First part of Saturday’s mission for Music-News was to check out the Red Bull outdoor stage in St Peters Square, opposite Alma De Cuba.
Red Bull have spent a great deal of time supporting the legions of unsigned talent that have signed up to their online Bedroom Jam competition and this stage, as well as future events such as the Download festival, offer a showcase for the best of the bands to perform.
One such act is Don Broco a 4 piece post-hardcore/pop band from Bedfordshire who lived up to the claims of the sponsors product by delivering a performance so full of energy it rocked this quarter of Liverpool to its foundations. Those in the know at Bedroom Jam rate these guys very highly and they didn’t disappoint. Check out their submission at www.bedroomjam.com to see what they are all about.
A short walk up the road leads to the Chameleon bar for a more sedate pace with Hymns and Poems, a duo from Southampton who describe their sound as acoustic hip-hop. With Ben Goddard on vocals/acoustic guitar and superb stompbox percussion from Tom Sharratt their folk and latin influences act as the perfect compliment to the early evening sun filtering through the large plate glass windows.
And finally it’s over to St Georges Hall the impressive neoclassical styled Grade I listed building for what has become the traditional end to Sound City conference. This year festival sponsor Gaymers cider has included the gig as part of their Grassroots series, which brings bands back home to play in front of a small local audience.
With a crowd of around 650, this was hardly an intimate setting but it was however a triumphant return for The Zutons. After another solid support performance from Sound Of Guns (expect to see these guys headline their own show next year), the stage was set for the scouse four piece, a band with a lot to prove after the lukewarm response to their last album and subsequent loss of a record deal.
Opening with 'Why won’t you give me your love' and 'Bumbag’ the band embarked on a 13 track set littered with classic songs to get the crowd set into party mode. 'Zuton fever', 'Pressure point' and 'Confusion' all from the bands first studio album Who Killed the Zutons? swiftly followed before crowd pleaser 'Valerie' got everyone in the hall singing along.
With the crowd on board this was the perfect opportunity to test some new material and while 'Brand new toy' and '204' showed some real potential, 'Just you wait' was the real stand out track and gives a firm two fingered salute to Deltasonic the label who dropped the band last year.
Closing out with 'Don't ever think', 'You will you won't' and 'Always right behind you' the band proved to the people of their hometown and the gathered press that they are still a force to be reckoned with.
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