new music

Acoustic Night @The Vic Inn, Derby 15/9/2014

November 5, 2014 — Leave a comment
TheVic

Jake Manning

Phil Matthews

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.

Rock/Metal Night @Bunker’s Hill, Nottingham 7/7/2014

August 6, 2014 — Leave a comment
no consequnce

No Consequence

drewsif stalin's musical endevours

D.S.M.E

friend for a foe

Friend for a Foe

taken by the tide

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:

_MG_3841 _MG_3997 _MG_3605 _MG_3831

All words and photos by Adam J Humphreys

Acoustic Night @The Vic Inn, Derby 16/6/2014

June 27, 2014 — Leave a comment

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

 All words and photos by Adam J Humphreys

New Music Night @The Venue, Derby 10/4/2014

June 9, 2014 — Leave a comment
Rap-Torial group shot

Rap-Torial

The Deadtime Philharmonic group/duo shot

The Deadtime Philharmonic

Field Studies group shot

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.

All words and photos by Adam J Humphreys

New Music Night @The Sitwell Tavern, Derby 14/5/2014

June 9, 2014 — Leave a comment

The Steady Sound

Dred Roberts

guitarguitars

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.

Further pictures from the night:

Sitwell gig Sitwell gig 3 star screen star screen1

All words and photos by Adam J Humphreys