CHRIS COTTIS-ALLAN/HEATHER McDOWELL/JUDITH UDE/JONATHON GREET
Duffys 22nd January 2026
My first gig of the year, Luke Broughton's Take the stage at Duffy's Bar... sadly without Luke due to illness (Get well soon Luke!) but it proved to be a terrific evening.
First up was Jonathan Greet who delivered a great opening set. He is a singer songwriter accompanying himself with some superb acoustic guitar work. The songs are very wordy and intense, and highly politically and social conscience based, very strong and high quality and delivered in a slightly raspy voice which is a perfect vehicle for the material... he did end with more jaunty upbeat piece to conclude a first class opening set
Next up was for the me highlight of the night... another name previously unknown to me, JUDITH UDE. Judith is a singer, songwriter, producer and harpist... using self produced backing tracks on a couple of tracks and playing a couple acoustically with just harp. How do you describe an artist like this?.. Judith has a beautiful pure voice and sings superbly... the songs tend to the personal and are high quality, her musicianship and harmonies, on both the harp and as shown on the backing tracks are unquestionable.
This was a simply wonderful set delivered by a lady full of joy and charm... absolutely loved this superb performance and hope to see her performing again
HEATHER McDOWELL was next up. A hugely enjoyable performer, Heather is a larger than life character, full of fun and laughter and delivers her songs with a smile, a laugh and a twinkle in the eye... She has a great strong voice and sings with great spirit and passion. The songs are really excellent and come over strongly with Heather's great style and performance... a hugely enjoyable performance from a hugely engaging artist.
Finally was a more familiar artist, Chris Cottis-Allan. Chris's songs are strong and tend to be sad, political or openly angry, especially his demolition of some familiar billionaires, which covers all three options. He included one cover (i think by Frank Turner?) which included all the vitriol found in Chris's own songs...
Chris sings everything in a slow languid style, which does suit the material but, for me, comes over a bit samey and lacking conviction... however, listen to the words... the conviction is clear to hear!...Some great songs, and a unique very individual style, but over a full set the style doesn't really grip me... a shame because Chris is a talented artist.
keep music live... keep music real... support your local venues
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