Music is love in search of a word.

Example @ Summer Sundae Weekender.

Example took over Summer Sundae. Example was the only part of the weekend where I felt like I could possibly be hit by a bottle, a fist or a shoe. The crowd that gathered at the barrier consisted of 16-21 year olds (I may be generalising but it pretty much looked like it). The security tightened around them and in front of the stage to prepare the chaos which may begin. The atmosphere of the entire weekend suddenly changed and the relaxed, serene setting turned into a mental, sweaty dance pit of death.

His set included hits such as ‘Watch The Sun Come Up’ and ‘Stay Awake’ yet it was his finale with ‘Changed the Way You Kissed Me’ which drove the audience crazy, forcing audience members to be pulled out of the ‘pit’ by security and the police to pull some away, behind the stage in their intoxicated states. Example puts on a great show and he works the audience which entices them into his music and set, almost as though he has hypnotised them. 

Newton Faulkner @ Summer Sundae Weekender.

I have to be honest and admit, yes I think he is good but I wasn’t expecting a great deal from him. I am happy enough to admit that I was completely wrong. He was sensational. His voice, abilities on the guitar and insane. Faulkner not only played the guitar but he rhythmically tapped and hit the guitars body and also finger picked which made me stand there, listening and watching in awe.

Faulkner interacted with his audience with such ease and charm that he could sing about a “..Professional dog food taster, but no-one would believe him. He worked for all the major companies..” and the cheers and screams were relentless. Faulkner played a sublime set including ‘Dream Catch Me’ and ‘I Need Something’ and a crazy cover of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ which set the Summer Sundae audience crazy. To sum up the effect that Faulkner has on the Summer Sundae audience would be by overhearing a lad walking away from the set, “I am going to go and buy EVERYTHING he has ever done” - sheer brilliance! 

Artist: Eliza Doolittle

Venue: Leamington Spa Assembly.

Support from “Aaron Wright” and “Hall of Mirrors”

Reviewer/Photographer: Hayley Edwards

Date of Gig: 3^rd April 2011.

As you enter the Leamington Spa Assembly it feels as though you are walking into a life size jewellery box – not a music venue. It is beautifully decorated and designed and has won the awards for being the “Best Live Music Venue” in 2010. Having only been to one other gig at the Assembly, I didn’t know necessarily what to expect from the acoustics but I knew exactly what to expect from Miss Doolittle.

As the lights dimmed and Eliza Doolittle took to the stage the room bellowed with the screams of 1,000 fans. I mean with a majority of teenage girls what can be expected? Doolittle opened with ‘Money Box’ followed by her hit single ‘Skinny Genes’ which seemed to be an instant hit with the already over-excitable crowd.

Her performance was enchanting. The voice that she unleashed to her audience was almost note perfect all of the time and however hard you tried, you could not fault her voice or her stage presence. With seemingly an entire room under her control, Doolittle played with the audience and begun to get each side competing against the other through their singing skills during ‘A Smokey Room’. This created an instance atmosphere amongst the crowd.

There appeared to be much hysteria around Doolittle as her set progressed as the screams and declarations of love got louder and louder. Much to the crowds delight, Doolittle pointed out that the night before she had performed in Manchester and “The crowd were double the size of here and you guys are already louder!”

Watching Doolittle on the stage is just as enjoyable as hearing her sing. She glides across the stage, projecting this incredibly powerful voice while all the time lapping up the intensive screaming by showing a constant smile permanently across her face. 

Doolittle covered Bruno Mar’s ‘Grenade’ which showed her ease and adjustability to any tone, genre or pace of song. This highlighted exactly why she had practically sold out the venue. Doolittle had a large dice constructed on stage which she delved into to present T-Shirts for the audience and various different instruments including a ukulele.  Along with the brightly designed set and colourful lighting, it felt as though those on stage and the audience were involved in one big, fairground game which is also reflected in Doolittle’s music. Her easy going, light hearted and bubbly music made the audience ecstatic. The entire room sang and danced along with Doolittle as she sang the catchy ‘Pack Up’ and ‘Rollerblades’.

As the night progressed, Doolittle returned for an encore, finishing on her current single ‘Mr Medicine Man’ which caught the audience on a high, seeing them gleefully singing and clapping along too “….Oh, Mr Medicine, I feel so much better. My friend’s a pessimist But you still impress her…” Eliza Doolittle is ridiculously talented and utterly charming to watch. Doolittle pointed out, which summed up the majority’s feelings, “If I could I would perform all through the night but I only have the one album for now!”

Artist: Marcus Foster

Venue: Hare & Hounds

Support from Bears Den

Reviewer/Photographer: Hayley Edwards

Date of Gig: 6^th April 2011.

You could be forgiven if you haven’t heard of Marcus Foster before but if you have heard of him and chose to NOT see him live, that is a mistake which cannot be forgiven. A tiny venue with no more than 60 people in the audience, The Hare and Hound in Kings Heath in Birmingham welcomed Marcus Foster to the stage on his “Tumble Down EP Tour”. Now I was a little pessimistic about this venue…situated on the top floor of a pub, in the middle of Kings Heath. The acoustics were never going to be perfect but I wasn’t expecting them to be but the evening was still surprisingly good.

Having been played on Zane Lowe’s Radio One show and noted by Edith Bowman, Foster has begun to gain memento with his music and has amassed 11,500 followers on Twitter and so I felt a little disappointed with the turnout for his gig.

With support from Bears Den, who I urge you all to go and find on the Internet, Foster took to the stage and stunned me. He electrifies a room. His lyrics are beautifully constructed and the obvious raw emotion which he puts into each line and lyric adds an extra depth into his music. It doesn’t do him any justice to compare him with any artists out at the moment because he has his own style and talents – so you will just have to take my word for it. His bluesy and soft melodic tones probably made men and women fall in love with him. He sounded so elegant, even during the rockier songs and that is what good music is all about, being a singer who can adapt his or her voice to fit different genres of music.

Foster’s “You Send Me” was a particular highlight of the evening – so much so I have listened to it at least 30 times today. His voice is so powerful, husky and effortless that it captures an audience which led to the entire room being silent during every single song. An occurrence which I haven’t seen in a long long time!

On stage, Foster joked and spoke to the enthralled audience and seemed completely at ease which is nice because often once bands or artists get signed this doesn’t tend to happen that often. His set included (with the help of my sister’s blackberry) ‘Shadows of the City’ which has recently had a music video recorded in Iceland and notoriety on Radio 1, and ‘Rushes and Reeds’, ‘Movement, and ‘I Don’t Mind’.

After his set, the audience stayed completely still with encourage yells, or more precisely, casually spoke words of “More, More, More!” Foster got back onto the tiny stage to do one final song. “Seeming as this is the Tumble Down EP Tour…I had better play Tumble Down”. Such an amazing song to finish on especially when he wasn’t expecting to play it ‘….Have you even seen the haunted antique morning sweep the stars out from the sky…’ It was definitely love, lyrically and musically.

The only negative side of the evening was that the lighting was slightly too low to get any truly good photographs which was a shame because Marcus Foster will (I hope) be one of those names who I can now watch get “big” and think “Yes, I was in the 50/60+ audience at the pub in Kings Heath…even if I was a little scared”

KT Tunstall with support from Sarah Nixey

Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon

Sunday 19th June 2011

Hayley Edwards

As a self confessed die hard KT Tunstall fan, I arrived at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre knowing what lay before me.  Yet, this gig would be different. Not only was it at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, a mecca for the arts, but KT Tunstall would be playing alone.  Usually accompanied by her band, Tunstall took on the RSC by herself on Sunday 19th June kicking off the “Live at the RSC” nights. 

With the beautiful surroundings of the newly refurbished Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Tunstall walked onto the stage to rapturous applause and throughout the entire set, the audience sat in silence, appreciating and lapping up what was in front of them which she completely took in her stride. Opening with ‘Golden Frames’ Tunstall immediately took control of her audience and kept tightening her grip on her ever adoring audience throughout.

A cleverly constructed set list including “that“ song ‘Black Horse And The Cherry Tree’, ‘Miniature Disasters‘, ‘Fade Like A Shadow’ and the sensational ‘The Entertainer’ easily proved why Tunstall has been successful. Nothing seems to be too much or too difficult for her. Her voice, her skills as a musician and the way she communicates with her audience creates a perfect package which, I would go as far to say, would be hard for other singer and songwriters to even come near. 

Tunstall’s newly created EP entitled “The Scarlet Tulip” produced three beautifully crafted songs for the set, including ‘Hidden Heart‘ which tells the tale of a tree being cut down, written for Bruce Parry‘s ‘Survival Project‘ to try and gain land protection for indigenous people of the Amazon…”Down down cut me down so I can lie on familiar ground, Oh I‘ve witnessed all that you ignore and I don‘t wanna see it no more…”. The EP introduces 7 songs which are purely Tunstall’s voice and finger picked guitars. She spoke of how the EP is only available through her website so “there are no barcodes…it is just artwork and music!!“ - a accomplishment of which she appeared extremely proud of, and which also received a round of applause. There was an obvious excitement surrounding Tunstall’s new music which was evident amongst the audience and also Tunstall herself. 

Tunstall’s original arrangement of the usually rocky “Little Favours” completely stole the show. The elegance and grace in how she played the piano and how her voice fit perfectly alongside the enchanting melodies was breathtaking. Tunstall went on to say that “This is probably the most expensive song you have ever heard” after speaking of her parents paying for piano lessons for years, yet there are only two songs in which she plays the piano.

Tunstall’s voice delivers every single time and the choice to perform alone gave her the chance to shine even brighter than she already does. The talent that she has, both lyrically and musically, is faultless. You find yourself waiting to see if it is feasibly possible that she could actually make a mistake! She exceeds all conceivable expectations, with every lyric, note and chord strummed.  This ‘stripped back’ KT Tunstall showed that music does not need to be filled by drums, bass or electric guitars to be incredibly powerful. One woman, and her guitar truly epitomised what music is really all about and I felt honoured to be witnessing an artist at her peak. 

Bon Iver at Birmingham 02 Academy.

Support by Kathleen Edwards.

9th November 2011.

The 02 Academy in Birmingham has also been a great venue and so I was surprised to hear that Bon Iver, on his first time in Birmingham, had completely sold out the main room. Not only that, but arriving at the venue to see the audience already queuing an hour or so before the doors opened was another pointer that suggested that maybe this gig would be something special. 

Support came from Kathleen Edwards who’s blend of folk and country music opened up the show. Her confidence for the music she was performing was reflected in the smile on her face and how she spoke with the audience. She had appeared to have mastered her art in such a passionate way that nothing felt too much for her. She eased through her songs, yet forgetting the lyrics to one of her songs she joked “…I have played this song so many times! Even in rehearsals…” she managed to get back on track and laugh off the mishap. A sign of a professional. Kathleen Edwards voice was enchanting and it was easy to see why she has had such an outstanding career. 

Having previously heard a handful of Bon Iver’s songs due to the constant persistence of my sister, I had some idea of what I would see and hear. When the band emerged and in particular Justin Vernon (lead singer) I couldn’t help but notice how the faces of the fans surrounding me had either welled up with emotion or mouths wide open in awe. Could this band really bring on this much emotion from both men and women? The band’s structure contains 8 members who all contribute significantly into thrusting their music into the faces of every audience  member. The set demonstrated the phenomenal power of the Bon Iver set up from the truly inspiring “Holocene” ’…. I was not magnificent…’ to the stunning explosion of ‘Perth’ which opened the show.

A favourite of the night was “Wash”. I loved this song and it harnessed everything that I adore about live music. Starting off so elegantly with a keyboard, then add in a violin, then trumpets and finally the drums. It built on the simple and became a complex, intriguing piece of music. Vernon’s vocals and the instrumental connected together so easily that it seemed as though the piece just appeared and it couldn’t have been made. It was just there, ready. 

Bon Iver continued the set and the audience were treated to a solo performance by Justin Vernon with ‘RE:Stacks” which brought him out from the depths of some songs with guitars, trumpets and drums. His voice was released and rightly so deserved the spotlight and adoration that it received. For a man who towers above the rest with his ‘gentle giant‘ appearance, he sits and appears so gracious for the applause and love that is felt for him and his band.

‘Skinny Love’ was the song which introduced me to Bon Iver. Covered recently in the UK by ‘Birdy’, the original by Bon Iver is sadly not always recognised as being theirs due to the consistent airplay of the ‘Birdy’ version. It is a sad feat of the UK Music scene when this band gets overlooked for popularity. However, that aside, the live version which I saw before me disregarded the ‘Birdy’ version. With Justin Vernon on guitar and lead vocals with the rest of the band supporting him on vocals created a musical explosion which excited the soul. It looked and sounded so simple, with the audience being brought in close for an intimate showing yet the room was shook to the core. A standing ovation twice for Bon Iver brought the band back onto the stage for an encore which saw them perform “For Emma” and “Wolves” and I felt myself pinning for more, not wanting the band to go off the stage for the final time.

I can honestly say that I have never been to a gig where the audience were so respectful to the artist - minus the one idiot who happened to be stood behind me - the luck! Yet he was so quickly shut down by the 20 people around him. To talk at this gig during a song was an unforgivable sin. Tonight was all about the music and the room was silent throughout the songs and while Justin Vernon spoke. As we left, the shaking of heads and tears of joy I saw showed how much the gig had meant to so many. There was disbelief of what they had witnessed  which then turned to sheer happiness and then suddenly panic of when they would see Bon Iver next.

What I really like about Bon Iver is that their music is relatable. Whatever mood the listener is in, a song can be found which perfectly suit’s the situation. But not only that, but one song can adapt to fit an array of moods. Justin Vernon’s voice is magical, comforting and soothing one second and then rocky and passionate.

There are no frills with this band. Each member is an incredible musician and the way in which the songs are put together beautifully demonstrates the musical abilities of each. The gig wasn’t just about seeing a band, it was about living the songs and the music. It was about getting lost for an hour and a half and not wanting to be found.

Ane Brun @ The Temple in the HMV Institute.

10th November 2011.

Support from Linnea Olsson.

(Photo taken with an iPhone so it’s not my usual quality)

A beautifully intimate venue at the top of the HMV Institute played host to Ane Brun on the 10th November. Having waited an hour and a half and getting a little frustrated, the support act, Linnea Olsson came onto the stage. I honestly couldn’t be bothered with listening to a support act after having to wait so long. BUT, yes there is a BUT. Armed with just a cello, she opened with “The Ocean” and I honestly can’t understand how she could create such stunning music with just a cello. I felt bad for being annoyed at having to listen to her. I’m ashamed of myself! She was remarkable. That is all that needs to be said.

I first heard of Ane Brun when she was supporting Peter Gabriel on his “New Blood” tour. Originally from Norway, yet living in Sweden, Brun hailed herself “Sworigen” and has released 8 albums to date, touring with the current album, ‘It All Starts With One’. 

Ane Brun took to the stage just after 9pm and the waiting was worth it. Joined by her support act on cello, vocals and bass guitar, Brun had two drummers and two keyboardist. Her music is so focused, has a clear direction and her voice was and is hauntingly beautiful.  She takes a song and turns it into a piece of artwork which may seem cheesy but it is a fact. Brun displays this fragile and refined image and then she belts out this voice which sends shudders down your spine as it feels almost deceptive. Brun builds her music on these emotions which creates a new dimension for the audience to delve into.

Brun played ‘The Puzzle’, in her words, “An oldie but a goodie” and it was more than a goodie. This is the song which first attracted me to Ane Brun when I originally saw her live and it made me feel as though I was seeing her for the first time again. Mouth open, questioning what I was listening too. 

Again, as I always seem to be note, there is that one drunk idiot shouting during the set and trying to get Brun’s attention which she easily ignored to carry on her set. Why do people feel the need to get drunk at gigs?! Answers on a postcard please. Brun appeared genuinely gracious as the packed ‘Temple’ pushed closer to the stage as she reeled in the crowd. She appeals to people because she is humble, adores her music and relishes that feeling of playing to a crowd who are enchanted by her.

Brun’s set included “What‘s Happening With You and Him“, “Balloon Ranger“ and the hypnotic “Worship” which added to the wonderment of her set, especially alongside her quirky dance and attire.  ‘Do You Remember’ was a fantastic upbeat song which was the first single taken from this new album. ‘Do You Remember’ brought all the best parts of the night together with huge drums beats, electrifying melodies and Brun’s sensational voice. Brun left her band on the stage for an extended ending which teased the audience who clearly wanted more and were relentless in showing this. 

Brun’s finale saw her perform “Changing of the Seasons” and “The Light From One” and each lyric was more poignant than the last, “….I’ll need both my hands to hold my own….”. It seemed like the perfect ending to the show. There needs to be more UK artists who are as different and willing to be different by staying away from the mainstream. Brun held her own incredibly and the “Sworigen” will continue to do so for many years.