Chris Conway/Ann Duggan & Rob Hines/Twisted Widows/Kevin Hewick

CHRIS CONWAY/ANNIE DUGGAN & ROB HINES/

TWISTED WIDOWS/KEVIN HEWICK

Duffys 6th August 2026

Kevin excelled in putting the bill together for last nights "Botheration" at Duffy's Bar

Kevin Hewick opened up as ever with s great set, his usual shambolic lovable self around a batch of excellent songs performed with his usual power and commitment

Following this the TWISTED WIDOWS delighted with a set of great covers

Next up, a Botheration first for Annie Duggan & Rob Hines. Hadnt seen them for a while, but Annie was on top form singing as beautifully as ever and full of life and energy. Rob makes guitar playing look easy... accompanying perfectly through and delivering a simply mesmerizing performance of a Tommy Emmanuel piece, "Gdansk". Absolutely sparkling great set.

Closing was the wonderful Chris Conway, surely one of the most talented and nicest people on the circuit. His set was as ever fun, varied and massively enjoyable... playing mainly 12 string guitar, but also featuring the delightful african instrument the name of which i can never remember and pipes... Chris simply cruised through a superb set.

One of the best Botherations yet... loved it!!

keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues

Scallions/Carillion

SCALLIONS/CARILLION

IMV 24th July 2026

Superb evening at the The International Music Venue last night.

Opening up were a new band, Carillion,, led by Oliver Sloan, (Peter Sloans son). Last saw him some months ago as a very young lad playing in a duo with Jacob, they showed real promise and talent... last night leading the band Oliver had grown immensely as a performer... playing and singing with real confidence and authority... indeed the whole band were excellent and show huge potential.. one weakness at this stage is that he needs to develop stage craft and communication.. but given how much it had improved, that wil happen with a few more gigs under their belt

Headlning were the superb SCALLIONS led by Peter Sloan playing their first ever Van Morrison Tribute Show... and it was a triumph!

The band rocked furiously from the first moment and tore through around 90 minutes of Van classics... all delivered with power, passion and impeccable musicianship... No two ways, this is a band of gifted musicians, last night playing a superb set of Van Morrison music. Absolutely superb performance.. exciting, uplifting and hugely enjoyable... hope for more of the same

Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues

Lirielle/Heart of the Hydra/Rai Waddingham/Chris Ilett

LIRIELLE/HEART OF THE HYDRA/
RAI WADDINGHAM/CHRIS ILETT

Duffys 23rd July 2026

Seems too long since I was in the excellent Duffy's Bar but back last night for Luke Broughton "Take the Stage" event... always a joy. and last night was something extra... undefineable... the feeling in the room was exceptional... a really lovely vibe...

As ever the bill was for me a mix of the familiar, less familiar and unknown

Chris Ilett opened the proceedings,

followed by Rai Waddingham both of whom delivered cracking sets, both somehow more informal and personal than ever.

Next up a total unknown to me, an acoustic duo, "Heart of the Hydra" who concentrated on their original material, along with a couple of covers.. "Wish You Were Here" (Pink Floyd) and "Come up and See me" (Steve Harley/Cockney Rebel) both of which they handled superbly. Was looking forward to seeing them as a new one to me, and they were great... musically excellent and hugely enjoyable set.

Closing the evening was Lirielle, i'd seen her once before and loved it... I'm not usually keen on the use of backing tracks, but in this case they were perfect for the material and Lirielles great voice. A very commited and talented artist delivering another great set...

Thanks to Luke for these events...

keep music live... keep music real... support your local venue

Papa Shango/Bitter Sweet Smile

PAPA SHANGO/BITTER SWEET SMILE

Metal Monocle 20th June 2026

Something of a mixed night at The Metal Monocle last night... but I enjoyed it.

I have no idea who the first band on were... and to be honest i dont really care... nothing further on them

So on to the next outfit up, a new name to me, BITTER SWEET SMILE. An energetic rocking band somewhere between rock and punk, with definite punk approach to things... their music rocked nicely the whole time and was largely entertaining and pretty good... some nice guitar work and strong passionate vocals, though they did fall into screaming towards the end... a pity, but well worth seeing again

Sadly however, both bands outstayed their welcome playing longer sets than they should, leaving the headliners to take the stage around 11.00pm.

But...

At 11.00pm they were back... mad as a box of frogs as ever, the wonderful Papa Shango were back, rocking the venue and bringing their own glorious form of theatre, mayhem and chaos to rock music... if you had seen the band before, you would have known what to expect.. if not, the ensuing hour could have been a tad traumatic!!

As Rob said, with no new material it is the same old set.. which is totally fine by me!

Starting with the Shangettes chanting the words "Papa Shango", the man himself and singer (sadly i dont know the name!!) start bouncing around the room with the band members, and a hobby horse to play "Highwayman", followed by "Bouys Ahoy" and "Flight Check"... all supported by the girls wardrobe and dance moves illustrating things.

By now the band had discovered the joys of playing in the room, and outside to the audience on the outside terrace... so kept disappearing outside to play and returning at random, much to the delight of everyone....|

"Biscuit Barrell" comes next ("i'm looking down the barrel... the biscuit barrel") where the Shangettes display barrels of biscuits and come into the audience to distribute them...

Not long after comes "Love Sponge" where all the singers and band apply sponges to the chosen member of the audience...always a delight!!

As the set develops we come to "Master Baker" where the Shangettes are back in the audience dispensing "squirty" cream into the mouths of the audience...

"Nine Dart Finish" sees an audience member co-opted as a dart board while Shango "throws" oversized darts into the board....

Then "Danger Wank" followed by 'Watersports" during which the Shangettes show their dexterity with water pistols... then they are gone... except for the encore, which consists of the band singing"this is our encore... we are singing our encore" and then, sadly it's over.

60 minutes of seriously rocking music, madness, mayhem and simply the best fun you can have in a venue. I think Robs motivation is to expand the boundaries of performance art and music and in Papa Shango they do just that....

I love the band and all the members dearly... they are truly unique, hugely entertaining.. and total joy to see and hear every time.. and a lovely bunch of people...

If you havent seen them.. do yourself a favour... see them at the first oppurtunity, they refresh the parts other bands dont even try to get near!!.... hugely enjoyable... great fun and the best hours worth of nonsense i've seen in many a day

Shango gigs should be given out on the NHS to those who need an injection of fun...

and in case ot isn't obvious... yes, i am biased towards them... one of the very best, and most hugely entertaining live acts on the circuit

Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venue

Blues Rock Roadshow

BLUES ROCK ROADSHOW

IMV 19th June 2026

Out at the The International Music Venue last night to see the hugely talented BLUES ROCK RO0ADSHOW featuring Remi Harris and Dave Small, familiar from the "Man of the World" shows. This show however is different, covering a range of very familiar rock classics, and indeed a few i didnt know!, and dipping into the legacy of the likes of Peter Green, Rory Gallagher, Led Zeppelin and others... and everything played superbly, with stacks of energy and brilliant musicianship, despite that I find this a difficult review to writelll

Throughout, Remi's guitar work is breathtakingly good, you will have to go many a mile to hear another player this good... and Dave's terrific vocals and percussion are a perfect match in the genre.

Behind the principals, the bass playing is sublime.. beautifully clear in the mix it manages to be melodic, fluent and rocking throughout, while the drummer doesnt fall into the bluesrock trap of being overly flambouyant.. simply playing superbly in perfect unison with the band throughout and driving things along perfectly

No two ways about it, this is a band of four outstandingly gifted musicians playing together as a unified whole.. each member has solos in the show, but this is a band... four guys playing together as a magnificent whole... and my, they rightly went down a storm with the audience.

Reason I find this review difficult is that over the last year or so i have gradually lost interest in the blues/rock and guitar hero music which no longer fires me as it once did... so although it was abundantly clear that this band is outstanding in every way, masters of their craft and delivered a superb performance... it is not the genre of music i enjoy these days, so sadly i didn't really enjoy the show... everyone else in the room did though

!!

keep music ive... keep music real... support your local venues

Mike Sanchez

MIKE SANCHEZ

IMC 14th June 2025

Wonderful evening in the The International Music Venue on Sunday in the company of Mike Sanchez and his band, The Portions.

Mike is a rock'n'roll boogie woogie pianist and singer delivering pure old time high class rock'n'roll with class and energy to spare... and last night was a classic example

Mike starts off chatting easily with the audience before launching into rocking boogie woogie and we are away.. the spirit and free flowing nature of the music is intoxicating as Mike and the band power through a range of rock'n'roll songs some familiar and others new to me... among others we heard a bluesy "Route

66" and a rocking "Down the Road Apiece"...

Barely a gap between songs, the band rock on through the set with energy and obvious joy... occasionally Mike breaks off to chat with the audience about the music, his home-life among other things, seemingly getting sidetracked before launching into the next songs...

The band are all experienced high class musicians clearly with a love of the music and playing together... drummer Mark Morgan swings and drives the rhythm while Nick Whitfield plays outstanding rocking upright bass. Tom Bull plays guitar brilliantly achieving a superb tone from his Telecaster... Mike however is the centre of attention playing outstanding boogie woogie piano, singing superbly and grinning constantly...

This is boogie woogie, rock'n'roll, played brilliantly as it should be played... with spirit, joy, freedom and seemingly totally off the cuff... clean, rocking uplifting music with no electronic gadgetry... just high class musicianship and energy...

If you haven't seen the band, you are missing out.. see them when you can!

Keep music ive... keep music real... support your local venue

Big Yellow Tambourine Band

BIG YELLOW TAMBOURINE BAND

IMV June 6th 2026

Saturday night at the The International Music Venue proved to be one of the really great nights.... in the company of The Big Yellow Tambourine Man Band - Bob Dylan & Joni Mitchell tribute show

The two principles, Isabelle Nutton (Joni Mitchelll) and Bob Thomson (Bob Dylan) deliver the songs with great assurance and quality reproducing the style and mannerisms of Bob and Joni.

The show started with "Bob" solo playing "The Times they are a changing" and "Blowing in the Wind" followed by 'Joni opening with "Chelsea Morning and "Both Sides Now"

From this point the band appeared to provide superb accompaniement.... At the back John Jackson kept the beat and rhythm with his meticulous and superb drum work while Ryan Thorne played triangle and guitar as well as harmony vocals. As the music moved into more electric styles, Ryan really showed his brilliance with superb guitar work. Finally Ryan Fincham appeared playing superb fretless bass... the musicianship of the band was absolutely outstanding and the sound and tones they produced superb.

Bob and Joni are undoubtedly two of the greatest songwriters/performers we have seen, each with an seemingly endless legacy of wonderful songs... almost impossible to decide on a set list!!... there are countless classics that didnt appear but each and every song played was an absolute gem... whatever the set list there would be some songs people would have liked included... but you cant knock the selections made...

There are a few songs that maybe had to appear... for Bob "Blowin in the Wind", "Mr Tambouring Man" and "Like a Rolling Stone" and for Joni "Both Sides Now", "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock"... and all were there tonight...

The set was approximately chronological, and for Bob featuring only songs from his golden age, pre-1976!!

Both artists delivered the material with clear affection and quality throughout... .

The the show ended with Joni delivering a superlative version of "Raised on Robbery" while Bob dedicated the final song, "Forever Young" to the sublime artists they were paying tribute to...

Inevitably they were back for encores, Bob and the band delivering a rollicking version of "Rainy Day Women 12 & 35" and Joni ending with a blistering version of 'Woodstock"

A simply superb band accomanying two superb leaders, through a set of magnificent songs.... a truly wonderful performance, uplifting, nostalgic and superb... loved every moment!

keep music live... keep music real... support your local venue