Bohemian
Night open-mic hosted by Rob
Sowden
"The High Quality Quotient Continues..."
Another excellent open-mic at Deja Vu hosted by Rob Sowden. The night wasn't as packed with acts as it has been recently but the density of quality was just as high. I don't want to do a disservice to those acts that I don't mention (apart from the act that buggered off just after they'd finished playing) but the standouts for me were:
- James Histead's guitar playing. I've seen James many times and I think in the past I've always been struck by his vocals which dominate but actually last night I realised what a great guitar player he is;
- Maija Päivikki Cooper's haunting romantic European keyboard based songs. She has a showcase at Deja Vu on Friday 30th March;
- Ayanam Udoma, who exhibits an exponential increase in confidence every time I see him sing. Last night he was partnered with Jamie Strand who was actually very good herself. (Jamie has a showcase on 16th March: I think Ayanam might be singing backing vocals);
- Paula Curtis, for me, the piece de la resistance of the night. I think the last time lyrics really really struck me were with White Russian but last night Paula just blew me away with her melodic well structured songs, particularly her middle song about her father dying. It sounds morose but it wasn't at all. She was a very hard act to follow.
My Set:
I have one further piece of news. It is confirmed that there will be a screening of Finding Joe hosted by Stand-Up Cinema at Reading's The Rising Sun Arts Centre on May 18th at 6:30pm. The start time is early so that the film will end by 8:00pm and not impinge on Bohemian Night Showcase. If you're an artist, writer, musician , or just someone wanting to break out and go their own way, or even actually dare I say, a Star Wars fan, then I think you will find the film interesting and indeed I hope encouraging. (Throughout this site there are references to the film, I hope to bring it all together in a blog tomorrow).
