CovTember 2025
Review
It's difficult to write succinctly about CovTember given its scope & the high levels both of quality & quantity of great local original music: as a three day showcase of what talent is around it's a highlight of the musical calendar & totally validates much of what we at ‘Hot Music Live' stand for and promote. It's a privilege to work with the inspirational Paul Quinn whose baby this is, his close collaborator Joe Colombi and the rest of their considerable team of colleagues. No wonder they receive community award recognition. Huge kudos too to for the technical & sound team (it was Ian Whitehead when I attended) for slick, swift changeovers & impeccable sound despite the variety of musical styles.
I'll do my best to reflect my thoughts & experiences of this year, but I'd like to start by saying that on reflection it wasn't all about respect & enjoyment: I feel I learned a lot for which I'm grateful.
It's not about me though: it's about Paul, Joe & company and the artists. With funds this year going to Myton Hospice, a cause so many of those living in our area support & who know those who have benefitted from their work, I had better address the elephant in the room first.
Most of you will know that very sadly, the door takings from the first day were stolen. You will have had similar feelings to me & used similar words so I'll not repeat them here. What impressed me though & constitutes my Lesson #1 was Paul's utterly dignified response which boiled down to a determination to enjoy the following two days of great music without bitterness ruining that aspect.
I was inspired. There is so much to experience over three days that given other personal commitments, I could never have seen all the artists & that normally results in a sense of guilt and stress over what I missed (which included this year such ‘Hot Music Live Presents' featured artists as River of the Dog, Otto and the Dark, DANE-O, The Loaded and Pandora). This time, following Paul's fine example, I decided to let that go & enjoy the ones I could see. Which I did: possibly more so than ever before as a result.
The second lesson was really a series of equivalent if completely unique ones drawn from the artists I saw (Loophole, What About Eric? The Caroline Bomb, Gutter Puppy, The Session & Yes Princess) which boiled down to the commonality that even bands you think are really great can surprise you with new facets: in fact that's probably an important aspect of the greatness.
I am sure plenty of groups do present as rusty when appearing on stage after a long hiatus: who can blame them? Yet conversely others rise to the challenge and excel and it's a privilege to see ones like Yes Princess so openly enjoy the chance to play after too long & while I saw Loophole play in February (at our HMLP gig), they'd only performed once since. You couldn't tell. They've never sounded better (I'd never heard George's guitar work nor Nancy's singing so clearly) and what a set they have! It even included as closer one their families were unaware of it was so new. Within moments of them coming off stage I was pestering them to get recording but even so their producer got in before me….
What About Eric? are names on so many lips these days (I'd even published my review of their new single "wisteria" the same morning) and they are hardly short of current stage time. I would however raise my hat to Libbi who rose from her sickbed to play, was clearly far from well and yet their performance was immaculate as always. I wish her well in time for Friday's gig with HomeBread etc at the Priory Visitor Centre.
I'm pretty sure this is the last review mentioning Gutter Puppy that I'll be publishing before Connie & Adam get married so please join me in wishing them all the best. Whether it was contemplating the happy day or the sheer joy of playing their exuberant songs (they actually kindly stepped in to cover for Soop so their presence was an unexpected bonus). I saw many people really enjoy what they were doing but I am not sure any could quite pip Connie for the most gleeful musician on the day.
The Caroline Bomb were an ideal pick for the lineup: it's hard to think of a better catalyst for an event if you want your audience fired up: almost as hard as trying to describe what they do & how they do it. Maybe one day I'll find adequate words but in the meantime the challenge is something I'm relishing. If you're putting an event together & want to spark that special something (again it worked its trick at our HMLP gig in April): I recommend this unique and passionate quartet.
The Session's set taught me that however great a performance might be (and they are renowned for their utter commitment to what they do so that their standards are magnificently consistent), the best groups somehow find that extra turbocharge to edge that bit higher. As The Session did on Saturday. All sorts of factors might be part of an explanation: the event & environment not least, but ultimately dissecting their barnstorming set is pointless: you simply had to relish it. This sounds a bit subjective but given that others expressed the same sentiments and so did band members, I feel I'm on firm ground about how much they were on fire.
So there you are: big hearted people playing their hearts out for a noble cause, regardless of previous benchmarks, their health, outside distractions or time since last playing. I'd seen most of them play this year already but I was still surprised & delighted & thanks to my lesson from Paul, was able to fully appreciate it all. And I'm sure plenty I missed was cut from similar cloth.
