Voodoo Vegas/The Lash/Si Genaro

Talking Heads, Southampton

The Voodoo Vegas Album Launch

After a very successful pledge music campaign and gaining over 300% of pledges from their huge fan base, Bournemouth’s shining stars Voodoo Vegas raise enough to fund the recording of their debut album “The Rise Of Jimmy Silver”.

The Album was recorded at the famous Rockfield Studios in Wales with none other than Pedro Ferreira at the helm making sure everything came together perfectly. Tonight’s launch gig is possibly one of the most important gigs that this band have ever played, fans have travelled from all over the UK with even some dedicated followers travelling over from Europe. Disappointingly the gig is not held in the band’s home town of Bournemouth but a short trip down the M27 to the neighbouring Hampshire city Southampton at a great venue called the Talking Heads, the place is packed full of expectant fans hoping for a great night of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

As well as a complimentary buffet, a couple of great support acts have been lined up to get the party started. A friend of the band for many years Si Genaro takes to the stage with his acoustic guitar along with a substantial amount of witty banter. Si is happy to tell a few cringe worthy stories of when he took the place of Voodoo Vegas lead singer Lawrence’s bride to go on honeymoon to the Algarve and the time he dated pop sensation Rhianna for a week. The stories raise a few laughs but it’s Si Genaro’s multi talented way of performing his own well crafted songs that succeeds in winning over the crowd. The songs such as opener “Dark Star” and the beautiful “Touch Of You” are delivered in such an original way which includes a few ad hock lyrics from others songs along with some prime beat boxing skills. It may seem from the audience’s point of view that Si is as mad as a box of frogs but really he is a very talented guy that really knows how to entertain an audience from every angle, a truly great start to the evening.

Si Genaro 1–2–3

Gloucestershire band The Lash inject some much needed volume to proceedings and show just how good the sound system in the venue is, as every note could be heard perfectly. The Lash are made up of members of a Guns ‘n’ Roses tribute band who Voodoo Vegas have supported on a number of occasions. The three piece perform a great mix of covers along with a few of their own originals from their much touted EP which was available at the merchandise stall. The is an obvious lean to the punk side of music with several tracks coming from Rancid’s back catalogue such as “Timebomb” and “Fall back Down” along with an up tempo version of Billy Bragg’s “To Have And To Have Not” inspired so obviously by The Clash. The drummer “Bryanside” leads with the vocals in a version of Black Stone Cherry’s “Maybe Someday” which sounded particularly good given that fact it was performed was only one electric guitar. The fasted paced music mixed with the reasonable prices at the bar does the trick in getting the crowd moving with a few very energetic souls down the front moving around energetically. The band take a risk with their final number and play a reworking of Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades”, but is seems to have paid off as the band get a good deal of applause as they leave the stage.

The Lash 1–2–3–4–5–6

Finally the time arrives for Voodoo Vegas, the band get up on stage to a massive welcome. This must have been such a relief to be playing to a full venue, as credit must go to the band for all the hard work that the have been in getting this project off the ground. Tonight there are 9 video camera’s on hand to capture the whole event for a future music video and DVD release, the band can’ have picked a better night as the atmosphere in the place is electric. They kick off with “No More” the twin guitars deliver the band’s trade mark sound, but wait they now have a keyboard player in the form of Steve Green which adds a new and exciting extra dimension to the band’s sound. Everyone’s friend, front man Lawrence Case can do no wrong in the eyes of the crowd and delivers some great vocals on familiar songs such as “Bullet” and live favourite “Mary Jane”. The band have definitely upped the game big time and seem to be playing with new extra energy, they seem to be very well rehearsed with no hiccups to report at all apart from maybe a poorly put up banner at the back of the stage. Pedro Ferreira’s magic is evident throughout with lots of reworking on tracks such as “King Without A Crown” and “Lost In Confusion” where the band are joined on stage by Theresa Smith of Silent Prophecy who’s supremely tuned vocals compliment the songs perfectly.

Voodoo Vegas 1–2–3–4–5–6–7–8–9–10–11–12–13–14–15

The blues guitar work of Nick Brown during “The Ferry Song” and the crowd reaction during “So Unkind” were just some of the many highlights of what was just one amazing night. It was obvious from the smiles on everyone’s face that not only the audience had a great night but so did the band, it was very clear that they all enjoy what they do some much. The night ended with the track that inspired the album “Jimmy Silver”, however the crowd were not going to let the band go easily and to be honest it was clear that they just wanted to keep on playing so a final rendition of that band’s new single “Lost In Confusion” was energetically performed. The footage from this and earlier performances is going to be used to go with a video to promote the single. This album has all the ingredients in right amounts that will launch this band on to much bigger and better things, with a little luck and a lot of hard work could we at last see a local band from Dorset finally putting our area on the musical map?

Set List
No More
Out There
Bullet
Perfect Girl
Tied Up
What I Pay
Mary Jane
Cheeky Riff
King Without A Crown
Lost In Confusion
Ferry Song
So Unkind
Jimmy Silver
Lost In Confusion

Videos
Voodoo Vegas