Nizlopi give the King Tuts crowd a night to remember
By Stephen McKenna
Rating :
January 2006 is nearly over so it's about time that I christened the New Year with a new gig. Where better to start than with Midlands duo Nizlopi, who almost had the Christmas number one of 2005 with the JCB song but were cruelly beaten by X Factor winner Shayne Ward.
The sell-out gig at King Tuts on Thursday night (January 19th) saw Nizlopi headlining with two other acts Gary Dunne and Amplifico.
Irish born singer/song writer Gary Dunne came on stage equipped with a guitar and a 'band in a box' loop pedal about 9pm. Most of the crowd were clapping eyes on him for the first time (myself included) but by the second song he had introduced himself to a horde of new fans.
With his loop pedal, Gary made a backing track of beats by tapping on his guitar. Then he continually layered guitar parts into loops singing along with the sound of a band behind him. Gary really engaged with the crowd and brought them close. The best moment of his set was when he got the crowd to sing along to the chorus of his song True What You Said. It sounded amazing! I didn't realise there were so many good singers in the King Tuts crowd, impressive stuff.
Gary has recorded a debut album called Twenty Twenty Fiction, which is available from his website: garydunne.com
Edinburgh four-piece Amplifico were up next. Fronted by Donna Maciocia on keys, their inimitable brand of piano led rock was a pleasurable treat for the ears.
With new songs like Baby Baby, Red Song and Year For Me, Amplifico gave the crowd a good varied taste of their sound. The only parallels I can really draw are that their powerful bass lines and beats sound like Muse.
The only thing that I didn't like about Amplifico was that Donna sat down when she played the keyboard! The crowd find it difficult to really get into the songs when the front woman is sitting down. Try standing up next time Donna, you and the crowd will notice a big difference.
Check out the Amplifico website: amplifico.net where you can find a regular supply of new recordings from the band!
On stroll charismatic, blue eyed Leamington Spa duo Nizlopi, putting Batman and Robin to shame; cue lots of teenage girls wilting up the front row! The sell out King Tuts crowd went absolutely crazy, clapping and cheering and the smiley boys came straight on with a song from debut album Half These Songs Are about You.
I was left scratching my head for the first ten seconds as I worked out where the beats were coming from. Is it a drum machine? No. Looking closely at double bass player John, I saw that he was beat-boxing into the mic; genius!
From the word go, the atmosphere in the intimate venue was amazing. Luke and John's acoustic songs are wrapped in jazz, hip hop, blues and folk; songs written with a maturity that belies their age.
There were a lot of excited fans shouting in between songs and one or two ignorant guys up the back who kept shouting 'JCB Song!' Like as if they weren't going to play it!
Halfway through their set, Luke announced 'Would it work if we came out there to play?' huge affirming cheers gave them the green light and Luke unplugged his acoustic guitar and the boys jumped off the stage and walked to the middle of the crowd as a hundred mobile phones were brought out to film the occasion.
Campaigning academic, lecturer, speaker, writer, poet, broadcaster and best selling author of Soil and Soul Alastair McIntosh made a special guest appearance on stage with the boys. As Luke and John took a back seat, playing their instruments in the background, Alastair spoke his inspiring, thought provoking poem 'Homage to Young Men', it worked brilliantly and the crowd loved it!
Their feel-good songs really are a breath of fresh air compared to the pretentious, dour, regurgitated songs that are swamping the charts now.
After being treated to an hour of music from Leamington Spa's greatest export, it's difficult to imagine any band being able to perform on such an intimate level. Look out for Nizlopi in a town near you, these guys are no 'one hit wonders'.
