GRYPHON: "None The Wiser" tour 2015

[Progatron]

From their official Facebook page.... unfortunately I doubt there will be any North American dates, but we can hope!






It has been a long time coming and so it is with enormous pleasure that we announce the Gryphon “None the Wiser” tour. Thank you all for your support and encouragement over the years. Please share and spread the word and if you want tickets – don’t hang around – we think they might disappear quite quickly.

May 2015

12th Wolverhampton Robin 2
Tickets:
http://www.therobin.co.uk/whats_on/?m=201505
Tel: 01902 401211

13th Milton Keynes Stables
On sale Wednesday 21st Jan – ticket details to follow.

17th Hertford Corn Exchange
Rhythm Reunion @ Hertford Corn Exchange,
Gryphon special guests to Fairport Convention
Tickets:
http://www.reallylivemusic.com/rhythm-reunion-2015
Enquiries (10am-6pm, Mon-Sat) Tel: 07904 333923

20th Southampton Talking Heads
Tickets: www.thetalkingheads.co.uk
Tel: 02380 678 446

29th London Union Chapel
Tickets available from Monday 19th January
http://store.unionchapel.org.uk/…/29...yphon-union-…/

More dates/details to follow.......

Gryphon is the oldest and the newest thing – a legendary British band that’s as exhilarating, energetic, unpredictable and addictive now as it was when the boys last toured, in the 1970s.

At that time, no-one could pigeonhole Gryphon. When the first album came out, the band appeared on BBC Radios 1, 2, 3 and 4, all in the same week. They appeared with Yes at Madison Square Garden and Houston Astrodome, played festivals, folk clubs and cathedrals. They wrote the music for Sir Peter Hall’s National Theatre production of The Tempest at the Old Vic and subsequently became the first Band to ever play in this prestigious venue and found a unique place in the hearts of folkies and prog rock fans, Early Music aficionados and others with an ear for something fresh and different.

Now Gryphon is back, reinvented and mixing old and new material. The virtuoso musicianship and composing flair that marked the band out in the ‘70s has been pushed even further, as the band members have gone their separate ways for the last three decades.

Over the years, members of Gryphon have worked with Musica Reservata and The Bootleg Beatles, Paul McCartney and Alan Bleasdale, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Kate Bush, John Williams and the other John Williams, Elvis Costello and Home Service, Hans Zimmer, Max Boyce and Desmond Dekker, David Byrne, the Albion Band, the Royal Choral Society, Long John Baldry and the New Scorpion Band. New recruit and old friend Graham Preskett has played with everyone from Van Morrison to Cher, arranged the strings for Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street, and contributed mandolin to Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, tango violin to Moulin Rouge and harmonica to Thelma and Louise.

Individually or in combination, the members of Gryphon have been involved in mediaeval mummers plays and the Cambridge Footlights, led the pit orchestra for West End theatre hits like Anything Goes and performed at events ranging from Glastonbury, Cambridge and Cropredy to major cultural festivals in Europe. They have written concertos for guitar, viola and recorder and scored countless films and television series. Guitarist Graeme Taylor is currently Music Director for the smash-hit West End production of War Horse, and was also MD for The National Theatre’s revival of The Mysteries. The songwriter for both those shows was John Tams, with whom Jon Davie and Graeme work with in Home Service, BBC 2‘s Best Live Act 2012. Brian Gulland – the wild-eyed, wild-haired, crumhorn-wielding warrior-wizard whose iconic presence seemed to define the band – moved to France for a stint with Malicorne before returning to his UK roots as a member of the much-loved New Scorpion Band.

Gryphon’s music? It’s just as it always was – odd, different, good-humouredly dazzling and acoustic, with crumhorns and bassoons alongside guitars, keyboards and imaginative percussion, played by singer Dave Oberle. Every gig involves roughly 40 instruments, so the textures can be pretty varied and unfamiliar.

Gryphon, as ever, is the antidote to genres. Whatever you expect, you’ll get something different, surprising, and exciting. Whatever you get, it’ll make you wonder why these guys have left it so late to crank up the engines and get out on the road again. But, believe me, it’ll always be worth the wait.

[chalkpie]

Wow. Lucky Brits.

[Rand Kelly]

DVD/Blu-Ray?

[jkelman]

DVD/Blu-Ray?

we can only hope. otherwise:

JEALOUS!!!!!!

[lovecraft]

Oh well, don't really expect I will travel to see them this time. Someone ought to mention there are parts of the UK beyond the black country.....

[Trane]

More dates/details to follow.......

hopefully outside the UK

[Supersonic Scientist]

we can only hope. otherwise:

JEALOUS!!!!!!

+1.....These guys have been on my bucket-list for....well, decades now.

[lovecraft]

I found seeing them whenever it was a few years ago a bit of a mixed experience. I tend to favour the Red Queen and beyond material and I am ambivalent about what preceded it.......the latter is what the vast majority of the setlist onsisted of so.....ho-hum. They were spectacularly good musicians though (of course) so that was a great pleasure.

Now if they were to just perform the Raindance and Treason (yes, Treason, I love it!!) in full then I'm all over this. Obviously thats not going to happen. Sad face.

[arise_shine]

I heard a couple tracks from these guys and liked it. Don't remember any titles though. The sound was folky and symphy I guess? Where should I start with exploring this band's back-catalog?

[bobg56]

World tour?? No??? US tour?

[chalkpie]

I heard a couple tracks from these guys and liked it. Don't remember any titles though. The sound was folky and symphy I guess? Where should I start with exploring this band's back-catalog?

First 4 albums.

[bRETT]

First 4 albums.

Though it looks like they're bringing back the drummer who only played on Treason...

[progman1975]

What do u guys consider to be their **masterpiece**

[chalkpie]

What do u guys consider to be their **masterpiece**

Toss up between Mushrumps and Red Queen....depending on my mood. I dig the first album a bunch too.

[Mister Triscuits]

Though it looks like they're bringing back the drummer who only played on Treason...

Alex Baird was the drummer on Treason. Are you confusing him with the bass player, Jon Davie?

[Scrotum Scissor]

I tend to favour the Red Queen and beyond material and I am ambivalent about what preceded it.......the latter is what the vast majority of the setlist onsisted of so.....ho-hum. They were spectacularly good musicians though (of course) so that was a great pleasure.

Now if they were to just perform the Raindance and Treason (yes, Treason, I love it!!) in full then I'm all over this. Obviously thats not going to happen. Sad face.

I have heard both Harvey and Taylor express less than joy about the more overtly "prog" side of the band's output, so my guess is that they probably see more potential in Gryphon as a kinda mock-early music ensemble with laughs and cheers and song.

I like all of their material myself, including the "folky symph" stuff.

[GuitarGeek]

Now if they were to just perform the Raindance and Treason (yes, Treason, I love it!!) in full then I'm all over this. Obviously thats not going to happen. Sad face.

I would settle for Spring Song (the album version, apparently there was also a single which used a completely different recording, much shorter and not as interesting as the version on Treason).

[bRETT]

Alex Baird was the drummer on Treason. Are you confusing him with the bass player, Jon Davie?

Indeed I was.

[Progatron]

What do u guys consider to be their **masterpiece**

Red Queen To Gryphon Three is my answer, and likely a lot of other people's answer as well. But most of their catalogue is great IMO. Midnight Mushrumps is a close second, and the debut album has the best version of "The Unquiet Grave" I've ever heard.

[Scrotum Scissor]

the debut album has the best version of "The Unquiet Grave" I've ever heard.

The single best track they ever did, IMHO. Absolutely gorgeous from start to finish, but the middle part (desolate sadness) and the returning last verse especially are some of the most stunning moments I heard from a 70s British band.

I personally think their first two albums are the most stylistically coherent and integral, although I really dig them all. But in perspective I can see how there'd assumingly be an audience for the early period of the band who wouldn't enjoy the "rock" side of them.

[progman1975]

I just listened to The Unquiet Grave...WOW..Is that David Oberle on vocals??? For some reason, Red Queen always left me cold..I wanted to like it but it just was OK...It seems like the first 2 albums are more
for me..

[Scrotum Scissor]

I just listened to The Unquiet Grave...WOW..Is that David Oberle on vocals??? For some reason, Red Queen always left me cold..I wanted to like it but it just was OK...It seems like the first 2 albums are more
for me..

If you like stuff such as Ougenweide and Bröselmaschine, or the incredible Ripaille album (from France), then you'll love the first two Gryphons.

And yes, that's Oberle - who wasn't a very technically adept vocalist but DID possess a most charming timbre to his voice. "The Unquiet Grave" and "Fontinental Version" (from Raindance) are the finest examples of this.

[lovecraft]

I have heard both Harvey and Taylor express less than joy about the more overtly "prog" side of the band's output, so my guess is that they probably see more potential in Gryphon as a kinda mock-early music ensemble with laughs and cheers and song.

I like all of their material myself, including the "folky symph" stuff.

Harvey made disparaging remarks about it before rather reluctantly doing the medley from Red Queen. If I'd have been nearer I might have thrown something at him.....he really ground my gears!

[Kcrimso]

I know that this is sacrilegious opinion but I happen to think that Treason is the best Gryphon album. Earlier ones are more original (at least from rock audience perspective) but I don't know... those just don't seem to fully work.

[lovecraft]

You and I need to form our own weird sect. I probably rate Raindance slightly higher but there ain't much in it. Treason strikes me as such a wistful record and I am always a sucker for that. Maybe because a record like this had no business been released in 1977. It's a swansong for a dying genre, further reinforced by their unexpected medieval freakout in the closing track.