Post by markwj on May 7, 2010 23:10:18 GMT
Shivering Hills, Courteous Thief, Rachel Whittingham
The Cross Keys, Llandudno
1/5/10
A bank holiday weekend in Llandudno? Well, I'd already prepared my Victorian facial hair extravaganza so hopped on the Penny Farthing and cycled over there.
The Cross Keys is under relatively new management and pleased to see they are persevering with a live music policy in the face (or rather the ears) of the Conservative funeral waiting room atmosphere which I always associate with the town. not that that prejudice was in any way reinforced tonight as the place was snooing with a raucous scooter rally in town too. What they'd make of tonight's entertainment would be interesting but chatting to them again they proved to not live up to stereotypes and be open to what they were hearing
First up we had the duo of the type that might seem most familiar in this weekend pub scenario, girl singer, guy providing backing tracks, but Rachel's voice was pretty good and she had a bright presence obviously born of lots of experienceand fair play to her she is instrumental in getting a lot of happenings off the ground.
Next Courteous Thief, also in their home town. Despite only forming last year they came across very impressively, initially singer/songwriter/guitarist Gary by himself with some emotionally charged inde ballads. The real strength for me came when it expanded to a full band (including the venerable Alan Pants on drums) as there was more bite to the delivery then. They definitely were hitting a fresh but very accessible note that is no doubt a reason why they are progressing well in a band competition that could see them play the O2 Arena.
Finally, despite their protestations about going on last at in the middle of some 48hour binge, Shivering Hills. Literally 20 years ago I'd been recording the first Blacklisted demo with Ste and it's great to see how the long, long evolution is still running with his and Lev's effortless guitar licks, Mike's relentless bass groove more than covering for their current absence of drummer. Ste's got the cahones to be an effective front man too, though maybe the dutch courage helps! This is clever and catchy funk rock that avoids slipping into cliche, rides a line well between knowing appeal and more aggressive invention, and goes down a storm here. To be fair they seem to have this effect most places I've seen them recently.
An evening of great examples of the local skills that may play the bills!
The Cross Keys, Llandudno
1/5/10
A bank holiday weekend in Llandudno? Well, I'd already prepared my Victorian facial hair extravaganza so hopped on the Penny Farthing and cycled over there.
The Cross Keys is under relatively new management and pleased to see they are persevering with a live music policy in the face (or rather the ears) of the Conservative funeral waiting room atmosphere which I always associate with the town. not that that prejudice was in any way reinforced tonight as the place was snooing with a raucous scooter rally in town too. What they'd make of tonight's entertainment would be interesting but chatting to them again they proved to not live up to stereotypes and be open to what they were hearing
First up we had the duo of the type that might seem most familiar in this weekend pub scenario, girl singer, guy providing backing tracks, but Rachel's voice was pretty good and she had a bright presence obviously born of lots of experienceand fair play to her she is instrumental in getting a lot of happenings off the ground.
Next Courteous Thief, also in their home town. Despite only forming last year they came across very impressively, initially singer/songwriter/guitarist Gary by himself with some emotionally charged inde ballads. The real strength for me came when it expanded to a full band (including the venerable Alan Pants on drums) as there was more bite to the delivery then. They definitely were hitting a fresh but very accessible note that is no doubt a reason why they are progressing well in a band competition that could see them play the O2 Arena.
Finally, despite their protestations about going on last at in the middle of some 48hour binge, Shivering Hills. Literally 20 years ago I'd been recording the first Blacklisted demo with Ste and it's great to see how the long, long evolution is still running with his and Lev's effortless guitar licks, Mike's relentless bass groove more than covering for their current absence of drummer. Ste's got the cahones to be an effective front man too, though maybe the dutch courage helps! This is clever and catchy funk rock that avoids slipping into cliche, rides a line well between knowing appeal and more aggressive invention, and goes down a storm here. To be fair they seem to have this effect most places I've seen them recently.
An evening of great examples of the local skills that may play the bills!