Courtney Askey

single launch at The Cookie
15th January 2016

by Keith Jobey

It’s my first gig of 2016 and I’m back in my most frequented venue of 2015 for a gig featuring two of my most seen acts of 2015. Not much has changed then so it seems. Well let’s see.

Tonight is a party. A single launch party. And like any good party there are balloons and streamers and party hats. All lit up by the wonderful Lumiere Ogbanje. As MIL reported back in July 2015  Courtney signed to Blizzard Records. Today, her debut single for them was released. The single is called Paris Apartment and is available from the usual online retailers and you can watch the official video here on YouTube.

Echolocation is the opening act, who, as it happens , were the last non-acoustic band I saw in 2015. Declaring themselves to be the new sound from the UK,  they opened with their powerful cover of Shellac’s End Of Radio.

There’s also a subtle, respectful Bowie tribute too when they start with the opening bars of Spiders From Mars and Peter delivers the line Ziggy played on guitar before moving onto their own song Tribute To The Martyrs. A band that are always worth going to see.

Next it was support band of choice of 2015, Ash Mammal, picking up where they left off. Except,  this time,  it’s a bit different. There’s an inter-twining with Ash Mammal and Courtney Askey. Courtney Ashmamskey perhaps? This is a band supporting as friends and colleagues. Brothers in arms. Ash Mammal are band you must see. I’m not going to go into any more detail than that. If you’re reading this then you obviously like music anyway. So do not miss seeing this band live. Enough said.

It’s been great watching Courtney over the past couple of years and it’s great to see the crowd top the 100 mark for her tonight. With Andy Askey (Courtney’s father in case you’re wondering) and Dan Hessing borrowed from Echolocation to supply bass and drums it’s clear from the opening song, Back To The City,  that the additional backing elevates this great song to another level. But Courtney doesn’t particularly need a band to fill in for her, and she proves this when she plays three songs mid set by herself, with Luna Webster adding supporting vocals for one song. After the solo stint it’s time for the single, Paris Apartment. For this she’s accompanied by Andy and Dan again as well as Jeeves and Cass from Ash Mammal on guitars and Elliot on keys tucked away at the side. A party on stage if ever there was one!

With her lo-fi grungy sound sounding grungier than ever it was a great start to another year. So it’s Courtney Askey, not Courtney Love, and this is Leicester and not Malibu, but there was no crashing and burning tonight, just stars exploding.

See also:

Our roundup of music in January 2016.

Check out music festivals coming up in 2016.