Twelfth Night play The Luminaire in Kilburn, West London on May 28th. 

Who Are They? 

     Twelfth Night, in all their forms, were one of the classic underground cult bands of the 80's. The Reading based band were a big part of that rather exciting underground 80’s British prog rock scene that was so alive for a while back there. A thriving scene that also threw such fine bands as IQ, Pallas, Tamarisk, Marillion (yes they were good once, they were real market square heroes for a while back at the start), Citizen Cain, Quasar, LaHost and such (Quasar are busy with their new album by the way, heard from them only the other day). Tweflth Night were the early leaders of the scene, and while others happened to be in the right place at the right time and establish themselves a little more, Twelfth Night for a while the flag-wavers open the doors for Marillion and company   The whole scene ran via self released cassette albums, bootleg trading, demo swapping, a get in the van DIY attitude more akin to the hardcore punk of bands of the time and all powered by a healthy dose of  vibrant fanzine power (including the early moves and first editions of Organ down the Wardour Street Marquee jousting with Urban Guerrilla, Revelatory, The Stairway and such). A prog rock scene that grew until it become so big, it could no longer be ignored by a still fighting the punk wars sneering mainstream media and eventually all those must sign the next big  things major labels. 

           Alas virtually all the big players did indeed land themselves major label deals and almost immediately compromised their sound in doing so. Pallas and IQ were particularly guilty as Twelfth Night took themselves off in a suicidal modern pop-rock Duran Duran meets Simple Minds trying to be U2 direction via Virgin Records. All of the bands one by one jumping ship and leaving their much loved prog excesses, their twenty minute concept pieces and their white face masks behind on their now disowned self-released (or small independent label) albums along with the abandoned jesters, magpies, mirrors and speaking ceilings... “Ok lads, over the top we go...”, and off they all went to almost instant slaughter at the hands of the big labels and the make-over marketing departments. 

       The legions of original fans were loyal though and although all the bands pretty much failed to make any mainstream crossover impact, the prog networks and the zines were all still there and alive as fresh bands arrived and the whole underground movement went worldwide. One by one the bands all acknowledged their folly, found their masks and returned to their roots. One by one remembering they were all really excess-loving Mellotron-humping prog-heads and that Yes and earlyGenesis were indeed cool and they should never have listened the big record labels... Thestreets were not paved with gold, and  one by one they all got dropped, one by one they all reconnected with their roots and one by one started to grow once more as their songs got longer again and word spread of fresh wonderous stories, of new tricks of the tail. New albums, bigger venues. Word of mouth spreading, the scene’s own media evolving, the tentacles of the prog networks linked up at the internet arrived, no longer needing permission, no longer needing the mainstream music industry to grow, it spread around the globe - all the while that no longer needed mainstream remained oblivious to it all. You’d occasionally come upon a confused NME journalist or a passing A&R man scratching his head outside a sold out Astoria as bands they’ve never heard of played to a packed houses of people travelling hundreds of miles... 

      And so while IQ grew and Porcupine Tree evolved, while Pallas spluttered back to life, Fish rediscovered The Script, while new ‘supergroups’ formed and Mick Pointer came out of hiding, while new bands emerged, while the Americans caught on with their own bands like Spocks Beard and Dream Theater became part of it. While people carried on trading Dagaband tapes and old Tamarisk demos, carried on writing zines, while new bands joined in and released albums, while it all quietly secretly evolved and grew (and even Pendragon got to headline big venues). While new specialist labels grew, while the zines expanded some more, while it all evolved and the bands sold more records and played bigger venues than ever, while all that was happening Twelfth Night remained quiet. The only one of the ‘big’ names of the early 80’s scene to not make a return, where were Twelfth Night? People would gather in dark corners and whisper about them, a member spotted here, a rumour there... 

       And then, twenty years on from the flop that was the self-titled major label debut and the band splitting in 1987, they reunited for a series of seemingly very well-received low-key gigs. Further one off gigs followed, their original albums were released on CD and all culminating in December 2009 with the publication of an extensive biography of the band, called 'Play On!'. 

        Reports coming back suggest the reformed Twelfth Night shows of recent years have been good. We can’t report first hand, not a fan of old bands trying to recapture former glories and tainting fond memories. Twelfth Night were a big part of early Organ history, and indeed pre-Organ history, didn’t go check them out last year (those rather high ticket prices for relatively small venues left a bit of a bad taste as well). Reports were good though, and Twelfth Night live, right through to the end, have always been good - especially on that Art And Illusion tour that ended at a packed Dominion theatre in London in '85 (and a whole load of confused Shakespeare-loving nuns, tickets in hand, standing outside).

       And so having made a bit of a return, seems Twelfth Night have a taste for a little more, and this time we might just clime the yellow and blue ladders and go see if the ceiling really does still speak.... 

       Twelfth Night play The Luminaire in Kilburn, West London on May 28th. Ticket details and more from www.theluminaire.co.uk. Explore the latest Twelfth Night moves via www.myspace.com/nighttwelfth

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