Willy Mason Review

I have now seen Willy Mason twice: when he was supporting Ben Howard  and Mumford & Sons.

Willy Mason is a folk singer/songwriter from Massachusetts, USA. Although I was not very familiar with this artist before I saw him support Ben Howard, he has toured with the likes of Death Cab for Cutie, Damien Rice, and Radiohead, and has even performed at a number of festivals including glastonbury.

Mason to date has released two albums "Where the Humans Eat" and "If the Ocean Gets Rough." My favorite song from his set was "Save Myself" (see live performance below).

When Willy Mason supported Ben Howard I felt he did an overall great performance. He had strong vocals and as a the support act he did a great job of warming the crowd up. Despite this however I would say he didn't do as good of a job when supporting Mumford & Sons at the Roundhouse in Camden, London for the iTunes Festival. Don't get me wrong, Willy Mason's vocals were still strong however there just seemed to be something missing. There was no connection between the crowd and him, proven sadly by the constant low chatter that took place while he performed his entire set. Its a shame as Willy Mason is really a great country/folk singer.

 Since Mason is yet to truly establish himself as a folk singer, his gigs are prominently held at quite small venues. This is by no means a bad thing however, as the intimacy of the venues fit his performance style perfectly. I would say if country is not your thing than this is a gig you should avoid. For those however who do enjoy country/folk music this would be a good choice for a quiet/mellow evening listening to live music.

Tour Dates:

Supporting Ben Howard
2nd Nov. Brighton Dome - Brighton
3rd Nov. Plymouth Pavilions - Plymouth
4th Nov. Cardiff University - Cardiff
5th Nov. Colston Hall - Bristol
7th Nov. Olympia Theatre - Dublin
9th Nov. Waterfront Hall Auditorium & Studio - Belfast
10th Nov. O2 Academy - Glasgow
12th Nov. O2 Apollo - Manchester
14th Nov. O2 Academy - Leeds
16th Nov. O2 Academy - Newcastle Upon Tyne
17th Nov. Aberdeen Music Hall - Aberdeen
19th Nov. Cambridge Corn Exchange - Cambridge
20th Nov. The Engine Shed - Lincoln
21st Nov. O2 Academy - Leicester
22nd Nov. Rock City - Nottingham
24th Nov. O2 Academy - Birmingham
25th Nov. O2 Academy - Bournemouth
26th Nov. Southampton Guildhall - Southampton
28th Nov. O2 Academy Brixton - London
29th Nov. O2 Academy Brixton - London
30th Nov. O2 Academy Brixton - London

1st Dec. King Tut's Wah Hut - Glasgow
2nd Dec. The Ruby Lounge - Manchester
3rd Dec. The Glee Club @ The Arcadian - Birmingham
5th Dec. Scala - London
6th Dec. Thekla - Briston

For more tour dates and information regarding tickets check out: http://www.ents24.com/web/artist/76925/Willy_Mason.html

Reuben Hollebon

In a previous post I have stated "Through this artist I was able to identify the true brilliance of Twitter. Twitter not only enables avid music fans like myself to discover new music, but it allows upcoming bands and artists to promote themselves and their music"....well once again, through Twitter, I  was brought to the sounds of Reuben Hollebon. 

Reuben has recently released an EP which can be heard: http://soundcloud.com/reubenhollebon

His live performances have been described as "stark, raw and intimate." Having listened to the debut EP,  Clutch by this British Folk artist I am reminded of the vocal talent and style of Bon Iver and James Blake. 

I would really urge you to check this guy out, I am certain you won't be left disappointed. 

Tour Dates: 

6th October. The Gallery Cafe - London, UK

12th October. Oxjam Islington 2012 - London, UK

21st October. The Old Queen's Head - London, UK 

Florence and the Machine

If you have not heard of Florence and the Machine, then where have you been?

Florence and the Machine are an indie pop band from the UK. They first hit the music scene in 2006  and have since gone from strength to strength. The band debut album "Lungs" which includes the songs "Dog days are over" and "You've got the love," reached number one in the UK and was one of the best selling albums of 2009 and 2010. Their latest album "Ceremonials" was released in October of this year and reached number one in the UK and Irish charts and reached the top 10 in the US. Songs to definitely check out from this album include "What the Water Gave Me," "Shake It Out" and "Never Let Me Go."

I am a huge fan of this band and have been lucky enough to see them live twice. Both times I was not left disappointed and would definitely look to see them live again. I would easily give their gigs 10 out of 10, since Florence Welch has an amazing voice, great stage presence and a brilliant ability to work the whole crowd. I will warn you though, Welch does constantly jump up and down on the spot during her songs - something that many people can get irritated about. If however you can get past the jumping this gig is definitely a must see!

Tour dates:
4th December. Westpoint Arena  - Exeter
5th December. The O2 -  London
9th December. AECC - Aberdeen
10th December. Liverpool Echo Arena - Liverpool

For information regarding tour dates and tickets, check out: Florence and the Machine tickets and http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/Florence-The-Machine-tickets/artist/1362337

JLS Review

This was sure one hell of an energetic performance.

The JLS boys made up of Aston Merrygold, Oritse Williams, J.B. Gill, and Marvin Humes, are very much the english boy band with their catchy tunes and energetic dance moves. This boy band first hit the scene when they came runner up in the fifth season of The X Factor in 2008. Already these boys have achieved great success, with their first two singles going straight to number 1, and their debut album "JLS" sold over one million copies in the UK.

I was fortunate to see these boys at the roundhouse by winning iTunes Festival tickets. Supporting the band was Connor Maynard.

The set list for the boys performance was: The Club is Alive, Teach Me How To Dance, Take A Chance on Me, Beat Again, Payphone (Maroon 5 cover), Everybody in Love, Mega mis (OMG by Usher, Back 2 Life by Sean Kingston, Beautiful People by Chris Brown), Proud, Do You Feel What I Feel.

There was plenty of activity on stage - combine the groups dance moves, with their back up dancers and random break to do press ups (counted by the crowd) - it was pretty impossible for anybody to be bored during their performance. If the screams from the crowd were anything to go by, this british boy band can do no wrong, and will be around for a long time yet.

Oh and I should comment that there was A LOT of clothe removal throughout the show (Marvin and JB even went as far as removing their trainers!) - but don't be put off as these boys certainly have very honed and toned bodies, and if the crowds reaction was anything to go by - there were no complaints!!!

iTunes Festival

If you have not heard about this festival you are missing out.

The iTunes Festival takes place over 30 consecutive nights (1st-30th Sept) and features over 60 different artists. What is so great about this particular festival is all tickets are free.

To win tickets all you need is to simply check which artist you wish to see and submit an email address. Its really that simple! If you are not successful than all the performances are streamed live on youtube for the rest of the world to watch.

This event has taken place since 2008 and has proven to be hugely popular. Artists that performed this year include Deadmau5, Norah Jones, The Killers and Ed Sheeran.

For more information check out: http://www.itunesfestival.com/

Angus Stone

Angus Stone, most notably known for being in "Angus and Julia Stone" with his sister, is a folk singer from Australia. Together this brother/sister duo followed their parents footsteps into the folk scene and have to date released two albums together; "A Book Like This," and "Down The Way."

In 2011 the sibling act announced they would be parting ways to concentrate on their solo careers. When asked Angus said "Recording with Julia is cool but we both have our hands on the wheel. This was an opportunity to grab the wheel and do some burn-outs."

In terms of his solo career, Angus Stone has been hugely successful. His two albums "Smoking Gun as 'Lady of the Sunshine," and the recently released "Broken Brights," have proven popular and even went straight to number 1 on iTunes in Australia.

Tour Dates
29th Sept. The Bower Ballroom - NYC
8th Oct. The Lexington - London, UK
9th Oct. The Lexington - London, UK

For more information regarding tickets and his N.America and Australia tour dates check out: http://www.songkick.com/artists/5423258-angus-stone/calendar?page=1