There were five acts on this bill, and the gem among them was the first up, one Mickey Dey. A slight, and slightly androgynous, young fella, his surprisingly powerful voice successfully combined both vulnerability and confidence, despite Mickey at one point professing shyness. His lyrics were equally revelatory, striking this listener as original, affecting and without cliche.
Someone more into singer songwriters than I am could offer an opinion on whether this guy could make it big. All I can say is: I wouldn't be surprised.
The rest of the night was less distinctive. Mickey, James and Oliver were all mates playing mostly for each other's benefit, to the extent that James and Oliver didn't even introduce themselves, and I'm still not sure which was which. They weren't to my taste and seemed to offer little to those who weren't in on the joke, so I'll just move along.
Both The Kill Raimis and First were more dilating musically than vocally or, from what I could discern, lyrically. The Kill Raimis would maybe benefit from being more confident and refraining from their near-ubiquitous backing vocals, whereas First, beefy and groovy though they were musically, left me bewildered with their singer's nasal whining.
This evening belonged to one man - I'd make a note of his name.
