AUTUMN DAWN LEADER/AMY DX/HONEST DAVE/
KARYN A
KARYN A
TAKE THE STAGE @ DUFFYS: 24TH April 2024
For various reasons I've been to very few gigs this month but I am so glad I got to Duffys last night for "Take the Stage" which proved to be a really wonderful evening.
Things got off to a great start with a fine set by KARYN A. Playing a rare (if not first) solo gig. Karyn proved to be a fine singer with a warm expressive voice, and accompanied herself on acoustic guitar. Her own songs are strong and very good, and some are very personal and intense, which she handled with real aplomb. She described herself as a "storyteller"... and she is right... the only fault with the set is that I would like to have heard a few more songs... a really lovely start to the evening.
Next up was Honest Dave with Sharon Collier. I'd seen this duo a number of times before, and i think this was the best i've seen them. At least one familiar loved song and a host of, to me at least, new ones. I am not normally a lover of loopers, but Dave uses them to great effect with both guitar and voice creating lovely patterns... and it is easy to overlook that Dave is an accomplished guitar player, and the vocals, whether falsetto or at the natural levels are always spot on. Accompanying Dave is Sharon Collier, a fine and expressive musician adding some beautiful sax to the mix. Excellent set
I think everyone knows how much i love Amy and Autumn, and have reviewed both at the Big Diff recently.
Amy Dx was up next, unusually repeating the set she played at the Big Diff, but the sound was much better here... The set featured material from a forthcoming album and some older more familiar pieces.
Amy has a beautiful strong soulful voice and can soothe or pin you back in turns... she was in great voice last night and as ever delivered a superb performance
Finally, Autumn Dawn Leader... as Luke said in his introduction, "unique is a word used too often, but it really applies to Autumn"
She is a fabulous talent with a superb trained voice that not only soothes but can hit incredible heights of note and power at a moments notice.
The set featured a number of songs from the superb "Naked Truth" album, including a breathtaking version of "Howl"... as well as a couple of older numbers and a cover... as always... superb
The audience was fully attuned to all of the artists performing and clearly loved every moment of what was a really great night...
Huge thanks to all four acts for great sets and to Luke Broughton for bringing it together.
If you are in the strange camp of thinking you need to pay hundreds of pounds to go to a stadium or arena to hear good live music, forget it... give yourself a treat... come down to some of these shows and you will realise what a wealth of great talent there is in Leicester... and how many superb artists there are to see here... this is real music delivered by real musicians, for the love of it, because they are real talented musicians... and last night was a perfect example... fabulous night
Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues
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