{"id":2150,"date":"2013-09-09T20:42:30","date_gmt":"2013-09-09T19:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/?page_id=2150"},"modified":"2015-12-07T20:40:14","modified_gmt":"2015-12-07T20:40:14","slug":"music-diary-september-2013","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/reviews\/music-diary-september-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Music Diary September 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Live Music diary September 2013<\/h1>\n

This page is part of our reviews section<\/a>\u00a0\u220f<\/p>\n

A diary of gigs we visited in September.<\/p>\n

Scroll down to find more months to read about the many bands, artists and venues whose show we have covered this month.<\/p>\n

From October, dates will be in descending order, the latest date being at the top.<\/p>\n

On this page: \u00a0Flying Kangaroo Alliance, Glastonbudget auditions, Rhett Barrow’s open-mic night, bands at The Shed, Clubs and Over The House at the Cookie, EdgarFest at the Soundhouse, Alligator and 8Miles High, City of \u00a0Ashes, Madam Fade, Satellite Empire’s anniversary show \u00a0at the Music Cafe, The Furies launch their album at the Firebug, Little Night Terrors at the Cookie, Jaws, Clubs and Hallowed People at The Soundhouse.<\/p>\n

Sunday 1st September<\/strong><\/p>\n

Flying Kangaroo Alliance Single Launch.<\/h2>\n

Keith Jobey reports from The Musician:<\/p>\n

\"Flying<\/a>
Flying Kangaroo Alliance at Phantomfest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As September moved in and Summer started to pass and \u00a0as my recent holiday faded into\u00a0the past, I\u00a0tried to motivate my Sunday, with some light. \u00a0\u00a0It shone from the\u00a0windows of the Musician as I approached it, and from that point I knew I was glad that\u00a0I had gone along to witness the Flying Kangaroo Alliance’s<\/strong> single launch.<\/p>\n

There were a lot of acts on the bill for a three hour gig, so there was no hanging about.\u00a0The night opened with some classic rock and roll blues from The Bobcats<\/strong>. Setting the\u00a0standard high for the rest of the acts that were to follow.<\/p>\n

Local legend Kevin Hewick c<\/strong>aptivated the audience with an acoustic set delivered\u00a0with great precision and deftness. A truly talented musician showing that age is no reason\u00a0to withdraw from the scene. Kevin revealed that he is a big fan of FKA, and speculated on a\u00a0great gig featuring them with Pale Faces<\/em>\u00a0and We Three <\/em>and The Death Rattle<\/em>. Sounded good to\u00a0me too.<\/p>\n

Kevin was quickly followed by Siobhan Mazzei<\/strong>. Thankfully talented enough to keep the ball\u00a0rolling, playing a lively acoustic set. And managing to shift a few copies of her album too.<\/p>\n

After Siobhan, \u00a0it was time to increase the volume of the gig as The Dedbeats<\/strong> took to the stage, led by another stalwart of the Leicester music scene, \u00a0Rhett Barrow. The grunge element of the\u00a0night started to awaken as they delivered a solid, enjoyable set.<\/p>\n

The final changeover of the evening was supplemented by some beatboxing. At times a little astray,\u00a0occasionally faltering, but a decent job was done of providing a little extra entertainment\u00a0while amps and drums were swapped on stage and guitars were tuned. Something different.<\/p>\n

Drawing the night to a close, the headline act, Flying Kangaroo Alliance<\/strong>.\u00a0I first saw FKA as a support act in the Autumn of 2012. Supporting is a tricky task.\u00a0The crowd generally aren’t there to see you or may not even bother getting there in time\u00a0to see you. But tonight FKA showed they didn’t care about that sort of thing and the\u00a0few of us who were there were given a great show.<\/p>\n

With two guitars and a thundering, rolling bass, their music is a touch heavy, a bit grungy,\u00a0with a little bit of punk added. It always includes plenty of variation which coupled with some\u00a0great song writing soon wins you over.\u00a0A little rough at times, they laugh off on stage errors, which is good. As a member\u00a0of the crowd, I can forgive a band a few errors. For the Musician gig though, they were \u00a0well rehearsed,\u00a0tight and benefited from a decent sound that came from playing at places like the Musician.\u00a0The set ripped along at a steady pace, slowing down for Prince of Darkness<\/em>, speeding up for\u00a0Mr Sic<\/em>, a string of fast, short, poppy, noisy, dark tunes, that gets the crowd dancing\u00a0and that to me, after seeing them half a dozen times, were already familiar.<\/p>\n

All to quickly, \u00a0it seemed, the last song was played. For this, Meri Everitt put down her guitar and gave full throttle\u00a0vocals to the song Feel Free<\/em>\u00a0with its anthemic, \u00a0sing-along chorus. A true classic (if an un-released\u00a0song can be called a classic.)\u00a0The reason for the gig was to officially launch their debut single, Hit The Wall<\/em>. Released\u00a0recently on Punk Fox label and available from their band camp page and Rough Trade records.\u00a0The single itself was a treasure … to me, all vinyl<\/em> is a treasure. The format appeals to\u00a0me more than CDs. Both those formats, and even cassettes beat digital downloads.\u00a0Vinyl is like your fine china – \u00a0delicate, precious, lovely. CDs are akin to the mug range, you get some nice mugs but some are just plain. Digital downloads are your styrofoam cups –\u00a0cheap, disposable and harmful. I don’t dislike downloads. I regularly listen to digital music, \u00a0out of convenience, but I prefer to have something physical in my collection too. Just to look at\u00a0and occasionally play, \u00a0when I want to indulge myself.<\/p>\n

Anyway, this vinyl is speckled green and\u00a0purple, with a picture sleeve and even a CD included for those who don’t own a record player.\u00a0So there’s no excuse for not buying it.<\/p>\n

The gig ended and I headed off home, speckled vinyl in hand, having seen five \u00a0great acts for just \u00a35 and\u00a0wondering if the dream gig Kevin Hewick mentioned will happen soon. I hope so.<\/p>\n

Follow The Flying Kangaroo Alliance on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tuesday 3rd September<\/strong><\/p>\n

Glastonbudget Festival Auditions at The Shed<\/h2>\n

The main room at the Shed venue filled up with fans anxious to show their support for the acts performing tonight in the hope of a place at Leicester’s biggest festival next year.<\/p>\n

Singer Matthew Bloomfield<\/strong> was there. See what we said about Matthew when he performed at the obs Unplugged show in 2013<\/a>. Follow Matthew Bloomfield on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From Derby a young band gave an amazingly good performance.\u00a0Parasight<\/strong>\u00a0put on a top-class performance. \u00a0I have seen bands twice their age play half as good as these young fellas. \u00a0Follow Parasight on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hallowed People<\/strong>, the four member indie band from Leicester, gave a set of set of bouncy indie numbers and they reminded me of the early days of Midnight Wire. Strewn with catchy breaks and twangy riffs their music went down well with the delighted audience. \u00a0They were finicky about technical issues, no bad thing maybe, and had a reasonably good stage presence, delivering their songs with commitment. Hallowed People on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tuesday 3rd September<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rhett Barrow’s open-mic night<\/strong> at the Soundhouse saw One Suspicious Monkey<\/strong> doing the featured act slot. OSM is a band with a difference; lead singer\u00a0Georgio Maroder has oodles of style and pizzazz \u00a0to front up the flamenco infused dark folk songs that have made the band famous on the Leicester scene. \u00a0Drawn from both Leicester and Nottingham the seven members of the band are nothing if not stylish and the music they produce is far out of the ordinary. People who like their music with full-on flavour love this band. One Suspicious Monkey on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Others on stage tonight included singer Mary-Anne Ratcliffe<\/strong> and Nancy Dawkins<\/strong> was also in the house. The evening finished with an impromptu jam session; gathered on stage was a group of talented musos including Rhett,\u00a0Ciara Green Fly (with her whistle), Mary-Anne, Sam Winterton, Jesse Wright and a few more for one hell of a good Jam. This is a ‘moment’ in the live music of Leicester and it was all about the luck of being in the right place at the right time – but man, was it good. \u00a0I would like to say more of this<\/em> but it’s rarity was what made it special.<\/p>\n

Friday 6th September<\/strong><\/p>\n

More Shed; upstairs more Glastonbudget auditions – this time with hard rockers Four Point Oh <\/strong>and\u00a0The Unknown<\/strong>. Downstairs in the basement a group of bands were having a rave up with Project Mischief<\/strong>, Piezo<\/strong>, Fractions<\/strong>, Headwire<\/strong>, My Legacy<\/strong> and Entity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Friday 6th September<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the Cookie Jar music fans had gathered to see Hallowed People, Clubs and Over The House.<\/p>\n

Clubs<\/strong> is a band I have kept missing so tonight I made sure I was there. With lead singer Chris Pandit (ex Panda Youth) backed by a squad of good musicians, Clubs set off on a set of cool, smoothly glassy tunes and foot-tapping rhythms. Chris has stood out for some time as being a distinctive band singer and the cleverly constructed songs built up their dynamics and passion. The sound of Clubs was rich in colour and full of musical invention. \u00a0With plenty of catchy breaks and clappy passages, they kept the momentum going. \u00a0They played their song Velvet<\/em> (listen to it on Soundcloud<\/a>) and this if what they are all about. Colour<\/em> is another song they did tonight with its snare-drum marching intro. Clubs’s progressive indie sounds have strong, stompin’, clappy beats laced with intricate guitar riffs soaring over a crashing backline in a set that was varied in pace and style. As a mate said to me “it’s like Kings of Leon’s fourth album.” [Only By The Night<\/em>, that’s the one with Sex On Fire<\/em>.] I got what he meant. Follow Clubs on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over The House<\/strong> headlined the show to celebrate the release of their new single. \u00a0Upbeat, dancy songs were soon vibrating into the room with vocals from Ieuan Jones. All very immediately compelling. \u00a0Performing in front of thickly-packed throng of fans, it was good to note some prestigious rockerati<\/em> in the house (always a good sign when members of bigger bands go to a gig to check out what’s going on.) \u00a0Songs with ear-grabbing melodies and cantering beats got the crowd going. Brisk, ear-pleasing and tuneful, summoning up The Kooks, The Libertines and Arctic Monkeys. Pretty good happy stuff. Over The House on Facebook<\/a> and listen to Break Me Out<\/em> on Soundcloud<\/a>. See what we said about the band’s EP Bonfires<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Saturday 7th September<\/p>\n

EdgarFest at the Soundhouse<\/h2>\n

The charity show held at the Soundhouse featured a line-up of really good singers, groups and bands. \u00a0Here are a few that we saw:<\/p>\n

Slide show from Flickr<\/p>\n