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Bido Lito! April 2015
Words: Laura Coppin / @laaauuuwra
Photography: John Johnson / johnjohnson-photography.com
It goes without saying that a great deal can change in 25 years,
and there are few bands that illustrate that more perfectly than
Liverpool’s very own prog rock stalwarts ANATHEMA.
Though you may not be intimately aware of the band's back
catalogue (which stretches to ten studio albums, two live albums
and four compilations), Anathema's huge worldwide popularity is
something of a force of nature. The band have already completed
a sold-out stadium tour of South America in 2015, which makes a
run of shows at York Minster, Winchester Cathedral and our own
Anglican Cathedral seem like a bit of a comedown.
When the band took its first breaths in 1990 it was to make
an ephemeral foray into the burgeoning British doom scene,
alongside groups such as Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride. It
was not just the sound but the line-up too that was a far cry from
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what we know as Anathema today, originally featuring Darren
White as the band’s vocalist. After only a year the band went
through its first of several radical transformations, with Jamie
Cavanagh leaving and being replaced by Duncan Patterson.
Five years later it experienced its second overhaul, with White’s
departure leading guitarist Vincent Cavanagh to step into the
breach. It was at this point that the band began to explore
melody in earnest, and the rest, as they say, is history.
In 2015 Anathema are celebrating their 25th anniversary
in style – playing not only a series of acoustic cathedral dates,
but also embarking on their Resonance world tour (featuring
the return of both Darren and Duncan) and releasing their Fine
Days 1999-2004 CD box set. As I wait to speak to the band hours
before the last date of their cathedral tour, standing beneath the
Anglican Cathedral’s intricate, soaring masonry, it’s impossible
not to feel awed by the band’s remarkable achievements. Despite
their puzzling lack of notoriety in their home city, the show sold
out far in advance – a nod perhaps to both the special nature of
the show and just how long it has been since they last returned
(in 2010 – a similarly sold-out, one-off charity show in aid of Alder
Hey children’s hospital).
It’s not long before Danny – the eldest Cavanagh brother and
lead songwriter – emerges, himself looking equally awed by
the sheer majesty of our surroundings. We skirt the stage, itself
dwarfed before the cathedral organ’s colossal golden pipes, as
we make our way up one of the many impressive stone staircases
to begin our interview. The intensely emotional nature of Danny’s
lyrics has always been a fascination to me, but it fe [