GALAHAD
VENUE THE 1865, SOUTHAMPTON
DATE 21/06/2025
SUPPORT LEAGUE OF LIGHTS, TIGER MOTH TALES, PETERS AND LEE
Forty years ago, a group of Dorset lads named their new band after a local fruit and veg delivery business, not an Arthurian knight as was widely perceived. They’ve since battled through numerous line-up changes and personal challenges, but Galahad never gave up on their musical quest.
The centrepiece of their 40thanniversary celebrations is the Midsummer Festival in adjacent Hampshire; Southampton, in fact, being the home city of guitarist Lee Abraham.
On this sweltering midsummer’s day, openers League Of Lights instantly generate positive charges of elegant electro-pop. Ballgowned and befeathered Farrah West admits she’s slightly overdressed for the prevailing conditions, but her clear, ringing voice and husband Richard’s keyboard wizardry beguile, especially on the catchy On A Night Like This. Acknowledging Richard’s day job as keyboardist/composer with Threshold, for whom Farrah provides demo vocals, they unleash a luscious, showstopping rendition of Avalon from the band’s 2002 album, Critical Mass.