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Tuesday, 20 March 2012

The Imagineers, Colin Hunter, Mike Nisbet, Anna MacDonald, Rosie Bans, Alan Frew - Su Casa - 08/03/12 (Ayr)

Up until this evening I've heard a great deal about Rosie Bans. All positive and nothing negative.
So why was I left completely cold with the performance.
The jazzy piano work and the vocals are of a high standard. There's no doubt she can play and sing, but I can't warm to her.
The swearing between songs doesn't sound natural and the delivery of the songs are all over the place.
I'm bored by the second song and fervently wishing for the night to fast forward to the next act by the third.
Others are far more appreciative, but when a friend said that she though it sounded like Victoria Wood suffering from PMT I had to agree.
Although at other times it sounded like the noises coming from a maternity ward put to music.
Some swearing, squealing and I fully expected to hear her scream 'get this fuckin out of me' and 'you are never touching me again'.
Music is such a subjective subject that I can understand that for some this would have been entertaining, but not for me.
Mike Nisbet was more to my liking.
Kelly reviewed his last Su Casa appearance and commented that she thought he sounded a bit like Springsteen.
I didn't really get that from the performance, but I was impressed with the lilt to his voice and his guitar work.
As an introduction to him I found his set to be finely paced and I wouldn't mind another opportunity to catch him doing a longer performance to get a better feel for what he's doing.
There's so many talented singer-songwriters around at the moment that it must be quite difficult to make an impact, but Mike did.
Alan Frew did a minimal set and while I've seen him a few times now I was well acquainted with the material, but it was to be short and sweet and personally I would have liked to have heard a few more from him.
However Anna McDonald who replaced him at the microphone was a very welcome addition to the bill.
Traditional folk songs may not have been a natural fit to the flow of the evenings music, but taken as a singular performance it was a highlight.
A very lovely highlight..
Her voice is as so clear and perfectly pitched that the material comes alive.
Beauty is in the ear of the beholder, and my ears were beguiled.
For me it was a case of the power of the music and its delivery transcending what is, and isn't, popular.
Anna should be classed as a national treasure.
Colin Hunter was the surprise attraction of the night.
Not that it was a surprise that he was appearing, or that he was good, but a surprise as he very nearly stole the show.
Each time I see him he seems to be exploring different directions and this time was no different with more of a modern folk angle on his music coming to the fore.
It's not just the music that he excels in, but also how he connects with an audience.
He's funny, he's warm and there's something very comfortable in how he communicates with us all.
His performance is a random story accompanied by some very fine music.
I've seen Colin loads over the last few years and even booked him for a few performances, but this was the best I have seen by far.
In fact Colin managed to fill the room with the spirit of what Su Casa is trying to get across.
A sort of communal love of music freely expressed and inclusively shared.
The Imagineers as headliners of the night really had a strong support to follow, but they managed it, and proved yet again that the faith people are putting in them to make a bigger splash in the UK music scene is not misplaced.
Mix some 50's rock and roll influence with some merseybeat, add the cinematic flair of Morricone and filter it threw the romanticized dreams of four Glaswegians and you get The Imagineers.
It's as eclectic as it sounds, and equally as entertaining.
It's a rousing end to the evening and even when they play acoustically the band don't lose any of their power.
Each time I see them I get a strong feeling that I'm witnessing the beginning of something.
I sincerely hope this is true.
Some bands deserve to take that step up to a broader global audience, and the Imagineers are one of them.

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