New Age Grace/Kee/Amy Dx/Siobhan Mazzei

NEW AGE GRACE/KEE/AMY DX/SIOBHAN MAZZEI

Firebug 7th November

There's always something special about being in a small venue with a large enthusiastic audience to see four top class acts... and thats exactly what we got on Saturday night at the New Age Grace album launch gig... a special night.

First up was Mazzei Siobhan who got things going with a short but outstanding solo acoustic set. Siobhan has a great powerful voice and sings with power and passion playing great and very creative guitar.. the set featured a few of her own songs plus a cover of a Slipknot piece... loved the set, would have liked much more...

Following was Amy Dx, with her band, a new to me line up. i felt far more rocky than previously but absolutely outstanding!. The band were superb and Amy singing and performing with massive assurance and great quality, delivering a set of high class original material with the now standard cover of "Que Sera"...

Different feel again to previous Amy Dx gigs, and i think the best version i've seen!... Superb set by brilliant artist and band

A tough act to follow, but up stepped KEE. a totally new name to me with a slightly different lineup.. vocals, bass and a drummer also controlling the backing tape... I must admit it took me a few minutes to get what the band were about, but once there, they were dark and hypnotic, an amalgam of electronic and punk-ish styles but unique

I am not normally a fan of backing tapes, too often the artist allows the tape to overwhelm the artist, not so here.. the backing tracks were superb and totally enhanced the bands great performance.. absolutely loved them and hope to see them again before too long

Rounding off the night, the main event... New Age Grace.. always a great rock band and tonight they were exeptional... and introduced their new bass player who took the stage swathed in masks and hoods before revealing herself as Siobhan Mazzei

The band were totally on fire rocking hard and playing superbly throughout their 60 minute set... Up front Amy was in great voice, singing with power and assurance while Kenny delivered his usual high class powerful guitar work. Chris as always powering away on the drums and new comer Siobhan rocking out on bass and bouncing around with immense energy...

The whole band were on top form, the music rocking hard and exhilarating and the audience loving every second... they were even persuaded back for a well merited encore, despite running over the venue curfew time!!... absolutely cracking stuff... I felt the band knew how damn good they were and were clearly thrilled by the ecstatic reception they got.

A really great night... and as I said.. four ooutstanding acts!

The whole show ran smoothly form start to finish and the sound, courtesy Nik, was spot on throughout

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Baskery

BASKERY

IMV 4TH November 2026

Great to be in the The International Music Venue tonight to see the wonderful Baskery.

The band rock hard and have plenty of attitude delivering a hot brand of banjo punk. The band are three sisters, Greta playing drums, banjo and guitar, Stella on upright slap bass and Sunniva on electric and acoustic guitars, as well as the hybrid guitjo... a six stringed cross between banjo and guitar. All three sing and harmonise beautifully.

The band hit the stage, greet the audience and crack in to the first song... the music is up tempo and rocks, and the tempo and intensity grows throughout. The material is predominantly original, but does include a few well chosen covers, the first being an excellent "Heart of Gold" (Neil Young) which features on their album of Neil Young covers.

The set is perfectly paced and varied, including an acapella Swedish drinking song, an original bluegrass style number which, as Stella said, is so fast you need 6 fingers on each hand to play it...

As the set continues to build and draws towards the end they deliver a superb "Down by the River" (Neil Young) featuring some really hard rocking and superb guitar work by Sunniva and Greta. They then finish on another original which takes off where the previous one ends and builds and builds.. .and even includes a snippet of "Super Trooper" from another well known Swedish band...

They encore with a rousing "I'm on Fire" (Springsteen) and end slowly walking off stage continuing to sing and play as they go.

Each member of the band is a superb musician and singer and the music at all times rocking and totally captivating. The band appear to have a great time on stage and it communicates perfectly . A really joyful rocking performance, and with the instrumentation very different to any other rock band around.

Superb evening s entertainment

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Rock Orchestra

ROCK ORCHESTRA

Utilita Arena Birmingham: 23rd October 2026

It must be 30-odd years since i went to an arena gig... cos to be honest i'm not keen on them!... i prefer the club scene....

But saturday night i ventured into Birmingham to see the ROCK ORCHESTRA... and it was one of the most incredible jaw-dropping gigs i've ever seen... simply phenomenal musicianship...magnificently choreographed visual display involving lights and fire... 2 solid hours of high powered driving music covering many genres from rock to classical all given the unique Rock Orchestra style...

Words cant express how incredible this show is... photos and videos dopnt come close but hopefully these clips will give an idea of the spectacle and greatness of he performance...

Musicians drawn from around the world for their virtuosity, showmanship and commitment to deliver 2 hours of audio and visual brilliance... the show only stopped fro a short interval and we had over 2 hours of music... phenomenal energy from start to finish... i truly cant praise this too much... gig of the year... the decade.... the century...

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

Andy Wales Band

ANDY WALES BAND

IMV: 18th October 2026

What a joy to be be back at the Donkey!! Three weeks after the re-opening this was my first chance to go... and i went with some trepidation, though i'd heard many good reports... when you've loved an institution over the years you just never know how you'll feel about the refurbishment... walking through the door the trepidation left me.. .the re-vamp is great... so many familiar faces and friends inside and the vibe as warm as ever...

The music today was from the superb Andy Wales Band, also playing their first gig for a while, and their first at the new venue... and it was clear how much it meant to them to be back.

Andy, along with the ever-present Christian and Nick were in imperious form.. kicking off with the full power instrumental "Full Tilt" which swung and rocked like mad, followed by their terrific version of "Tainted Love" and then rocked through a host of songs both new and old.. highlights of the set for me were "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" and ending the set with a simply wonderful version of "Summertime"

The second half started with a powerhouse version "Crosstown Traffic" and carried on delivering gem after gem including "Natural Woman"

I dont know what the penultimate song was... but it featured a scintillating guitar solo from Andy that surely ranks with anything i've heard in many a day... inevitably an encore, and it was a scorching "Purple Haze"

Throughout the set the always superb Nick Murphy's drumming was outstanding and Christian as always added absolutely top notch powerful bass playing, and a couple of vocals... Andy's guitar playing was as ever exceptional and the three blend together to make a superb exciting band delivering a superb set

Fabulous afternoon and so great to be back at the Donkey.

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