Gleb played was a surprise for her, but she would roll it with, hence setlist concerns from this particular reviewer!

Running out of superlatives, the 2016 Album of the Year Progressive Music Awards winners, continued with 'Lilies', including a glorious Gleb solo with a touch of Emerson, before the enchanting 'Salute'. Marjana continued the dark humour, citing that the next song, 'Chalk and Coal', was one of her favourites, all about electric shock therapy, before they finished off an exquisite set with the title track from 'The Bell'. There's no question at all that these guys made a load more fans tonight and they will no doubt be attending Church on 1st November. Don't forget!

Challenging L.O.E to be the loudest band on the day were five-piece, The Fierce & The Dead (aka The Joy Of Noise) who had in fact opened last year's A Sunday In September, albeit just an experimental duo, but all the same, with the core of the band, namely bassist and vocalist Kevin Feazey plus guitarist Matt Stevens. Originating in London fifteen years ago, but now based in Northamptonshire, again it was very difficult to pin a genre on this band, although MC Chris did his best again, suggesting a blend across Psych, Surf, Stoner, Vintage Metal and 80s Pop, but one thing was for certain that the Prog community had indeed taken them to their hearts, hence them headlining tonight.

"We don't know what we are" added Feazey amusingly, before spilling the musical beans to the small minority of TF&TD virgins in the audience, such as myself, kicking off with the very apt and delightfully constructed 'The Start', that built nicely to a vocal crescendo, before the unusual time signature of 'Shake The Jar' as well as the juxtaposition of its neat vocal harmonies . As promised by Feazey, it was time now for something completely different. Cue 'Golden Thread' and a loud heavy riff reminiscent of Danish Progressive Metal oufit Vola, complemented by the subtlety of Porcupine Tree. With no mosh pit or head banging in plain sight, Feazey joked that it was freaking him out how well behaved everyone was, as he reminisced about their debut upstairs at this very same venue ten years ago.

The melodic 'Photogenic Love', taken from their latest album, 'News From The Invisible', once again demonstrated the eclectic nature of the band, also comprising Stuart Marshall (drums), Tom Hunt (keys) and Steve Cleaton (guitar), with its groovy foot-tapping jam of an outro. "Let's play some Heavy Metal" shouted Feazey, of which this short but fiery instrumental saw Stevens, who we saw recently playing with Tim Bowness, lifting his guitar over his head, before an oldie but a goodie, and another instrumental, 'Magnet In Your Face', again with a Porcupine Tree vibe.

A former WRC Track Of The Day, the punchy vocals and driving Rock of 'Wonderful', more than lived up to its name, before another instrumental, '1991'. In fact until their latest album, all their work had been instrumental, although the band still mixed it up on the new album, as demonstrated by Feazey's vocal on 'Non-Player, as well as more welcome riffage on 'What A Time To Be Alive'. The very impressive Rushden juggernaut finished with a penultimate powerful vocal on the explosive 'Nostalgia Now', and once Stevens had finally returned to the stage, this was followed by another oldie, the very popular '666...6'.

There's no doubt that the addition of Feazey as lead vocalist in recent years has brought a fresh dimension to their original instrumental sound. Although it's only fair to point out that for mine the pre-Kev stuff is very much on a par, detecting further influences such as Psychedelic Rock, Post-Rock, Progressive Rock, broken analogue synths and Shoegaze, thus crafting their own unique sonic identity.

Indeed, what a way to end a glorious day of live music. Well done to all at London Prog Gigs for the excellent organisation and The Balham for the superb sound and lighting on a splendid Sunday In September. Already looking forward to next year but don't forget that a very similar Prog The Forest festival takes place on Sunday 1st December at Camden's The Fiddler's Elbow. See you there.

AJ