1st December 2014
That Was November
Our look back at what we saw during the month of November 2014.
For record reviews, see our page Listening Post November.
Saturday 29th November
The Shed: two gigs, upstairs and downstairs and each with a really good line-up of bands and artists.
On the main stage:
Tom Bem
with guitarist and synth player Ben Gorman
Tom Bem is a singer from Greenwich in London who has been performing for about ten years. His style of music is what he calls “minimal electro-hop” and he told me he will have a new EP coming out soon. Tom likes The Police and The Red Hot Chili Peppers and is a fan of Jamie XX. Tom has played in Leicester before, at The Soundhouse. Tom put on a really good performance at The Shed tonight, accompanied by Ben Gorman on guitar and synth. A great set of songs, well performed, bringing the evening to a resounding finale. You can get a flavour of what he does from YouTube; singing Say My Name, by Destiny’s Child.
Downstairs a variety of deathcore bands: Dead Inside + A Trust Unclean + Hvman Teeth + Halfway House UK + Roads to Nowhere + Coldlife
and upstairs, Leicester singer Remy Turi
and Stu Crown with his new group: Blueshine Brothers
Ashmore, from Nottingham, brought some rap and soul to the main stage
after his appearance at Pi Bar the day before.
Altogether it was an impressively good night of music, offering many styles of music and more.
Friday 28th November
Pi Bar: a really good set of music artists.
Part of the Problem, a band from Leicester that is making waves on the scene with their reggae and ska style sounds. Very good.
Rumjig got the whole room dancing.
Wednesday 26th November
The Shed: with Bleechbox and Picnic Basket NoseDive. At The Shed, Bleechbox was on stage playing their pop punk songs with enthusiasm. Their two vocalists added a good layer to the music and now they seem to be playing more of their own songs. Also tonight, from Scotland, Picnic Basket Nosedive. They pushed out an impressive set of pop-punk tunes that made me think – see them again, hopefully.
In the lower bar: Atomck (Bristol), Fetus Christ, Mangle, Witchcrusher and Bigshot blues.
Leicester Means Business was the title of a workshop I attended. Taking place at Curve and organised by Manic Music Productions, some notes about it are on Arts in Leicester.
Tuesday 25th November
The Cookie Jar: three good bands made a top night out. Ladies, Huskies and The Jacarandas. It was my night off. What do I do on my night off? Go out and listen to bands!
Saturday 22nd November
The Soundhouse: with Tribal Riot and The Great Imitation.
The Soundhouse is due to undergo renovation; some new fittings are to be installed.
Tonight we saw the return of The Great Imitation. James Scott-Howes and Ryan Allbutt are back! Some of the old songs are still on the menu, such as Boom, Boom, Shake The Room and Do You Feel Like a Real Man now? Age has not withered them not custom staled their infinite variety. So much has been written about these guys over the years. Still the same amazingly good act. These are two artists that work so well together. James does the rapping and Ryan provides the backing. Comedy, presence, and likeability – an act that has its own unique character. Good to see them back.
The Chimpanzees is a band from Leicester, a trio of musicians that describe their music as ‘Alternative Electro-Psych-Rock.’ They all sing. They gave us a great set of songs with plenty of power and attack. Big sounds, fuelled by explosive riffs and delivering compelling melodies with punch and presence. Pretty good.
Listen to songs by The Chimpanzees on BandCamp.
Tribal Riot. Long have I followed them. I tell you what, I love these guys. Their music is massively good. Tonight Scott Hancock was on production, keys and guitar and Rob Wilson on drums and vocals. This is one of the best electronica/techno acts I have seen. They are masters of their medium, they drive fuelled-up music that pulsates with ear-licking rhythms and beats. Technically brilliant. It was a set that had magic.
Follow Tribal Riot on Facebook.
Tuesday 18th November
Jaws, Luminous Night, The Cookie
by Keith Jobey
Tuesday nights at the Cookie mean Luminous. For the uninitiated – Luminous aims to be the best indie student night in town. There are drinks offers, indie DJs and live bands, generally for a meagre £3 (£2 for concessions) entrance fee. And so far the live bands have been great.
Local boys Sam Brown (guitar/vocals), Ryan Chapman (guitar), Cyrus Roberts (drums) and Jack Birtwistle (bass) aka Royal Arcade begin proceedings. Their set begins with Cool Times, the title also being the bands previous name. After this song the line up swaps as Reece Pickett joins the stage, taking over the bass, while Jack Birtwistle swaps to guitar. Perhaps indicative that there is more than a change of names taking place. They have a slacker rock / indie style with an air of coolness about them. Give them some time and experience and they should develop nicely.
Next are The Grafham Water Sailing Club making their third appearance at The Cookie. This West Midlands band just keeps getting better. Their sound is rhythm driven, with layered synth and guitars and low vocals. At times Sisters Of Mercy at others 808 State. Not your usual B-town sound and the crowd are here to see Jaws. So how would TGWSC go down with them? I’d say they were well received with the crowd engaging with them. Hopefully Leicester are starting to see what a great band they are.
Jaws are the main attraction tonight. As one of the B-town bands they’ve pulled in a near capacity young crowd. As the first chord is strummed the moshing begins and it rarely stops until the end, only varying in intensity. Watching from further back it’s like a manic hokey cokey as bodies fly everywhere and arms, legs and heads all get pushed in the air. The band declare that the Cookie to be one of the top three venues they’ve played at and it is no surprise based upon the evidence tonight.
Saturday 15th November
Photo Kevin Gaughan.
Jonezy held his album launch at The Shed. On the line-up were: Angela Saini (from Canada), Aaron Stratton (Loughborough), Beneath The Lights (North West Leicestershire), Alex Van Roose (Midnight Wire) and The Bench that Rocked. Jonezy’s set included some of his established songs and some news from his album – launched tonight – called Stories.
See our feature article on Jonezy.
Friday 14th November
Leicester band Off Beat played at the LG Arena, at the NEC, Birmingham.
Playing as part of a national bands competition called Popular Music, our local band was on a line-up of 11 bands from all over the UK.
Thursday 13th November.
Thursday evening gigs have started up at Walkabout – the Australian theme bar – in Granby Street. Playing tonight was The Greys, a band from Leicester University. Also on stage tonight was Dust & Debris, playing their debut appearance. The Silent Sons, from Leicester were on the line-up.
Tuesday 11th November
Siobhan Mazzie played a sentsational set at The Shed. Also tonight Joe Doyle (Homeless Shakespeare) also performed a set was full of character.
Friday 7th November
We were at The Shed for the Glastonbudget Festival auditions show. We saw Alligatr (Leicester), The B Sides (Long Sutton), Monochrome Empire (Grantham) and Icons (from Leicester.)
Thursday 6th November
At Walkabout tonight we sent to see Joe Connor (until recently a guitarist with The Furies) a solo singer who appears regularly on the Leicester circuit. The Walkabout gigs are promoted by Paul Collins of Wakeup Promotions. Seeing Joe was good but it was a bonus to also see Calvin Jeffreys. The discovery of the night was Leicester blues/jazz band Triology. They were superb. Rounding off the night was Indra’s Net.
Wednesday 5th November
It was the showcase for Young Bands at The Shed. On stage tonight were House on Fire and Little Red Riding Hoodies. Soloist Dan Sweeny stepped in at the last minute to do a set.
Saturday 1st November
The Abbey Park Fireworks took place; we weren’t able to go this year but there was a live stage show hosted by Gem106 breakfast presenters Sam and Dave, with acts including Leicester favourites Camilla Kent and Richie Phillips, with acclaimed Irish duo Hudson Taylor headlining the event. Hudson Taylor – two brothers from Dublin – have recently been heavily featured on Radio One following the release of their single Chasing Rubies. The duo will soon be touring with acclaimed Nottingham singer/songwriter Jake Bugg, as well as playing their own headline shows around the UK.
See also:
