The Man Who Stole The Sun

David McPhie

'Red Sky Dawn' at High Peak Bookstore & Cafe, Wednesday evening 12th July. Red Sky Dawn in concert... I arrived at our cafe venue not knowing what to expect. I had been told that I would be seeing a very recently formed group from Macclesfield, so consequently, my expectations weren’t particularly high! However, I was wrong. Formed recently they may well have been, but they played with the confidence and freedom of a well-established outfit.

Sam Timson, main vocalist and rhythm guitar, has a powerful voice and fronts the group with confidence.
Charlie Candlish, lead guitar, excels with his tastefully inventive interjections, and economic but timely solos.
Georgie Bloomfield on violin has fire in her soul and adds a vibrant and essential ingredient to the 'mix' and individuality of the group. I love to see a violin in a group; it gives it that 'folk rock flavour' that sets it aside from more conventional line-ups.
Ian Dovaston on rhythm guitar fills in the 'middle ground' with his unobtrusive rhythmic support.
Josie Candlish, bass guitar, provides a solid foundation in perfect sync with...
Alex Walton, on what appears to be an unconventional drum kit, but provides inventive percussive support.

Aside from Ian, the senior citizen of the group, they are all in the vicinity of 19-23 years of age but belie their youth with a mature performance, full of enthusiasm, promise, and joyous abandon. Their current occupations are interesting, including an engineer (Sam), two mathematics specialists (one a graduate, the other still at Uni; Charlie and Josie respectively), one at the Royal Northern College of Music (Georgie), and one at Birmingham Royal Conservatoire (Alex). They cite as influences: Police, Big Country, Joy Division, Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Waterboys, and Gerry Rafferty. To my ears, they date back considerably earlier than that, to San Francisco and the generation of groups like Jefferson Airplane, and in this country, they bear some similarities to the (self-titled first album era) Fairport Convention, before they embarked upon their revival of British folk music. They exhibit a 'loose, but fluid, flexibility' that is much more difficult to achieve than 'tight,' but soul-less arrangements, and I hope that as they progress, they can retain this element in their armoury.

And I love Josie’s hat; it’s almost as good as mine! We've booked them for our April/May 'Bookstock Spring Festival' next year.

David McPhie (The Man in the Hat)...