The Shires, Ward Thomas, Catherine McGrath, MiNNA, Jo Whiley, Scott Mills, Toby Spin, Lightning Seeds, Riding the Low, and Propaganda DJ's

I really enjoyed The Shires concert, they have a lovely harmony between their voices and write good songs. With more experience and material they deserve concerts of their own. My only small criticism is she tried to get the audience 'going' to early, they should just play a number of songs first.

What a great show ! Ward Thomas are very talented writers and performers. They also took time after the show to speak to their fans, sign CDs and have photos taken. A class act. I would recommend their show to anyone.

Catherine McGrath was amazing.
She has a really good vocal voice as well as a great stage presence.
There were no awkward moments in between songs as she was able to fill these with her own personal experiences of the song. I would definitely go back and see her again.
I have no doubt her Career will flourish over the next few years.

The Lightning Seeds, an alternative band out of Liverpool, put on some of the most amazing live shows you will see in any genre. Their song Pure, performed live, is a lively, jazzy, poppy, fun, funky song. It is a mellow good time, a song to sit back and relax with a few beers with your friends to while they play just for you.

But just when you think they are just a fun little light band you will change your mind if you hear them somewhere like the Riverside Festival. They raise the roof and bring down the house, simultaneously, with surprising electric guitar riffs and incredibly fun drum beats. They march in time with the music as they belt out the lyrics. The audience takes it all in and loves it. You can feel them bouncing, hopping, getting excited at the music that is washing over them. They keep building the intensity until the audience cannot take any more, then they bring it back down to that smooth, poppy band that you enjoyed talking about over beers with friends. They can go to so many extremes that seeing them live is an experiment in variation. It's an experiment not to be missed.

I headed all the way to Leicester from Newcastle upon Tyne to catch Riding the Low at The Scholar on Friday 24th April. Having seen them many times before in a variety of venues, I knew it would be worth the journey.
They supported The Charlatans in the main venue last month and were exceptional. Tim Burgess is a big fan. To be honest, it doesn't seem to matter if they're playing to thousands or a roomful, they always put 100% into their performance. Tonight was no exception.
With Paddy Considine as the frontman, you'd expect passsion and intensity. In Riding the Low it comes from all sides. Proper strapped-on, gutsy rock'n'roll with killer tunes and high kicks agogo. They stormed through a satisfyingly long set, including, in a demanded encore, the brilliant 'Dizzly Doo Dah Man'.'Rocky 99' and 'Easy On Our Own' were the crowd-pleasers but the whole set was impressive with plenty of great new songs thrown in.
If you're heading to Kendal Calling, Forgotten Fields or the Isle of Wight Festival, be sure to check them out, and keep your eye out for their next album and hopefully a tour, due later this year. It's going to be immense.