Live Music Showcase at Manchester Regional Final - Feedback
The Regional final live music showcase in Manchester, took place as The Willows welcomed the best of unsigned talent for the second MusicRadar Live and Unsigned Regional Final of this year’s Competition. The Willows in Manchester provided a good start to the North West region, with guest act Myke Black headlining the three showcases.
Judges presiding over the Manchester Regional Final included BBC Radio Six Jo Good, professional singer Bob Young, Phillip Whittam promoter and Liverpoolclubbing.com, Chris Grayston from Future Music Management and Ben Price from High Peak Radio. Mark Orr from Lab Records gave his apologies.
Well done to all the acts for putting on a great show! Credit goes especially the few who made it through to the Live Area Final shows and the North West England final on Sunday 8th May 2011 at the Willows, Manchesterwww.thewillowsonline.co.uk
Find below feedback for 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 performed. So please take the feedback onboard with a view to helping.
A little Bit Outlaw – a confident act. Good tight band, vocals a little out but he has a good voice. Good cover. Not much musicianship, but a decent sound.
Andy Doonan – Great strong vocals, but not that original. Good performer got the crowd going, nice choice of cover, mixed the two well
Ben Noke –Nice Rihanna cover, but tried to hit notes he didn’t have. Nice keys playing. Very current feel to it. Very nice song. Voice got better towards the end
Cathy Ife – angelic voice, almost haunting. Nervous performance which had an effect on the vocals. Original song lacked a hook and chorus
Just Don’t Panic – good cross-genre sound. Shame the backing vocals aren’t stronger. Bass player a little out of time. Need to practice and get tighter as it got worse as it went on
Laura and Leanne – nervy start, a little American in the vocals. Original a bit repetitive. Playing not very adventurous. Didn’t feel like they were playing together. Liked the cover as it had a better pace than the original. Was a little static, don’t be afraid to move with the music
Lonesome Georginas – nice and tight. Glad they stepped up the pace for the original. Very nice but no fireworks. Would be nice on a Sunday with a coffee
Lauren-Lee – nervy voice, could have worked the stage better to begin with, eventually she did. Nice ending, hit a big note. Needs to pick songs which suit her voice in future. Great image!
Second Chance – could have made more effort with image. Energetic song but showed no energy on stage. Not a confident lead vocal, could do with some work as sounds almost apologetic
Malaika Shaw – could feel nerves in voice and playing. Playing a bit tinny but I like her style of playing. Really nice voice once she got going
Kinky Like Jane – good personality and star quality on front woman. Like the keys playing. Bit of a messy transition. Guitar playing detracts a bit. Original is decent, worth another listen. Not sure on the cover intro was far too long and lacked impact. Such a gamble trying to hit repeated big notes as it has to be spot on, it wasn’t
Sophie Liesl – liked the original, good chorus. Liked the dancers but thought she could have worked with them more. Generally could have worked the stage more. Liked the choice of cover, very pleasant voice, showed a softer side of her performance
The Flix –Lead guitar out of tune, affects the whole sound. Original got loads better towards the end. Cover is just an imitation no personality in it. Needed more energy on stage
Gemma O’Reilly – is she American? Put a bit of herself into the cover. Nice transition between songs. Liked the original
Doubting Lexia – needed more work on image and to include personality into the performance. High energy music, yet nothing on stage. Music is good nice and tight. Was nice to see a singing drummer
A’priori – good image. Like the keys, very tight band. Voice does sound a bit forced at times. Original merged into similar sounding cover which highlighted a lack of originality. But a very good band
Chris Barnes – like him. Sweet voice, good song, needs to work on mic technique. Could have changed the tempo of the cover it moulded into one a little too easy. Try to engage with the audience more
Crawl – musically ok but front man isn’t strong enough. Lacked a spark. Got worse as it went on, singer forgot words. Tighten up your act, and then raise your performance energy with it
Superstar Tradesman – Oasis cover a bit of an impersonation; need to develop your own sound! Really empty sound, it needed something else. Guitarist needs to look away from guitar frets!
Don’t start fires – good style and sound, but try working on your own rather than copying. Good bass player, front man needs to work on vocals and clearer diction. A few misplaced chords. Cover was just a copy, no originality shown,
Michael Cope – stop-start beginning, but a great recovery. American accent, decent cover, good voice but not sure how original it is? Dont be afraid to experiment with your vocals
Fidel and the Castros – liked the megaphone, big sound. Feel good Beatles cover. Nice tight band, strong voice but not that original. Needed some band energy and audience engagement
Figaro Magnifico – bass player is good but his voice isn’t the strongest. Drums and bass slightly out of sync at times. Could have worked with the cover a lot more to make it your own. Work with your stage presence more, real promise here!
Surreal Knowledge – thought the electric guitar was a little too intrusive. Great rappers. Really put on a performance and worked the stage. Well rehearsed. Predictable cover but enjoyed it. They have what the comp is all about: Originality and good live performers
Liz Jones –stripped down cover quite clever, a bit low key though. Original song had a nice chorus. Voice is good but doesn’t bring anything new. Nice voice, just make sure you don’t move off the mic when you move around
The Change – a little bare. Good change in tempo of song. Decent cover but lacking musicianship to be honest. Full of potential just need to engage with each other and practise
Ugly Harmonies – good personalities and an excellent stage performance. Could work on image. Not too original but front man has a strong voice. Make sure the vocals dont go too shouty
Capriero – good image, song and performance, would have liked a change of tempo a bit one paced. Smooth your performance making it good and clear
Danielle Marie – great voice, is she original or unusual? Worked the stage well and looked very comfortable up there. Needs some more beats other than same guitar action
Sixty Syndicate – good voices but a bit outdated. Not a full enough sound, maybe introduce some keys to fill the gaps and bring it a little more into date. Really like the bass player
Sydney Chasing Safety – sound like so many bands of their genre, wanted to hear something new. Performed well on stage, good energy. Interesting and modern cover. Bit messy though, needs to be more rehearsed
Tom Savage – nice original style. Great growling voice, good personality. Decent song although does feel a little bit old-fashioned in its structure. He’s quirky but needs to make sure he doesn’t talk too much, as he was losing the audience. Quirky cover
Hymek Manoeuvre - nervy vocal start, more energy on stage please. Cover isn’t adapted to their style. Front woman should have taken mic off the stand and worked it as she has a very strong voice. Second song was better ‘Crocodile’. Worked better with male and female vocals together
Stereofuel – Own song wasn’t that strong, no hooks. Great performance and good choice of lively cover, good image and energy throughout. Second song was a better choice
For those acts who didn’t get through the Regional Finals, don’t forget to use your Wildcard! All acts have been given a Wildcard in the form of a national public vote. There are two places up for grabs and just two weeks to make your mark, so keep an eye out on the website and get voting for one of those last Area Final spots!
If you’d like to come along to see some of the bands and acts that made it through to the North West England final it’s on Sunday 8th May 2011 at the Willows, Manchester www.thewillowsonline.co.uk go to the Live and Unsigned website to purchase tickets with the following link;
Industry Judges
Jimi Savage
Guitar Mogul
