Venue of the Week
- Posted on February 8, 2007 10:33 AM
- 1 comment
By Peter Coulston
The Original Songwriters Showcase 5 February 2007
Once again I am venturing out to one of London's longest running venues, the Original Songwriters at the Orange. Lovingly nurtured by Pam Robbins and Lisa Boni for the last fifteen years, this has been a lifeline for singer/songwriters hungry to have their material heard in a professional environment. Every second week, the House Band and backing singers are on hand to enable writer/performers who have no band of there own to perform their material in a real venue, often with lots of their friends in the audience. Over the years, such celebrities as Sandie Shaw, Chakka Khan, Gabrielle, Tori Amos and Howard Jones have performed at this venue and lived to tell the tale. Located at The Orange live music venue attached to the Fox public house on North End Road, it is walking distance from West Kensington tube and has free parking outside after 7:30pm.
The House Band opened the proceedings with their usual warm up piece, followed by what can only be described as an awesome set by the compere, Krysten Cummings. After giving us a false sense of security with "Paris", a beautiful, lilting song that highlighted her magnificent vocal control, she blew us away with "Are You With Me", a rock masterpiece in which she pulled out all the stops, vocally and otherwise. Never, ever miss a chance to see and hear this lady live; she is the business. Phil Gannon, one of the backing singers, followed with "See You In My Dreams", a jazzy composition which highlighted his vocal talents. The other backing singer, Rita Campbell, did not perform any of her own songs but is well worth a listen when she does.
The guest list started with Surianne from Sheffield, who gave us a couple of good songs with a Spanish feel to them. Barrie Galvin, or Bash as he is known, is a very confident performer who has obviously worked with a band before. Three good rock/pop songs well performed. Dawn, from my current hometown of Sutton, gave us some more good rock while 17 year old Anna Leddra Chapman suffered a little stage fright which did not give her nice songs the vocal they deserved. Songwriters can be a little intimidating, but she has apparently played the Troubadour. Keep at it, Anna.
My friend, Damien Flood opened the second half, so we were treated to another total professional. I'm not saying that because he bought me a drink; I can't be bought for a J2O, even if it is orange and passionfruit. A large Remy, however, is another matter. I did not receive one of those but I still have to say that Damien is certainly one to watch. Great voice, great song and he had the audience eating out of his hand. Well done, mate. More competent rock from Nikki Ason while Caramel Jade treated us to some superior rap while giving us the lowdown on friends and bad boys. Will Rixon finished the show with some enjoyable acoustic songs accompanied by his own 12 string guitar and a friend on keyboards.
This venue is always worth a visit, and next week you can see Miranda Barber, Fiona Bevan and Hanger Lane there. I shall be there and I recommend that you join me.
Comments (1)
SURIANNE
I have to agree with you Peter, The Original Songwriters at the Orange Club is a great place where raw undiscovered talent is showcased. The night is well promoted and is run professionally and the house band provided for the artists are talented and experienced musicians. I totally recommend all unsigned artists out there to get in touch with Pam and get yourself a slot in such an amazing event.
P.S. just for the record, I am not from Shefffield but from Gibraltar, a British colony found in the southern tip of Europe. I am currently based in London working on a new EP.
Posted on February 16, 2007 10:07 AM
Post a comment
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.seatwaveblogs.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/364
