Empire; Band Of The Land(Heat 2 @ Sumo)
The Bands
The Fased, The Heroes, Mas FinaStanding still in the small, darkened downstairs gig room at Sumo, me and Nicola stood. Waiting patiently with a drink in hand, surrounded by like minded people, all looking forward, all waiting in anticipation for the sound of the first cords to rip through Sumo’s dingy air.
Then it hits you, first it’s the bass that wallow’s and throb’s, moving the lightest of hairs on both your neck and arms, triggering the tingle that appears at the base of your spine. Followed swiftly by the hip moving rifts that your body finds hard to deny and the tell tale foot tapping that promptly moves into the well known head nod. Finally comes the much needed vocals and catchy chorus lyrics, allowing the lips to fleetingly move, briefly allowing even spectators to be part of the music, part of the atmosphere, part of Leicester’s music scene.
Heat two of ‘Band Of The Land’ down at Sumo on the 26th March 2009 filled me with the confidence and optimism of OSOM’s success in helping the many talented bands and musicians of Leicestershire.
The night was kicked off superbly with The Fased taking to the stage for the first set followed by The Heros, Mas Fina, The Penney Hangers and finishing the night with Roxum.
A battle of bands, a clash of tightens and the underdogs Mas Fina taking a well deserved win with their new take on modern music, superb vocals and amazing scratch artist mixing it up. Mas Finas music is definitely worth listening to and a band showing great potential for the future, one I would love to see again. However I was a little disappointed with the similarity of rifts, tempo and overall predictable movement within their songs.
Runner-up moving in to the play off heats to take a second bite of the cherry was The Penny Hangers who looked very comfortable on stage and produced a great tight indie set, one to be proud of and a pleasure to watch.
The band I enjoyed the most had to be Roxum with their unique style of energetic, up-tempo, catchy melodies and funky alternative style. These guys were an absolute joy to watch, clearly displaying their dedication to music.
Social Networking
I am always tittering away behind the scenes on the social networking side of OSOM, and this week has been no different.
MySpace friends have continued to swiftly grow to a respectable 1600+ and the Facebook group ‘Keeping Leicester Alive With Music’ has expanded to 140+ members. Bebo, god I need help with this one lol, still to find a friend, I’m not throwing in the towel just yet but I would not say no to some Bebo advice!
I’m still trying to find a willing artist to profile through a Squidoo lenses so have made minimal progress with that.
Venues
I was contacted by the new owner of ‘The Tavern’ pub on Narborough Road in Leicester, who has shown a keen interest in local music playing or even practicing on their premises. I will be going down soon to check out the size and space within ‘The Tavern’ and to find out more about her idea’s and working with the local music.
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