The first band to grace the stage with their presence was Set No Sail. With almost zero crowd interaction and an audience that mainly consisted of the bands friends whose only purpose seemed to be to push people around and generally be as irritating as possible, it wasn’t the most enjoyable performance I’d ever seen. That being said, Elliot McAllister had a lovely voice and their sound really reminded me of bands such as Lower Than Atlantis. Although I didn’t think their performance was very good (which I don’t think they can entirely be blamed for) I think they are a band that are worth keeping an eye on.
Hugo Jackson
Then came Hugo Jackson’s one man band Shake and Shout. It definitely wasn’t the most thrilling performance I’d ever seen, but Hugo seemed very comfortable on stage and came across as a genuinely nice person which made it enjoyable to watch. The best song was a cover of Taylor Swift’s ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’, it captured everyone’s attention and had them singing along. Hugo also playing guitar for The Famous Class, who are also worth having a listen to.
Next was A Story To Tell, who seemed to have drawn a far bigger crowd than any band so far in the evening. Jack Wycherley (vocals) was the first to keep up good crowd interaction that night, and Chris Beale (bass/vocals) entertained the audience when he informed us he didn’t like his own song. They performed a beautiful cover of Goo Goo Dolls ‘Iris’ and all in all there wasn’t a fault to be found in their set.
Following them were Burn So Bright. It has to be said that unless you are Paramore or We Are The In Crowd it’s hard to be a female fronted band because they just don’t get the same kind of support as male fronted bands, so I tried to watch these with an open mind. However Burn So Bright are a band that that don’t seem to have anything special about them at all. Millie Peters (vocals) seems to focus most of her attention on her hand movements and throwing her hair about, she doesn’t really have a voice that’s enjoyable to listen to. The only thing that prevented them from being entirely boring was Matt O’Neill’s (guitarist) fantastically passionate performance, he appeared totally involved in his music and was so enjoyable to watch.
Charlie Robery
Finally it was time for The Ocean’s Eyes. This wasn’t a normal performance for them as it was Charlie Robery’s (bass) final show, so it was more of a farewell to him. Luke McInroy (vocals) was in a ridiculously hyper mood, dove into the crowd and ended up lying on the floor giggling like a mad man! It was an emotional performance, Andy Dutnall (guitar/vocals) gave Charlie a lovely farewell speech and they all lifted him in the air during their final song. As it was also meant to be the end of the world that night, they encouraged the crowd to go wild and dance/jump around, it was a crazy and amazingly enjoyable evening – as any gig that includes The Ocean’s Eyes is. I’m looking forward to hearing the new album (Luke informed me it’s going to be the most amazing 7 songs I’ve ever heard in my life so we should all have high expectations!) at some point in 2013!
TheMusicReview 