{"id":15966,"date":"2019-01-11T15:44:48","date_gmt":"2019-01-11T15:44:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/?p=15966"},"modified":"2019-01-11T15:45:46","modified_gmt":"2019-01-11T15:45:46","slug":"2018review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/2018review\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Trevor Locke presents his selection of the shows that have taken place in Leicester over the past year.<\/p>\n

Gigs of the year<\/h2>\n

January<\/h3>\n

27th. Resin Events put on a show at Firebug, headlined by Ballsdeep. We said ‘There was an air of anticipation before Ballsdeep came on and it\u2019s safe to say they brought the house down. Their hard-hitting classic riffs got everyone headbanging and the entire venue was feeling it, feeling \u201cfunky\u201d as the lead singer put it. In-between songs there was a Ballsdeep chant that the band appreciated which was brilliant and funny at the same time! ‘<\/p>\n

February<\/h3>\n

25th. More metal to start the year. This time at Duffy’s bar with Event Horizon, Dawn of Anubis and Seven Hells.<\/p>\n

March<\/h3>\n

9th. Students took to the stage at Dryden Street for the Varsity battle of the Bands.<\/p>\n

April<\/h3>\n

17th. We previewed the Download festival.<\/p>\n

May
\n26th and 27th May. The days I spent at the Glastonbudget Music festival. Read my review of the whole event<\/a>.<\/p>\n

29th. The University of Leicester Big Band gives a superb concert at The Loaded Dog pub in London Road.<\/p>\n

31st. At BrewDog, Lee Spencer, Mark Elliott, Siobhan Mazzei, The Simpletones and The Brandy Thieves. A memorable show. As I said in my review, ‘What a night! What music! OK. I want you to imagine that you went to a show at a pub in Leicester and saw Ed Sheeran, Adele, The King\u2019s Singers and Gogol Bordello. Now that would be something! Well, tonight I did something similar. But better. ‘ Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n

June<\/h3>\n

8th – 10th. Download festival coverage.<\/p>\n

16th. Foxton Locks festival included live music. One of the stages saw a performance by local rapper Jonezy.<\/p>\n

29th. Scribble Victory played at the Soundhouse. We said ‘Seeing a performance by Scribble Victory is always one of the highlights of one\u2019s musical experience. There are but two musicians but together they deliver more than most groups of four or more. They both sing. Two beautifully harmonised voices.’<\/p>\n

July<\/h3>\n

6th. Jazz pianist Mike Sole gave a sensational concert at Attenborough Arts.<\/p>\n

August<\/h3>\n

10th. At the Soundhouse, Day of the Moon, Ohana, Kynch and Mellor give great performances. Of Mellor, we said ‘Taught, sharp, infectious, their songs bounced along with verve and vitality. ‘<\/p>\n

17th. At Duffy’s bar, a great show with Ohana, Event Horizon, and Smack Jack. ‘The night was headlined by Smack Jack & The Many Grams. I have come to admire their offering of memorable music. This is an outstanding band. They brought together a rich tapestry of riffs and rhythms. They mixed an intoxicating cocktail of musical ideas. ‘ We said about Smack Jack.<\/p>\n

31st. Midnight Wire headlined an amazing show at The Soundhouse.<\/p>\n

September<\/h3>\n

7th. The Shed with Brandon Neal, Not My Good Arm, 94 Gunships and Homeless Shakespeare.<\/p>\n

October<\/h3>\n

30th. Regent Jazz. Swing Gitan band gave an outstanding performance. One of the highlights of this year’s jazz programme.<\/p>\n

November<\/h3>\n

2nd. The Fazed played at the Shed with Midnight Wire.<\/p>\n

December<\/h3>\n

1st. Old-timers Crazyhead played one of their legendary gigs, this time at The Donkey.<\/p>\n

15th. Gazelle headlined a packed show at Dryden Street Social Club.<\/p>\n

22nd. Old-timers again, this time with Diesel Park West playing at The Musician with support from Ferris.<\/p>\n

Goodbye 2018<\/h3>\n

Various mates have said to me, over the past year, that the music scene in Leicester was at its lowest ebb this year, in the entire decade. I saw what they meant. Even so, the year has given us many memorable gigs, some of them sell-out events where the bands played to packed audiences. ‘New’ bands made their mark, this year. Bands such as Ohana, Finches of Attica, Smack Jack, Barracuda, and others.<\/p>\n

Old bands are still alive and kicking. Those that rose to fame in the 1980s are still around, still pulling big crowds and still showing that they have something to offer, decades later. Not just the bands. Solo singers like Steve Faulkner have been delighting audiences around these parts for decades. Siobhan Mazzei is still proving how much of a great singer and songwriter she is. So is Grace Petrie. Jonezy is keeping the flame alive for the hip-hop scene. Leicester is a city that has so much to offer. I have always said that. The diversity of our music scene is unequalled.<\/p>\n

Not just the live music but also the recordings. Leicester’s bands and artists continue to churn out a regular supply of singles, EPs and Albums. I did a couple of record reviews during the year, including the one I published in December<\/a>. Leicester is not just about rock and roll. Our city’s Jazz scene is also very enjoyable and, at times, exciting. Local jazz musicians have given some astonishing performances this year.<\/p>\n

Wherefore music journalism?<\/h3>\n

Great Central is a magazine focused on the arts, which includes music, of course. Last year they announced they were giving up the ghost; that’s how I read it. In October, editor John Helps stated \u2026 ‘November\u2019s issue of Great Central will be its last, with the website closing shortly after. ‘ There are still piles of the paper-based version going brown in various venues. Great Central is still online.<\/p>\n

Music In Leicester, however, is still thriving and added a new gigs listing system to its offerings. A new style, design and layout was formulated during the later part of the year, the new formulation going life early in 2019. Several new writers joined the editorial team. Me. I took something of a back seat this year but I continued to write my column reporting on the live shows I went to. Trevor’s column<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Review of the year 2018<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":14869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[179,54],"tags":[165,159,121,221,188],"class_list":["post-15966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-179","category-gigs-music-home-page","tag-duffys-bar","tag-festivals","tag-soundhouse-venue","tag-the-musician","tag-the-shed"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/IMG_8540.jpg?fit=1001%2C655&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73uhX-49w","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3789,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/fka-and-midnight-wire\/","url_meta":{"origin":15966,"position":0},"title":"FKA and Midnight Wire","author":"Trevor Locke","date":"13\/03\/2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Saturday 8th March 2014 Flying Kangaroo Alliance and Midnight Wire At Pi Bar. by Keith Jobey The sun has finally come out, temperatures are rising a little and it's the weekend. 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The Leicester singer had a strong voice that he used to good effect. Dean brought a bit of vocal magic to the opening of the show. His clearly articulated words made his songs very listenable.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2023"","block_context":{"text":"2023","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/Music\/2023\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/IMG_9904.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/IMG_9904.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/IMG_9904.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/IMG_9904.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29941,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/gig-review-ghost-dance-at-duffys-bar-saturday-6th-may-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":15966,"position":3},"title":"Gig review – Ghost Dance at Duffy’s Bar, Saturday 6th May 2023","author":"Kevin Gaughan","date":"07\/05\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"with Family of Noise and Gestalt Reviewed by Steven Hellyar Family of Noise is a fantastic band with two talented guitarists that really know how to put on a show. Their performance in Leicester was nothing short of amazing, with the atmosphere in the venue being electric from start to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2023"","block_context":{"text":"2023","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/Music\/2023\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_1590.jpg?fit=1001%2C667&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_1590.jpg?fit=1001%2C667&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_1590.jpg?fit=1001%2C667&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_1590.jpg?fit=1001%2C667&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30277,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/gig-review-soundhive-social-at-duffys-bar-thursday-9th-november-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":15966,"position":4},"title":"Gig review – SoundHive Social at Duffy’s Bar, Thursday 9th November 2023","author":"Kevin Gaughan","date":"18\/11\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"with Rhett Barrow, David Masson, Phillip Eldridge-Smith, Amy Dx and Kenton Hall Reviewed by Adam Piotrowski SoundHive Social on Facebook The first act of the evening will be a familiar face to Leicester music fans; Rhett Barrow has been on the scene for years, and you may have heard his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2023"","block_context":{"text":"2023","link":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/Music\/2023\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG_1140.jpg?fit=1001%2C667&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG_1140.jpg?fit=1001%2C667&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG_1140.jpg?fit=1001%2C667&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG_1140.jpg?fit=1001%2C667&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15753,"url":"https:\/\/www.musicinleicester.co.uk\/index.php\/preview-goatfest-at-duffys-bar-12th-january-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":15966,"position":5},"title":"Preview – Goatfest at Duffy’s Bar, 12th January 2019","author":"Kevin Gaughan","date":"31\/12\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Goatfest Duffy\u2019s Irish bar has become a surprising bastion for Leicester\u2019s thriving alternative scene. 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