 Dr Shades gives good medicine! Dr Shades' Blues Band at The White Lion, St Albans on Sun 2nd Nov 08 | |
  Recently caught the Dr and his Blues Band on their very first outing at the White Lion in their home town of St Albans. A blues band in the true sense of the word with a classic 5-pc formation with the added bonus of a female lead vox. This lady can seriously sing. They haven't been together long but it didn't show at all. Nerves soon disappeared once they kicked off their set. Great guitar licks and subtle keyboard work complemented the solid back line. If you like your music blue and love to hear a band do justice to the classics from Etta James, BB, SRV and others then go and see Dr Shades for some foot stompin' fun! | |
| Dave R, Wed 5th Nov 08 | |
 Reply from Dr Shades' Blues Band: Thanx Dave R - we had great fun at our first gig - first of many we hope - next one at the Shades of Blues gig at the Maltings arts theatre on December 6th ! | |
| The Secret Set-list of Rocking Ray Rocking Ray at The Queens Head, Sandridge on Sat 18th Oct 08 | |
 Rocking Ray have developed a repertoire which is more like a recipe, and a guarded one at that: with some justification, as it is one of the keys to their highly involving performance. No, not involving as in they come down off the stage and make you sing into the mike - yeah, we like performance art, but we like you performers to do it! - but like finding your eyes glued to the guitarist's (Ray's?) fingers as he knocks out the chops and runs which populate a rock'n'roll or rockabilly song. It makes you want to ask for a masterclass. I'm sure you'd master Slash's style a lot quicker, but then you wouldn't be so entertaining afterwards either.
Many of the original writers or performers of the songs which the band plays are unknown names today, but they are songs recognised through having been covered by Dr. Feelgood or The Stray Cats, for instance. Others were famous, but you can't remember exactly who... It would have been Eddie Cochrane then, or Jerry Lee Lewis. If you've never heard of Dutch Mason or Frank Parker you are simply statistically normal, but they provided two great songs which were included in Saturday's set at The Queen's Head (what a quirky and great pub!) - No Mo Do Yakomo, and Lindy Lou. Should be investigated, if you don't recognise them.
This wonderful array of rootsy rockabilly hits and arcana is sprinkled with more modern R'n'B by The Kinks, Robert Palmer, The Hives... The set-list really is worth a small fortune! Other highlights? Accurate but unintrusive electric bassist; minimalist drummer; twenty-two songs an hour, with staccato introductions. The band's name's maybe not great, but the performance and material are. | |
| Jules, Mon 20th Oct 08 | |
 A brilliant way to party Sounds of the Suburbs at on Sat 18th Oct 08 | |
  Sounds of the Suburbs played at a private party in October and made it a real night to remember.
They started off with blinding set of indie/anthem favourites which got everyone dancing - including Teenage Kicks and Ray of Light (okay, not really indie, but it got us dancing). After a bit of a breather, they rolled out the... wait for it... PUNK ROCK KARAOKE! They encouraged us humble punters to put our names on the karaoke board and then belt out the numbers with them on stage.
Absolutely brilliant fun! If you've ever imagined belting out Green Day's 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' or Sex Pistols' 'Anarchy in the UK' with a proper band in front of a roomful of cheering/jeering mates, then seek out a Sounds of the Suburbs gig right now. You won't regret it.
The band were great - extremely professional musicians and could give any night a great kick up the ****! They played their hearts out and are clearly very talented.
Seek out. Enjoy. | |
| A music fan, Tue 28th Oct 08 | |
| Reply from Sounds of the Suburbs: Thanks very much, the band had a great time and we are really glad you enjoyed it. | |
| Absolutely brilliant! Lost Boys at The Mermaid, St Albans on Fri 10th Oct 08 | |
Went along to the Mermaid on Friday night and saw the second set of the Lost Boys! This is the first time that I had seen them... And I want to see them again! And again! Amazingly talented musicians, excellent choice of songs (Rebel Yell, American Idiot, Fat Bottomed Girls...!) and a great bunch of down to earth blokes. It was, I think, only the 5th gig that the new lead singer had done with the band - but you wouldn't have known - it was like he had been with them for years! And may I add that he knew all the words by heart (or 'off the book' I was informed is the professional term to use). Not wanting to repeat myself here - but if you haven't yet seen them - go, go now - they are amazing!
Look forward to seeing you again soon guys. (I'm the one who asked for your set list.. Promise not to steal your repertoire!). Oh, and while I remember - have you considered covering some songs by Maroon 5 and Orson - think they'd go down a treat! But actually, you could cover a song by Bananarama and make it sound cool! | |
| Melanie, Wed 15th Oct 08 | |
| Reply from Lost Boys: Many thanks for your comments Melanie, hope to see you again soon. | |
| Leaps and Bounds! The Julia Set at Noctor's, Maidenhead on Sat 20th Sep 08 | |
 This is by far the best TJS gig I have been to. The lads were so much more connected, confident and professional. The audience and location aided their performance but all in all, The Julia Set are definitely progressing from each gig and look set to be one of the best cover bands in the area, very quickly.
With the backing vocalist ill and unable to perform, the help of female vocalist, Donna, gave the band a slightly different sound, which worked really well.
The gig flowed with 3 sets, 2 breaks and a 2 song encore demanded by the audience. They enjoyed the new songs You Give Love A Bad Name and Beat It, along with the selection of modern and older songs.
The mixture of the lead singer, Mickey's striking vocals and encouraging audience participation makes the whole band confident with their music but also a lot more enjoyable for everyone watching and listening. This really works with them and I feel it is one of the factors that shows progression from their last gig.
When the audience realise what song they are about to perform it builds up the excitement, not only for them but for the band too, as they know the crowd will be singing along and for the most part, up and dancing. Everyone joined in singing and dancing to their cover of U2's With Or Without You for example.
With heavy guitar solos and a pumping beat continuing throughout the night, there was no need for the CD player, when the Noctors customers were getting the songs they wanted from a live band in front of them.
It seems the members of the band have really come together, know what their audiences want and do everything they can to achieve this.
With their next gig in the same location, I am sure they will get the same response, if not better, and with an even larger audience. Without a doubt, no-one will be walking out on them when they are rocking out to Iron Maiden! | |
| Leah, Thu 25th Sep 08 | |
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