Monday 11 July 2016

LIVE: Reach Out charity gig at The Lexington (10/7/16)

If you didn't get along to the Reach Out charity gig at The Lexington last night then you missed a pretty great night - it's a definite contender for one of my favourite shows of the year so far. A great atmosphere was thanks to great company, great cake and most of all a wonderful line-up of bands, all raising money for a hugely worthwhile cause in the form of Medecins San Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders). Massive shoutout to Emma and Mercedes for their wonderful organisational skills and for putting on such a fun night.

It all kicked off pretty early to squeeze in the Euro final in the middle, and first up were Geowulf, a duo comprising of Toma from Tempesst and Star, with some pretty lovely harmonies and starting the evening in a really lovely way (with a cookie in hand - more gigs need cake stalls!)

Geowulf
Soon after their set, Tempesst took to the stage, with Toma quickly transforming from a member of a chilled out duo to an energetic frontman. Performing the three tracks I'd heard on their Soundcloud and a couple more, the set was really enjoyable - even if their bassist was an iPhone for the night! I'm digging the new track Broke Down Blues which I posted about recently, and the track Too Slow which I've put below. 

Tempesst


Before the footie, the legend Tom Figgins and a couple of members of his band played, premiering a couple of new tracks which went down pretty well with the crowd, as did tracks like Let Your Roots Grow and Permafrost. A highlight of the night for me though, was after it had all finished, and a few of us were chatting, and Tom's guitar fell out of his bag and down some stairs. He proceeded to check it was alright and sat and sang Crave, my favourite track of his!

Tom Figgins
It's testament to how great the night was that having one of my favourite artists, King Charles, headline after the football, was just a bonus of being there. Sitting in while they sound-checked, it was really interesting to hear the stripped back sound with Charles performing with just drum and bass backing from Nick and Tom (very cool to finally hear Nick on drums as he's currently playing drums for SG Lewis!) The set, comprised mostly of second album tracks, went down really well even if it was cut short as they went over the live music curfew. Charles brought out a new (very small) guitar for its first (and last) gig, as the strap fell off and it went out of tune for the last track, Love Lust - irritating but provided lots to laugh about and a great video below..


Having missed a train to catch the end of the set, I stayed around for an hour after the show finished, and it was so good to catch up with a bunch of my favourite people, and to meet some new people too! The night felt like such a success and I hope that reflects in the amount taken for MSF which I can't wait to find out! Seeing everyone having such a good time, from the bands, their friends, family and fans, is also really inspirational in wanting to carry on working towards a career in music and particularly live music! 

Now - when can we do that all again?!

1 comment:

  1. Great evening, loved Tom's extra performance! Should think that guitar of KC's is now in the bin; shame it was cut short, we missed Lady Percy and Ivory Road. Can't wait to see them all again!

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