Bedford Auditions Feedback from Live and Unsigned Music Competition

Auditions took place in Bedford for the Live and Unsigned Music Competition on Sunday 13^thFebruary at the Bedford Corn Exchange. Busy as always, with over 500 musicians and singers auditioning. Well done to all those who auditioned and especially the few who made it through to the Live Regional Final shows on Saturday 2^ndApril 2011 Bedford Corn Exchange www.bedfordcornexchange.co.uk

Find below feedback for a selected few from the day who stood out for the right and sometimes wrong reasons.

Please be aware views expressed by Judges are opinions and subjective to that particular Judging panel. These views in no way reflect the views of Live and Unsigned, but are published with a view to being beneficial to the performing bands and singers who auditioned. So please take the feedback onboard with a view to helping.

Echoes of an age–good song, need to perhaps over emphasise the hook to make it catchy, it could be improved with adding backing vocals and the rest of the band need to perform more.

Calibre– musically nice, a little loose, catchy song but performance was a bit dull –maybe nerves?

Colt– image-wise thin, think show business, not printed T-shirts. Look to create an alter ego, individual characters on stage, larger than life characters to stand out from the crowd.

Lucy Bunce– really unique harp and vocals gave a lovely ambience. Gorgeous voice, more power needed at the end of phrasing.

Andy Collier– although the song was moving and deep, it didn’t demonstrate anything you could imagine being played on Radio 1.

Blues Boy Kings– very tight, looked cool together and great to see such a talented female bass player.

Black Shuck– good song and engagement from the front man, not much performance coming from elsewhere.  The rest of the band generally needed a stick of dynamite in the performance stakes.

Conflictrilogy– powerful song, but didn’t play tight enough together. The band lost rhythm in places, which made them sound under rehearsed and vocals could have been clearer.

Destroy all Humans– worked together so well, great authentic guitar, loved the vocals.

Mike Delpeache– looked great, but lacked distinction which the performance needed, work on creating an impact.

Adam Barker– lovely tone to his voice, with an excellent high range, this guy can do very well in the competition if he focuses. Going forward with performance make more eye contact and engage.

Ryan Costello– really super composition, with a nice gravelly and mature voice, just make sure the dynamics help push through the hooks. Lacking eye contact, which is a really important part of engagement.

Brandon Eaglestone– lovely voice with great eye contact, be aware it is evident that he has been classically trained in his voice.

Charlie Botting– very accomplished performance for only 11, with a nice classical soprano voice, strongly recommend entering vocal competitions where the emphasis is away from being original.

Jenna Dwyer– super song, your voice is really sensual and you have an excellent tone. Just make sure an obvious vocal hook cuts through.   

Exhibit – don’t forget to present yourself in the best fashion at all times, was a little hard work conversing before they started playing. Lead vocalist needs to project himself more, he was very nervous and needs to combat and control the nerves.

Due to Loss– catchy guitar riffs, vocally and musically sound. Bit of an Alice Cooper here!

American House Party– musically really strong with some great harmonies, but could work on performance, good start and finish but a little loose in the middle, so tighten that up and will do well.

Chaos Calling– performance was engaging and fun with everyone involved with a great mix of influences. Think about the image and what you are going to wear.

Crazy James– superb image, but needed a backing track to demonstrate the track to the full.

Ellie Jade– very crisp and clean vocals, with a distinctive voice. The song was a little repetitive perhaps just lay off using the hook too often to give more impact.

Junalyn– you could tell your heart was in the performance, however needed to make more of an impression. Song wasn’t strong enough.

Isolation – good sound, performance was a bit flat as were some of the vocals, need to be tighter with more performance and they could be good.

Haunted Tranquilty– front man had a good image and presence. As a band they lost it towards the end need to be 100% tight!

Fake Theatre– great image and fun.  Image could go even further with highwayman boots (just a random thought). Song unfortunately wasn’t strong enough.

Trevor Jones– First impression gave no collective image, this needs some thought going forward. Music was very easy on the ear, vocals are brilliant, so clear with nice harmonies.

Lucy Goldthorpe– just watch timing as she has an amazing voice, intensity was good, a natural performer.

Stella Hensley & Chris Newman– very relaxing to listen too, which suited her voice well.

Charlene Gordon– so beautiful, it was a really lovely performance.

Tania Gillinson– had a really good song, but the performance wasn’t quite there yet.

Sarah Louise– great song writing, would have liked to hear you belt out the chorus.

Kizzy Horgan– lovely voice but watch mic control.

Flip like Wilson–band all went for it and had a cool image. Good song and good harmonies.

Fallowfields– start was unprofessional, a little unprepared? When they got going the band had great vocals, very tight and cool. Well turned around once in full flow - make sure don’t repeat mistakes at the showcase.

Renee Hector–lovely tone of voice, be worth looking for a writer to start working with, has huge potential. Watch guitar work.

Jon Ford– sounded very messy with the backing track and guitar combination, would loose the backing track going forward, as caused timing issues when playing with the backing track.

Millie Hobbs– not the competition for you as needs to be original, but you have a beautiful expressive voice.

Intruders– good song, but vocals could have blended better and been clearer.

Imprint– good image, but nervy intro vocals which went through the group. More performance to make it second nature is the way forward. More confidence will come from more performance.

Anne Jenkins– great own song which connected with the audience.

Emma Jackson– made the song her own and had a lovely voice to portray it.

Testisite– really entertaining and refreshing just take care not to get routed to the spot, use the performance area and vary the performance to make it more interesting.

Frankly my Darling– start was great, funky vibe, but vocals need to bite through more.

Kirsty Loves Sugar– tight playing; however seemed to lack a defining chorus.

Lost Minute– lead vocalist had a very strong vocal, maybe consider adding vocal support to thicken the sound of the song.

Metal Kettle– couldn’t hear with clarity, the vocals and band needed to be much better rehearsed.

Last Flight Home – great performance from vocalist with nice harmonies, a very catchy and engaging song.

Pandorica– strong female vocals, backing vocals need some work. Harmonies would benefit from more confidence.  

Paris Munro– good song but remember to engage when performing and it would be nice to hear more power in your voice.

Tamara Parsons-Baker– very emotive performance, you have real power.

Sarah Lamjida– you’ve written a really good song be careful to support your voice on the high notes.

Jack Parker– has a wonderful voice and song. More eye contact needed to bring audience in.

Helen Orechoff– confident performer with an interesting 2 chord song.

Christine McAnaney– had loads of passion in the voice, but could have had more contrast between loud and soft parts.

Power Surge– so young and talented, these guys are going to rock in a couple of years! Band is tight and good to hear supporting vocals.

Problem Solved– nice groove, lead vocals just take care with tuning of vocals when all instruments in.

Geoffrey Prichard– love the rough texture to the voice, lovely guitar riff, liked the gentle guitar picking remember make more eye contact going forward.

Non Nah Wiser– loved the beats with a melodic chorus and performed really well.

Sean Theobald– good voice nicely in tune. It was hard to judge the song without the beats and backing.

Kisha K Salmon– would have liked to hear more power in the top range as you have a great voice.

Roxi– looked the part, but watch your tuning.

Keble Stadling– enjoyed the lyrics, they were different - really brilliant song writing.

Rising Tide– saw passion in the performance, but would have liked to have seen more interaction between band members.

Romantic Idols– strong lyrics and hook, need to get the image of the band working. All members of the band need to perform more and this will work well.

Rusty G’s– so much power you make an excellent trio, good use of the whole performance area. Great drummer and great vocals.  

Sophia– not sure it worked with this guitar player, out of tune from vocals, sorry. Try to get more live performance to help, maybe it was nerves?

Sikshooter–strong stage presence, would have liked to see you jumping and rocking out more. Front man was good, backing vocals weak.

Set to Air–fabulous vocally, really strong but don’t forget to perform. Sometimes need to quieten down with instruments to let vocals cut through. More interaction needed between band members.

Ambiance of Elyya– problem is there isn’t any visual performance, with the ambience requires some visuals to make it a performance, perhaps some contemporary dancers? More eye contact needed.

FT– lovely voice should have had a backing track to represent himself in the best possible fashion.

Alda Olafsdottir– performed it well but song appeared a bit dated, reminded judging panel of Euro pop.

Richie and the Runners– really fun and lively, love it! Lovely banjo technique on guitar with fabulous harmonies.

Stirling– nice and heavy, these guys look the part too!

Undone – drum and vocals very cool combination. Great song and good sound. Might consider re-positioning guitarist so can see drummer/lead vocalist.

Take the Fall– loved the energy of the lead singer, awesome talent, would leave to have heard more vocals, so music needs to quieten down on the versus.

The Turkey Street Band– needs to be more engaging, this requires a performance as well as the playing. Love to see band enjoying themselves more.

Very Nice Harry– very cool bass and guitar. All performed great together.

Chloe Smith– lovely voice, remember to engage, where did you go?

The Vibe– super synths and proper rocking out. Vocals needed to cut through more.

Daniel Walker– awesome lyrics sung from the heart, you can hear the passion.

Amy Wyke– was brilliant, so electric loved the image, exciting performance.

The Order– great image but not quite ready, needs more performance and rehearsal.

Three Bottles Behind– superb playing, great vocals and really great vibe. Need to find a common image for the entire band.

Sonic– very original and loved the reggae drop beat with nice clear vocals, which perhaps needed to be given more space in the music.

Without Reason– good to see the thought put in on the image, but maybe a little clichéd, it is such a difficult one but so essential - just keep playing around with it so it becomes subtle but effective.

The Scene Stealers– image was all together , unfortunately performance was a bit lifeless, need to move more and captivate audience.

The Wrath– tight band, but needed to hear vocals clearer.

Phoebe Warden– be good if Phoebe performed with an acoustic guitarist. Lovely voice, so think about performance more, film yourself or perform in front of the mirror to improve on this.  

Olli Turner– nice hook with strong voice.

Akua Tu– song was performed well with a soulful voice, but it was a little on one level and could have been bettered with stronger dynamics.

Barbara Vout– nice voice, remember to engage with your audience.

Wade– a cool mix of talented individuals, but didn’t feel like enough performance coming from the guitarists in the band, so don’t seem like a band performing as one.

Who Shot Cupid–performed well considering lack of usual members and on the basis of the potential demonstrated and lead vocalist back, this could be a strong act to watch at the shows.

Careless Chemistry– good energy and performance which impressed.  

Four Weeks in Between– sounded great but all looking down when performing? Lead vocalist needs to put on a more passionate display but huge potential.

If you’d like to come along to see some of the bands and acts that made it through to the Bedford Regional Showcase Finals on Saturday 2^ndApril 2011 at the Bedford Corn Exchange you can go to the Live and Unsigned website to purchase tickets with the following link;

http://www.liveandunsigned.uk.com/live_shows