 | | Mr Large the compere |
‘Summer Solace’, Saturday 12th August 2006 saw the first efforts of Nick Jackson (of The Southern Cradle) and Carl Watchorn (of The Arcane Parade) at putting together a collection of local bands which they really feel deserve attention, and who would give all in attendance a great night out, and they most certainly achieved their goal. From the moment smooth and sharply dressed compere Steve Large took to the stage you knew that there was something a bit special about the evening. The Fatigue | | Hanya |
Kicking off proceedings were The Fatigue, whose mellow mix of reggae, pop and rock got the evening off to a great start with singer Steve Roberts seeming like a ball of energy ready to explode out of the tight confines of the Mitre stage. Hanya LatifNext up was Hanya Latif, ordinarily pinballing herself around the room as the frontwoman for metal-core mob Aorta Break, today it was just her and an acoustic guitar. Any concern that the songs wouldn’t translate into this setting were blown away as the music came across as powerful as ever but with an added subtlety which made it easy to understand why she herself drew a fair few people to the night. Brilliant. Horse Called Chariot | | The Fatigue |
Horse Called Chariot took to the stage next with a slowly building instrumental number which erupted into a wall of sound which seemed capable of blowing the windows out of the venue. They continued their aural assault for most of the set playing raucous riffs offset against sweet melodies, most notably in the superb ‘Tongue Tied Tiger’ with the duel vocals of The Dave Halama and Russell Barstow, and ‘To The Sea’ which ended the set on a real high note. The Southern CradlePenultimate act of the evening was The Southern Cradle who, from the moment they took to the stage, played an energetic and passionate set. Comprised of songs from their first two EP’s as well as newer material TSC entertained older fans and made a few new ones as they ripped through ‘Wilmington’ and ‘My Petty Arson’ and turned up the emotion with slower more introspective numbers ‘Chymes’ and ‘Russian Dolls’.  | | Horse Called Chariot |
The impromptu inclusion of older track ‘Scrapbook’ played in return for Nick sharing the vocal duties with the aforementioned Miss Latif turned up the energy even more and left both the crowd and the band wreathed in smiles. The Arcane ParadeThe final band of the evening was The Arcane Parade, and there is a real feeling of excitement as the band tear into opening track Enemy Within. It doesn’t take a minute for the crowd to start moving and as the songs keep coming the crowd doesn’t let up.  | | The Southern Cradle |
Newer songs such as ‘(Memories) For The Sake of Memories’ sit perfectly next to older more familiar favourites ‘Killing Moths’ and ‘Self Contained Prison’ and as members of the previous bands join the dancing the warmth of the day really comes through. Anyone unfamiliar with TAP may have been shocked that the sound was coming from a three piece but it was, and it does, and the skill behind the kit and powerful vocals of Carl live on long after the surprise that he is doing both at the same time. A great success | | The Arcane Parade at The Mitre |
Overall the evening was a great success. The bands and audience were great and the guys from Monochromemuseum.co.uk who provided the between band music, and Mr Large who introduced the bands with style and finesse really were the icing on the cake. I look forward to the next installment. Review by a 'Recluse's Mom’. | 
