Skeletal Family - Leeds Cockpit Sixteen years since they split up, Skeletal Family returned in triumph to play to an almost full house at Leeds Cockpit.

Founder members Trotwood and Stan are joined by fellow founder Spud on keyboard and sax, longest serving Skeletal drummer Martin, vocalist Katrina, who was with the band during their days signed to major label Chrysalis, and New York guitarist Dante.

A small section of the audience, it's fair to say, where disappointed that original vocalist Anne Marie was absent from the reformed line-up .

But Katrina is an outstanding vocalist and given the fact that she, and Dante, flew in from America 24 hours before the gig, she deserves recognition for her undoubted commitment. The set opened with Hands of the Clock and continued a pace -- She Cries Alone, Don't Be Denied, So Sure.

By this time the audience were in full mosh-mode with the dance floor "chicken dancers" evoking memories of gigs in the early Eighties.

Burning Oil, Near and Far, Restless, Just a Minute and Promised Land all followed, with Katrina winning over the majority of the audience who had pined for Anne Marie.

The encore of The Wind Blows was delayed slightly with Trotwood's bass amp experiencing technical problems. With Big Bang bassist and roadie for the night Steve Wilson battling to sort out the problem, the rest of the band improvised with a jam session.

After 16 years away, and when you bear in mind the amount of time for rehearsal, this gig was nothing short of brilliant and I, for one, hope that we don't have to wait another 16 years for the next Skeletal Family show.

Graham Scaife