Alice rocks Lexington (London)

From Alice Gold 2011

I first heard Alice Gold headlining at the Borderline as part of the HMV Next Big Thing Series in February - now with a tour of her own, her music has matured and become more rocky - boardering on metal. The choice of support acts often amuses me – the contrast between Alice and Charlene Soraia was wide – Charlene’s interactive folk amused and entertained the gathering audience at the Lexington – then more “on theme” for the main act was Web Paint… The best music of the night was when Alice allowed her voice to be heard and depended less on her guitar – the final two songs with just Alice bought the evening to a crescendo – Alice unplugged would be a interesting experiment… Will be seeking out her solo set at the Apple Cart Festival on Sunday.

Upstairs at Ronnie Scott’s

Hottest day of the summer yet, and I find myself in Soho and heading upstairs at Ronnie Scott’s – a name that sets the expectations high.

From TV Nights @ Ronnie Scott’s

While it was still light outside and the skylights in the venue providing perfect lighting Bec Sandridge kicked off the evening with a solo antependia folk set – wearing a red jumper wouldn’t have been appropriate for the evening but made a great melody… Those yet to arrive missed a treat to kick the evening off.

Next up was Emily and the Woods - seated and encouraging the growing crowd to move forward... With the support of a band the sound was fuller - but struggled at times to over come what was becoming a "dinner jazz" audience - seemingly more intent on talking than listening to the music. Emily professed to the night being more intimate than would have been the case had she had her full band including drummer with her – and it certainly was – would love to hear the “rocked out versions” – but won’t be in the west country for that – those attending the Knee Deep Festival are in for a treat

By the third act the venue was operating a one out, one in policy, Emma Topolski was clearly, and deservedly, one of the main draws of the evening - and the earlier "jazz dinners" where now paying attention to the music. Her multilingual sound filled a club that has seen many greats perform, she had the audience – admittedly most of them there specifically there for her set – eating out of her hand. Even with two new band members, not total familiar with the set, Emma’s voice and melodies would have filled the main room at Ronnie Scott’s, and not been out of place – a great modern, mature Jazz/Pop sound that we’ll surely be hearing more of in the future.

Following Emma was Natalie McCool - rapidly moving to become an established musician with radio play for her latest track Black Sun – which sounded great performed stripped down with minimal percussion and two guitars. After the upbeat sound of Ms Topolski, Natalie’s darker lyrics and quieter sound cooled a venue that had become over heated due to the summer heat being packed out.

The fifth act of the night was Twin Falls - they filled the stage with lots of instruments and people, but with the other bands setting such a high standard their sound wasn't as polished as those that had preceded them - it seamed to lack the cohesion that others had shown.

The night was brought to a rousing close by Halflight - is that "Hal Flight" or "Half Light"? - either way the vocal and other musical talents of Chris Cookson and a very enthusiastic audience raised the temperature of an already over heating upstairs at Ronnie Scott's by another notch, if that was possible. Chris’s voice and the maturity of the sound the band produced rounded off a great evening

Any three of the act together would have made an evening worth much more than the £6 admission fee - I'll be back for more TV nights upstairs at Ronnie Scott's. My only request of upstairs at Ronnie Scott's is to upgrade the air-conditioning or get some opening windows - can't imagine what the atmosphere would have been like as a Jazz club prior to the indoor smoking ban at a similar gig years ago....

The History of Apple Pie @ the not so Old Blue Last

From History of Apple Pie 2011

Returning to the Old Blue Last for the first time in years, since its renovation, I wasn't sure what to expect – the venue had certainly scrubbed up well – I hoped the music hadn’t also been scrubbed too clean. Having first heard The History of Apple Pie supporting Anna Calvi at KOKO and successfully rocking a much larger venue, hearing them in the much more confined space of upstairs at the Old Blue Last was going to be interesting… They didn’t disappoint, despite having to do their own set up after the previous set, start to end of the set they engaged a packed out venue – not bad with an audience who’d not had to pay to get in, so might not even of heard of them previously. The young take on grungy guitar based pop/rock certainly suited the venue and the fairly young audience they and the venue attracted.

Tex/Mex country comes to a smaller than deserved audience

From Patricia Vonne 2011

When going to listen to an act I’ve not previously heard of, I have to guess the best time to arrive to get a good spot – for Patricia Vonne at the Borderline my estimate was opening time, aiming to be just stage left in front of the limited seating. My early arrival wasn’t 100% necessary as the evening was far from sold out, but it did mean that I got to enjoy the polished sounds of Red Sky July. Recently formed from former members of two bands high on my play list, Texas and Alisha’s Attic, their country set was worth the price of admission on its own. Surely they’ll be playing to sold out events of their own in the very near future. Having allowed the supporting act to set the bar high, Patricia meet the same high standard. Her engaging charm, castanets and energetic strumming filled the venue with sounds that appropriately straddled the Mexico/Texas borderline.  Maybe it is a lack of a presence for Patricia on either of the two most powerful marketing tools of our time, Facebook and Twitter, that means she isn't getting the audience her talent deserves

No crowd surfing–unless you are in the band of course…

From Vivian Girls 2011

Having spent a fortnight at Somerset House it was back to a subterranean venue – XOYO – where the weather was only in an issue in the queue outside! After some initial sound problems, which in the words of the bassist from Mazes made it “sound shit”, the night got back on track. Mazes opened with young rock that needs to mature before it is ready for the big time – but I’ve heard much worse headliners… Then Veronica Falls stepped it up a level musically with indie pop with a slightly dark twist, but they too where hindered by technical issues – we’d heard the bands sound checking while we queued outside – we’d have waited another 10 minutes to allow them to get the sound sorted! Then the Vivian Girls made their way to stage in matching floral dresses that gave no indication of the rebellious punk pop that was about to be set free.  They where high energy thought out including over coming the crowd control barriers to play one song from amongst the audience.