The story of Wally is one of those strange, convoluted and rather heart-warming tales that surface once in a while in the rock ‘n’ roll multiverse. The band was formed in Harrogate and in the early to mid-1970s got themselves quite a reputation. Their infectious brand of proggy, country-tinged rock music, with intricate arrangements, cleverly baroque vocals and melodies that much more successful ensembles would die for, made them quite a few friends.

Amongst these friends was Bob Harris, the presenter of The Old Grey Whistle Test, and Rick Wakeman, then at the zenith of his commercial career as the multi-talented keyboard player with Yes. These two luminaries even produced early records by the band, and Wally was one of the support acts at Wakeman’s ground-breaking performance of Journey to the Centre of the Earth at Crystal Palace.

Things looked promising for this band of talented young Yorkshiremen but for some inexplicable reason, wider commercial success eluded them. Fame is a fickle mistress at the best of times and for Wally the latter part of the '70s were far from being the best of times. The band disintegrated and quickly became one of those sad ‘might have beens’ beloved of the cognoscenti, but unknown to the bloke or blokess, in the street.

Then, decades later, the band decided to get together. For reasons that probably had something to do with maturity, they sounded even better second time around, as this rare concert recording from 2009 attests. Wally are at the top of their game, and this live album perfectly complements the recent studio release Montpellier. For Wally, the circle truly is unbroken.

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