Tim Lebbon – horror and dark fantasy author

This past Sunday I was lucky enough to catch Street Dogs, Skindred, and Flogging Molly in Bristol on the last UK date of their Eastpak Antidote Tour (unfortunately we turned up too late to see Time Again).  And I have to say, this was one of the best gigs I’ve been to in many, many years.

My mate Gary Greenwood and I spent a couple of hours in a pub first (I was driving … J20 is not my friend), then we went on to the gig, just in time to see Street Dogs‘ performance.  I’m a big fan of Fading American Dream, and I was looking forward to seeing them …. but I have to admit, I wasn’t quite prepared for how professional and polished these guys are, and what a fantastic perfromance they put on.  Lead singer Mike McColgan is a superb frontman, engaging the crowd from his first moment on stage to the last.  Their songs are fast, punchy and intelligent, and the audience were obviously heavily into them.  Gary and I stood about 20 feet from the stage, and from us forward was one big mosh pit.  They made some kid’s night by inviting him up on stage (it was his 18th birthday … he won’t forget this one in a while), then after the last song McColgan threw himself on the mercy of the audience.  Last I saw of him he was being carried away towards the bar, and maybe they’re still carrying him somewere down the M5 now …

I picked up their new album State of Grace after the gig, and it’s brilliant.  Go.  Buy it.  Back already?  Then let’s move on to ..

Skindred.  Again, the frontman was a true professional, having a real rapport with the audience from the start.  Didn’t realise that they’re from Newport, very close to where I live!  Their music is a merging of reggae, rap and thrash, and they put on a stunning show.  I was again struck by their professionalism – it’s unusual to go to a gig and see three such talented bands on the same line-up.  Good stuff: fast, powerful, brutal.

Now, then.  Flogging Molly.  I’ve been a fan for years.  Always wanted to see them, and now I’m kicking myself for not doing so sooner.  This is one of those gigs I’ll remember for a long, long time … and out of the hundreds I’ve seen, this is definitely one of the best.  They all have a great time on stage.  You really get the feeling that they’re enjoying themselves, and that can’t help but transfer to the audience.  And it did, big style.  The mosh pit grew, the jumping and singing was loud and exuberant, and the mix of songs they played – at least 6 songs from the first album Swagger, and just as many from the latest, Float – shows the consistent quality of the music this band’s putting out.  Dave King is a great frontman, chatty and funny, and he took that audience and made it his own.  They did such a slew of great songs that it’s difficult to pick out favourites: Within a Mile of Home, Drunken Lullabies, Float, Swagger, Salty Dig, Whistles the Wind, Seven Deadly Sins … fantastic.

Every album this band has produced is a classic, in my mind, from their first Swagger, then Drunken Lullabies, Within a Mile of Home, and the new album Float.  Then there’s the brilliant Whiskey on A Sunday, of course, which contains some fine acoustic and live versions of some of their best songs.

First encore?  Dave King on his own, acoustic guitar, couple of great songs … True class.

What more can I say?  Best gig in years.

Robert Shearman is an award-winning playwright, both for stage and radio.  He’s been resident dramatist at the Northcott Theatre in Exeter.  He’s written for Doctor Who, both TV and audio books.  And judging by this book, he’s also a wonderful writer of short stories.  Don’t you just hate him already?

I met Rob, far too briefly, at the British Fantasy Convention in Nottingham a few weeks ago.  A few people that weekend had already recommended his collection Tiny Deaths from Comma Press, and after meeting Rob and having a nice chat, I bought it.  And folks … it is brilliant.  Surreal, beautiful, heartfelt, funny, shattering, sad, thought-provoking, every story in this book will affect you in some way.  Sometimes the stories are so subtle that it might take a minute or two for you to realise what you’ve just read … and then the chill of discovery shivers down your spine.  Sometimes the humour masks something much deeper, and much darker.

Rob obviously knows a lot about life, and he’s not afraid to explore his knowledge in his fiction.  I suspect there’s plenty of his own experiences in this book – sometimes quite overt, but more often masked behind a surreal veneer that works just perfectly in conveying certain meanings, certain themes.

Tiny Deaths is up for a World Fantasy Award this weekend, and I’ll be cheering for it.  But whether it wins or not doesn’t matter.  This is a landmark collection from a stunning writer.  The fact that it’s also his first book promises, I’m sure, even more wonderful tales to come.

With my shiny new website up and running, I’ll be introducing a couple of features over the next few weeks.  The first is an occasional (i.e. when there’s something I want to talk about) Recommendation posting.  Could be a book, movie, album, pair of shoes, or a cake.  If I read, see, hear, wear, or eat something I reckon needs sharing, share I will.

To kick us off, here’s a great book I’ve just had the pleasure of reading. THE REACH, by Nate Kenyon.  It’ll be his second novel from Leisure following his debut Bloodstone, and it’s a cracker.  It concerns a young girl called Sarah, diagnosed as schizophrenic and locked away in an institution virtually all her life.  Of course, her illness (or is it an illness?) is far more complex, and the powers she possesses are staggering.

Kenyon’s got a great knack at characterisation, and you feel for both the good guys … and the guys who maybe are up to no good.  There’s no real black and white here, though there are very deep shades of grey, and the slow-build to a startling (and I have to say, very cinematic … movie companies, take note) climax is breathtaking.

Sarah’s situation is both gripping and sad, and there are scenes that had me rooting for her to just let rip with her powers. An excellent book, which you should all buy.  It’s out this November from Leisure, here’s a link to Amazon.