Local live music

A melting pot of folk singers, rock bands and even the occasional rapper, Woody's music bar is often considered the heart of my town's music culture. Whilst other venues sometimes slip under the mirky veil of underground screamo and metal, Woody's maintains it's musical multicultural variety without becoming intimidating. It is this diversity of genres resulting from the tension-free atmosphere that attracts music lovers from across the town to see what local talent is blooming.

The bands I'm going to mention may not be an exhaustive list as we left rather earlier than Woody's closes so there may have been more acts on which i cannot comment because i was not there.
Last night, a small group of friends got there as a young girl was setting up her acoustic guitar. Unfortunatley, i did not catch her name, but as she stood up what became instantly clear was her age- or indeed lack of it. Peaking at around I'd say 15 years of age, the last thing i expected was a strong, vibrant and confident singing voice, which was indeed what we got from this young girl. From a shakey start induced almost definitely by nerves, her confidence grew as the audience's appreciation of her strong vocal performance coupled with an expert choice of crowd-pleasers such as Elvis Presley's "Little less conversation" became apparent. I would compare her voice to Birdy's, and i think there was a little disappointment that she didn't do a Birdy cover, as expressed by several of the people I was with. Perhaps she was aiming to avoid such a comparison and create an impression that was entirely her own. Either way she was enjoyable to listen to, and impressive for such an age.

Perhaps the star performance of the night though- and performance definitely is the right word to use here- was George. With no less than 7 members of his band- a list that complied of keyboardist, backing, drums, two guitars and two dancers- George was perhaps reminiscent of Lady GaGa in all but voice. His flamboyance and drama was certainly a general nod in her direction, however I believe that it was all perhaps to his fault rather than gain. Despite his obvious on-stage prowess, as I've said before, any cover you do you are naturally compared to the original, and I am not convinced that his voice was quite strong enough to live up to these standards. In truth they were somewhat nasal, with the backing vocalist surpassing him in technique and quality of voice. What we cannot fault however is the flawlessness of the band. From the echoing synth effects of the Patrick Wolf look-alike on keyboard, or the confident girlpower oozing from the bassist and backing singer, the musicality was perfect. The drummer blew me away; small in physique but making up for it in drum beats that make your heart beat off it's own rhythm, the blonde was the "oomph" that not only drove the band, but sent it squeeling and speeding off the stage into the faces of everyone listening.        Whilst, at a larger venue I'm sure dancers would look professional and entertaining, I think the small size of the stage at Woody's simply did not accomodate for two girls performing their body-popping choreography as well as the rest of he band. It was somewhat awkward to see them cramped and limiting themselves, which was a shame because I'm sure alot of effort went into it, as well as the fabulous costumes. I couldn't help feeling however that it was just another element that distracted from what was supposed to be the main singer.          All in all, it was a great effort in putting on a show, however ironically, it seemed that everyone was flawless except the one you'd expect to lead the show- and i got the distinct impression he was being carried by his talented band.

So from folk, to Gaga, now thousands of miles over the pond to the US, because American rapper AJ gave us a brief stint. Not really my kind of thing but it was enjoyable enough, everyone was laughing and bopping in the judgement-free atmosphere that i've come to love about Woody's: Everyone is there for the crack and most of the people there are musicians anyway, so appreciate the performance whatever genre is thrown up there.

The last I saw before leaving was young Ben Phillips, singer of Cal-22. Usually a loud and punky three piece band, the sound was stripped back in an acoustic set performed by the singer alone. Well, with his guitar of course. He's 15, and I'm not going to be patronising here considering I'm only two years older than him, but I'm still impressed by his aptitude for guitar for his age. As he sings, it's effortless, like that piece of wood and string is just an extension of his arm that he was born with. His maturity also extends into his choice of songs, such as The Jam and The Buzzcocks, his young husky voice injecting some youth back into the 70's era. Most kids, such as the girl from the start of the night show a little nerves and shyness, but Ben's up there talking freely with the audience, making the odd joke or pun and showing that confidence and effortlessness that is quickly becoming his signature.