A couple of months later than normal, due to the opening of the Unity Works venue and it being a sensible idea to make use of the place's great facilities as the showpiece venue of the event, Wakefield once more played host to Long Division over the weekend of September 12 - 14.  Our reporting here is limited to the performances on Saturday the 13th as we were unable to get a writer in to see The Cribs play on the previous day - a welcome sign of the festival's growing popularity (as was the fact of there being a fringe event on the same day at The Hop. Fawn Spots put in a good show at that).

Graziers (one of the event's other new venues this time around) was our first point of call for some good loud, local indie rock delivered al fresco by Alpha Shallows. Later in the evening Knuckles were on in the same marquee, managing to keep the guitar & drums duo thing interesting with some ribald banter along with their full-on sound characterised by the likes of 'Ejector Seat' and 'Dirty Pearls'. 

Warehouse 23, scene of last June's Fall performance in temperatures of sauna proportions, didn't get a lot of attention from us this time around but we caught the opening couple of numbers by local rockers Gunnarson, who have an element of the Hellacopters about them, albeit with less convincing vocals.

Gruff Rhys was the first act we took in at the Unity Works, midway through the afternoon. Concentrating solely on his current American Interior work his set was unfortunately affected by early technical issues and despite some funny banter the audience were clearly less than fully engaged with the overall performance or the core idea behind the journeys that inspired it. Patterns, ILikeTrains, TOY, headliners The Wedding Present and then Islet made up the other acts that we took in either in the venue's excellent main hall or in it's smaller performance space on the top floor.

Of those we were probably too tired to properly enjoy Islet in their post-23:00 slot but they did enough to make it clear that seeing them again in the future is a good idea. Patterns were enjoyably melodic and clean-cut whilst ILikeTrains didn't come over as I'd expected from their records but were a good watch with probably the best light show of the day. TOY also pulled off a good, in your face, performance for which the bulk of the audience were unjustifiably static. As headliners The Wedding Present didn't fail to pepper their set with the requisite number of old favourites ('My Favourite Dress' etc.) as well as brand new song 'Secretary' which got its first live outing.

Act of the day for me though were Theo Verney, playing in the odd location of 'posh' nightclub Panama and separated from the audience by a distance of at least 8 feet before a line of crash barriers provided something to lean on. Witnessed by a tiny crowd that can be happy they made the decision to wander along the trio belted out their set as if their lives depended on it. Personable lads they were clearly amused at the levels of security in place to protect them from the baying horde and also the Death Star-like mirror ball that was (uselessly) suspended above them. Both Theo Verney & Islet will be on at the Liverpool Psych Fest this coming weekend so a re-visit with both is definitely on my to do list.

It has to be said Gateshead Old Town Hall, is a truly special venue, seldom few bands seem to play here which always leaves us slightly bemused. However, this evening the venue is awash with anticipation as we hurry in, given that its been a particularly difficult trek to the venue this evening with the impending Great North Run.

We take our seats just in time for the lights to go down as Gruff Rhys makes his way to the stage, introducing the prelude to his set, a short film setting the scene with an introduction to John Evans. Gruff follows this by plotting John Evans journey, first to London and beyond.

Every track features a particularly interesting story to accompany it, this evening goes to prove that Gruff Rhys is a multi-talented man. Not only is he a lyrical genius he’s a comedian, storyteller and all round nice guy. Tracks like ‘Lolo’ and ‘Welcome to the Wilderness’ stand out from his newest long player American Interior.

They’re amply supported by a variety of tracks including ‘Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru,’ ‘Shark Ridden Waters’ and a personal favourite of ours ‘Sensations in the Dark.’ This evening is perfectly crafted, it flows brilliantly, accompanied by impressive visuals and some of the best stage banter around. This is so much more than your average set, this is so much more of an experience. To top the evening off Gruff plays another favourite of ours in the form of ‘Candylion’ from the album of the same name.

This evening is made that little bit more enchanting by the appearance of the original John Evans character used in a variety of the images displayed this evening. The Felt Lady who created him currently has an exhibition at the Old Town Hall's sister venue The Sage, so we were allowed to see the particularly special creation up close and personal.

We leave the hall spellbound and delighted to have witnessed such a genius in the flesh. A sold out crowd held in the palm of his hand for a little under two hours. A majestic performance from one of the great of UK music so few artists have this power and brilliance.