Jealous Michael/The Brompton Mix/Celadore/Hancock

Talking Heads, Southamptons

The Talking Heads in Southampton is one of those prestigious local venues featuring a diverse line up of music catering for all tastes. The venue regularly puts on touring bands, open mics, traditional sessions, special events, and showcase nights. Tonight is a Saturday showcase night which has four bands all hand-picked to give the weekend a great start.

The first of these is local 2 piece acoustic Punk outfit “Hancock”, featuring Rachel on vocals and Matt on guitar. They both wear band tops that give away a few secrets about their influences, New Model Army and The Ramones. The sound was of a simple, clean acoustic guitar; coupled with powerful moving vocals from thought provoking songs like “Tank Girl”, “Get Out” and “White Walls”. The duo put in an enjoyable 25 minutes set, kicking off the evening rather well.

Hancock

Next to the stage was four piece Southampton band “Celadore” who seemed to be a late addition to the line-up as they were not billed on the advertised flyer. Their two guitarist’s used to go under the name “Franklin & James”, but have brought in a new rhythm section and changed their name. The band combine acoustic and electric guitars to great effect with some really promising songwriting, with songs “When Sheís at Your Window” and the delicate sounding “Dust on My Coat”. They end their set on a high with the slightly more up-tempo “Hopeless Blues”, which gets plenty of positive appreciation from the Talking Heads crowd.

Celadore

“Ladies and Gentlemen we are The Brompton Mix and we play Rock n’ Roll” is the opening bold statement from the next band who really up the pace and the volume levels. Kicking off with “Nazi Gold”-a new track that features one of the best guitar riffs I have heard in a while. The Woking band within moments easily have the crowd on their side with their cheeky conversation and solid; well written, memorable songs. The twin guitars of Azza Sergent and Simon Gulliver provide a melodic wall of sound that eclipses anything before them. The band’s confident and sometimes self-indulgent attitude makes for a great performance that has something for everyone. There are plenty of new songs from their latest EP “The Tales Of Love & Miscommunication” that really hit the mark, leaving the crowd yearning for more.

The Brompton Mix 1

Tonight’s headliners “Jealous Michael” I saw a couple of weeks back at the Pepper Presents gig in Bournemouth and I really liked their style. The band includes Simon Young – drums, Colette O’Hagan – vocals/Bass and the very talented George Stewart on guitar. Their performance tonight seems so much louder and the band play with much more confidence than they did before. The boy/girl harmonies really work well, with both George and Colette having impressive vocal ranges that shine through on many of their original numbers. The audience are treated to a reworked version of “Feelin’ Good” as well as great self-penned songs including “My Fire”, “Lighthouse & Alleyways” and “A Million Houses” which is all about living in a rather undesirable part of town. Jealous Michael’s music is well crafted and quite unpredictable with various audience-pleasing, pleasant surprises throughout their set. The band leave the stage only to be called back by the demanding crowd to play an unscheduled encore. An incredible version of “Voodoo Child” gets the Jealous Michael treatment with George excelling on guitar, with loads of gasps of amazement from the excited crowd. A great end to a really diverse night of musical entertainment.