Monday, February 16, 2015

Live Review - Nambucca Launch Night

Kazzey + Lewis Olden + Web Sheldon + Bones + The Librarians + The Carnations at Nambucca Launch Party, Sat 14th Feb 2015.

If there's one thing I *won't* be doing the night before a gig again, that is going out on a drinking session - of any size or variety. Although in fairness, the Friday night drinks were meant to be 'just one or two'.  Famous last words.  By the time Saturday night I arrived, I was still feeling pret-ty delicate.

Kazzey @ Nambucca. 14th Feb 2015.
Luckily for me, we had a gentle start to the night with the soothing voice and free spirited indie pop of Kazzey.  His songs had catchy melodies, interesting chord structures and some memorable hooks too.  In particular I remember the song with the line 'so so so so so cute' because the chords in that part had me hooked, and then a song where he would stop playing and talk for a second - I like random stuff like this! He's recording his debut single at the moment and planning on a string of single releases going forward.  A website is on its way soon too, but in the mean time you can follow him on his Soundcloud and Twitter accounts.








Lewis Olden @ Nambucca. 14th Feb 2015.
Lewis Olden was the next man up with his distinct swaggering singing style, stories about every day life and his quick paced acoustic accompaniment. I particularly enjoyed his song with the line 'freedom is never free'.  I'm trying to listen to his Soundcloud account at the moment to find the song name but the Starbucks internet is not being my friend.  You can check out all his songs online here though on his Soundcloud account or follow him on Twitter.









Web Sheldon @ Nambucca. 14th Feb 2015.
Next up was me (Web Sheldon). I started off with a song from last autumn called P's & Q's - it's not a song that will be on my EP but it usually goes down well live and I thought this indie-side of my electro would fit in well for this night.  The rest of the set was all songs from the EP including the trip-hop/dub/turkish influenced 'Purple Steeple', about my love of life in the city.

If you liked my set, go and be a fan of my Facebook music page - and help me boost my likes to 1,000 before the end of the year! ;-)






Bones @ Nambucca. 14th Feb 2015.
Bones @ Nambucca. 14th Feb 2015.




















I grew up on rock and female singers.  And even though I don't listen to quite so much rock nowadays, Bones completely blew me away.  For 3 people, the sound was massive, hard hitting, and the kind of stage presence where you stop 'watching' and find yourself just enjoying the experience with the band.  One thing I'd already noted during the gig was how together they sounded - in terms of the written parts they were playing and how they performed and bounced off one another. I found out afterwards it was the drummer's first gig with them.  I would have had no idea.  If you get chance to see them live, DOIT. Next London gig: Friday 20th February at The Monarch. They also have a couple of songs up on Soundcloud: Bones (UK).

The Librarians followed on from Bones.  I was listening to a Soundcloud playlist of the bands in the week leading up to the gig and one of their tracks 'The Ballad Of Carl' had been spinning around my head on repeat, so I was hoping that hearing it live might get it out of my head! Unfortunately not. lol I'm not complaining really though, I love that song!  It reminds me of the kind of vibe I felt when listening to The Libertines' first album, and the lead singer's voice (Thomas) fits well with this style.

The Librarians @ Nambucca. 14th Feb 2015.


What I found interesting about their set was how percussive lead the music was - lots of drums driving the songs and being a prominent feature - I liked this element of The Librarians and it'll be interesting to see how it develops.

The Librarians @ Nambucca. Loving the smoke machine!















The headlining act was awesome London 4 piece band The Carnations.  The floor filled up quickly as these guys took to the stage.  For anyone who likes some good old fashioned rock 'n roll, you can't go wrong here.  Their music has got a very 60's vibe to it; they know what they're doing and they do it well. The crowd were loving it too; jumping, dancing and happily posing for drunken shots for the photographer.  Have a listen to their Soundcloud page here, close your eyes, and imagine you're listening to the radio in 1969 ;-) Next gig: The Dublin Castle on 21st February.

The Carnations @ Nambucca. 14th Feb 2015.

The Carnations (through dancing arms!) @ Nambucca. 14th Feb 2015.




















































That's all from me... my next gig is on Wednesday this week (18th Feb) at Roadtrip & The Workhouse in Hoxton.  I'm be continuing my 'Birthday Covers' thang by covering a Yoko Ono song for her 82nd birthday... See you there!

http://www.websheldon.com


Thursday, February 12, 2015

Gig Booked: St. Paddy's Day Bash @ Fiddler's Elbow, Camden

Just booked a gig for St. Paddy's Day at Fiddler's Elbow! I wanted to find a picture of Athlone with some Paddy's day celebrations (I used to live there) to put on the FB event but couldn't find anything at the moment...maybe I have some on my computer home.

More bands to be announced soon!

Facebook Event
Fiddler's Elbow Website

I found out on the venue website that it used to be called Old Mother Shipton and was built back in 1845.

This Old Mother Shipton girl sounds pretty interesting (see link above) - said to be a fortune teller/prophetess and possibly foretold the Great Fire of London.

I love stories of mystical people, prophecies etc.





Visit my Facebook Fan page here, I’m trying to get 1,000 likes by the end of 2015 :)

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

New Song - Electric Shock

I'm writing songs for my debut EP at the moment and this was one from the last few weeks too. As it grew up though, it started to veer more towards the house side of electronic music... so I let it follow its path as it wished (cos songs have rights too you know) ...but now it doesn't match the sound for the EP, so I'm letting it out into world all by its lil self...

There'll be a few more random tracks like this released before the EP comes out too :)

Lyrics:
I can see a power in you
I can see a life crushed by the outside
Ripping out your insides
I can feel a fire in you
You can feel it in yourself too      

New inception
Sparkle in the action
Electric shock inside
Prime connection
Deeper interaction

Simmering behind disguise


Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Gig & Music Preview: Nambucca Launch Party - Valentines Day

I'm playing a special event this Saturday to mark the launch of the live music venue Nambucca! It's gone through a massive refurbishment recently with a new stage and state of the art sound and lighting system.  It's free entry with bands all day and there's free drinks around too...

Click here to go to the Facebook Event Page

Get ready for the music on Saturday by listening to some of the bands playing here:




And here's a little more info about the bands (shamelessly copied from the FB event page.. thanks Zac lol)



"London-based quartet described as the "new Beatles" - in which case this must be the start of the "Thames sound". Like the Sixties never ended. Little Indie Blogs" Truly great band, their live set is a great experience.






As childhood friends returned from world travels and years partying at universities, The Librarians return with fresh vigour and new tales to tell. Heralding from a village where they roll cheese down a "hill", these boys will brighten up your earholes and certainly entertain you.






New band from London.









Electronic / Indie / Trip Hop artist and producer originally from Sheffield. Questioning the values of modern life; singing about everything from consumerism and religion through to casting a positive light on the default pessimism of city life.

http://www.websheldon.com
https://www.facebook.com/websheldonmusic



THE CHANCERS

South London four-piece fronted by Lewis Olden.










Friday, February 6, 2015

Next February Gigs!

I have 2 more scheduled gigs in February... I'll be posting a music preview soon for these gigs with Soundcloud playlists and/or music YouTube videos.

Saturday 14th February

Wednesday 18th February



Thursday, February 5, 2015

Gig Review @ Dublin Castle: Desert Sound Colony + Harripaul + Web Sheldon + The Takes + Grace Solero (4th Feb 2015)

I've been looking forward to playing The Dublin Castle ever since I moved to London - I always remembered seeing it on my visits to Camden and the name is pretty memorable too. I found out last night some of my early day heroes have played here too including Blur and Elastica.


Grace Solero & Web Sheldon @ The Dublin Castle, Camden. Weds 4th Feb 2015.
Grace Solero were the first band on last night - a London quartet playing dark rock with crunching guitars. I'll admit to being more a fan of female singers than male (well, thats the definitely the case according to my collection) and despite not listening to a lot of rock recently, a female lead singer in a rock band will always grab my attention.  Grace Solero were solid, passionate and had great stage presence; seeing Grace herself enjoy playing the show, it *almost* made me miss being a lead singer and not having to operate machinery or play instruments on stage, and just sing to heart's content.  I have to make an honourable mention to the awesome mic stand decorations (which I don't have a picture of *sob*) and sparkly silver electric guitar. You can buy their album 'Hundred Years Apart' here.




The Takes were up next! Their Facebook pages cites their influences as bands such as Arctic Monkeys and The Vaccines and I'd say that was a pretty fair description.  I liked the lead singer's vocal style; half talking, half singing sometimes and I enjoyed the melodies the lead guitarist was playing at the same time as the singer - kind of weaving around the melody and fitted nicely with the vocal.








Web Sheldon @ The Dublin Castle, Weds 4th Feb 2015
Next up was MEEEE - Web Sheldon.  I played a new song called 'Flow of Old Man Fate' which I was still writing yesterday morning lol It's going on the EP too - it's got a mixture of atmospherics from ambient synths and dark bass at the beginning through to a hip hop style chorus.  I was trying out a new thing last night where I cover a song by an artist whose birthday it is on the day of the gig.  Bit random.  Yesterday was the first one and it was Natalie Imbruglia's birthday so I covered Torn - which was quite a favourite of mine back in the day!  I love saying 'back in the day', but I always have to follow it up by singing 'hip hop has chaaaaaaaanged'. Ps. Thanks to the dancing girls at the front btw! :D







Harripaul @ The Dublin Castle, Camden. Weds 4th Feb 2015.




Harripaul were next on the bill and deservedly caused a good stir in the audience with their mixture of rock, soul, reggae and flying drum sticks.  I'm totally sold on the reggae style songs with these guys and I'd be well up for a full album like that.  It's so easy to do mediocre reggae, but no chance with these guys, they nailed it.  They had a new sound but still had the familiarity you feel with old classics. Strong and soulful vocal from the lead singer too.

I can't get the Reverbnation widget to work without sending my page crazy but you can listen to a good selection of Harripaul songs and buy their music here.


DSC @ The Dublin Castle, Camden. Weds 4th Feb 2015.




Headliners of the night were DSC (Desert Sound Colony).  I spent a good part of the night hanging out with these guys after the sound check, including a short but very chilly walk to visit the ONLY place to buy Falafel in Camden (King of Falafel).  What a sound set of guys to spend the evening with though! Following many months of rehearsal, last night was their debut gig.  The songs, originally written without a band, have since evolved and re-evolved over time to result in a more live approach to their ambient, psychedelic soundscapes. It's nice to here something a bit different, like these guys are doing - the music reminds me a little of Atlas Sound but more accessible.  You can buy their latest EP here.






And as for me now, I am hungover.  My first hangover since early December.  The pints were ice chilled and definitely hit the spot last night but this is a good reminder of how refreshing Dry January was!

Gig Booked! Nambucca (Archway, London) on Sat 14th February

More details to follow soon!

In the meantime, here's the Nambucca Facebook page.

Ohhh following my new idea of 'birthday covers', I better go and scan google to find out who has a birthday on this day!