It was all about the music at the Scotland and North East Live and Unsigned Area Final-Feedback

It was all about the music at the Scotland and North East Live and Unsigned Area Final this weekend, as The Journal Tyne Theatre welcomed the best of unsigned talent for the latest round of the Live and Unsigned Competition. The venue provided a great atmosphere for the live shows on the 24th April, with rock quintet guest act Francesqa headlining the showcases.  2010 Live and Unsigned Indie and rock and roll inspired champions The Lottery Winners also played at the showcase. The band beat over 10,000 acts from across the UK in the competition last year to take the top spot.

Judges presiding over the North East and Scotland Area Final included Benjamin Price from High Peak Radio, Nina Ritson from Newcastle Green Festival, Singing coach and vocalist Hannah Taylor Chris Grayston from Future Music and Graeme Scott, Leith FM.

The competition was fierce, and the standard was extremely high, well done to all the acts for putting on a great show! Congratulations to those that made it through to National Grand Final at Live Fest in London’s O2 on the 23^rd July.

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.

Show 1

Mono Six- Good energy at the start and performance didn’t quite nail the vocal on the cover, was a bit pitchy and hard to make out lyrics on a day it needed to be nailed. Need more energy overall.

Just Paul- Had a great competition but found his level at the moment. More performance will improve this, like mic control. Made the cover his own but not sure it improved it. Image is good and stage performance is good. Interacts well like he’s playing to the crowd.

Steel Rose- Obviously thought through image albeit dated and vocally backed each other up well. Could have developed some more harmonies to enhance it further. Quirky and a good choice of cover. Work on mic technique you need to be near it when you sing.

Nathan Elcox- As an acoustic act should base sound acoustically, playing to a backing track doesn’t work in this instance. Wasn’t always perfectly in time with the backing track and maybe would be a better direction to bring in musicians going forward.

Electro Circuit- Guys performed well, strong front man, cover was clearly better than the original, suggesting the writing needs working on to find stronger original material. Careful singing doesn’t become screaming it looked a bit of a strain. Don’t clap when you’ve got the mic in hands.

Gemma Abley- Lots of potential with a strong original song, watch the mic control as a little shouty in places. Work on timings. Needs something unique in an over congested genre.

Promo Girl- Great! tight rhythm section, good looking lads with presence and star quality. Lead vocalists could work on delivering for a stronger impacting vocal to otherwise an engaging performance.

Abi Alton- Really looked like she was enjoying it and owned the stage completely. Watch the keyboard note playing just slipped off a couple of times.

Dead Cat Bounce- Folk edge to this band with a clearly talented front lady. Love the sax. Front lady worked the stage well and carried the performance in that respect. Her voice is a bit too soft though against the music. Good bass lines, reasonably tight. Decent original.

Samantha Smith- Needs that something unique to stand out more. Killer song and image too bland. Really good original. Slightly Americanized.

Deadman’s Stand- Musically sounded great with an extremely strong original. Just work on some adlib collective moves. It was all a bit one-paced.

Bronagh Monahan- Lovely playing and vocal but performance felt laboured. It also needed more connection to the audience.

Kate Dunn and the Redundants- Clever choice of cover and music arrangement too, it was very engaging. Musically at times drowned the vocal which struggled to cut through the mix. Good dynamics could make more of a collective performance to really make more of an impression.

Peter Skeen- Great voice, great song and really commanded the large audience. Complete silence on the breakdown tells you a lot.

Three Long Words- Cover was musically sound but a bit flat vocally suffering from pitch problems. Loved the bass player great performance, and couldn’t fault the overall performance.

Dean James- Big voice. Remember to engage with the audience more to get that connection. Good tempo change, maybe get to the faster part quicker to keep the audience with you.

SO4- Musically good but need to perform as a band as one, not enough performance, only at the very end did something come together collectively and it lacked collective energy.

No Demise- Lots of attitude which is great, bass player could connect with the other two guitarists who are very engaging. Work in progress.

Danniiyelo- Cover suffered from tuning issues, performance could have been more interesting by varying the chords. Perform to the audience.

The Zoob Skool- Need to nail the first note. The act have a nice sound when singing but would benefit from more harmonies, they’re both singing in the same key could have mixed it up far more.

Hardback- Enjoyed the guitar playing but cover could have been stronger. Perform with more swagga and make the best of a musically tight band. Just need to watch tuning on vocals.

Show 2

Edmundlunar- Sounded great but visually poor, no image, must look up chaps, very static which comes with all being seated and a little sleepy.

Martha Cook- Lovely vocal tone both sultry and enchanting song, could give more expression and performance though, plus it needed more passion. Lyrics are sometimes lost in the diction.

Lunajet- Fair play to the guys for continuing with the competition with your drummer letting you down at short notice but didn’t sound that live with the backing song on pc and thus sounded artificial. Worth a go and best look for another drummer that won’t let you down.

Silvar- The original song is a hit in the right hands but, should have done it first and more of it, also needed a cover to compliment the deep emotion of the original- was too much of a contrast. Also need to really work on choreography.

Airplay- Good passion and front man. Just missed the vocal on the breakdown which suffered from tuning issues. Vocals feel a bit strained at times, would be nice to hear something a little more natural.

Catie Pilgrim- Lovely tone to vocal, but cover didn’t really flow nor did the original. Tempo felt stuck on the lacklustre chord structure on the piano. Piano playing needed to be more complex, would have benefitted from using a pedal.

Loud N’Proud- Totally amazing! And get better with every performance which was both engaging and well worked. Where performance is so lacking with so many of the acts on show these guys made up for it in abundance! Stars in the making.

Paul Graham- In a crowded acoustic market everything needs to be thought out; catchy hook on the song, image and engaging performance.

Realis - Good ideas with a full sound but band needs styling, didn’t look like a band. Not engaging enough although she has a good voice.

Andrew Brand- Lovely sound to the vocals but could have benefitted from stronger dynamics all a little on the same tempo.

Koocha- Musically solid and performed well but had a touch of cabaret to it costing marks on the original category. More energy from the rest of the band though please. Horns work well.

The Silence- Good choice of cover which they made their own. Strong front lady who was engaging. Original needs to have a hook suggest repeating the chorus Psycho, Psycho on the dance floor as with a little work has great potential.

Adam Smith- Real raw talent but a rough diamond. Needs to watch mic control and take care of guitar playing. Original song has bags of potential with a strong hook to give that real single potential.

Cairo- Front man had swagga but the rest of the band could have performed there was no energy or chemistry for the front man to feed off and entertain.

Warren & Rice- Guitars out of tune which affected the vocal tuning also a bit messy and very much lacking in pace. Try to engage with the audience more.

Jaego- Were solid and musically tight but looking to mark up from average was nothing to really push the marks up, they need something to stand out from the ordinary; harmonies required.

Fire In Effect- Good vocal licks, vocally balanced and all performed. This band can go places.

Copper McCormick- Superb rich rock vocal with a superb range. Not sure about the image accessories in particular.

Emma Jane- Nice vocal not much performing going on. Nice blend of instruments. Emma has a very strong voice and looks good. Would have preferred it if she had a bit more originality in her vocals. Really tight overall.

Insert- All performing as one which was good. Cover was an odd choice but a nice take. Great energy and a good impact start.

Dox- Original was good and vocally strong. Levels on electric guitar were a bit overwhelming and it touched on being a bit self indulgent. Seen Dox much better than this, playing acoustic and more playing of the guitar more would have potentially have worked better here.

The Syndicates- Seem a real fun band, tight and confident. Liked the original musically and lyrically. They had a good time and showed little sign of nerves. Good energy all round.

Show 3

Only Guilty Man – Full Sound and good musicians. Front man has a good voice and they are current as well. Front man could have looked like he was more into the performance.

The Langtails – Loved the guitars, vocals sound a bit mono tone. Make sure you smile and engage with the audience.

Keith Meisner – Nice folk sound and really enjoyable. Not to sure about the choice of cover. Could have been’ folked’ up more with more musicians? Would have given the song more impact.

Ded Rabbit – Great funky sound, the cover was tighter and stronger than the original song. Microphone technique and issues with sax mic. All good musicians and each bring something to the table.

Underhand Heroes – Like the image and really creative cover. Questionable as to whether you would get airplay on radio one with the lyrics as they are. High impact, looked the part, but original song not that strong.

Modal Nodes – Musically sounded sweet, lovely harmonies although no interaction between them which is needed with a duet or with the audience. It’s a pleasant act but not one that grabs you by the ears.

Painting for Saints – Just need more performance, female lead needs to push more power from her vocals. Good scream from the drummer.

The Bare Wires – Sounds a bit like Mick Hucknall very soulful voice. Just needs to give more expression to convey the songs. Would be great to hear an acoustic bass added to the sound.

Original is decent. Liked the guitar playing and the box was effective.

The Frues – Fun festival band, image a little dated although enjoyed the sound. Slight tuning issues on vocals and missed the stop on Johnny B Good

Ross Arthur – Very American but don’t think the original song showed of your full potential of your voice.  I think Ross would benefit from a backing band.

The Rigg – Liked the tempo of the first song and it blended well with the guitar riffs. Original was a lot stronger than the performance of the cover.

Tasty Jailbait – Cover was great musically tight and full and broke down well into original song. Performance from the band could have been improved as one weakness.Could have had more energy on stage.

Soho Dandy – Front man had a presence, cover was enjoyable. Another member of the band could step up with the harmonies to give overall vocal support.

Anthony Mcintyre – Looked very nervous but behind that is a distinctive unique voice that will develop with more performing. Good vocal control and a humble performance. Original was decent. Believe in yourself!

The Hold Up – Good energy and trumpet gave it an edge but the timing went at the end giving it a messy conclusion.

Scott Peden – Thought should have gone into the look and image. Make sure you don’t stand in one long line. Not bad but need to improve on how tight you can be.

Wayside – Guitarists get involved to polish off and be more complete. Singer a bit too full on so just relax a bit and performance will improve.One to get the head tapping. Good original. They believe in their music which is good.

For those acts who didn’t progress through to the Grand Finals, don’t forget to use your Wildcard! All acts have been given a Wildcard in the form of a national public vote. There is just one place up for grabs and just two weeks to make your mark, so keep an eye out on the website and get voting for that last National Grand Final spots!

For information on the Grand Final and to purchase tickets visit the Live and Unsigned Live fest page. Or further details of guest acts playing the London’s biggest indoor festival “Live Fest” incorporating the National Grand Final visit www.LiveFest.co.uk