Daniel Kemish

DANIEL KEMISH

Musician Pub 18th March 2023

Back to the Musician Pub on Monday night for what proved to be a superb gig. Daniel Kemish was a new name to me but based on this show he will become a firm favourite.

Daniel is a hard working musician playing gigs it seems all around the world... I love a singer/songwriter...a travelling troubadour and Daniel fits that role perfectly.

He is very much a country/americana performer and sings of life, it's joys and tribulations, often about being a travelling working musician and the songs are real quality... He accompanies himself on guitar and harp and has a wonderful voice that fits his style and lyrics perfectly...

He has a really warm engaging personality and chats easily between songs engaging fully with the audience, and clearly loving what he does. Daniel talks easily about the songs and the experiences that lead to them, at all times informative and entertaining...

This was a totally warm, engaging and wonderful performance by an artist totally in control of his music, assured, confident and hugely entertaining and i cant wait to see him back at the The Musician

I did feel for him however, as during his last few numbers he broke a guitar string, switched to a different guitar and broke a string... reverted to the original guitar and told a story as he re-strung it, then managed to break another string... and he carried on without hesitation or (it seemed) panic...

Wonderful gig... absolutely loved it and now have the highest regard for Daniel.

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

Creedence Clearwater Review

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIEW

Musician Pub 16th March 2024

One of those bands.... as the dust settles on a gig you are already looking forward to the next one. There are three things certain in life... death, taxes and that if you go to a Creedence Clearwater Review - The UK #1 CCR Tribute Show gig you will have a fabulous night with a terrific band.

CCR nearly took the roof off the The Musician Pub on Saturday night with a phenomenal 2-1/2 hour performance that had the huge crowd singing, dancing and cheering from the beginning... the room was rocking like crazy from the off.

The current tour is the "Green River" tour in which the band play through the whole of the Green River album and a few other songs in the first half and the second half is a greatest hits set.

So the band come on during a newscast type recording and blast straight into "Green River" and it is clear from the off that the band are, as ever, firing on all cylinders... they continue through the album and reach the first two monster hit tracks... "Bad Moon Rising" and "Lodi" which turn the heat up higher... the album ends with "The Night Time is the Right Time" which has the audience belting out the refrain.

From then onto "Run through the Jungle" and "Ramble Tamble" before delivering a couple of post-CCR John Fogarty numbers... "Centrefield” and a powerhouse rendition of "Rockin' all over the World" which had the audience belting out the "I like it i like it " refrain with real gusto as Dale gleefully led the community singing.

After this a short break before the band came back for the greatest hits half... starting with "Born on the Bayou" then through a veritable feast of classic CCR songs

"Cotton Fields" had the audience singing along and the next piece, the beautiful ballad "Long as I can see the Light" had the phone torches out shining...

From there on it was Rock'n'Roll all the way with the audience joyfully dancing and singing along throughout, climaxing, not surprisingly, with "Proud Mary"... the band were cheered to the echo and were soon back to deliver "Fortunate Son" and "Have you Ever Seen the Rain" which raised the volume of the audience singing to a new height.

Creedence Clearwater Review are beyond doubt not only one the very best tribute bands you will ever see, but also a magnificent rock'n'roll band. The standard of Musicianship is incredibly high, and they play with terrific energy, passion and joy faithfully recreating the music of one of the greatest all time Rock'n'Roll bands.

The energy on stage is electrifying, and the audience cannot fail to react to it.. in fact if you weren't boogie-ing and joining in check your pulse, you may be dead!!

Absolutely superb band who work their socks off delivering 30 CCR classics in their dynamic, powerful hugely exciting 2-1/2 hour show... absolutely fabulous, I, along with the whole audience, loved every minute of this fabulous gig...

Huge thanks to the band for providing such a truly fabulous evenings entertainment

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

Friends of Merlin/Roz Bruce Infusion

FRIENDS OF MERLIN/ROZ BRUCE INFUSION

Musician Pub 15th March 2024

his was a fascinating night at The Musician Pub... a total punt based on intriguing blurbs for the bands playing

So, first up, The Roz Bruce Infusion. I was slightly put off by the opening of the set which involved a lot of electronic sounds... but i needn't have been concerned... after the first couple of minutes Roz got stuck into some terrific guitar playing and used the electronics brilliantly.

The bassist and drummer were exceptional throughout the show... playing with power and intensity driving the music while Roz delivered some brilliant and flambouyant guitar work. The overall feel was pure rock, with a large helping of punk thrash thrown in at times... but at all times hugely dynamic and vibrant. Roz's vocals were excellent , but did on a few occasions get slightly swamped by her guitar work... no matter there

This was great set, really exciting music... especially given i understand it was their first gig for quite a while... excellent... definitely someone to catch again

Then, on to the main event... FRIENDS OF MERLIN...so lets get the general criticism out of the way first... and this applies to quite a number of acts lately.. Music Stands! Show the audience respect and rehearse and learn your material!!! Also, it is no problem changing the set in the middle of a gig, but turning your backs on the audience to discuss it and then rummaging for the sheet music is not a good look

The band were a fresh throwback to the more peaceful innocent time, the late 60's. playing fresh sounding 60's style rock music. A very bright and innocent sounding music that we haven't heard for a good while... and all credit to it for that.

With so many younger bands appearing almost daily it's good to see a band of older musicians playing live with so much energy and joy.

The songs were all original band compositions and full of cliche and not of any real depth or significance.

The band played well, musically excellent, featuring electric and acoustic guitars as well as drums and bass. The music was all played "straight" without loads of effects being thrown in, which was refreshing and contributed to the clean and joyful overall sound. The singer, however, was, to my ears, way below par... much of the time being very shouty rather than singing, as well singing out of tune.

So, a fair few criticisms of the band, but i must say that overall i really enjoyed the performance, though it did sag in the middle due to the overall samey-ness of the material before improving again with a few harder edged songs at the end

To conclude... Loved the Roz Bruce Infusion... vital and exciting music from a band i would love to see again and a set from Friends of Merlin that overall i enjoyed despite the criticisms but would not go to see again

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

Freds House

FREDS HOUSE

Musician Pub 14th March 2024

What an absolute treat... the wonderful Fred's House were back at the The Musician Pub and delivered another superb performance on Thursday night.

I've never been keen on pigeonholing bands into categories, but this band truly don't fit into any known genre... they have a glorious summery feel reminiscent of the west coast folk rock in the CSN style, a feel of the summeriness and fresh sound of the Beach Boys, a touch of the Fleetwood Mac's (Vikki described them as a down market Fleetwood Mac... nonsense... they are so much better than that!), there are elements of jazz in places and they can also rock.... but their music is pure Fred's House....

The music is based on Vikki's glorious voice and the soaring harmonies of Pru, Gaf and Lachlan

The original songs are superb, frequently moving and beautifully delivered, the tunes infectious and memorable and the whole sound is wonderfully bright and uplifting.

The band is a five-piece, anchored by the fine drumming of Paul Richards and the creative bass of Gafyn Jameson while Lachlan Golder plays superb guitar without flashy pyrotechnics, just fine playing. Centre stage Pru plays wonderful fiddle, which gives the band it's folky feel and Vikki plays keyboards and synth sounds which adds layers of texture to the overall sound, as well as the beautiful lead vocals.

This is a hugely musical band, with five superb musicians/singers delivering a beautiful airy joyful brand of music... totally rivetting and uplifting... simply wonderful!!

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