A review I did for the Nottingham Post covering the recent MacMillan Fest. My first professional piece for a local paper which I’m proud of. I look forward to doing more for them in the near future.
http://www.nottinghampost.com/MacMillan-Fest-2015-Review-pictures/story-27750564-detail/story.html
The Maze played host to the official Meat Fest 15 and there was a days’ worth of music and meat to go around, and all under one roof. A lot of fresh new talent and definitely worth the entry ticket alone.
Numerous artists from both Nottingham and surrounding areas performed in every corner of the venue, and with much BBQ and new music on offer, there wasn’t too much to complain about. Playing upstairs were Harrison Rimmer and Issac Bloomfield who gave an intimate gig to small crowds of people, some of whom were lucky enough to grab a space of the sofa amidst a slightly smoky room. Brotherly duo of two names We Are Kin/The Davies Brothers and Adam Zareba put on performances in the acoustic corner put on amazing sets. Zarebra managed to pull off a trick with the infamous ‘Friends’ theme tune and made an entire room clap. The two amazing female solo artists Laura Allison and Lauren April gave off flawless performances.
Remaining downstairs Same Streets, Creatin’ Havoc, Billy Reynolds and Green Hill Zone kept the atmosphere going and everyone rocking with both rock and bass, the smell of sweat, adrenaline was in the air and there was buckets of energy going around. It was official headliners of the night Our Saving Day who helped finish the night and showed people how to rock the Nottingham way.
An Empire Will Fall
Famous for Nothing
Our Saving Day
The Great White
We Are Tyrants
New upcoming band An Empire Will Fall released their album and showcased some impressive material at The Maze, with support from four other bands, and it was definitely a good night out. There was a lot of amazing, fresh new artists on tonight has each of them had their own fresh, full-on energetic sound. It was a great night to see new guitarists, drummer and singers live in front of venue, and after listening to all five bands play Nottingham once again proves it’s a hotspot for the freshest music. An amazing atmosphere of excitement was felt by all as Great White, We are Tyrants, Famous for Nothing got into party spirit and Empire got in on the moshing action with the crowd and you definitely smell both the sweat and adrenaline. One of the highlights, apart from seeing a whole room of people get excited for five new bands was the lead singer of Left with Regret passing the mic round and getting into one-to-one sing-a-longs with the crowd. Definitely a great night for new the undiscovered bands of Nottingham.
Further photos from the night
The Face That Boils Itself
Simon Oldboy
Shapes & Things
Rosh
Rick Donoghue
Oldish Spice
Fusor
Fun With Numbers
Bohop & Jeanie Barton
Jim Dunn
Colin Tucker& Steve Ploughwright
Al Appleby
The Irish Chemists
Beeston, Nottingham played host to this years’ Oxjam festival in support of Oxfam so I went over to check it out and explore the numerous venues to see and hear what bands and artists sound like. And I have to admit it I was somewhat impressed. My trek led to around venues such The Bar, Star Inn, Malt Shovel and Hop Pole.
The Face That Boils Itself, The Irish Chemists, Shapes & Things and Fusor. I came across a shanty band called Oldish Spice at the Crown Inn who consists of up to nine members and the Beeston Folk stage that took place over at the White Lion. Now I admit that though I’m not big on Shanty bands and some folk music but I was intrigued by what I saw and heard,. During my trek from one side of Beeston when I got to see the talented Rosh a great vocal talent with acoustic skills to match. I bumped into Rick Donoghue, a DJ, whilst I made a short stop at the Bartons and I got to see a couple of performances from The Irish Chemists and Shapes & Things, two rock groups who both sounded great and I could even feel the bass not just hear it. My night ended at The Bar venue where I saw Simon Oldboy perform his set, though he did tell me that he wasn’t actually on the bill but was allowed to perform anyway. A talented guy and he sounded good. Upstairs rock band Fusor got the rooms full attention with their own brand of great music. Definitely a great night.
Bleed From Within
Anavae
Adelphia
A City Alike
The Great White
Human Teeth
Famous for Nothing
Enormity Falls
Cabin Boy Jumped Ship
The Inside is Live
Kaizen
These Skies
As December Falls
Yesterday Nottingham played host to the annual Macmillan music festival that took place in many venues, and from what I saw it was enormous. Started up in 2010 Macmillan Fest is a music event that helps raise money for the Macmillan charity and has been going strong ever since. The Rescue Rooms, Rock City, Stealth, Spanky Van Dykes and the Red Rooms played host to 37 bands, both up-coming and mainstream such as Adelphia and Bleed From Within. I pretty much spent most of the day going back and forth from venue to venue seeing the many live bands in action which included a couple whom I’d seen before from previous gigs; a couple of these were Teenage Cancer Casket and Rik Gilbert formerly of Goodnight Astronaut, now Adelphia.
Other bands I managed to see during the day were Human Teeth, Anave, The Great White and The Inside is Live at Stealth, all of whom were fantastic. I caught a glimpse of acoustics performers As December Falls and Kaizen and I got to see further acts including Cabin Boy Jumped Ship and Famous for Nothing that have got to be amongst some of the most energetic bands I’ve seen live. Heading over to Spanky Van Dykes venue I saw performances by These Skies and Enormity Falls who were electrifying and bumped into three of the guys from Teenage Cancer Casket along the way. As my time at the event came to an end I went out of my way to see Scottish Rockers Bleed From Within before I left and it was definitely worth it as they were amazing and got the crowd completely hyped. And believe me I could smell not just the sweat but could also sense the adrenalin in the room and feel large amounts of bass.
Jake Manning
Phil Matthews
It was a game of two halves at The Vic last night as there was music from two acoustic artists, courtesy of Dodgy Strawberry Promotions. Before the sessions began I was informed that there was supposed to be a third person on the bill who never showed up. Armed with a guitar and some jokes Phil Matthews got the crowd going.During his set he told numerous stories about growing up in Liverpool in the 60’s and covered a couple of their hits including ‘Hard Days’ Night’ as well as some material of his own. This guy was really good and had a soothing voice. Now don’t let the name, Jake Manning, deceive you into thinking it’s a solo artist, this Lecister-based four-piece band played some soothing melodic music, though only three made it on the night. What really struck me during their set was the amount of raw emotion in the lyrics and singing, these guys were good. Jokes about sausages being their inspiration, also there was food being served on the night. Thank you staff of The Vic Inn, that filled a hole. . The Manning band ended their set with a song called ‘Don’t Let The Devil Take Your Blues’ before ending the night on some sausage and potatoes, yummy.
No Consequence
D.S.M.E
Friend for a Foe
Taken by the Tide
On my first foray into Bunkers Hill in Nottingham, which I have never been to before so I was keen to see what it was all about. And I was impressed. And it’s been a while since I last went to a metal gig. Taken by the Tide proved to be as energetic as their performance with some full-on screamo vocals and earned themselves a positive reaction from the crowd. Friend for a Foe packed masses of enthusiasm on the stage. Plenty of screamo-vocal action and did equally as much moshing, if not more and the crowd seemed to like these guys. Drewsif Stalin’s Musical Endeavours, consisting of three men and a lady, they started off with an instrumental song. Front woman, Nikki, took to the stage and wasted no time in making her presence felt and captivated everyone with her hauntingly melodic voice. This woman’s definitely got that rude-gal attitude, and plenty of it. If I was to say anything about Endeavour it is that they pack a lot of circus-like energy and was overall impressive. No Consequence finished off the night with full-on metal madness. The crowd well and truly loved this one all the way through. A completely hyperactive set throughout complete with loads of moshing and moon walking, these guys were crowd pleasers.
Further pictures from the night:
Raj Baba
Will Jefferies
David Young
Brains For Breakfast
Andy & Loz
Dan Salt
Linda Love
Arriving at The Vic Inn, just opposite the train station, the local well known music venue played host to an acoustic evening session most of whom were local and one lovely lass hailing all the way up from Scotland. It was Linda Love’s first performance since going solo from her band and our wee Scottish lass gave a heartfelt performance and her lyrics and voice demonstrated much passion and emotion. The first and only duo of the evening Andy & Loz managed to keep everyone entertained with their slot with their smooth performance with a mix of both original material and covered songs like James’s ‘Sit Down’ and Elvis’s ‘Suspicious Minds. Some good stuff there.
Now what was intriguing was that next three artists who were doing their own solo performances were also a band Dan Salt, David Young and Andy Webster a.k.a Brains For Breakfast, and they were good. Will Jefferies is completely addictive listening with a mix of retro, jazz and soul music with some acoustics thrown in.Raj Baba took to the stage and played the rest of the night away with a really good acoustic set and own original material. Everyone in the crowd really took to Raj and even I found him impressive and this was the first time I have ever seen him perform and wouldn’t mind seeing his live again.
Further pictures from the night
Rap-Torial
The Deadtime Philharmonic
Field Studies
Three bands played to the crowd on the night; Field Studies, Rap-Torial and Thee Dead Philharmonic though I later learnt on arrival that there was supposed to be a fourth band on the bill Hey Sholay but they had dropped out and also that the third member of Rap-Torial was absent making them a duo for the night. Ambient Alt-rock band Field Studies made an impression and even I admit I saw a lot of potential in these four.
M.C & DJ duo Rap-Torial could easily be described as a match for Eminem and Professor Green. In terms of their music they take both the Hip-Hop/Rap genres to their true roots and not go down the typical manufactured route. With the penultimate song I was impressed with their sampled a track by 60’s soul singer Ray Charles before completely re-inventing it into something new with Jacob ‘Jaws’ Willshaw’s fast-paced lyrics. Straight up I admit that any M.C/Rapper that can either sing or rap from the heart whilst displaying a mixture of emotion and angst gets my full respect. Eventually Thee Deadtime Philharmonic made their entrance and pulled in quite a crowd. Now Philharmonic have grabbed much attention and after the first two tracks I could see why. This band has got something and they even got the attention of the BBC Introducing flat form on the night, so they must be doing something right. Singing about anything ranging from the class system, political justice/injustice and innocent murder victims and alike, these guys have definitely got something to say.
The Steady Sound
Dred Roberts
Natalie Louise Smallwood
My first night at The Sitwell Tavern and I saw five new artists Derby- based Natalie Small and northern lass Georgette Porter and all-male trio Star-Screen. Natalie Louise Smallwood, who was making her debut performance that evening. The local solo singer/songwriter who on the night, as far as first timers go she was really good. Within the first three tracks of Star Screen I immediately liked the trio and found their performance thoroughly entertaining as the band operated as a type of three-way interaction..
Georgette Hilton, an amazing singer/songwriter who definitely proved on the night that like many northerners has a great sense of humour as well as powerful soul singing voice and did a mixture of original materials as well as cover of ‘Feelin Good’ and the infamous ‘I Just Wanna Make Love to You’, during which I pulled my shirt right down to my waist. The Steady Sound went down a treat and left a good impression, I enjoyed them. Headliner, Dred Roberts, who’s name ironically his name comes from his dreadlock during his early days ended the night and entertained and impressed for the rest of the evening using only a guitar and vocals.
Adam's Journal 