The Big Biography
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Chapter Six:
"Post Prog"?
With Pollock back in the fold, and Thapar maturing like a fine wine, the band’s sound was greatly enhanced; and after a couple of months’ practice and writing the band was finally ready to gig again. In February of 2007, 27 months since the Rampant Lion in Manchester last heard the chime of a Glow chord, UCL Union saw the five-piece’s debut. A cracking gig was followed shortly afterwards by another, equally successful, set in a chapel in South London, and the band was flying again.
However, with the band gaining momentum and time commitments increasing, Pollock found the dual pressures of band and PhD too much to bear, and bid farewell for the second time. Even as solace was found in the bottom of pint glasses, the loss was put into perspective. Much like Robbie Fowler’s Indian summer at Anfield, Pollock’s brief return had had far more effect in terms of morale and confidence than four months and two gigs would suggest: with his assured and unflashy playing in the mix, Thapar had spread her wings, and the others had their gigging legs back. Futurecore and nuclear physics has a fine ambassador, and the Glow Arms will always have a pint in for Sam Pollock.
More gigs followed as Spring became Summer, until London became the band’s most-gigged town, and Thapar the band’s most-capped guitarist. The band’s arsenal grew in more and new ways: a Fiat Stilo estate car, instantly monikered the Glowmobile, ended the long-established dependence for transport on the kindness of friends; Riddell secured a vintage Premier snare, while Wright, short on guitars as ever, dug himself ever deeper and acquired a Hofner Verythin. Shortly afterwards, to balance the books and create space in which to sleep, he bid a fond farewell to his 12-string Les Paul, a veteran of three Rampant Lion gigs but ultimately destined for a far better life in the hands of someone who knew how to play it properly.
A 25-minute, 3-song set in Hackney saw the coining of the term “Post-Prog” as punters compared the band to Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Pink Floyd; and an amazing, if slightly surreal, gig in the workshop of Ashmi’s Architecture department at their Summer Barbecue found the band at their most progressive, with a 50-minute set comprising only five songs and plenty of psychedelic interludes. But then came another bombshell as Thapar, at the end of her second year at UCL, presented a graph depicting declining marks in direct proportion to increased band activity, and chose the rigid structure of buildings over the fluid stylings of the Halcyon Glow.
Back to a three-piece for the umpteenth time, our heroes did what they had to do, and put the kettle on. They then spent the late summer recording a new demo, with Wright playing both guitar and bass in a manner sadly impossible in the doldrums of real life. The loss of yet another guitarist had sparked something of a resigned determination in the three-piece, and the songs came to life in a way that suggested both heartfelt resolve and greater knowledge of music production techniques. As the mixing stage neared its completion, a brace of gigs was proffered; and, throwing caution to the wind, a Halcyon Glow some 25% smaller than ever before took to the stage. Wright’s trusty Rickenbacker was joined by a Hofner Verythin, debuting with some class. Brawley’s left hand, Riddell’s floor tom and Wright’s amplifiers took up the slack to fill out the sound, and the result was deemed a success.
With the new demo E.P. (entitled “Electric Mountain”) in the bag and far superior to any previous recorded output, the time was right to launch a promotional campaign to broadcast the name and sound of the Halcyon Glow to the world. The line-up situation remains up in the air, the benefit of a fourth member offset by the upheaval it tends to cause; but for now the band’s focus is to gig as much as possible, gain converts to the Glow sound – and, of course, drink many, many brews.
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