“WHAT’S NORMAL IS NORMALLY BORING…”

I was at The Head of Steam for SubLevel2 on Thursday night and it was a canny night indeed.  Baron Von Alias & MistaBreeze were in fine form again, although The Baron was underdressed for the occasion.  They had me up dancing with them again for ‘Get Wild, Gan Mental’, which is always a laugh.  Eliza Lawson was flawless with her vocals again when she joined them.  They’re a fukkin class act, plus they deal with random hecklers pretty well, definitely the highlight of the night in my opinion!

Someone else that really impressed me was Brotha Priah.  His live Beatbox set was epic!  Pure entertainment!  He uses this weird box, which is like some form of dodgy alien technology, to loop samples of him beat-boxing, while he talks shit over top, and his patter was hilarious.  He complimented my hat at one point before his set as well, nice lad.

Rick Fury also put in an impressive set, although he probably should have left his hat on.  He was taking requests at the end and performed ‘South Shields Shuffle’ at my request.  I wasn’t really serious about that though; I didn’t even think he would have the backing track for that with him.

The next SubLevel2 at The Head of Steam, in Newcastle, is on Thursday 23^rd February.  For £4 you get live Hip Hop, featuring Rick Fury, followed by Eyezdown v SubLevel2 DubStep/Drum &Bass battle.  Couldn’t really ask for more, could you?  More details of that can be found on the Facebook event on the link below;

http://www.facebook.com/events/329576477076456/

GANNIN’ BALLS DEEP…

Friday night at The Telegraph was fukkin epic!  Those who were there will surely testify to that.  The mix of different genres went down a lot better than I could have expected and every act involved was well received by the audience.  The new sound-guy, Chris Kinley from Sessions Newcastle, performed his role flawlessly and helped the night to run smoothly.  People were blown away by Baron Von Alias & MistaBreeze.  L87’s quality selection of DubStep were tracks impeccably mixed.  The three-man Artisam acoustic set, with Cam on the cajón, added a unique vibe.  You get something different every time with Artisam.  The Stroll were class, just like I said they would be.  Everything seemed to fit and work well with each other and all the people who attended had good crack and seemed to enjoy themselves.  Even Empty Heed and Fanny Drought turned up!

Empty Heed & Fanny Drought enjoying Baron & Breeze

The photos from Friday can be seen on David Johnston Photography’s Facebook page on this link;

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.307457932634694.67058.215749741805514&type=1

And the videos will be uploaded onto my YouTube channel in the very near future.

Get Wild, Gan Mental

“Gonna smash in your back doors like Keith Lemon…”

Kicking the night off in spectacular fashion were Hip Hop’s dynamic duo, Baron Von Alias & MistaBreeze.  Even Empty Heed was impressed by these two, and he’s a miserable cunt!

They performed their set with an electric energy, which was visibly evident from the sweat pissing from their faces by the time they finished.  Getting in amongst the audience, and even rolling around the floor at times, Baron and Breeze proved to be the ultimate interactive package!  They even had me up dancing with them on ‘Get Wild, Gan Mental’ because they know I like that one.

They impressed the audience with renditions of some of my favourite tracks, including ‘Step In The Room’, before being joined by Eliza Lawson for tracks including the truly awesome ‘Action Man’, which evidently is a real crowd pleaser.  Simply put, Baron Von Alias, MistaBreeze and Eliza Lawson were a class act!

Baron Von Alias, Eliza Lawson & MistaBreeze

Baron Von Alias & MistaBreeze are performing again this Thursday night at SubLevel2 at The Head of Steam in Newcastle.  Detail of that event can be found on Facebook on the link below;

http://www.facebook.com/events/233430710070639/

L87 of SubLevel2

“Womp Womp”

L87’s cool choice of DubStep tracks helped ease his DJ set into the night’s proceedings with great effect.  His mixing was impeccable and he didn’t miss a beat.  He earned himself a fan in Sound-Guy Chris, who seemed massively impressed by L87’s work.  The set worked perfectly for the transition from Hip Hop to the Alternative acoustic set that was to follow.

L87 is also performing a set at SubLevel2 on Thursday night, along with The Baron and Breeze, so be sure to get down to The Head of Steam for that!

http://www.facebook.com/events/233430710070639/

Artisam

“Let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go…”

Artisam brought something entirely different to the table on Friday night.  One-man-band-on-a-box, Cam, further demonstrated his versatility as he slapped away on the cajón with perfect timing as George and Gary played along with the acoustic guitars.  Always impressive, as I have stated on numerous occasions, they performed a fantastic set with a completely unique vibe and I loved it when they played my favourite, ‘Free Your Mind’.  Artisam are an incredibly talented band and it’s always a pleasure seeing them perform live.

Jack, Josh and Paul of The Stroll

“I would walk all day to see your sunshine smile…”

The final act of the night was The Stroll and they were in formidable form.  The Alternative Rock four-piece from Durham performed a stunning version of ‘20^th Century Boy’ by T-Rex.  Gashy, with his daft smile and even dafter hat, was epic on the drums.  Jack was just as good on bass.  Josh and Paul were quality on the guitars and Josh belted out his vocals in sublime fashion.

Tracks such as ‘Searching’ and ‘Different Tune, Different Mood’ went down a treat with the audience and The Stroll definitely made an impression.  A quality evening topped off with a quality set by a quality band!

The Stroll's Gashy & I, plus Daft Hats

The Stroll are competing in the final of The SoundWave Music Competition at the O2 Academy in Newcastle on Saturday night.  So get down to that and show them some support.  Details of that event can be found on Facebook on the following link;

http://www.facebook.com/events/172041789563041/

and tickets can be purchased on this link;

http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user/?region=gb_northeast&query=detail&REFID=newcalist&interface=newacad&event=484497

Teaching Josh of The Stroll how to sing

Some thanks are in order

Firstly I’d like to say thanks to the acts involved.  Baron Von Alias, MistaBreeze, Eliza Lawson, L87 of SubLevel2, George, Cam and Gary of Artisam, Josh, Jack, Paul and Gashy of The Stoll, whose efforts are all highly appreciated and they have my gratitude.

Also thanks to Chris Kinley of Sessions Newcastle for providing the sound, and Photo Dave of David Johnston Photography, obviously for doing the photography.

Extra special thanks to everyone who attended the gig, making it the awesome experience it was.

Find the acts involved on the following links;

Baron Von Alias

Facebook

YouTube

Bandcamp

Twitter

MistaBreeze

Facebook

YouTube

L87

Soundcloud

SubLevel2 on Facebook

Artisam

Facebook

Soundcloud

YouTube

The Stroll

Facebook

ReverbNation

Soundcloud

YouTube

Twitter

The Telegraph - Saturday 3rd March 2012

And don’t forget the next one…

My next event is scheduled for Saturday 3^rd March at The Telegraph, on Orchard Street, behind Central Station in Newcastle, where for a mere £3 you can see Emergency Door Release, Ginger Snap & The Style Pile, Honey Chrome and The Shake Appeal all perform live.

More details of that event can be found in the events category of my blog or on Facebook on the following links;

3^rd March at The Telegraph

Facebook Event

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO!

I listen to music all of the time and I listen to all sorts of music, new and old, from across almost every genre.  My favourite artists include Shaun Ryder of the Happy Mondays, David Byrne of the Talking Heads, The Rolling Stones, Ian Brown of The Stone Roses and Swede Mason, who I believe should be knighted!

I also listen to a lot of new music, particularly from the North-East because it’s local to me.  So what I’m gonna do is give you some recommendations of what to listen to, based on what I’m listening to these days.  I’ll do my best to cater for different tastes, just because I’m nice like that.

What I’ll do is recommend a handful of acts you may or may not have yet heard of and prattle on a little bit about them.  Then I’ll give you a ten track playlist that will include some of my favourite tracks as well as new stuff worth listening to and then I’ll stick the links to the acts that I have recommended at the bottom.

If you click on any of the highlighted track titles in this blog you will be forwarded to somewhere you can listen to that track online.  Same with highlighted names, they’ll take you somewhere online relative to whatever you’re clicking on.  It’s not rocket science.

The Mojags

To start off with, I highly recommend checking out The Mojags, a young Rock band from North Shields area.

The Mojags performed at The Telegraph for me on December 2^nd.  They have bags of talent and, being so young, have limitless potential.  At my gig they did a brilliant cover of ‘Hey Joe’ by Jimi Hendrix.  This is a band that’s going places so keep an eye out for them.

The Mojags at The Telegraph, 2nd December 2011

In 2010 they won the Teenage Kicks Battle of the Bands.  They are also competing in a Battle of the Bands in Redcar next year.  They are in Heat 2 on Friday 20^th January 2012.  The Battle of the Bands is held at Coatham Bowl in Redcar and entrance fee for any of the heats is £10.  The event is in aid of charity.  Get down for that and show some support for a great band and help raise some money for charity.

The Mojags can be found on Facebook, YouTube and Soundcloud.  I would recommend listening to ‘Ojay‘ if you’re only gonna listen to one; it’s my favourite of the tracks currently available online.

Also check out this video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mhs_Dkdu2w .  It’s The Mojags video of ‘Sychophant‘, shot as their prize for winning the Teenage Kicks competition.

The Stroll

Another band on the way up is Durham based Alternative Indie Rock band The Stroll, who are a new outfit only started in August.  They’ve only got one track online at the minute ‘Different Tune, Different Mood‘ and you can listen to that on Soundcloud.  It’s a catchy track like, and displays a small portion of the talent that these lads possess.

I saw them perform live at LYH the other week when I played there with Downtown Lester Brown.  Being a brand new band they are still doing quite a few covers but their original stuff is quality.  I particularly liked ‘Searching’, which is apparently about looking for magic mushrooms.  Their choice of covers was a cool blend of things ranging from The Beatles to The Stone Roses.

The Stroll

It’s not just the music that makes The Stroll a great band in the making.  The Stroll have a great vibe and energy and create an electric atmosphere at gigs.  They’re a fun band and their crowd interaction is impressive.  Their singer Josh Pringle has good crack and his patter on the microphone in between tracks is entertaining.  This band has it all and I’m tipping The Stroll to become massive!  They epitomise everything I was after when I set up Downtown Lester Brown.  They are a fun, energetic band with a great vibe and attitude as well as plenty of talent and drive.

The Stroll are also performing in the Battle of the Bands, in Heat 1, on Friday 13th January 2012.

I also have them booked for Friday 3^rd February 2012 at The Telegraph, behind Central Station in Newcastle.  That’ll be £3 in and the wisest investment you’ll ever make.

Look up The Stroll on Facebook and Soundcloud and remember, you heard it heard first!

Baron Von Alias & MistaBreeze

If Hip Hop’s your bag, here’s another act with a sense of fun.  Hip Hop duo Baron Von Alias and MistaBreeze are an audio-visual spectacle to behold, so I would recommend checking out their videos on YouTube to get the full effect.  The Baron is an emcee time-lord from 1830 and sports a huge tashe, top hat and sunglasses, so you know he’s got a sense of humour, however, he’s also an excellent wordsmith and a born entertainer.

Baron Von Alias

I was put onto Baron Von Alias and MistaBreeze by old school mate Nathan Wood, who has his own radio show.  He recommended I listen to ‘Get Wild, Gan Mental’, which is growing on me but I didn’t take kindly to it at first.  I told Nathan on twitter that I wasn’t impressed and The Baron piped up.  After a bit crack on, The Baron said I should give some of his other material a whirl.  I did, and I was impressed.  I blame Nathan for his poor choice in track selection whilst making recommendations.

There are plenty of quality tracks by The Baron and MistaBreeze so check out their YouTube channel.  You’ll enjoy their official videos and their live stuff.  I’m particularly keen on ‘White Noise’.  The Baron and MistaBreeze do make fukkin awesome videos!  I’d also recommend checking out the video of Baron Von Alias performing ‘Phoney’ on Amazing Beats, because I find it really fukkin impressive.

I saw Baron Von Alias and Mistabreeze performing live at The Head of Steam in Newcastle the other week and they are an act well worth catching.  For £5 you can see them live at The Riverside this Thursday (15^th December) http://www.facebook.com/events/109965722442103/ .

—-

So that’s three acts for you to check out, now here’s a couple other things that you wanna check out.

The Local Music Show

The Local Music Show presented by Nathan Wood, on Spark Sunderland.

That’s 107FM local radio or can be listened to live online at sparksunderland.com every Sunday at 4pm til 7pm.

Nathan plays music from local bands from across all different kinds of music so give that a listen and you’re bound to hear something that tickles your fancy.  Mix that with a little bit of low brow humour and smut and you’ve got yourself one canny Sunday afternoon’s listening.

Battle of the Bands

As mentioned earlier, there’s a Battle of the Bands going on in Redcar in early 2012.  The competition is being held at Coatham Bowl, in Redcar, every Friday from 13^th January 2012, with the final being held on Friday 9^th March 2012.  The entry fee to these events is £10.

The Mojags and The Stroll are both competing in the Battle of the Bands so get down for their heats and show some support.

Heat 1 – The Stroll – Friday 13th January

Heat 2 – The Mojags – Friday 20th January

Battle of the Bands 2012

Now Here’s My Recommended Ten Track Playlist

Here’s a ten track playlist I recommend listening to.  Click on the song title and you’ll be directed either to a YouTube video or somewhere else online that you can hear the track for free.  Enjoy.

Happy Mondays – Yahoo

Mick Jagger – A Memo from Turner

The Mojags – Ojay (live)

The Stone Roses – Good Times

The Stroll – Different Tune, Different Mood

Swede Mason – Bill Wyman’s Metal Detector

Baron Von Alias & Mistabreeze – Its OK

Public Enemy – What You Need Is Jesus

Gorillaz ft Shaun Ryder – Dare

Flowered Up – Weekender

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed what you’ve listened to and if you’ve got any recommendations let me know because I’m always willing to listen to new things.  Also please share this blog so that other people can hear the acts that I have mentioned and to get a little bit more publicity for the charity Battle of the Bands competition.

Thank you.

Links

The Mojags

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Mojags/162283410463944

Soundcloud – http://soundcloud.com/the-mojags

YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/user/TheMojags

The Stroll

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Stroll/152650318150277

Soundcloud – http://soundcloud.com/the-stroll

Baron Von Alias and Mistabreeze

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Baron-Von-Alias/28616761468

YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/iamsteesh

Bandcamp – http://baronvonalias.bandcamp.com/

Soundcloud – http://soundcloud.com/burnblockbeats

Spark Sunderland 107FM

http://sparksunderland.com/

Battle of the Bands 2012

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/events/233350486723088/