MOODY FAIRY/STEVE CARTWRIGHT/
ROSA FERNANDEZ/KEVIN HEWICK
Duffys 10th July 2025
Thursday night at Duffy's... Botheration 3 hosted as ever by Kevin Hewick
Kevin opened the evening in typical Kevin style... rambling and telling his tales and singing his songs... it never fails to amaze me that Kevin can sound so frail and vulnerable when chatting and sing so strongly with so much real assertiveness and passion. i'm sure everyone knows Kevin and knows how good his songs are... his patter can be somewhat inconsequential at times but is always interesting and entertaining... i could listen to it all night!!... and his songs and singing are strong, passionate and real quality... could also listen to them all night!!
After Kevin, a new name to me, Rosa Fernandez... difficult artist to review, but bottom line is I really enjoyed her entertaining set. She says she is not a serious musician, and clearly sets out to enjoy herself and entertain... she walks a fine line and while staying on the right side she is a fine singer, accompanying herself on ukelele, with an intriguing mix of covers and original poetry... however when she crosses the line it becomes, to my taste, a tad uncomfortable... but with this kind of fun performance, stepping the wron g side for mements is no problem, and inevitable
Highlight for me was her acapella "My love is like a red red rose" which was superb. The whole performance was full of fun and she and the audience loved it... The mix of song and poetry really appealed, though at times the poetry for me didnt quite match the standards of the rest of the set, but i really loved the closing line about a famous singer, which which was something along the lines of "Gary set the Bar low"
We then had one of the elder statesmen and local legend Steve Cartwright & The Last Days, Steve playing electric guitar and singing with Jim Tetlow on cajon...
Steves songs are always high class, often touched with legend and mythology and beautifully constructed... the guitar playing perfectly reflects the nature of the lyrics... and along with Jim's cajon creates a hypnotic and delightful whole.
The Last Days are always terrific and this set was a real cracker...
MOODY FAIRY was next up, she started the set with some album tracks and ended with new material.... and played some solo and others with her partner "Lairy Bear"...
The songs are high quality and delivery both captivating and a delight... the guitar playing perfectly in sync with the delivery. "Lairy Bear" also contributed some high class guitar work to accompany her.. There was a moment when they couldn't get an intro right, but it turned out she was playing the wrong intro!... they made the most of it and eventually played the song superbly...
No two ways about it.. this was a super set by someone whose reputation i knew well but hadn't got to see before... hope to see Moody Fairy more as the weeks go by... really loved the performance... and I agree with Kevin's comment... the last song performed was absolutely magnificent, beautiful
My apologies to Velvet Crisis , i wasn't able to stay for their set, but judging by the sound check i am sure they would have been as ebullient and good as ever
Keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues and artists.
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