The Butler is one of Reading’s oldest pubs dating back to 1830 and is one of the town’s best grassroots live venues. Whilst the main bar area has long hosted open mic nights, the room behind the old wine merchant’s entrance has now been converted into a space more suited for putting on bands. The room is quickly making a name for itself with a succession of indie, punk and metal bands performing there, not to mention the excellent monthly Friday Night Blues club that has been attracting the best in British Blues to the town.

Tonight, local (well Bracknell) band Spriggan Mist bring their visually entertaining brand of pagan prog rock to The Butler. I’ve seen the band a few times before including an entertaining set at the excellent Thames Side Brewery in Staines the previous weekend, so was looking to seeing them on my home territory.

Opening the night was Dikajee, the musical project of Russian born Olga Dikajee who brings an enchanting mixture of ethereal prog rock and folk sensibilities to The Butler. A succession of haunting vocals moving into more operatic areas (especially on the glorious new single ‘Gunpowder’) are backed by some gorgeous instrumentation that really works in the live arena. It’s a beguiling performance with great promise for the future. Spriggan Mist - Mar 25 Spriggan Mist must be one of the best dressed bands currently playing on the circuit with their steampunk aesthetics topped off by singer Fay’s stunning flora adorned antler headdress. It’s always good to see a band making a memorable visual impression on stage. Spriggan Mist - Mar 25 Husband and wife, Baz and Maxine Cilia formed the band back in 2008 and have built up a loyal following over the years.  The addition of pagan folk singer Fay Brotherhood in 2019 has taken the band up a notch with her theatrical performances, prowling across the stage like a mischievous imp entrancing all that see her. The fact that Fay also has a powerful vocal range that swoops and soars, can only heighten her stage presence. Spriggan Mist - Mar 25 The wonderfully titled ‘Isambard the Mechanical Dragon’ sets the scene for tonight with its riff heavy twin guitar blitz, driving rhythm section and the enthralling tale of a fairground attraction that comes alive. There’s also an epic solo from guitarist Neil Wighton that brings the song to a close.

‘The Portal’ is a close to a pop song that you will get tonight, with a spectral guitar motif that floats across the room. ‘Brighid’ brings the pace down to a virtual crawl but is still very enjoyable as you immerse yourself in Fay’s floaty voice. The intro to ‘Resurrection’ feels as if it could fit into Jeff Wayne’s ‘War of the Worlds’ before returning to the tale of Isambard with a song full of twists and turns. Spriggan Mist - Mar 25 ‘When Stars Collide’ sees Maxine pick up that denizen of eighties excess, the keytar and makes good use of it before switching to her saxophone for the song’s crescendo. ‘Ianatores Teresteres’ starts as one of the band’s rockier numbers before changing direction multiple times and even sees Maxine introducing a recorder to the proceedings whilst Fay picks up her acoustic guitar to join in with the fun. Throughout the song, relatively new addition, drummer Ali Soueidan brings his metal influences to the fore providing a pounding beat. Spriggan Mist - Mar 25
‘Are there any witches in the house?’ to which a number of the audience scream yes. Maintaining the theatrical tone, the second half of ‘Knitbury Witch’ sees Fay dancing around the stage with a pair of animal skulls. Bassist Baz joins Fay on vocal duties for ‘Spriggan Dance’ which sees, shock horror, mass dancing at a prog gig. ‘Faery Queen’ is a massive glam rock stomp that Neil and Maxine further embellish with a fine guitar verses saxophone duel.
Spriggan Mist - Mar 25 The band close the set with the singalong ‘The Good Ship Polyphemus’ which is dominated by Maxine’s luscious saxophone and has a chorus that screams earworm.

I spend a great deal of my time watching punk, goth bands mixed in with a heavy dose of Americana, so Spriggan Mist are a very refreshing of prog fun without getting too serious about it. Definitely a band that I will see again. Spriggan Mist - Mar 25