By Darren Grayer.
As the summer festival season draws to a close, local venues are gearing up to welcome touring artists back to the south coast and its neighbouring cities. Already, there is an impressive list building that will give music lovers of all persuasions plenty of choice, with gigs coming thick and fast.
In fact, there is something happening virtually every night for the foreseeable future across our local venues.
In the first of a monthly update through the autumn and winter, here are a few personal picks that will hopefully encourage folk to visit our excellent grassroots music venues.
It might be that you discover something new or just enjoy an artist you are already familiar with, but as someone who has been watching live music for the last 45 years, I still find it exhilarating and good for general wellbeing, and nearly always great value for money.
Right from the start, September offers some excellent nights out. None more so than Wednesday (2nd) when The Courettes (pictured below) visit The 1865. I can’t recommend seeing this band enough. Husband and wife duo, Martin and Flavia Couri produce explosive wall of sound garage rock. The Ronettes meet The Ramones, with Flavia exuding all the cool traits of Poison Ivy Rorschach from The Cramps, with trademark guitar playing crowd-surfing included.
If that’s not enough then the music of David Bowie will surely provide a memorable night on Wednesday 9th, at the same venue. Holy Holy celebrate an incredible legacy with a band that includes Bowie’s legendary producer Tony Visconti, and Woody Woodmansey, who provided drums on Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, and Aladdin Sane. Heaven 17’s Glenn Gregory provides vocals on what is apparently the last chance to see this line-up that have toured regularly in recent years.
There is a very pleasant afternoon in store at The Brook on Sunday 6th. The Listening Garden provides the first in a series of carefully curated sessions that puts the focus on songwriting, the performance and the connection between artist and audience.
In collaboration with Pink Skies, there is a hugely impressive line-up that features Lucy Kitchen (pictured top), Louis Brennan, Sorrel Nation, Ella Clayton, Laura Reznek and Night Flight. An absolute must for fans of folk and country rock.
Music in the City provides one of the highlights of the year on Saturday 12th. A free music festival featuring 400 artists across 60 of the city’s venues and pubs/bars. See their website for full listings. What more can you ask for?
American folk artist Laura Veirs makes a very welcome appearance at Papillion on Thursday 17th. About to release her 14th studio album, Veirs has produced work of consistently engaging quality, as well as a successful collaboration with k d lang and Neko Case.
Saturday 19th throws up a really interesting night at newly refurbished The Joiners, with Scottish Hebridean artist Colin Macintyre playing an intimate gig celebrating the release of his new novel, An Island Burning, and a new album under his recording moniker, The Mull Historical Society, a name he borrowed 25 years ago from his homeland.
Macintyre is a seriously talented chap – he is an award-winning songwriter, musician, producer, author, playwright and educator, who has released 10 albums and published 5 novels. Described by Rolling Stone Magazine as ‘One of the best British songwriters to emerge this century,’ and by Irvine Welsh as ‘one of my favourite songwriters of all time’. The Joiners hosts so many special nights, and this will be another.
The same venue hosts another night championing local bands on Thursday 24th. Headliners, Hot Sauce are fresh from appearing at St Mary’s stadium supporting McFly and now they have the chance to play their hi-energy alternative indie pop to a more intimate audience. Support comes from two more local bands, Cheap Street and Sugar Bang.
Liverpool 5-piece The Dream Machine celebrate the release of album number three with a visit to Heartbreakers Bar on Friday 18th. Expect a set full of 60s influenced beat pop and psychedelia that draws comparison to their Wirral neighbours, The Coral.
To be fair, there are a number of gigs at Heartbreakers throughout the month that champion up and coming and just under the radar artists, including Scottish two-piece Man Of Moon, who cross pollinate genres with a sound influenced by Mogwai, Tool, Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails.
Also worth catching on Tuesday 29th is Frances of Delirium, whose infectious blend of guitar driven melodic indie pop/rock is perfectly showcased on her latest album, Run, Run Pure Beauty. It’s full of toe tapping tunes and beautifully delivered vocals.
As suggested, these are hand picked gigs, so please check out the listings from all venues, as there is something to cater for a wide range of musical tastes. You don’t have to take my recommendations!
If you have a gig coming up over the next few months, please feel free to get in touch with us at In Common (editor@in-common.co.uk) and we’ll do our best to include it in any future communications, as our aim is to support the fantastic music community that exists locally.
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