Elliot Minor: Once In A Decade | An Unforgettable Tour Review

I recently attended 3 out of 5 dates of Elliot Minor’s ‘Once in a Decade’ tour; the first one in almost 11 years. Join me as I uncover how I found the band, how they influenced me, and a review of the tour dates I attended.

I first found this band back in September of 2008. I recall being sat in my new bedroom (we’d only moved in 2 months earlier – my parents still own that house) listening to Scuzz TV, when ‘Jessica’ came on. I was in awe. I’d been studying Kerrang! and Scuzz TV for weeks. My friends were all into that kind of music, and it honestly terrified me – so finding Elliot Minor was kind of my gateway to feeling accepted!

Who are Elliot Minor?
School Invasions Tour
How did Elliot Minor influence me?
My Switch to Blogging
Discovering My Own Music Through Elliot Minor
What is the future of Elliot Minor?
Once in a Decade: Tour Review

Who are Elliot Minor?

Before I delve into the depths of my fascination with the band, let me tell you a bit about them.

Elliot Minor originated in Pocklington, York back in 2007. They were originally called The Academy, although that name didn’t stick for long, I believe due to copyright restrictions. The band consists of Alex Davies (Singer and Lead Guitar), Ed Minton (Vocals & Guitar), Ed Hetherton (Bass), his brother Dan Hetherton (Drums), and Ali Paul (Keyboard).

Their sound takes influence from bands like The Ataris and The Used, with a sprinkle of classical added on top. This is thanks to the members being classically trained from a young age. The band were most active back in 2008 when sources tell me that they played 123 shows – I didn’t go to all of them, of course.

School Invasions Tour

Back in 2009 the band announced a competition where they would play at a school who had the most votes in collaboration with MySpace’s School Invasions. I made sure to get involved, and I requested the marketing supplies to get going in promoting the band across the whole school.

Conveniently, I had the posters sent, not to the form room, but to the music department. I received posters, flyers, and tote bags. I still have them today. One evening I got the bus after school to our town’s bus station and I handed flyers out to everyone I saw in our uniform. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried – we didn’t win. It was a lucky school in Wales who were the winners.

How did Elliot Minor influence me?

It wasn’t long after finding the band that I discovered they had a YouTube Channel where they would regularly upload ‘webisodes’. Each video would follow the band around as they went on with either recording music (mainly in LA), or touring. Later episodes showcased FAQ’s, and I recall one of my questions ‘Why did you change the title of Wait Another Week to Tethered?’.

Today, we would refer to these videos as ‘vlogs’. Later down the line, as I watched more and more videos, I discovered more bands link Anavae and Wayward Daughter. In 2011 I decided to upload my own videos, but to another channel, making singing videos. It didn’t go down well – as I hadn’t had any training at the time (I did later, though).

In 2013 I decided to open my current channel and dedicate the content to the travel niche. Over the years I gravitated towards lifestyle and beauty.

My Switch to Blogging

From the years 2011 to 2013 I started studying media, through my love and inspiration for film making and originally my interest in website development. One of the major projects for this course was to produce a HTML website. Who was my topic for this course? …do I have to answer that one?!

I would spend my time basically rebuilding the old Elliot Minor website through HTML and to my own design. It was through Google’s Blogger platform, which I don’t like but it’s free and it is how I started this website!

Discovering My Own Music Through Elliot Minor

On completion of my media course, I decided to switch to music. During the first year of my music course, I learnt how to play guitar, with Oasis’ Wonderwall being my tutor’s first choice, much to my disapproval.

Before long, I found solace in writing my own music. It still blows my mind that I could once read music, and that hopefully one day I might be able to pick it up again (I’m currently relearning it through Duolingo).

I wrote quite a lot of songs back in the day, probably around 30 to be honest! Although, I was always quite shy when it came to sharing my songs (I even wrote some dance music!), so they’re all archived now. But I’ll always look back on making music with some of my closest friends back then to being some of my fondest memories. (my only existing music linked for a limited time only)

*Side note – during this course, we were commissioned to create a blog focusing on the development of a music festival – I chose Woodstock because it had such an interesting history – and that’s how I discovered WordPress!

What is the future of Elliot Minor?

Who knows! The boys have all gone on to do different things in their time away, but I can assure you now that from the looks on their faces when they were playing – they missed being on that stage, and they missed creating. I did overhear Ed M state that they are continually making music, so here’s to hoping that this isn’t the end, its just the re-birth.

Once in a Decade: Tour Review

As mentioned earlier, I was lucky enough to pay a visit to York, Manchester, and London. Keep reading to hear my stories of each one.

York

Ready for my first Elliot Minor tour date in over 10 years! I made sure to wear my first Elliot Minor t-shirt, and my beloved hoodie.

This wasn’t just my first solo gig, but it was the first Elliot Minor gig where I was able to buy my first legal alcoholic drink (at the age of 32). The first leg of the tour was hosted at The Crescent in York – I believe this was a working men’s club. It was quite a small venue but it was a lovely place to have the first one, as you really felt at one with the band.

The first band on were called Heartsink, they are an up-and-coming pop-punk/emo band from York who are currently active in their touring career and have done other dates since their gig with Elliot Minor. They are an energetic & passionate group of 4 and I very much enjoyed their set.

My partner and I had been to Whitby all weekend and we had got wet through with the rain prior to the gig. The plan was to stay for as long as possible – so I made sure I was there to welcome them on stage – had a little emotional moment, then said my farewells as they played ‘running away’. I was literally running out of the room as they were singing ‘stop running away’ – but I made sure to get a t-shirt on my way out.

Manchester

The first support band for the Manchester gig was Stay Safe. Unfortunately, as Monday was a bank holiday, I was completely thrown off by the days. The original plan was to bring a change of outfit to work and head straight to Manchester so that me and my friend Beth could have food before the gig. I thought it was the day after, so I had to travel 35 minutes home after work, get changed, then travel 15 minutes to the train station. This meant we missed most of the first band, Stay Safe’s set. I was quite disappointed as I’d got to know some of their songs!

Whilst we were waiting for the second band to set up, 2 ladies stepped in front of us with children on their shoulders. I later turned round to see one of the children on Ed H’s shoulders – the 2 little girls were his!

Back in the day, 14-year-old Emma would’ve freaked out, but I thought ‘no, he’s having family time, I won’t ask for a picture’. Luckily I was fortunate enough to stay for the majority of the set this time. Being able to watch it with Beth was even more special, as she was the one who went to see them with me back in the day.

London

My friend Lee, my mum, and myself decided to spend the full weekend in London, so we were there for the whole thing. I’m just going to start off by saying, what an incredible venue! The name ‘Koko’, I was thinking it was going to be like a nightclub – which it was, after – but I was thinking more ‘rundown nightclub. To my surprise, the building could’ve been in the west end! It had a very theatrical attire with red velvet decor, and sculptured walls.

On this, final occasion the support band were The Palmist. This band, in my opinion, had a strong resemblance to the late Viola Beach, who sadly lost their lives in a tragic accident. The Palmist are a high-energy tropical rock band, I believe they are from London, but they have a trumpet – one thing about me is I love a trumpet in a band, it brings a whole new energy and you don’t see it very often! You can check them out here.

Elliot Minor came on stage an hour earlier than they had the nights prior. This made me very happy as we were scheduled to see Yungblud at The Hawley Arms after! I’m also knocking on a bit now so it’s nice to know when I’ll be in bed a bit earlier than expected.

They hit the stage following their theatrically cinematic intro, which I can only guess had been orchestrated by Alex, who is also a known composer for the TV Show, Silent Witness. Their first song, like clockwork was Jessica – it seemed so fitting, and fortunately we were close to the stage, so we were able to see just how taken back the band was by the audience reception. Once again, I found myself emotional.

“We get a lot of comments saying, ‘don’t leave it another 10 years'”, said Alex. “We’ll leave it 15”, joked Dan. Alex then commented that the band had been making music, and that they had all felt so moved by this whole tour, that they assured us it wasn’t the end. That bit got me. Later, Alex revealed that Ali had been sat in the corner with his wine and cheese – oh how they’ve changed!

They went on to complete their set on what was not only an incredibly unforgettable night, but an unbelievable tour as well.

Callmeamour

Those who went to the dates probably noticed that I haven’t mentioned these lads yet. I felt they deserved their own title.

Of course, I first discovered these lads in York. I’d forgot to listen, so I was going in blind. Call Me Amour (or Callmeamour) are a band from the Isle of Man, consisting of 4 members; Harry Radford (formerly of Yashin), Geoff Murphy, Arran Lomax, and Danny Hall (formerly of Son of Dork). From the first note I was absolutely hooked. The energy was cranked up to the max, and they all complemented each other.

My friends and I loved them so much, we bought tickets to see them in Leeds and Manchester. This is the second time I’ve followed a band to 2 tour dates (aside from bands I personally know) outside of Elliot Minor. I’ve since recommended various friends to have a listen, and I strongly urge you to do the same.