Railway Bolton 20/10/2014 - supporting Purson:

“Last time I saw the special band known as Ulysses, they were coming close to giving Rival Sons something to think about in Preston. They did the same thing to Purson this evening. In front of a thankful, open crowd at the packed Railway pub near Bolton, they supported properly, giving the tremendous Purson, who also excelled, all the kudos they needed but warming us up brilliantly and continuing their climb to recognition.
They conformed to the Purson crowd with their hats, vaguely 70’s gear and scarves, offering up music tinged with that decade but also elements of funk, guitar blasts and iconic lyrics; Syd Barrett, Lizzy and pop champs Sailor are influences and the album ‘Kill You Again’ is worth a listen. And then another. And another.
Built around vocalist / guitarist Luke Smyth, he showed his inner fretboard freneticist tonight, the crowd staying with the burring workouts, but bassist Julyan Wells-Cathedral was high in the mix and part of an excellent sound that gave everyone a chance but didn’t pierce the eardrums.
The crowd followed the twists and turns of a singsong ‘Strays’ and exulted at the often jaw-dropping ‘Mrs Drawnel’, there was even a drum solo in ‘Eye On You’ that didn’t outstay it’s welcome.
It was an all too brief set which was precise and fuzzy round the edges; walking the tightrope between stretching out and delivering their songs, Ulysses hit the spot tonight.
Can it be long before they are headlining this place? Hope not.”
9 out of 10 - STEVE SWIFT / POWERPLAY MAGAZINE
http://powerplaymagazine.co.uk/issue-171/

Borderline London 28/10/2014 - supporting Purson:

“Arriving at The Borderline fifteen minutes before kick off, and the venue is already teeming with dreamy-eyed bearded boys and drifting long-haired gig-goers. The mood is good and when the flower-shirted, glittery-jumpered, dandily neck-tied four-piece Ulysses take to the stage and launch straight into a four-part harmony kicking, southern style feel-good tune ‘Lady’. The crowd beams and moves closer to the stage.

‘Smiling’ follows: a chugging jug-band party of a tune with a nod to Mungo Jerry and a twist of Fox-ish funk, as they mischieviously play with time changes and rock operatics. ‘Crazy Horses Ride The Snake’ takes the squalling guitars of frontman Luke and lead guitarist Denny and barrels into some psych-rock mayhem. Great multi-part harmonies ring with a touch of Sweet or even Queen’s pomp-rock, with a vocal breakdown that would win a boy-band the X Factor sing-off crown. Everybody’s stomping to the Blackfoot Sue style of ‘C’mon This City’s Gone’ with this tight and controlled (yet still fun) band knowing when to pull back and when to let it all go. The rhythm section work it out with finesse with drummer Shane matching Man Who Sold The World-hatted bassist Julyan in some fine audience-manipulating rocking.

The flamenco stomp of ‘April Showers’ segues into the prog-rock guitar king workout of ‘Law And Order’, which effortlessly floats with vocal delights before shimmying down into a guiro-grooving jam-out. Old live favourite ‘Mrs Drawnel’ is a showcase for Shane’s pounding, drum-roll battering, rock star breaks, aided by an ultra drawn-out ‘bring on the wah-wah’ freak-out ending. And ‘How Long’ pays homage to the might of David Essex with a measured ‘Rock On’-style intro bombasting into a call and response blues shouter of a chorus (which has Denny sneaking the volume up to do a proper axe-jousting finale with Luke).

Exit Ulysses to an enthusiastically rowdy crowd’s cheer.”

Jenny Magpie - Shindig! Magazine
http://shindig-magazine.com/blog/index.php/ulysses-live-review/

Borderline London 28/10/2014 - supporting Purson:

“First up were Ulysses, a foot-stomping four piece with their roots firmly set in the 1970s. Their sound reminded me a lot of smatterings of Terry Reid meets Thin Lizzy meets Ziggy-era Bowie with some great hooks that The Sweet would have been proud of. At times during their set I almost felt I was watching to an episode of Top Of The Pops from 1973, except there were no Pan’s People on stage. But at the end of the day it was their songs that really stood out, and their unashamed love of a good old-fashioned tune with some rather excellent backing vocals and lead guitar workouts. The band also seemed to be really enjoying themselves, which was also a bonus. I would like to hear how they sound or come across on record. A great opening act who got the evening going in fine fashion.” http://freq.org.uk/reviews/purson-ulysses-borderline/

Borderline London 28/10/2014 - supporting Purson:

“Four-piece ULYSSES open the show; the Bristol natives play a lively blend of vintage sounding rock, that fits well with their quirky choice of stage attire. Imagine Cream and Led Zeppelin got into a scuffle with the Beatles at Portobello Market – the sound that Ulysses produce would be the end result. Situated somewhere between the risqué rock of the 70s and the loveable teddy boy sound of the 60s, these guys are wonderfully inoffensive, good time rock ‘n’ roll that everyone seems to enjoy. It would be difficult to drum up a more perfect choice of support for Purson.”
http://www.avenoctum.com/2014/10/purson-ulysses-london-borderline-281014/

Lexington London 31/10/2014 - supporting The Godfathers

“Ulysses were the support tonight. A strong performance of confident, tuneful 70s style rock with some nice harmonies and the occasional rocking wig-out. A good choice; different enough from the headliners but popular with the crowd.: http://louderthanwar.com/the-godfathers-the-lexington-london-live-review/

Fleece Bristol 25/05/2014 - supporting Marc Ford (ex Black Crowes):

“First up, though, are Bath’s always welcome self-styled ‘future classic rock’ act Ulysses, who’ve acquired a knack of blagging themselves onto many of the best roots rock tours (The Temperance Movement, Rival Sons, etc). Now expanded to a four-piece, they’re a more pleasingly hard-rockin’ proposition than before with a revamped set to match, allowing those Thin Lizzy influences to shine through. Boasting Bjorn Borg possessed by the spirit of Keith Moon on drums, these crazily-clad ’70s fetishists conclude with a mighty wig-out that seems to quote lyrically from Ace (‘How Long’) and David Essex (‘Rock On’).” http://www.bristol247.com/2014/05/27/review-mark-ford-fleece-bristol-55888/

Leeds Metropolitan University 13 / 04 / 2013 - supporting Rival Sons: “Two bands have been hand picked by Rival Sons for support on this tour, both are new to me and come highly recommended. First up are Ulysses, these be-hatted bunch of retro lads from Bath have been on the circuit for a few years now, and supported Rival Sons on their last tour here. Their quirky ’70s dress sense, a combination of woolly hats, wild threads and facial hair may make them look like something straight out of a seventies porn movie, and whether they dress to impress or not, their music certainly does. Their songs are a laid back mix of ’70s glam stompers and psychedelic tinged numbers with a definite hint of Supergrass for good measure. Top tunes like ‘Everybody’s Strange’ and ‘Taxi Driver’ from new album ‘Kill You Again’ are instant and refreshing and certainly stayed in my mind long enough to hunt the songs out on YouTube when I got home. Their last song is jammed out and sees vocalist Luke Smyth place his guitar on the floor and pick up a cowbell, closely followed by bassist Julyan who does the same and joined by guitarist Tom on tambourine they close with a percussion face off. Quirky and interesting, Ulysses are definitely ones to watch this year.” BEN HUGHES / UBER ROCK MAGAZINE. The Junction, Cambridge 16/04/2013 - supporting Rival Sons & Temperance Movement: “First to take to the stage here at The Junction in Cambridge are Ulysses. The first thing I notice about Ulysses is the hair and the hats, lots of hair, and lots of hats. As they begin I wonder whether or not that will be their defining feature. Thankfully however their music soon came to the forefront and the band from Bath put in an impressive stint on stage.” Solus, Cardiff University 10/04/2013 - supporting Rival Sons: “Coming on to the stage with very little fanfare, Ulysses are a band that merge trippy psychedelic hard rock with bouncy power pop and have their tongues planted firmly in their cheeks. The band also has a penchant for funky headgear and off kilter playing. They were a great warm up act that were a bit Hendrix in the guitar freak-outs, a bit The Who like with the almost mod-style power pop and also they have definite similarity to the Fab Four’s later years especially on closer Taxi Driver which has the Drive My Car “Beep, Beep, Yeah!” refrain in it. Ulysses were a slow burner they started out with their wilder sprawling psychedelic songs and then progressed through to the heavier stuff before the set climaxed into all four men playing cowbell at the end. A good band with a strong future they managed to win over the crowd bringing them in early. 8/10″ M. BLADE / MUSIPEDIA OF METAL MAGAZINE. Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London 09/04/2013 - supporting Rival Sons: “Next up were Bath based four piece band Ulysses. Again, I had seen these guys before last year supporting Rival Sons. They complimented Rival Sons well last time out, and were a quality sounding blues/glam based rock outfit. This timeUlysses had only just released their new album “Kill You Again”. I had heard this before the night begun, and it had a multitude of different styles and sounds. I was looking forward to hearing the new stuff being pulled off live. The band in appearance, look bright, colourful, a lot of fun, there is a slight Glam look. Especially with Lead Vocalist/Guitarist Luke Smyth wearing a colourful striped top and skinny dark trousers. Bolanesque lets just say! All the band members except Luke were wearing hats of various types. The band open up with their previous album Title track “Everybody’s Strange”. This had me thinking back to the sounds of the late sixties and early seventies Glam/rock and roll. I thought it worked well, but the crowd to me seemed a bit subdued. This did make for a strange atmosphere to me. Some were still rolling into the venue to take their place for the headline act. The band seemed to be getting into their stride by the time third song, from their new album “April Showers” begun. This sounded fresh and lively, and to me, generally a lot of fun. “Mrs Drawnel“, another new one had a kind ofBeatles/Rolling Stones quality about it, and then it changes towards the middle to end section. The band do a kind of slower instrumental and towards the end drummer Shane Maxymus does show off how good a drummer he really is. In fact, I’d say all the bands on tonight’s bill had killer drummers. They all possessed similar qualities. Thunderous, tight and rhythmic drumming. Did they all share similar influences? I wonder, hmmm. New song “French/Japanese” had more of a classic blues rock sound. This is one I really liked on their album, and it sounded fantastic live in the venue. Still however it seemed a lot of the crowd were subdued. Was it because they were an opening band? Was it because the songs were new and did not quite grasp them? I don’t know. It was nothing to do with the band however. They were playing tight at this point. It felt like a strange kind of atmosphere. More thunderous drumming from Shane during the song “Eye On You”. I was really enjoying watching this guy play, and damn he could play! Another newbie “Taxi Driver” had chunking great guitar riffs, a great rocker, and when you hear this at the start, it did remind me a lot of The Rolling Stones “Its Only Rock’N’Roll (But I Like It)”. This came complete with the catchy “Beep beep, beep beep, beep beep yeah” line at the start of the song and repeats at various points during the song. This sounded very classic and had the crowd moving more to this one. An extended instrumental was played at the end of this song. This was fantastic. The guys were tight, with a super rhythm section in Shane and bass player Julyan. The end of their set had all band members playing various percussion instruments, and at the finish they were richly given a great round of applause. Again, I did think the crowd were slow at getting into Ulysses, but had warmed up by the end.” Set List Everybody’s Strange Oranges & Mary April Showers Mrs Drawnel French/Japanese Eye On You Taxi Driver My Hands Pt2 ROBBIE ROONEY / PLANET MOSH MAGAZINE.