Listen With Monger/Lost In the Manor presents #Blogtober
live at The Finsbury, London – 23/10/2016
So here’s the premise – the fine
people at Lost in the Manor PR wanted to put on 31 consecutive nights of live
music in October, make it all free entry and pay all the artists with each
night being curated by a different music blog (or ‘tastemaker’ as is the
parlance these days). Listen With Monger was asked to be involved and that was
an opportunity not to be turned down so along I trotted to the Finsbury venue
in North London with five of my favourite UK acts in tow and a fairly heavy
Westcountry influence as is my wont. What follows is an account of what
happened next and be warned, it was glorious.
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| Rosa Belle |
In a room lit only by the stage
lights in the corner and swirling with dying embers of dry ice, a diminutive
figure sits on the stage, nervously clutching an acoustic guitar. This figure
is 19-year-old Rosa Belle and on a
Sunday evening in late October she seems fragile, tiny and unaffected by the
darker side of the music industry – in short I’m a little nervous for her.
Then, with a couple of strummed chords and a deep intake of breath, Rosa Belle
starts to sing and tell her stories with the most soulful, perfectly pitched and
dusky voice that filled the room like a warm fire on a cold evening. Original
compositions sat easily alongside covers of Blackstreet’s ‘No Diggity’ and Sam
Sparro’s ‘Black & Gold’ as Rosa Belle chatted with the audience like a
nervous first timer before unleashing song after song of polished, accomplished
and velvety smooth acoustic soul-pop that started the evening off perfectly.
Impossibly young and improbably talented.
Devon lad Jamie Yost was up next and this was his first ever London
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| Jamie Yost |
show so
there was a certain amount of pressure on the young man’s shoulders as he
hunched, unassumingly, over his guitar in that unapologetic spotlight. Sparse
but shuddering guitar notes broke the silence and then that voice came over
loud and clear through the night air. Soulful, for sure, but there is a
maturity and depth to Yost’s voice that belies his few years and sits more
comfortably alongside old Bluesmen singing from the corners of smoke filled
bars down the years. A well placed cover of Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna
Come’ didn’t miss a beat as Yost showed the audience what can be achieved with
just a guitar, a voice and sense of passion. Then, as if he were readjusting
his hat, Yost slid that guitar down on to his lap and strummed, slapped and
knocked the crap out of it like a man trying to get a radio to work with an
increasing sense of frustration but the sound was sublime and the reaction from
the audience was triumphant.
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| Seaker |
After some stage rearranging, the
quartet Seaker opened their set and
mood changed – not for the better or for the worse, it just changed. Frontwoman
Kiran dressed all in black captained her crew from the control panel of her
keyboard as they steered through the kind of musical landscape that is, in
equal parts, ethereal, precise, organic and genetically modified. Vocals that
filled the tall room, guitars that bounced and clanged of the walls and drums
that pushed and challenged at every turn all combine to make a sound so utterly
perfect that it should be getting more than the few meagre airplays it has had
on national radio. Comparisons could be drawn to the XX, Florence + The Machine
or Bat For Lashes but this would only a lazy comparison when the live
experience is so singularly unique. Seaker are a game changing band and are so
much greater than the sum of their parts.
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| Pattern Pusher |
The four gents who take to the
stage next could be described as unassuming or non-descript at the best
of times but despite appearing from the back of the stage through a tiny door,
Exeter’s Pattern Pusher didn’t
exactly give you the ‘wow factor’ when they arrived onstage at the Finsbury.
Roughly 15 seconds later, however, the wow arrived. With the two main
protagonists side on to the audience and duelling with their selected weapons
of keyboards, guitar, vocals and a big box of gadgetry, we are treated to a
visual and sonic onslaught of wondrous proportions. Sure, Hot Chip, Everything
Everything, Dutch Uncles and LCD Soundsystem elements are evident but despite
the calculated nature of this music, there is something soulful, something guttural
coming from within these four gentlemen which is absolutely encapsulating. Recent
single ‘Layla and Madman’ is still the standout track in the set but the
overall energy, boundary pushing bravery and genuine enthusiasm for their art
is infectious and by the time the set comes to a triumphant close, Pattern
Pusher have converted the congregation to their religion….whatever that may be.
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| Berries |
The final act on stage tonight
are one of those bands that just makes you sit up and pay attention within
seconds of hearing them play. The all-female London based threesome Berries have a raw energy and power
that hits you at first but they follow it up with superb melodies, sweet
harmonies and hooks that you just can’t shake off. The power trio played off
the energy that had already been built up in the room and occupied that space between
Biffy Clyro, Young Knives and Veruca Salt that nobody else has bothered to even
try occupying before. Recent singles ‘Siren’ and ‘Written In Paint’ were
present and very correct which bodes well for the forthcoming new EP but what
really struck home was how skilled they were at performing these intricate
tracks without turning in to the kind of navel gazing band that leaves an
audience cold. As the lights refracted off the cymbals and the guitarist and
bassist swirled whilst maintaining note perfect precision I don’t think there
was a single doubt in the room that we were in the presence of something more
than a little bit special.
And then it was over. Months of
anticipation and preparation, an evening of serious talent and good vibes, the
start of a number of musical adventures and proof, if it were needed, that live
music is not quite dead just yet. The crowds drifted away in to the cool night
air with a new musical love in their hearts and Listen With Monger prepared for
the long journey back to the wiles of Cornwall with a slight sense of
satisfaction but also a very real determination that this wouldn’t be the last
show this blog curates. Watch this space…
More information:
Pattern Pusher: https://www.facebook.com/patternpusher/?fref=ts
Rosa Belle: https://www.facebook.com/musicrosabelle/?fref=ts