Bar 38 November 7th 2006

We had to miss the Bar 38 gig last week because of a few difficulties and as a consequence, were looking forward to tonights gig.

Chris & James organise the bands & wanted to have something a bit more diverse this week so that the audience could hear a range of styles, and as the first band up were a semi accoustic band, they certainly got that.

Swell

Swell are a four peice with the singing carried out by Faye Douglass. A bonny lass with a good voice, she coped well with the songs - most of which were covers of other mainstream band songs and it was good to hear a bit of Jack Johnson in there. I liked this lot so much I have booked them for the acoustic night at the Tavern in a few weeks time.

The guitar and backing vocals were carried out by Simon Day - a face we know as he was here a while ago playing bass in Forgotten Roots.

The bass was covered very well by Jamie Parker and he and Simon swapped over for a couple of songs, showing a bit of versatility which I always like to see.

Looking over to the drums I see one of the guitarists from Forgotten Roots weidling the sticks! Mark Shaw has also played the Bar 38 before and seems quite happy behind the drums.

Amongst the cover songs played were 'I am like a bird' 'Don't worry, be happy' 'Scooby Doo' and the 'OOO OOO OOO OOO' song from Kill Bill (damned if I know what it's actually called) Sounded good though. The rest of the set of 11 songs included a few of their own stuff too.

All in all, a nice change.

Farewell To Felix

Well, what can you say about this lot. This bunch have played here before and once again brought a bit of a crowd who seemed to thouroughly enjoy the set.

The band are from one of the local Uni's and have a good set of self penned songs.  Made up of Ant on drums, Sally on bass, Andy on guitar and Neill on guitar and vocals the band played:

Duck & Cover, Satin Sky, Front & Centre, Grazed Knees, Girl of 2 Sides, Revolution & Carpe Diem.

There is no jumping around like lunatics with FTF- just good solid sounds. There is a lot of influences in there too. I could sense a bit of an early Del Amitri  feel to a couple of the songs.

I am quite sure that NE Music will include the band in future CD's or gigs around the area.

If you want to hear a bit more of 'Felix', then why not call in at www.myspace.com/farewelltofelix

Lazy Baker:

Were the 3rd and final act of the night. The lads are a canny bunch and have been around in their current format for well over a year now.

The band, who make the statement 'The best thing since sliced bread?!?' are made up of  Jon Sked, Jamie Mcclay, Ian Graham & Daniel Thompson and quote as their influences, bands as diverse as The Pixies, The Beatles, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Alkaline Trio, Green Day, The Futureheads, Bloc Party, Oasis & Coldplay  to name but a few. 

The 'Bakers' were also on NE Musics first CD 'Work in Progress' which is mentioned elsewhere on the site.

The song played on the CD was 'She Brings Me Down' which was of course, given an airing tonight.

Vocals are covered by both Jon who alos plays guitar, and their stix man Jamie. Although Ian (bass) and Dan (guitar) don't usually do vocals, there is enough punch to carry things off quite well.

If you want to have a look at the band they are playing the Quay in Blyth on 23rd December 2006 

Lazy Baker can also be found in the myspace world - look at

www.myspace.com/lazybaker

or visit www.lazybaker.co.uk