It was the Thursday night before Good Friday, the M5 was crawling along and Taunton had been gridlocked all day. So it is great credit to the die hard music fans that they turned out to see the show. The line up even lost an act along the way due to the heavy traffic.
It was therefore even more of a treat to have the show kicked off by local legend and all round top bloke Nick Parker. With his mix of catchy tunes and witty lyrics he had us all singing and clapping along merrily. My particular two set highlights were allegedly written by his dog and his son respectively, I wont spoil them by giving away anymore, I shall leave you with this cliffhanger, go see him yourselves to find out more!
Neil Morris stepped into the breach at the last moment for the stuck in traffic Bear in the Woods, and delivered a set full of humour, nifty guitar work and personal anecdotes so funny and toe curlingly embarrassing it had everyone laughing out loud, particularly the one about the laundry basket (you know who you are)!
Up next was Ben Sydes (B-Sydes) from Cambridgeshire. This lovely guy has an extraordinary voice and is a very talented song writer and guitarist, his album Constant Fictions is a favourite of mine so to hear him live for the first time gave me goosebumps. He’s definitely one to watch folks, you heard it here first.
When Louise Distras stepped up to the mic I think it’s fair to say the audience was a little bit taken aback. Louise has such an amazingly powerful voice it pins you to the wall and gives you a bit of a slap, as do her lyrics and banging punk tunes. This is not a criticism, in fact I mean it as a compliment. She’s from up North and sings about factories and inequality, feminism, breaking free and the power of music. After the initial slightly stunned surprise we were all sold and as her set drew to a close everyone screamed for more. Victory to the North.
Thanks go to The Winchester Arms (insert Sean of the Dead jokes) and Fuelled By Cider for hosting yet another wonderful evenings entertainment. Next up the brilliant Louis Barabbas on 15th April 2016….bring it on
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