Live Music Showcase at Glasgow Regional final – Feedback

The Regional Final live music showcase in Glasgow, took place as The Royal Concert Hall welcomed the best of unsigned talent for the latest round of the Live and Unsigned Competition. Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall provided a great atmosphere for the live shows on the 12^th March, with guest act Danny Shah headlining the showcases. 

Judges presiding over the Glasgow Regional Final included MFR Scotland Presenter and Mercury Music award Judge Marion Scott, Benjamin Price from High Peak Radio, Celtic Music Radio’s  Danny Matheson and Equity Chairman of Scottish Variety Branch Eva Lorraine.

The competition was fierce, and the standard was extremely high, well done to all the acts for putting on a great show! Credit goes especially the few who made it through to the Live Scotland and North East Area Final shows on Sunday 24th April 2011 at The Newcastle Journal Tyne Theatre.

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.

Final  1

Airplay – Good Opening act. Shaky start vocally, but improved throughout the performance to show strong, powerful vocals.  Interesting choice of cover.  Nice image and decent original. Good frontman very engaging. Good transitions between songs. High impact band, liked it

Goosedubbs – Like the original. Vocals shaky on start of cover, good frontman but took a few bars to warm up as was out of key. More energy from other members needed and would have had more impact if there were backing vocals throughout instead of just at the end

Callum Baird – Decent song but  a bit out of tune. No originality in terms of style and genre. American accent! Overall good guitar playing, but try something more original. One to watch in the future

Umbilical Cord – Needs a big voice to pull off Jimi Hendrix. Not quite there. Great guitar and bass, and good use of pedals; there’s quite a full sound given there’s only three of them

Bronagh Monahan -  Pleasant original, but needed a chorus or a hook, a bit of a meander, good tone from voice but keys playing a bit basic. Cover well executed, lovely voice, good emotion

The Ashtones – Strong female vocals, good energy from rest of band, Cover a bit predictable. Would like to see more chemistry between two vocalists, they look isolated from each other. Like the fact they’re both red haired, adds something. Good drummer

John Taylor –Easy listening and fantastic voice. Original is nice but again, doesn’t go anywhere. Guitar playing a bit basic. Liked the cover put his own spin on Paranoid – Black Sabbath. It’s all in the same key as the original would have been nice to hear a tempo change

Just Paul – Very nice playing and a good performance he isn’t just looking at the keys, like we see so often. Nice original, Good image, he has something. Cover a bit too similar to original again no tempo change

The Strike Nineteens – Good all round band with attention grabbing original, a good wall of sound. Nice transition into cover song. Good tight set. Changed his voice for the cover to try and sound like Thom Yorke, shame because he has a decent voice

Kelly McCormick – He’s a Scottish man, singing a song by an Irishman, in an American accent! Good voice and playing. He has character. Good original. Image could have been better

Kings and Scamps – A better guitar would have helped. The young brother has an OK voice but it’ll break soon and then what? It all feels a bit out of key, good impact at beginning. Younger bro could have shown more energy and performance. Keep Practising boys!

Kate Dunn and the Redunndants – Band work well together. Nice brass section, really made band different would have liked a more expansive bass line. He started playing good bass lines at the end, could have been more funky given the large set-up. Was a bit shouty with backing vocals at the end

Little Ash – Looks nervous. She dresses as if she’s got star quality but then doesn’t show it. Predictable cover. Quirky image is nice, but think this is a bit too much if she doesn’t back it up with personality. Cover is high impact, she should have started with this one. Great original voice

Danniyelo – Cute and nice playing. Best female solo guitar player of the day so far. Original is nice but, as so often with female vocalists it’s a drifter. Cover a bit too nice, would have liked to hear something more edgy. Looks good, but need to show more passion in the next round

 Loud n Proud School of Rock – They look great and they work the stage well and have great energy at such a young age! Vocals at times out of key. Great solo riff and this boy has attitude. Cover song is an imitation. Watch your time limit in the next round!

Julie Agnew – Looks good on stage, but just another female acoustic. Fantastic voice but not all that original and original song didn’t go anywhere

The Secrets- Great energy , but they look like an Oasis cover band. Be yourselves guys! Don’t be scared of the mic. Find your own image.

Final 2

Chasing Amy – Good image and good stage presence. Should have started with impact, rather than weak guitar solo. Elements of the performance were good, but it was out of sync in places

Paul Graham – Nice stripped down cover. Looks good, nice, smiley and engaging  performance

Mocker – Original has a catchy tune, but feels a bit hollow. Not an impact 3-piece, work on stage presence and audience engagement

Lord Luken – Very likeable and fun. The band worked well together and frontman is strong. Good sound but original not quite there

Ramzy Ross – Work on mic technique. Nice voice, but needs more power. Really don’t like the backing track, it drowns out the playing

Black Mambas – High energy 3-piece with good singer and drummer. Good original. Need more energy from the bass player. Good technique in combining the cover with your original

Catie Pilgrim – Great image but guitar playing not great. Nice cover, put her own angle on it. Good original, good tone to voice, great range. Very watchable, just need to spend time rehearsing and practising

Deadman’s Stand – High impact, good energy, good performance. Good audience participation. Just lacking a little originality

Andrew Brand – Decent original, nice tempo change into cover. Lacks originality, but good future ahead

Davy & Kev – Very catchy tune and great voice

Horizon – Great image but vocal not the strongest. No energy except frontman. Great Lead guitarist, but he played riff to himself instead of the audience. Work on engagement as a whole band with your audience

Adam Smith – Great original voice, love the accent, looks good just needs to spice up the playing

Road Runner – Feels like an impersonation, a bit dated but musically good. Good performance and transitions

Peyton Place – Bit messy when all four sing. Need to work on harmonies and this could be good. Love the keys. Keep going, just spend more time rehearsing to iron out the performance

Emma Jane – Cover is karaoke. Great image and voice. Love the bass. A good, well rehearsed performance

The Baltics – Vocals need work. Original is catchy but felt messy.  Cover has no original spin. Good performance but need more rehearsal time

Warren and Rice – Good individuality and decent image, need to work on vocals but they were pleasant to listen to and capture audience

The Fonetics – Definite star quality. Decent original and nice harmonies. Would like to see more energy though. Good cover song

Realis – Not an original cover choice but a nice version and wow what a voice! Very powerful vocals. Good backing vocals

Show 3

Five Bar Gate – Good collective sound, need to be more engaging with the audience

Ghost Ride The Whip – A good well-rehearsed band but what do they offer as an original act? Liked the frontman and they all look good together as a band

Miscued Vein – Powerful lead vocals, but was put off by backing vocals

Only Guilty Man – Nice original song. Good performance and they look good too. One to watch

Dirty Cannon – Nice guitar playing. Original song has potential. Could be tighter as a band though

The Zoob Skool – Guitarist would be better as a solo artist, but good audience engagement

Soho Dandy – Did well considering how little time they’ve been together, will go far with more practice

The Frues – Great energy on stage and looked to be enjoying themselves, nice choice of cover

The Hold Up – Commanded the stage well, band members work well together, looking forward to seeing how they get on in next round

Dusk Til Dawn - Decent tight band. Good original song but not original enough as an act, try to let individual personalities show more

Tasty Jailbait – Nice take on cover, but need to be more original. Band tight, good audience reaction and stage presence

Scott Peden - Very good performance. Very engaging act and good stage presence, real potential here!

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 North East & Scotland Area Showcase Final on Sunday 24th April 2011 at The Journal Tyne Theatrego to the Live and Unsigned website to purchase tickets with the following link; http://www.liveandunsigned.uk.com/live_shows