Skip to main content

Does anyone have a website anymore?

Another trip to Barfly on Saturday 21st, this time something of a box of treats! Main aim of the evening was to experience Mr cheeky chappy himself, Jack Penate, and a few bonuses thrown in too - for once, both of the support bands were really interesting.

First up, Penarth-born singer-songwriter Adele. Something of a stir in the media about Ms Adele, and with some reason, judging by her voice and humour. Barfly was sold out for the evening and quite a few people were already familiar with Adele's work, with a very enthusiastic reception to her set, which was unfortunately a bit shorter than we would all have liked! Well worth keeping in mind - for more information check out Adele's myspace.

Second up, Nottingham band Late Of The Pier. This was the real treat of the night, in between 2 quality acts, some real innovation and style. I'm not sure how to really describe them, but their influences - perhaps the Klaxons, Mistys Big Adventure, Goldfrapp and a touch of the Human League. We (and the vast majority of the crowd), after the initial bewildered faces, really enjoyed their set. This band are a definite must see, again, their myspace has more information.

After all the exhilarating support, I was almost disheartened after the 2 supports had done! No fear though, Jack Penate is a classy peformer. Somewhat obvious that the audience hung on his every word, but Jack has the banter of a seasoned performer, which is a refreshing change to quite a few up and coming artists, and has a very likeable persona. Single Spit at Stars started off his set, which was energetic and at points frenetic. Only contention, his set was only 45 minutes which does feel a little on the short side! Another myspace as well, and as a extra, there's a picture of the tour poster below.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Music, Poetry and Cake (Gateshead and Lanchester)

Piano at the ready! (by M) After a good few months prep, the concert Piano Music and Poetry (organised through the Gateshead Piano Workshop folks) came around pretty quickly. As one of the participants, I was excited and also a little nervous about the prospect of a Paying Audience. The work paid off, as all the performers were excellent! Well appreciated by the compact audience. The format was in relation to National Poetry Day which was on 2nd October. Each performer chose a poem either in direct or indirect relation to their piece. A summary of the programme: Alan - Liszt Consolation No 4 and Mozart Adagio in B minor Graeme - Chopin Nocturne Op. 62 No. 2 with 'Uncertainty' by Adam Mickiewicz me - Clara Schumann, andante con sentimento with 'Clara Wieck und Beethoven' by Franz Grillparzer Jim - R Schumann Kinderszenen 1 and 7 with 'My child, we were just children' by Heinrich Heine Ernie - Debussy Clair de lune with excerpt from 'Fêtes g...

Sounds of JUNOfest

Classical JUNOs performers Something of a musical melange weekend but an excellent set of events! Eschewing some of the bands and artists we knew, we chose less familiar sounds for our JUNOfest experience. First up was the Classical JUNOs in Concert event at the National Arts Centre , featuring both nominated performers and composers. The mix of contemporary music was brilliantly played by Christina Petrowska Quilico , Susan Hoeppner , Heather Schmidt and the New Orford String Quartet . Quilico amazed the almost 100-strong audience with her performance of Derek Charke's Sepia Fragments   in a reduction for piano; I found this piece a really captivating mix of earthly and ethereal elements. Quilico's second performance was of Ann Southam's Glass Houses No. 5 , an hypnotic piece which sounded both fiendishly difficult to play but also very clean and unembellished. Susan Hoeppner's excellent performance of Eldin Burton's Sonatina for Flute and Piano got the po...

Pigeon Funk

Notes on a very random purchase. Earlier today I acquired Venetian Snares 'Rossz Csillag Alatt Sz ü letett ' purely on the basis of the language and artwork. Its certainly something different - and most definitely not pop. After a bit of searching: Venetial Snares is, according to Wikipedia, the performing name of Aaron Funk, who seems to specialise in experimental tracks in odd time signatures. Article here . The sleeve notes for this album (whose title is Hungarian for 'Born under a bad star') poses the question: what if, for just a day, we could both be pigeons? Interessant. Apparently this concept (a day in the life of a Hungarian pigeon) is non-typical of Venetian Snares sound, but one could ask, does Mr Funk do 'typical'? On first listening, the sound of this CD mixes classical/traditional Hungarian sounds and breakbeats. but aside from that? Definitely a 'listen for yourself' artist; try the website , fan site or myspace .