Portsmouth Auditions Feedback from Live and Unsigned Music Competition
Auditions took place in Portsmouth for the last Live and Unsigned auditions of this year’s Competition for bands and singers on Sunday 27th February at the Portsmouth Guildhall. Good finish to the auditions with almost 750 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 23rd April 2011 at the Portsmouth Guildhallwww.portsmouthguildhall.co.uk
Find below feedback for a selected few from the day. Please be aware views expressed by Judges are opinions and subjective to that particular Judge 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.
Cross Town–great start to the day, had us rockin to start with remember to get the vocals out earlier, good front lady looks good and tuneful, work on the moves to exaggerate personality. Also look to introducing backing vocals.
ASP-tight band, great rock sound with an energetic performance but remember to engage a little more and pull the group image together to be distinctive.
A.Y.S-song has potential but concentrate on the hook and build it vocally don’t let the track meander. Work on stage routine, idea’s are good but needs direction.
Araval-felt soulful but can’t always hear the dictation on the lyrics, put mouth nearer to the mic so can be heard clearer.
Charlotte Cobb-very talented young lady, nice arrangement, would be nice to make the song have diversity as a little sad. Remember to look up and connect with audience at times.
RosinaCrew -nice song but a bit pitchy needs more expression with the performance.
Chased by Dogs- must engage don’t keep looking down and bring your songs to life. Bass player is a bit sloppy, lead vocals don’t sound interesting.
Cultural Underground-good band, very engaging but a bit of a mixed image to the band.
Brothers Grimmer- popping and street dance was different not sure if it totally went with the music but was a good watch. Band members needs to engage with each other.
Stuart Blakeledge-beautiful lyrics, melodic voice just needs a bit more power behind it.
Awome-nice tone to the voice be conscious to adjust mic range without making it obvious.
Lou Clover-nice scats on the backing track, good song, image needs to be more quirky bit 1920’s.
Contradictory-nice sound but way off the mark, lot more practice and vocals required.
Down Within-grabbing the basket of the microphone spoilt the tone be aware of different microphones.
Ashley Clark- nice title and flow to the song just watch the rhythm on guitar when starting to sing.
Charlotte Hilton-when performing only put on the track or tracks you are performing on the cd, this will be very unforgiving if it happened at a show.
David Blackbourn- lots of emotion, remember to open your eyes and engage with the audience.
Birds in Flight-good band, nice arrangement and good communication may need to think about drummer being more sparing with the vocals.
Beyond Help-good drummer but be careful not to fluctuate your tempo and singer needs to engage with the audience.
Absent Jack-return for another go after entering in 2008 (we think) catchy song and great front man but musically needs more drive to make more impact. Try to find a distinctive image.
Blind Mans Vision- where’s the energy?! Need to bring it...sloppy.
Eloise Bryant–sweet voice, engaging but more practice required and need to always check tuning on guitar.
Jenna Durie-would have been better to have a backing track, performance was a little rushed.
Gweido- musically very good, suggest working the chorus with a shorter hook.
Dan Breen– good hook to the song.
Emma Byrne- slow down and check guitar tuning, detracted badly from the performance. Need a guitar pick.
Blind Signs-fantastic drummer! Lead singer watch your tuning.
Forever Summer- nice harmonies and song. Just tighten the guitar playing so on top form, rhythm during intro mainly.
Laura Charms– with a loop pedal always needs a performance with it otherwise may as well have a backing track. Was enjoyable but needs to be tighter with timing of recorded bits.
Zach Fielder- really different, develop a hook vocal line to leave a bigger impression.
Fight Like Kids-good feel but guitarists need to add to the performance.
Jon Hunt-lovely guitar work, but vocal needs work to be special.
Ashby Jenkins-needed more attitude and presence, work on that and will nail it.
Mike Garrett-liked the song but performance was on the dull side.
Factory Dolls-tight performance and unusual drumming style.
Hybrid 6.0- watch vocals as flat in places, need to think about how you line up to perform too.
Tracy J-Need to address the image dressing up a little dull, but song has potential.
Half Crown- good instruments and nice contrast of vocals, rapping excellent, remember to perform guy in the centre looked awkward for long periods.
Jack Wilson- no collective image, so going forward something to consider.
Kandaka- performed well and worked the performance area well but needed to be more original.
Luke Heartless- good voice, but start thinking about a distinct image going forward and remember to engage more.
New Royalty- very strong band, distinctive image and presence.
Lock n Load-good energy, drummer and rhythm guitarist need to conform to bands image.
Lyrical Monsoon-these guys and girl are good, lead girl needs to grow quick, find an image and bring some attitude on stage.
Nocturno- great performance, vocalist good and cool bass guitar player. Drummer needs to watch the beat.
Grace McCabe-nice smooth vocals but needs more support, song was a little boring.
Matt Sawyer- came across really well when talking to the Judges. Liked the vibe.
Tom Moody- a little David Gray esque.
Moments too late- lead guitar needs to work on timing and singer on tuning.
Strung- need a bit more practice guys, not the right song too high for the vocalist and best to performing an original would have been better.
Lewis MacKenzie- good interaction with the Judges, but guitar out of tune.
Lightning Hero- need to perform, rehearse more and learn a routine.
Countessa Clark- needs to work on vocals bit shouted.
Rakkoon-strong guitar intro, but losing maximum impact on vocals and need to connect more with audience.
Stricken 22-lots of energy, bass player needs to get more involved currently looks like a spare part.
Free Wheeling Boy- all a bit fast and hectic.
Jayo- clear diction and strong lyrics made need to bring more to the stage visually for the showcase, backing vocalist and/or dancers.
Shirin- performed it superbly well with confidence and attitude. Catchy track, maybe the image should be more than a nightclub visit.
Jammin Dodgers- good to see attention to performance from such a young band and connected well with the audience put a lot of older bands to shame.
Vicki Smith- vocals need a bit of work to keep in tune.
Katie Roberts- lovely voice, watch mic control, always keep your vocal tight to the mic. Keeping your eyes shut all the time shuts out the audience.
Clare Sawyer- lovely raspy voice real potential. Gain confidence to perform your own songs.
Black Vendetta-very much all on one level, needs to be more melodic; melody doesn’t harmonise with the chords.
Louisa Redding-nice voice, make sure the song is performed with more impact.
The Fringe-strong rock vocals for someone his age, bass player is terrific but needs to give more energy.
Two Types of Clothing- love the band they seem tight but make sure perform with more energy to create impact.
The End Effect-nice grove, nice cross rhythms and engaging song.
South Finesse- different and unique. Girl needs to get more swagga in the performance don’t hold back.
Tonight We Run- like the band good performance but vocalist is muffled and unclear.
The 3rd league- different sound, love the synth, remember to engage and perform.
The Rock’a’toons-good image and different! Like the set up other bands watch out these guys are slick.
The Mojo Filters- strong lead singer and tight band but instrumentally went dull for a period, a band of this calibre should work the dynamics to the songs full potential. Bass player to consider alternate pick not just use the upstrokes all the time to flow his bass lines smoothly.
Underdog- the suits and image are a great foil for the bands style.
The Curb-real potential, nice groove, solid beat box but maybe need something a little extra introduce a bass player to complete your sound.
Luke Varndell-nice guitar work, nice voice and nice song.
Henry Wacey- nice playing but need to engage more.
Laura Wolfe-great voice just be careful to remain unique and yourself.
Vanzatti – instrumentally took a long time to get going. Tight band would have liked a more prominent hook.
Rest in Noise- lead vocals had nice tone the band needs to work on performance. Musically all there need to know entertain with a performance.
The Slick Minded Individuals- one word slick! Unique sound and style.
Waking Athena- good instrumentals, singer needs to just watch vocals don’t force it and get too shouty.
White Knuckle Bride- tight sound and look the part.
Nick Thatham-nice vocals, nice guitar a little like James Blunt.
The Sabres-tight but need a bass player.
The Monitorz-very tight with a nice groove.
Van de Sexxe- image doesn’t suit the band genre.
The Skuxx- nice guitar riffs, tighten up behind these and will be good.
Urban Prophecy-vocalist nice tone bassist shouldn’t harmonise.
MMT- calm it down, bit too much energy and too intense.
If you’d like to come along to see some of the bands and acts that made it through to the Portsmouth Regional Showcase Finals on Saturday 23rd April 2011 you can go to the Live and Unsigned website to purchase tickets with the following link;
Industry Judges
Jimi Savage
Guitar Mogul
