Madding Crowd, Bournemouth
Tonight for the first time we get to sample Bournemouth’s brand new music venue the Madding Crowd; which is situated in Bournemouth Square, accessed by a blue door between Debenhams and Clarks. It is situated on the site of the old Maddison’s Night Club which some of our older readers should remember. The venue currently has a capacity of 60 which will rise to 300 in October. There is a reasonably priced well stocked bar serving a host different drinks including their own brewed lager, as well as a menu of tasty bar snacks. It is a long room with the stage on the right hand side as you look in, with plenty of booths and seating as well as a large dancefloor space. The place opens each day at 5:30pm and provides a host of various acts to keep the most discerning live music fans happy.
This evening’s entertainment comes from Marble Tides, a fairly new band that launched at Mr Kyps back in May of this year. The support comes from Hampshire singer/songwriter Emma Hardy, who takes to the stage with her band at 8pm sharp. Emma’s band features Paul Denson (Guitar) and Sam Kay from local band We Are Robot. Emma delivers a set featuring a host of cover versions; from Dolly Parton to Britney Spears, The Killers to Oasis. Using both the acoustic guitar and piano Emma shows off her considerable musical talent and vocal skills, which keep the crowd thoroughly entertained for over two hours. There are sadly only a couple of original numbers sprinkled in amongst the covers which show plenty of promise and my only gripe is that I would love to have heard more from this up and coming young performer. The audience give plenty of positive applause as the band leave the stage at the end of their enjoyable set.
Marble Tides are chomping at the bit to get on stage and after a quick turn around the band are all set and ready to go. The band are fronted by in-house soundman and ‘Run the Night’ coordinator Brandon Moss, who after seeing so many acts take to the stage must be relieved to finally get up there himself. These guys really know how to put on a show and have pulled a sizable crowd, word has spread after just a few gigs. There are definitely no covers here with each song lovingly crafted with the subject matter taken from real life experiences. The whole band all seem to really be enjoying playing together and their enthusiasm oozes out on to the expectant audience.
The two guitarists Zac and Luke make some incredible atmospheric sounds with their large pedal boards full of effects, making good use of the great acoustics in the building; while the rhythm section of Gemma and Sam work together with them perfectly. Brandon is the lone frontman and delivers passionate vocals with ease on tunes like the next single “Fair Haven” and crowd favourite “Land & Sea”. These guys have all the right ingredients in all the right places and are a really engaging live band well worth checking out. The brand new venue also gets a big thumbs up from the Rock Regeneration team and we all expect to be spending plenty of time here.
Set List
Marble Tides
Cigarette
Fair Haven
Hiraeth
Little Lies
Gravity
Land & Sea
Pariah
Silhoutte
Cigarette
Hiraeth
Links
https://www.facebook.com/marbletidesband
https://www.facebook.com/EmmaHardyMusic
Check out the Madding Crowd here.
Words, Pictures & Video by David Chinery
