Govannen/Kellys Heroes

Govannen/Kellys Heroes

International Musiv Venue 8th February 2026

Back to the The International Music Venue on sunday afternoon for another wonderful afternoon celebrating St Brigids Day with celtic music from two of the best bands in ther business... Kellys Heroes and Govannen

First up were Kellys Heroes, a band steeped in traditional irish song and tunes, mainly familiar songs, which with the band deliver with massive spirit and musical excellence.

They opened with a cracking version of "All for me Grog" followed by a hymn to the heroes of the building trade "Building up and Tearing England Down" totally setting the joyful tone of the set. The band were firing on all cylinders playing and singing brilliantly and the audience loving it

The pace slowed briefly for a beautiful performance of John Tams "Snow Falls" (originally written as part of "Lark Rise to Candleford") before picking up the pace again with more upbeat material including "New York Girls".As Tony said, he sings chorus songs rather fast... indeed virtually the whole set is delivered with massive energy and style. The band enbded with another relatively new (by their standards) song in Ewan's "Dirty Old Town"

The whole set was wonderful... absolutely heartwarming irresistable irsh magic delivered by a truly great band... Huge thanks to Helen, Patrick, Steve and Tony for wonderful exhilarating set.... follow that!!!...

... and of course Govannen did that... slightly changing their set they started with the beautiful tune "A stor mo chroi", as a touching tribute and memorial for Neil Segrott, led by Adele and her wonderful fiddle playing...

With Govannen the focus falls on each of the musicians in turn, and next up was Roger with his more robust fiddling style, playing a couple of his own tunes.

Following on, the mood changed for a beautiful version of "Salley Gardens" song by Chris, before switching to Dan for a rousing "Matty Groves....

Roger was back next with his song "Indian Tea" based on a Robert Frost poem.

Adele had a rare outing on vocals singing "Spancil Hill and showed what a great singer she is, and what a lovely voice...

For me, one of the highlights of any Govannen set is Dan singing his powerful song of the Clovelley fishing fleet, "The Storm" which he delivered as ever with passion and real class.

A couple more tunes then Chris delivered his classic "Jazz Potato" outlining the fact a jazz pianist plays in a ceildh band... through the set Chris is more than a keyboard player/singer as he adds low pipes, whistles and kalimba to several pieces.

After this Dan was just starting an announcement, when Roger burst into the final rousing song, "The Beggar"

Dan was then able to offer his thanks to all before the band left us with another set of up tempo tunes...

Five brilliant musicians/singers, Neil staying at the back adding subtle and sensitive perciussion throughout ans well as backing vocals

Another scintillating and brilliant set....

Huge thanks to both bands for two terrific performances and a really fabulous afternoons entertainment...

Absolutely great stuff!!!

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

Wild Daisy & the Blackhearts/John Berry-Johnny Cash

Wild Daisy & the Blackhearts/John Berry-Johnny Cash

Victoria Bikers Pub 7th February 2026

First visit to this highly rated venue to see Wild Daisy & The Black Hearts and a Johnny Cash tribute act.

Arrived early and was delighted to catch up with Hannah and Dan Nick & Sian before the gig...

Disappointingly however we learned that the Cash tribute had had to pull out but they had a different Cash tribute to replace the band.

So, the music... first up were Wild Daisy & The Black Hearts , i loved their debut performance and every time i've seen them since they have grown tighter and stronger. Built around Hannah's high class vocals and the powerful twin lead guitars, ably assisted by first rate bass and drums they power through a set of Southern Rock pieces, everyone a gem!

Kicking off with "Never going to Stay" which rocked and soared setting the pace in great style... the band then rocked through their set, clearly loving playing together, Hannah smiling broadly throughout...

A few songs in the addition of a lap steel for a few songs adds a different dimension. The band was really rockjng, playing superbly, with Dan's slide work excelling... until a minot blip when his bottleneck fell and shattered... happily he had a spare and was able to continue... as the set progressed the band were turning up the heat and building up to the climax... penultimate song was The Damn Truth classic "Love"... which i was flattered and honoured to have dedicated to me again... which started gently and built and built to a wonderful crescendo, followed by "Take Me Down" which carried on where the previous piece left off and brought the set to a superb climax... the band looked as though they wanted to play on for hours... and i really wish they could have done.

Super set... rocking, joyful and full of power, energy and great musicianship and vocals... loved it.

Just a word for the venue... when Dan's slide fell to the floor and broke, they were instantly on the case clearing away the broken glass... well done guys...

The the replacement CASH, i believe John Berry/Johnny Cash... and loving Johnny Cash i wish i could be more positive.

The guy played with a backing track of ponderous clunky drums and indifferent musicianship... all but drowning the vocals... there was no attempt to match Cash's vocal style or mannerisms... after massacring Bob's "Dont think Twice" and Kris' "Sunday Morning Coming Down" it was just poor karaoke over a poor backing track... dismal... cant do a full revue as after about 15 minutes i couldn't take any more and left to chat again with friends...

Great performance as ever by Hannah and Wild Daisy & The Black Hearts and a really good venue!!

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

Scallions/Oliver Sloan

SCALLION/OLIVER SLOAN

International Music Venue: 1st February 2026

Sunday night at the The International Music Venue was a real treat... one of those nights that leaves a real glow and lifts the spirits...

First up was OLIVER SLOAN, playing only his third ever gig, accompanying himself on guitar and very ably supported by JACOB on keyboards... i believe this was Jacob's first gig!! They made a really great job of it, delivering a varied and interesting set of covers. Oliver has a really great strong voice, and sings with great confidence and assurance, plays good guitar, enhanced by some fine keyboard work for Jacob.

To be honest, the choice of covers wasn't to my taste, but i did know most of the songs, and the delivery was at all times excellent... Maybe not my choice of songs, but that doesnt disguise the fact that the guy has talent... keep an eye on him!!

I love to take a punt on gigs where I dont know the artist... maybe not know the name.. and sometimes you go to a gig like that and hit absolute gold... as happened last night with Olivers dad, Peter Sloan leading the superb celtic roots band SCALLIONS

things started quietly with Peter singing "Irish Ways" with just a muted keyboard and fiddle backing... after this, Peter picked up his acoustic guitar and the rest of the band came on and kicked into a cracking version of "Drowsy Maggie" with the whole band before storming into "How Long" complete with the brass section in full cry... the effect was astonishing.. high power celtic music with a full rock sound... totally iresistable...top quality musicianship along with tons of energy and spirit...

The set was totally upbeat, featuring a host of familiar songs, often in very different arrangements.. there were a couple of Van Morrison pieces heavy with brass that rocked like mad, along with songs from the likes of U2, the Saw Doctors and the Waterboys...

There was a scintillating "Whiskey in the Jar", which made previous rock versions sound tame, but a very different version of the song to others i have heard.... and all the better for it.

Towards the end Peter announced aPogues song, and a gorgeous sulty sax solo led into a high powered version of "Fiesta:"

A couple of more songs and it was over... this was music to fill you with joy... and band having a great time delivering some great songs... every one a gem... musically and vocally great, upbeat joyful and totallly uplifting.

The band referred to being a work in progress.. but right now they are absolutely a joy to see and hear.. .loved every second of the show...

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