Friday 5th September 2014.
The Shed. Glastonbudget auditions.
With Leaving Earth, I Surrender, Lil’s Revolutions, X-alted and The World Can Wait.
The autumn season of audition shows, organised by the Glastonbudget Festival, continued with tonight’s gig at The Shed. Festival selection judges were in attendance to watch the bands as they played on the main stage.
Leaving Earth. The new five member, post-hardcore band featured the guitarist Robert Hamilton (ex FourPointOh), lead vocalist Miguel de Almeida, Amaia de Almeida also on Guitar, Jordan Russell on Bass and on drums Owen Thomas (ex Deep Red Thread.) Their songs were sharp and snappy, bristling with powerful rhythms and melodies and on stage they showed no shortage of commitment to their set of heavily laden songs that were head bangingly good. A new band which many people would like to see again.
I Surrender. Young indie band from Ripley, I surrender put on an outstanding performance at Glastonbudget 2014 about which Jamie Borland wrote:
These guys played on the IcOn stage before Jonezy and Alexandru. Because an act didn’t turn up, I Surrender played for an hour and a half, manly doing covers and a few of their own songs. I have to say how impressed I was with the fact they carried on playing to keep the crowd happy and for a band aged 10 to 17 this was amazing. [Music in Leicester]
We remember when they auditioned for the 2014 festival, back in October 2013. Of that we said:
Young indie band from Ripley, I Surrender, opened their set with a cover by the Artic Monkeys, following it up with Kaiser Chief’s song I Predict A Riot. With solid vocals from lead singer Ben and good playing from the rest of the group, it was a vibrant and enjoyable set. [Music in Leicester]
Back in January they played at the Young Bands night at The Shed.
From Derbyshire the four-piece band I Surrender were back at the Shed to give us another amazing set with the vocals being delivered by the guitarists, they covered the Arctic Monkeys You Look Good on the Dance floor, with some of the their own songs from their album. I Predict a Riot by the Kaiser Chiefs and When The Sun goes Down by the Arctic Monkeys gave I Surrender plenty of opportunity to demonstrate their verve and energy presenting themselves as an accomplished young band with a cart-load of talent. Excellent. [Music in Leicester]
One of the youngest groups of musicians on the stage tonight, they provided a spectacularly good set. With covers that caught the mood of the audience and their own songs that were equally as good, the vocals were impressive (three of them singing), tight playing and their ability to drive songs home with lashings of commitment, they were altogether amazing.
Lil’ Revolution. This young band of two boys and two girls had three good singers who offer well-blended vocals. Their set of mainstream pop and rock covers, as well as some of their own songs, made their set an enjoyable half hour. They played well and were entertaining. They had a strong sense of rhythm and their songs were engaging. They had a full house to play to and drew enthusiastic applause from the audience.
X-alted. Vocal dance pop group from Leicester. On their Facebook page it says: ‘X-alted featuring The One are a new duo/production team specialising in commercial vocal dance/pop music. They’ve been working together since 2013 writing, recording and developing their appealing style and sound. The line up consists of X-Man: musical composition, synthesiser programming, instrumentation, mixing and executive production. He is based in California and has worked with successful artists such as Christina Aguilera, Kesha and Lady Gaga.’ Tonight their set had the polish of a professional act. Although very different to the acts that had gone before them, they delivered powerful vocals and a set of sounds that took us back to the electro-dance tunes of the 90s.
It was good to see various musicians in the audience who had come down to show their support for the other bands which tonight were auditioning, just as these other guys had auditioned before them. That is always a good thing to see – band members supporting each other.
The World Can Wait. A spectacular performance from this up and coming young band which had all the hall-marks of a headline set. Singer Sully Archer gave a performance that would have won a place at the X Factor. Their set electrified the crowd. Good songs played well and delivered with plenty of energy and passion. Now firmly established in Leicester, TWCW have a solid track record of gigs behind them. Their songs are sticky – melodies and lyrics that are instantly memorable. The more you listen to them the more you like them. Their music moved the crowd and was inspirational. When eveer I have seen them play they have never disappointed me. Sully’s lead vocals were backed by Robbie Birnie on guitar and Tina Tompkin on drums. This was the band’s first attempt at a Glastonbudget audition and I certainly hope they will get selected to be there next year.
This was a good night at The Shed. Good bands, enjoyable music and a full house. We will not know for sometime which of the acts will get booked to play at next year’s festival but, judging by the standards being set at the auditions, there can be no doubt that we are in for a crackingly good event in 2015.
Follow the bands on Facebook: Leaving Earth, I Surrender, Lil’ Revolution, X-alted and The World Can Wait
Visit the Glastonbudget Festival website
See also:
Casino Empire at The Cookie Jar
Our round-up of live music in August
