Reviews

oriole

Once again Porter is packed to the rafters and I've finally done my research and found out why. Last nights performances were by musicians all within the same year group at university, the first year I believe, at least this what I've been told. Tonight is being put on by musicians within the second year and friends, tutors and students have all come along to support. The lovely Jenny Hall is up first, joined once again by her equally lovely violinist (see last wednesdays review). She was just as good as her performance last week and began with the song 'Reasoning'. Once again she was able to get complete silence in the place. This song has a great melody and I love the lyrics "people in everyday houses have had far worse luck than me". The song 'My Old Friend' was second containing that beautiful haunting violin melody at the beginning. This was dedicated to a guy who had basically been an ass to Jenny and then gone overseas and got very ill. The message ladies and gentleme! n...'bad things happen to bad people'! Anyway, the ever popular 'Somethings Gotta Change' was third. A very catchy number dedicated to 'the Flat Rats in 202 (?!) who helped me write it...if its crap its their fault!'...but its not so its all good! Jenny finished her very short set with 'Its A Long Way Home'. There was a cock up with the tuning of the guitar and violin in the middle but they began the song again and ended it very professionally. A nice performance and I like Jennys song more each time I hear them!

Carla Jae band were second. carla was on electric piano backed with drums and bass. The bassist providing a lot of backing vocals. They played a selection of soulful songs that lay very much in the 'popular' bracket. Their sound was extremely professional and Carla had a very powerful voice. I'm not sure how long they've been playing together but I got the impression that they must have had a lot of experience. In the first track she sang "How can you say that no emotion is fine?". This lead to a very upbeat and feel good song called 'All The Good Things' and the message "Do anything you want to do and make it true". A very mellow intimate song was third written by the drummer Blaine who played acoustic along with the bass player. This was a nice song containing the phrase "I'll be your saviour". Blaine returned to his position as did the bass player and they all played three more mellow and groovy tunes. Good band with a pro sound!

Its time for Superted! I hadn't heard of these guys but they were easily the best act of the evening. Great musicians and great showmen fronted by a very cool young Huey Morgan aka Mr Fun Lovin Criminal. I hate having to class music into a specific genre so I won't. They contained elements of ska, dub-reggae, funk, jazz and blues all fused together beautifully. Each musician played their own distinct role and alternated in displaying their own unique talents in small solos and jamming interludes. The band was made up of drums, a funky bass player, organ player, fantastic trumpet player and the frontman who also played electric guitar and some very cool solos with that. The first track contained some fast past ska vocals and a funky bassline making everyone want to get up and move. Before the second track the frontman encouraged more people to get up and have a boogie. Apparently when they played in Swindon there were people dry humping in the audience. Fantastic! Possibly an!  inspiration for the title of the second song 'All Down To You'. A very cool track with a reggae rhythm was third keeping everyone moving followed by a track with the lyrics "Need a reason to live for, need a reason to stay for, a reason that don't get me down". For the final track Jenny Hall joined them onstage for a song which I think was called 'Box Of Love'. Another reggae groove that went into a really fast bass line. Jenny got moving and sang along in the chorus. By the end of their short set there was a real party atmosphere going on. They had loads of energy and more importantly made you feel like grooving and having a good time. Look forward to seeing these guys again!

Finally we have Oriole, a band who I also reviewed last Wednesday. Consisting of keyboards, guitar, backing vocals and the lady previously in the red dress on vocals and acoustic. They played a set of jazz-tinged soulful grooves reminding me at times of artists such as Amy Winehouse. They began with the song 'Jimmy Says' before playing a set of chilled grooves dealing with love and loss. They played a song in the middle with some great lyrics that went "you've got a dirty little secret, it will follow you everywhere, I know what you've been doing, I know cos I'm already there". Last time I saw them there was a lot of chatter going on but tonight everyone was really into the music and they played a good set. I got a bollocking myself in the middle however for apparently giving them a crap review last time! I couldn't actually hear what the main complaint was and having re-read my last review I don't think it was a bad review. The front woman knew who I was because I was sat n! ext to her yesterday evening when I was writing Tuesdays review and she saw me this evening so it would have been nice if she had come over and said what she had to say face to face but nevermind! Music politics really is a load of crap isn't it?? Anyway a good performance and I enjoyed the music.

Ed Hutchinson