Well, I can be short about the performance of the Pink Floyd songs: it sucked. The band played three tracks, among which “Wish You Were Here” and “Comfortably Numb”, it didn’t sound bad, just the performance was way below zero. An uninspired bunch of musicians with hardly any expression on their faces covering a famous band. I had the feeling I was witnessing a local band playing a pub with an indifferent crowd. The only chap enjoying himself was Bryan Josh, the guitarist and front man of Mostly Autumn. If these three songs were going to set the gig, this would be one of those horrible early train home nights.

Luckily things were about to change. After half an hour the band started off with their regular Mostly Autumn set. Heather Findlea entered the stage and everything seemed to be different from that point on. Playing their own songs obviously brought joy to the musicians, restrained during the first couple of tracks but later on the transformation of the band - from cover band to class act - was complete. This transformation had its repercussion on the crowd as well. After a static reception at first, the crowd got more and more enthusiastic with every song played. Now I still had the feeling I was in a pub, but this time it was more an Irish pub kind of feeling where people and band interacted and a certain cohesive atmosphere ruled. The Bat Cave suited this pub feeling perfectly.

The band played a two hour set which where I am concerned could have easily be described as a best off set list. I have no clue about the context of the songs, but I enjoyed all of them, Passengers and Heroes in particular. Considering the reactions of the crowd I wasn’t the only one that got totally blown away by the incredible intense Heroes, a very, very personal song written by Josh.

So, after a horrifying opening of the show, the band really recaptured themselves in a way I found impressive. If you like Mostly Autumn you should definitely check them out on stage, you’ll love them from that point on.

(Review & Pics: Geert Oldenmenger)