Pea Sea / Silver Fox / Wilt Wagner - Live at The Cluny 2, Newcastle

Up on the hill, the Cumberland is alive with unapologetic derivatives Holy Moly & The Crackers and celebrations of a long Summer eve. As I trip down the steps from the party, I wonder: who will be persuaded inside the Cluny 2 on a night like this?

When Wilt Wagner (Michael J. Patterson) takes to the stage, a handful of people are there to watch. He nonchalantly intersperses drinking beer from a can whilst meandering naive keyboard melodies over gentle beats. The instrumentals are complimented with live vocal noises and the use of taped sounds.

At the changeover, Silver Fox huddle around an archaic keyboard, trying to resuscitate it. Problems are sorted, and the cheeky grins return to the faces of this quartet as they treat us to a healthy amount of newer material, whose soul is still firmly primitive and honest. 

Chris Rollen's band Pea Sea casually assemble on stage instilling anticipatory silence across the room. A vintage-style microphone colours our singer's voice in a subversive opener before he ditches it and follows up with his latest single, 'Inconceivable.'  Tim Greaves broadens the sound with clarinet throughout. The set moves between his variety of rock 'n' roll and quieter songs, such as Charlemagne. At the close, an encore is mightily demanded to which our band appease. 

[2013.05.19] for NARC Magazine.

Serengeti - Kenny Dennis LP - Album Review

"It's a metaphor for life.You gotta get up and do something!" A message from the 50 year old protagonist in the first track of Serengti's sequel to the Kenny Dennis EP. It certainly supports a remit for the Anticon record label from which he has been a member of since 2009. Serengeti's contributions to this family give a warmth and lighter humour than you might find in other residents' outputs. These songs lovingly describe the anecdotes and philosophies of our fictional moustached subject Kenny Dennis, using simple repeated phrases in amongst fuller raps, performed in character. Occasional tracks are straight, instrumentally-supported monologues. The fluffy crackly beats are provided by label staples, Jel and Odd Nosdam. Each re-listen feels like a return to a favourite photo album.

[2013.05.19] for NARC Magazine.

Tom McRae - Live at The Sage, Gateshead

As the final red sunset of the Bank Holiday weekend burns through The Sage's glass exterior, smartly-dressed families and couples peruse the merchandise stand. With options such as Tea-Towels with lyrics on, and Baby T-shirts, there seems to be a harmony between the artist and audience as to what point in life they have reached together. 

Numbers are considerably reduced in Hall 2 as SWANN (a trio realising singer-songerwriter Chloe Swann) open proceedings. She performs haunted by the spirit of Nico and with her last note applause registers far beyond politeness. 

The room fills up, and McRae walks on to hearty applause. The tone is set with Lately's All I Know, balancing well-written songwriting with performance tricks from a seasoned sleeve. Along with the dry-wit of his miserablist introspection, he bonds 99% of the audience. Sadly one attendee may have enjoyed too much sun over the weekend and chose to bellow along with every word; the excellent acoustics of the room meaning often they were as loud as McRae. He was humble in trying to diffuse the sabotage, but sadly the etiquette took a duration for them to learn, in spite of the crowd and himself opposing it more and more pointedly. In closing, McRae acknowledged such challenges as part of a live experience, and the audience were admiring of the bravery he showed throughout the show.

[2013.05.06] for NARC Magazine.