1st February 2015
That Was January 2015
Our round-up of gigs and music for January.
At last! We come to the last entry for this month.
Saturday 31st January
Loper at The Shed
The Northampton trio set off to a good start. Their song Feel Good is an example of Loper’s sounds – punchy, punk-edged music with both vocalists (guitar and bassist) in action at the mics. Raucous rhythms and razor-sharp endings. Guitarist Craig writes all the songs. On the bands Facebook page it says: ‘Alternative Punk Rock, Post-Grunge…Loper was formed in the summer of 2013 by friends Craig King, Nick Iliffe and John Cebula aka Jonny Roy. Nick and John are the rhythm section and two thirds of 90’s grunge band Nukeateen.’
When we saw Loper before we wrote:
Loper, another threesome, featured a lead vocalist on guitar, a bassist who also did backing vocals and a drummer. These guys were associated with the well known band Nukeateen. Infectious beats drove the song with yelling vocals screaming out angry lyrics between melodic passages, the songs had plenty of passion and were not short on punch and attack. The lead singer writes the songs; he certainly did a good job of it. Theirs were all original songs and even though we had never heard them before they were recognisable. They were from a stable of rock music that was familiar. Three good musicians led by a singer with character. [Music in Leicester, 16th May 2014]
In some respects Loper reminded by of the much-loved Geordie grunge band Abduction of Margaret, at least in some of their songs.
Friday 30th January
The auditions for the 2015 Glastonbudget Festival saw a strong line-up of bands: New Priorities, TwoSixOnes, Casino Empire, These Skies and Before The Crash.
See the photos taken at this show by Kevin Gaughan ©.
I missed the first band but you can read about Before The Crash elsewhere.
New Priorities was a four-piece band from Kettering; most of them did backing vocals (including the singing drummer) and they had an animated stage presence. The band’s set of indie covers went down well with their substantial following of fans and with the audience in general. The lead singer – Eros Vellucci – was real star quality. With an infectious energy in their performance, it was a pretty good set of songs that was well-played and well-presented. To get an idea of what the band is like check out their song Despite What They Say To The Contrary on YouTube. An impressive performance that had plenty of sparky sounds with good instrumental passages.
Follow New Priorities on Facebook.
Coming from London, TwoSixOnes played that set that had plenty of punch, energy and attack. A solidly good performance, there were a lot of good things about this band. The pop-rock band started up in 2012. Check out some of the songs on Soundcloud.
Read about TwoSixOne on Facebook.
One Leicester band that is still delivering top-class music and sensational performances is Casino Empire. When it comes to live music, Casino Empire always puts on an amazing set. Tonight this young band gave us inspirational music. MIL has written about them many times before.
From Nottingham, the final bands of the evening was These Skies. The five-piece band with their free-standing lead singer describe their genre ass ‘alternative rock’ and once again we were treated to a driving performance of big, pulsating sounds of their own songs. Their song TV Set has plenty of punchy and energetic vocals. One of their songs had an Egyptian them to it – unusual! The song had resonance, dancy beats and compelling melodies. This band had an energy that caught the mood of the evening. The challenge for band that come from out of town is to turn up at a venue – full of people who do not know them – and capture the audience with their music. This they did. I think I was not the only one who thought ‘I’d like to see this band again, sometime.’
Follow These Skies on Facebook. Or visit the These Skies website.
Thursday 29th January
Sam Bailey in Leicester
Photo Kevin Gaughan
Leicester singer Sam Bailey head-lined at the De Montfort Hall. We were there to report on the show.
See our article about the supporting act on tonight’s show: Daughters of Davis
Saturday 24th January
Two stages were in operation at The Shed. We saw Nazarene on the main stage. Featuring two very good lead singers – Elle Swettenham and Tom Zbaraski – they delivered a set of enjoyable and ear-pleasing songs, laced with Latin rhythms. Cool, funky sounds with lots of engaging rhythms flowed from the stage. Tom Zbaraski was previously in The Delis Mix with Nazarene’s drummer Luke O’Neill. Altogether one good band with music that we look forward to hearing again. Another interesting point that is Elle Swettenham is the sister of Nate, a.k.a. The Skunkboy Project, another well-known singer on the Leicester music scene.
Also on stage tonight, from Stoke on Trent, funk rock band The Rebellion. They gave us fizzing tunes, delivered with plenty of attack and razzmatazz. Lively, energetic and having a set of punchy songs, they were good.
Follow The Rebellion on Facebook.
The final band of the evening was Sierra Hotel, from Redditch. A five-piece band with a lead singer – Andi Rogers – they kept the party going with a lively set of rock songs. The band’s page says; ‘With influences from many great artist, we aim to keep our sound familiar, yet unique to our own style. Each song devises its own blend of pacey drumming, funky baselines, chunky rhythms, catchy melodies, and memorable lyrics. ‘
Find out more about Sierra Hotel on Facebook.
Friday 23rd January
Midcity headlined the night at The Cookie Jar with Alligatr in support, reports Keith Jobey.
Tuesday 20th January
At Hermitage fm, I was the guest presenter on the Local Music Scene, standing in for John Sinclair, with presenter Kevin Gaughan. Live radio; always an enjoyable challenge. Listen to the Podcast of the programme on YouTube. Janice Raw and Garry Greenaway from The Pale Faces joined us on the mics. I got to mention bands like We Are The Brave, Midnight Wire and several others.
Monday 19th January
Was it a blue Monday at The Musician tonight? Trevor Cobbe helps us to find out.
Saturday 17th January
There was Bloodshed today at a venue in Yeoman Street.
Friday 16th January
The Shed
with Wolfe Sunday
The Blueshine Brothers
The Vigilantes
The Ruby Doos
and Flav Giorgini head-lining the Roboter release show
See our review of this show in Posts
Wednesday 14th January
A good show at the Musician for obsUnplugged.
Monday 12th January
The Shed
On stage tonight: The Burnout, The Chase and When Giants Fall.
It being a very wet, cold Monday in early January, I was not the only one who didn’t really want to go out to a gig. I am glad I did. Three good bands at The Shed delivered an evening of music that was worth getting wet for. Even though I had not seen any of them before, these three bands floated my boat, musically, and even though I consumed not one drop of alcoholic liquor all night, it was a pretty good experience to be there.
The show was opened by The Burnout. This Leicester band of three musicians – Wayne, Bruce and Mike – has been together for around as year. They opened their set with a big fanfare because launching into a rocking set of rock and roll songs, such as Jet’s Are you gonner be my girl (Australia 2003). The Burnout soon has the room rockin’. It was a set of glittering guitar solos, blistering drum lines and fervent bass playing.
There is a video of The Burnout playing at The Shed in 2014.
or you can listen to their tracks on Soundcloud.
Young band The Chase come over from Nottingham to play for us. The three lads (all teenagers) performed a really good set of rock ‘n’ roll and indie songs that combined melodic vocal lines with crackingly good guitar solos.
The band usually plays in Nottingham – at places like the Rescue Rooms and the basement of Rock City – but tonight this was the band’s first time at The Shed. The Chase performed a set of their own songs tonight.
With good vocal lines from singer Tyler Heaney, backed by the guitarist and also the drummer, their set ticket all the boxes, as far as I am concerned. I really liked what they did and, given I had not seen them before, they was an impressive achievement. I would certainly want to see them again because, as a band, they played good music and I really enjoyed their set and I think the rest of the room also did.
The night’s musical delights were topped off by touring band from Cambridge When Giants Fall. The Five-piece band arrived in Leicester from gigs in Leeds and Sheffield. Soon their exhausting itinerary will take them to Bristol, Oxford and Plymouth. Wow! That’s dedication for you.
Tonight was the band’s first time at The Shed. Several musicians told me tonight how good the sound was, so that is thanks to sound man Boppa. Look at their Facebook page I see they describe themselves as a contemporary rock band with heavier influences which they take from YouMeAtSix, Deaf Havana, Young Guns and others (some of which I have heard here in Leicester) so that will give you an idea of what they were like. These hardcore fireballs were led by the vocals of Jack Welton, backed by the pounding beats and hair-curling melodic lines of their songs.
Highly powered and exhilarating songs poured off the stage. They pumped out a set of high-octane music that glittered with lively stage presence and energetic delivery from all the band members. when Giants Fall is due to release a new EP soon; the tree track EP Away follows on from their first release Full Circle. There are a lot of things to admire about this band – great vocals, sizzling stage performance and a set of songs that was both varied and musically attractive, all solidly good. Yet another band that will be welcomed with open arms if they get to return to Leicester and maybe play with some our local bands that have similar styles of music (e.g. Ascend The Skies, Deep Red Thread, Due Vendetta, Invictus, Drowning Grace … there’s no shortage of them! Now that would be a good night!
Follow When Giants Fall on Facebook or on their website on tumblr.
See also:
Metal bands from Leicester in 2014
Resin, Martyr de Mona, Temple of Lies etc. at The Firebug
Saturday 10th January
The Shed.
A fine line-up of acts tonight was headlined by singer Tom Bem with supporting performances by Remi Turi, Blueshine Brothers and Ashmore and Motormouth. Watch out for review of this show – coming soon.
Friday 9th January
Got back from Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival show at the DMH in time to see a couple of bands at The Shed. Stating The Obvious was one Leicester band that stood out for me. Each time I see them they get better. A young band that is still a bit raw, there is no mistaking the talent that they display and they have a sense of what makes a line-up of good songs. Bassist Ciaran Maloy also sings. Very enjoyable.
2014
GoldStein delivered a tight set of songs which they meted out with plenty of punch. Pounding punk songs full of flair.
The Ultraviolet, from Lincolnshire (Boston), was a band I had not seen before. They were good. The quartet of lads had two good vocalists and a set of punchy songs that won me over. A pleasing mash-up of musical styles brought energy and vibrancy to their set. They played a cover of a song by Bring Me The Horizon. One band I would like to see again.
Tuesday 6th January
Jonezy did a headline slot at The Soundhouse. The rocket-fuelled rapper stepped in at short notice for this. Jonezy will be appearing at the Glastonbudget Festival in May; joining him on stage will be Sophie Garner.
Also tonight we heard from Daz Lynch.
Alex Van Roose (Midnight Wire) did a surprise performance.
obsUnplugged took place tonight at The Musician. Read Kevin Gaughan’s report.
Sunday 4th January
Back to The Musician for another in the obsUnplugged shows.
Friday 2nd January
A trip to The Musician to see obsUnplugged was our first gig and our first gig review of 2015.
See also:
News about the 2015 Original Bands Showcase
Launch of recordings catalogue
New list of Leicester bands for 2015.
