This past Friday night, Guildford’s residents were offered a prime opportunity to catch three fascinating acts in the act of creating incredible music. It’s rare to experience a gig crammed this full of uncategorizable music – but then, the Boileroom isn’t your average venue. Kudos first has to go to the booking brains behind this show; that kind of talent isn’t Read more…
This show may have been a hard sell for a Sunday, but a sizeable portion of local music fans still made it down to the Boileroom for this show. Earlycomers were treated to Tusks (aka Emily Underhill), a recent discovery who is fast becoming Read more…
I love seeing musicians progress in leaps and bounds – and Andy Ruddy has done exactly that. The last time I saw him live, Andy Ruddy seemed reserved and nervous – but both qualities have now been completely eliminated, replaced by a confident and strong yet still warm and approachable presence. With a strong stage show, great songs in the singer-songwriter vein, and an album on the way, 2015 is looking very good indeed for Andy Ruddy.
Martin Harley is a local legend, and it’s almost criminal that Read more…
Although I enjoyed Red House Glory‘s Foo Fighters-esque radio-friendly rock songs and decent vocal harmonies, and Bridges deserve recognition for their frontman’s emotive vocals and their unorthodox harmony guitars, I have a few things to get off my chest not only about Cavalier, but bands who come from a music-school background in general.
First off, I should say that I come from that background too – I did four years at ACM, and although when I put it that way it sounds like a prison sentence, it really Read more…
Tuesday was a good day until I got to this show and realised it had started earlier than predicted, and I’d missed not only openers Sutek, but also one of my favourite new bands of math-metal maniacs, Let’s Talk Daggers. Sad face indeed. Still, Swim Good soothed my cravings for complex tunes with a loose but still awesome set. These guys can do no wrong, even when beset by technical issues. They really are that goddamn good. Happy face: restored for the rest of the night.
Yearbook (think a pop-punk Reuben augmented by the occasional bit of fancy guitar work) never fail to Read more…
Although The Tens do possess plenty of heart, balls, and swagger, they’re currently still at the stage where their instruments own them, rather than the other way around. With more practice (as in “Spending more time beating the living crap out of their instruments” rather than “Studiously woodshedding a path to NoSoulVille”), the Tens will eventually become serious hard-rocking badasses. For now, though, they still need more time to develop.
Kagoule started off sounding like Placebo’s musical test-tube baby (a really cool move) before Read more…
Although it may seem unusual, indie music venues often host a wide range of alternative, non-musical events. Some are entertainment-focussed (comedy, spoken word and poetry evenings); some promote a variety of artistic pursuits (painting, sculpture, tattooing, etc); and others explore intellectually simulating topics via conversations and debates. Sometimes the above are combined with an educational component, enabling newcomers to a given field to get to grips with something intriguing yet alien to them.
Most of those options seem safe on paper, but intellectual conversations and debates can be a pretty intimidating proposition at the best of times. One would expect participation to require Read more…
LA hardcore band lives double life as a mariachi group. Sounds like sacrilege – until you bear in mind that hardcore pioneers Black Flag were experimenting with spoken word and jazz fusion as far back as 1984. Does purity belong in punk? More to the point, who the fuck Read more…
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Of all the shows I caught during Independent Venue Week, Jamie Lenman’s Saturday night acoustic set at the Boileroom in Guildford most effectively captured the community spirit celebrated by IVW. Intimate, emotional, and packed with Lenman fans old and new, it was a genuine experience made truly special by Read more…
After the previous evening’s You Me At Six-centric pop-rock extravaganza, Guildford was in need of something a little more low-key this past Saturday night. Fortunately the Boileroom’s booking team had it covered, offering acoustic vibes from two underground talents and one certain legend; a perfect contrast to the full-on mainstream rock angle taken just 24 hours before.
Lee Martin got things off to a quirky and passionate start with Read more…