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PLAYING OUT LOUD!
REVIEWS
Gig Reviews -
CD Reviews
Gig Reviews
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Ian Hunter & The American Rant Band,
The Brook, Southampton - 31/5/05.
 Last
time Ian Hunter played The Brook, was back in ’97 as part of The Artful Dodger
tour, when Ian was getting back to performing on a regular basis and getting
over the death of his long-time partner Mick Ronson. Eight years later, and with
The Brook recently refurbished, Ian still looks identical with his trademark
curls and shades. This time he is back with an all-American band, including two
new lead guitarists - Mark Bosch from Brooklyn and James Mastro from Hoboken,
New Jersey.
This is the final gig of Ian’s 29-date tour of Europe, and despite suffering
from a cold and sore throat, Ian comes on and gives his all. Starting with “Hymn
For The Dudes”, he doesn’t give the audience time to chill before launching into
the rocker “Lounge Lizard”, which is featured on the recently released 30th
Anniversary edition of his debut solo album “Ian Hunter”. “Once Bitten Twice
Shy” is next, which showcases the band’s immense talents. The band are in high
spirits and you can see the audience are lapping up every minute. The set
consists of several Mott The Hoople songs as well as Ian’s own material from his
long and successful solo career. The Brook has a small stage so Ian has to be
content with sitting on the far right of the stage at piano giving a rare outing
to songs such as “Marionette” and “All American Alien Boy”, during the second
half of the show.
Ian has lived in the USA since 1975 but he still retains his love/hate
relationship with the UK as demonstrated in his last album called “Rant”,
several tracks being featured tonight. A solid 2 hour set with two encores
proves why Ian Hunter is still at the top of his game after 40 years in the
business. His recently released DVD “Just Another Night” recorded last year at
London’s Astoria is selling well and is being bought by fans old and new.
Andy Burton, Steve Holley and Graham Maby complete the lineup and we were
treated to a special guest appearance by Mick Ralphs, the founder member of Mott
The Hoople and Bad Company. Closing the set with “A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley
Square” (his mum’s favourite song) proves just how versatile Ian is, having also
done the blues classic “Road House” earlier.
If only some of today’s younger bands were as good as Ian Hunter, the music
business would be a lot healthier than it is. Review by
Ellen Holbrook
Brian McFadden, Portsmouth Guildhall -
30/5/05
 Performing
to a compact crowd of 600, the Irish band Zoo opened the evening to an audience
who were already in fine voice. Following Zoo came the second support band Fleet
who certainly enlivened the stadium. Not keeping the fans
waiting long, ex-Westlife singer Brian McFadden came bouncing on stage wearing a
glittering Guns N’ Roses T-shirt, looking very casual. Bursting into the opening
“Irish Son” the audience were already up and dancing before Brian
reached the first chorus. Stopping the band, Brian announced: “Seats are for
handbags and coats, not for bums - get up!” to the crowd who were still seated.
“Walking Disaster” and “He’s No Hero” followed, then came a change of tempo as
Brian sang “Out of The Game,” a song written by him and very much influenced by
his ambition of “always wanting to be a cowboy.” After a couple of
ballads, “Be True To Your Woman” and “Pull Myself Away” Brian thanked the fans
for their support over the last year and dedicated his favourite Westlife song
“Flying Without Wings” to each and everyone. Brian then invited an excitable fan
on stage to duet with him on a song he usually sang with Delta, but she was too
overwhelmed and instead of singing, declared her love to Brian, who managed to
sing a couple of lines before giving up on the idea.
Back to the setlist, and a few songs later Brian admitted that “Mustang Sally
was the first song he had sung in public at a karaoke bar. My favourite song of
the evening, Brian sang it well with his sexy, husky voice taking me by
surprise. After Brian closed the set with his first solo single “Read To Me,”
the crowd went wild, calling him back to sing “Uptown Girl.” Despite the
surprising volume of the crowd, I would still describe the evening as intimate,
filled with interesting stories and the chance to hear all Brian’s hits. I would
like to add my personal thanks to Brian’s number one fan Leanne Giles who helped
me create this review. Thanks Leanne! Review & photo by
Claire Edwards
Supergrass, Portsmouth Pyramids -
29/5/05.
 Just
when you think the Pyramids can’t fit any more people in, more fans squeeze
through the door. The atmosphere is calm and it feels like it’s going to be a
relaxed gig. Then all of a sudden Supergrass come on stage, and everybody pushes
to the front, and you can tell you are in for a good time. The energy levels
soar, and the band’s instant interaction with the audience is great.
They start with a terrific crowd-pleasing song”Lenny” and the sound pounds
through you, commanding you to dance and have a good time. Supergrass followed
with an amazing rendition of “Caught By the Fuzz.”
The fantastic thing about this band is the power and energy they put into their
songs. “Pumping On Your Stereo” was another crowd-pleaser with the audience
singing one of the choruses. It really sounded like the band were playing for
you, and not because they were promoting a new album, because they weren’t.
Every song they played sent the audience into a frenzy. When they encored with
“Grace” and “Strange Ones” a sadness washed over me - I didn’t want to go home
yet. Seventeen songs and I still hadn’t had enough - I just wanted to watch this
amazing bad play all night. But it wasn’t just about singing, Supergrass can all
play their instruments too, with big instrumental solos a feature of their act.
A powerful band with a great stage presence and such a raw ability to play -
what a fantastic performance! Review by Tara Knight -
Photo by Claire Edwards
Girls Aloud, Portsmouth Guildhall -
24/5/05.
 The
atmosphere inside and out of the venue was electrifying.
I expected just to see
young children with their mums going in, but no, I was surprised to see people
of all ages and genders arriving. The girls were signing autographs before going
on stage, which was great for the fans.
Nadine, Cheryl, Kimberley, Sarah and Nicola opened a great performance with “The
Show” and the power behind the rendition promised that yes, we were going to get
a good show. They played songs from their current album :”What Would The
Neighbours Say?” but the album doesn’t reflect their considerable vocal
abilities.
Not many mainstream girl bands can sing live, but these girls can.
They are passionate and energetic, they clearly love what they do, and it
showed. They can dance too, looking fab throughout their dance routines, but it
wasn’t all about energetic dancing. They slowed the tempo down for a few songs,
including “Deadlines and Diets” before coming back to life with “Love Machine.”
In a 90-minute performance they managed to fit in three costume changes and
15 songs including awesome covers of “Girls On Film” and “Teenage Dirtbag” and I
just couldn’t fault them. The songs retained their original vibrancy, but Girls
Aloud managed to put their own individual stamp on them. It was great to hear
their most famous songs like “Jump” and “Girls Aloud” get the time that they
deserved without being rushed in any way. Finishing on “Sound of the
Underground,” the song that
 shot them to fame on “After Popstars - The Rivals”
they showed that they knew what the crowd wanted and gave it to them.
Fantastic performances, amazing talent and real ability to sing live was what we
got from Girls Aloud. A good night was had by all. Review
by Tara Knight - Photos by Claire Edwards
CD Reviews
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Shawn Jones. All In Good Time.
 High
Drive. Running time: 51:45
California man Shawn Jones recently impressed at the Talking
Heads in Southampton, and if this album doesn’t contain the excitement of a live
gig, it certainly represents the work of a very talented singer-songwriter.
Shawn composed all but one of the 11 tracks here, and with the help of BJ Rogers
on drums, Will Macgregor on bass and his own dynamic guitar playing he has
produced a fine album. Bluesy, soulful and rootsy, most of the songs are about
love and relationships, sung in intense fashion by Shawn. Some of the
arrangements are very Eric Clapton-ish, which is not a criticism! Stand-outs
include “I Can’t Help Myself” and “There Was You” and the closing “My Best
Friend,” a touching
tribute to Shawn’s Dad Danny who died eighteen months ago. Excellent.
Dave Gibb. Blood & Flame.
 POMCDO4.
Running time: 50:32
An impressive collection of a dozen songs mostly of a historical
nature by Scottish folk singer-songwriter Dave. I had not heard of him before
receiving this CD for review, but I was seriously impressed. An exquisite
guitarist, a straightforward and unpretentious singer and a gifted songwriter,
these stories in song are of a very high standard. In fact there is not a dud
track on the album. I particularly liked “Into Paris With Me” a very evocative
song about a recruiting sergeant, and “Caravaggio’s Eyes.” Clever lyrics
throughout from the opening “London Town” to the closing “Alright With Me” and
some masterly guitar playing. Totally compelling.
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Bellowhead
Crawley Folk Festival, Sussex Sunday June 26
Bang Lassy
The Plough, Tiptoe Sat June 25 & The Dolphin, Southampton Thurs June 30
Taj Mahal & many other blues acts
various venues throughout June
Towers of London The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth Tuesday June 7
Los Albertos
Talking Heads, Southampton
Sat June 18
Marieanne Faithfull Salisbury Festival Saturday June 11
Christina Jackson Salisbury Arts Centre, Salisbury
Sat June 30
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