Monday 24 February 2014

Taking Hayley Farewell Tour (London date)

It really does sadden me to say that Taking Hayley's Farewell tour has been and gone, and that they are no longer a band. I was lucky enough to get tickets to see them in London on 19th for one last goodbye.



Set No Sail were first the bill for the night. Being the first band on for the night is never that easy, they aren't that many people and were all their for the headliners but this didn't stop Set No Sail from putting on what I think was the first support act of the night. Their songs was fast and catchy, the vocals loud and clear they made you pay attention to them and I was not disappointed. After the gig it's self they were giving away free copies of their EP Take It Easy and sitting at home listening to them again they're diffidently a band worth checking out.
Check out Set No Sail's Facebook here

Twisters I hadn't heard of before so not knowing what to expect I was ready for anything I got a lively pop_rock band. They had a great energy about them and got the now bigger crowd up and moving about with their own light hearted songs and fantastic cover of Taio Cruz's Dynamite. They're a band I'd happily listen to again and be happy to see again.
Check out Twisters Facebook here

White Clouds And Gunfire third on the bill and first female fronted band of the night. They put on a great show, despite singer Evey having a bad throat. They weren't short of energy jumping all over the place and really owning the stage, the crowd was loving it those who knew the word singing along and those who didn't clapping along like it didn't matter. The songs were full on powerful rock songs, and that really showed in their performance.
Check out White Clouds And Gunfire's Facebook here

Remember December now I have to say for the main supports I think these guys fell a little short...  A pop-punk band with a twist but they didn't make the impact I was expecting, and I doubt I was the only one who thought this, the whole was very quiet compared to how'd they'd been earlier. They weren't bad in the fact they had some good songs they just didn't have the energy and ownership on the stage, they weren't demanding my attention and I had trouble giving it.
Check out Remember December's Facebook here

The lights came down and Taking Hayley hit the stage for one last party in London, and they delivered!
Going straight into their third single Better Luck Next Time the whole crowd went mad, through out Butterflies, Tonight (We Come Alive) and Here I Stand everyone was just having the time of their lives dancing, singing and clapping along. Alistair having abandoned his guitar for the night in favour of focusing on his vocals jumped around the stage like a 5 year old on a sugar rush! Andy of The Oceans Eyes fame played guitar in Alistair's place.Up All Night the band's second single had everyone on their feet, we really saw Levi Keeling (Guitar and backing vocals) come into his own, he had everyone clapping along within seconds.  For the fans who'd been there since the beginning  they played Don't Let Go the bands very first song that earned a few tears from the fans. Holding On a slightly heavier song got everyone going and even the start of a mosh pit that carried on into the next song, a cover of Earthquake. The rock version of Earthquake set the place on fire, Tom Paton (Bass) even went wondering through the crowd and was standing the bar at the other end of the room by the end of the song! From Now Until Forever started the tears, an emotional song about being friends and what they achieved as a band. Before Crying Eyes Ali started off by giving a little speech, saying all his thank yous and how much it meant to him that we'd all come out to say goodbye to the band. Crying Eyes played with just Ali, Andy and Jay (Drums) on stage the whole crowd was tearing up at the emotional song, so much so that by the end Ali was crying himself. After rejoining the stage Levi, Tom and Jay gave their speeches each thanking their friends, family and fans for helping their dreams come true. To finish the night they played their first single Circles, everyone went mad and was singing along to the last song and then with one last crash of Jay's drums it was over.

RIP Taking Hayley, you shall be sorely missed.

Saturday 8 February 2014

Blameshift: Secrets (Review)

Long Island, New York is where female fronted alternative rocks Blameshift are from. They've been busy the past few years building up quite a fan base and earning the title 'The hardest working band in the biz'



This is their single Secrets off their album of the same name.
 I know I've said this before but hey I'll say it again. Every female fronted band these days gets compared to Paramore, The Pretty Reckless, We The In Crowd and so on but always try not to that. Blameshift are their own band not just a copy of another.
Secrets starts slowly, showing off Jenny's voice from the get go. She has a unique voice that's both powerful when the song hits the drop of the chorus and soft in slow beginning of the song. There's a build before the chorus, its starts getting faster the guitar coming more into it that BAM the hook hits. Something I love about Blameshift is that you've got the variety of Tim on backing vocals so you get a nice mix between him and Jenny. If I wasn't typing this why listening to this song you can bet I'd be up jumping about and head banging. It's very well produced, when the guitars switch from the slower into to the fast, catchy riffs that is the the rest of the song they lose nothing of their quality. From about the second time I heard Secrets I've been singing along, it's one of those songs that makes you want to sing the chorus at top of your lungs.
I wouldn't go a far as to say the lyrics make it a dark song, it's a real powerful rock song of love and secrets.
Blameshift have created one powerful, catchy, fast paced rock song that I won't be forgetting in a hurry, they've currently made an impact and they're a band that make themselves heard.

If this is the single off Secrets then listening to the album is diffidently next on my agenda!

Listen to Secrets here

Check out Blameshift's Facebook here