Denai Moore

You could be forgiven for thinking that Denai Moore is simply a beautiful voice.

If you know her from soundcloud (as I did) it is possible you listened to her electronic based music and assumed that she is another producer based artist - you would be wrong. I was wrong.

I love The Lantern at Colston Hall, it has the ability to feel intimate as well as spacious and the sound system isn't too shabby at all. I don't know what any of us were expecting in the wait for Denai to come up on stage but when Kendrick Lamar started booming out of the speakers I thought OK... Prepare to be surprised.

I don't know what it is about an artist jumping between instruments that makes them that much more interesting - maybe its because you can see their art form and visualize the music making process.

Beginning on the piano before moving to the electric and then acoustic guitar - at the risk of sounding about 20 years my senior, its so nice to see the younger generation still playing instruments! We get so drowned out in EDM culture and even though I love elements of electronic music, I have to say I respect musicians more. But hey - that's just one persons opinion, I've tried using Logic and there's definitely a skill there cause it ain't easy!

Denai is quite shy on stage, preferring to keep her head in the game which works for her sound as it keeps the audience in the songs with her. I would have liked a bit more chat, maybe just talking a bit about her songs and the inspiration behind them but then again she's only 21 and man - she's doing well for 21!

Her music CV is one to be admired having worked with SBTRKT, High Contrast, Fantastic Mr Fox to name just a few. For me her sound encapsulated the beauty of innocence and that isn't to be taken in a patronizing manner.

There is something ethereal about her music, it draws you in and is unapologetic in its simplicity with oohs and ahhs and harmonies that made me feel like I was in the middle of a vast space staring into the distance.

I spoke to Denai briefly before the gig about her sound and how she's got to where she has, as well as catching a few audience members post show.




After the gig I have to say I felt like I'd observed an artist at the beginning of their journey - I'm expecting big things from Denai. Her music is mature beyond her years.

My personal favourite of hers was No Light which almost made me cry. Even listening back to it after the gig I get shivers.

See below for your listening pleasure....

Mass

Do we still need religion? That's the question that was asked when I went to Mass.
Now this wasn't any normal kind of Mass.... I assume normal Mass doesn't have a pyre of Otis Reading and Aretha Franklin and kick off with free cider. If it did I may have attended before!

When I was invited down by Bristol Old Vic I thought it would be good to do a bit of background research (site blurb) which read...

"When the bus Amy Mason was travelling on ran two people over she found herself praying for the first time in years. The experience led her to think about life, faith, and the way we deal with tragedy in an increasingly secular society"

Now I don't know about you but when I read that I thought, 'this is going to be intense'. How wrong I was.
From the beginning Amy was talking to, not at, the audience which is a fairly difficult thing to do as a one woman show. To engage the audience, earn their respect and trust and then also manage to move through a structured production.

For all intent and purposes the play was blueprinted by a standard Mass. 

The song: Hallelujah (obviously)

1) Greeting: 'Hi guys, thanks for coming'

2) Confession: 'I'm sorry for anything mean I've done this week.'

3) Gratitude: Thank you friends and family and          colleagues. Even if you're a bit shit sometimes.'

4) Prayer: 'I hope all people's hopes come true'

5) Collection: For a charity chosen on the night by a person in the audience.

Each section was introduced by a bit of story from Amy about her experiences with religion and concluded by the audience shouting HOORAY!

We walked in not knowing what to expect and left laughing. I think everyone felt the soul grow a little bit lighter on exit because we'd been allowed to laugh at all the rules and regulations that religion holds whilst also being able to think about what religion actually means and how our society is doing without it.
I left thinking about some pretty big questions. 

As Amy highlighted, people are listening to things like The Secret which promotes positive thinking and the laws off attraction to encourage the universe to help their dreams come true but really... Isn't that prayer?

We're quickly growing into a society that has left religion behind, but has that left us lost?
If you are living atheist, who do you turn to in times of need? Is the lack of faith that there is a plan, a picture that is bigger than just us being sorted out by the big dawg in the sky making us more selfish?

Look at the world we live in now. Obsessed with how we look, how much money we have, how much individual power each person holds and really - we're all going to end up in the ground. If all we leave behind is a ravaged planet with all its life sucked out because humans had nothing to believe in except themselves... That's a pretty sorry affair.

Saying that, I wouldn't call myself religious. I've been christened because my Nan wanted it, and my mum's always been into meditation and I guess... Buddhist values which have likely rubbed off on me. But I wouldn't call myself devoted to any one thing, I'd say I'm spiritual and try to live by Christian values of morality and treating your neighbor how you'd want to be treated and all that jazz. 

I'm put off religion because of the judgement and arrogance. So many people have killed and died to prove they and only they are correct in what the believe. Or feel it's OK to tell someone their life choices will damn them because they've read an extract in a book that was written by some guy hundreds of years after the supposed Son of God said his piece.

So yes, lots of food for thought post Mass. It was nuts and beautiful in equal measure. I particularly enjoyed the almonds and plums that were given as a the substitute for bread and wine - which was better for me cause I was pretty pissed after the cider and bread makes me bloat.

Aretha bless you Amy Mason!

Abulations

Here's a question. When does a habit turn into an addiction?

If you have a couple of glasses of wine in the evening does that make you an alcoholic?

Followed by a couple of painkillers in the morning before work, are you an addict?

Abulations is a play based on a bar-tenders notes and outlines how addiction can creep up on you and the effect it has on the bystanders.

As someone that has worked in Hospitality a lot in my life let me tell you - it is not hard to become dependent on alcohol. You don't even have to like it, it just to be there. And free (or cheap).

It's shockingly hard to find a day-to-day middle ground. You're either sober or drunk, and drunk customers are far easier to deal with when you are also inebriated. In fact as anyone who saw me on my birthday can testify, I can seem perfectly sober when I'm shaking cocktails behind the bar, even if I can barely speak on the other side of it.

What I thought Abulations did well was by stripping the production back - no set or props - and having only four people it the production, it made the whole thing much more intimate.

The main character (played by Eoin Slattery) narrated to us throughout (he's not given a name in the novel) and managed to making the audience empathetic to his troubles despite his selfish and abusive actions.

Fiona Mikel and Harry Humberstone made up the cast and seemed to play roughly twenty characters between them.

Switching from person to person adapting their body language and dialect whilst also jumping on with the guitarist who played throughout to become a three man band (the jukebox) - pretty impressive stuff.

What I took from it personally was how happy I am to have moved away from hospitality for now.  

I've seen so many of my friends and colleagues slip into that trap of just one more drink, just one more hour until you find yourself up and wired at 7am on a Tuesday morning when you're back in work at 4pm the next day... And it all starts again.

The whirlwind is so intoxicating that you don't realize how far you've gone until you get out, or until it's too late. But all the while people around you have had to watch your decline.

I spoke to Jesse Meadows (Assistant Director and Creative Producer), Bertrand Lesca (Ablutions Director and FellSwoop Co-Artistic Director) and Eoin about the production.




Saying all this though, I do miss working on the bar sometimes. I love making cocktails and practically be paid to go out and socialize... But now I save it for the weekends. You might even find me at the pipe some time...

George The Poet

Last month I went to see George The Poet at Start The Bus but before I write about the show let me just give you a bit of background.

I've been following George's career for a hot minute. Like most, the first I heard from him was 'My City' published ahead of the Olympics. Some time passed and then he popped up again on 1xtra and I was mesmerized. I remember tidying my room when his live lounge came on and it was one of those moments when you just sit down and take it in.

After that I searched every YouTube video, found the Chicken and the Egg EP and vowed to see him live and talk to him one day. Fast forward a year or so and here I am, working at BBC Radio Bristol and he's coming to Start The Bus!

So I send an email to his manager to say 'oh hey I see George is coming down, can I get an interview?'... No reply. I call Start The Bus looking for an alternative email address... No reply. So I think ok, well I'll give them a couple of weeks - he must be busy. It gets closer to the event, I think, let me just get a ticket to be sure I actually get to see him anyway. Sold out. SOLD OUT?! Naaaaaah. I don't THINK so.

Believe me when I said I chased this guy for a solid month and then finally, a week before the event, I got an email back and a number. I organised a chat before the gig, thought about the questions I was going to ask and felt confidently prepped.

Slight hiccup occurred when my back went out and I was left horizontal the day before the event. I'd been looking forward to this for more than a month and then my backs gonna go and do that to me?! Peak. I laid up in bed for the whole day before boshing two very strong painkillers and heading out to do my first ever solo interview.

This was the result...

Watching George The Poet I felt like I was a part of history in the making and isn't that what this generation needs? Someone to lead and inspire not just through a talent but with a wide breadth of knowledge that you can't help but be drawn into, and listen to. It was like being in a university lecture where you didn't feel talked down to but included in the concepts that were being discussed.

Afterwards George sold and signed his book Search Party, I'm pretty sure everyone bought one. Here's my favourite poem from the book, named My Mandela.

If you ever get the chance to see George, make sure you do. Your eyes will be effortlessly opened by the end of it.

Smear

Lick words off the lips

That always say too much

Know that a conversation

Could be ended by a touch

One action could last forever

The dimensions of a moment, soft

When dissected in such a manner

That finds all the meaning lost

Open arms to demented tongues

Trapped in a fierce abrasion

Embrace the serpent sent

To seek division in the equation

Multiple minds that constantly find

A means for which to battle

To stand apart from cold-hearted ones

And take a back seat in their struggle

D'Angeloooooo

So yeah, D'Angelo happened.

I don't mind admitting that I was late to D'Angelo. Obviously I'd heard Brown Sugar and Lady but I didn't actually get to album listening levels until maybe 2012? But when I knew, I knew.


D'Angelo is just sex. Every song has an unavoidable eroticism. When I listen to Lady it makes me think of lazy mornings in the summer with pillow talk and orange juice. Unassuming, relaxed, happy.

Black Messiah is a different kind of drop. The jazzy instrumentation you'd expect is still there but with a bit more of an edge. To me Black Messiah is less of a seduction and more an expression of frustration - which was mirrored in his live gig.

Of course the vocal was flawless, we'd expect nothing less but the bass - jheeeeez. From the first song the entire place vibrated with this deep bass that seemed to ripple through the audience and promise an unexpected experience

A solid rock backbone ran throughout, with the performance feeling like three chapters. The beginning that smacked you hard with the new tracks, then a bit of a breakdown into old school classics before moving onto the finale which I guess was a mix of both. Each chapter was reflected in the outfit changes.

Black leather and an electric guitar started the show before moving into a checkered poncho (?) for some 'salsa tones' before returning in a black vest. Has he still got it? Maybe not in the way he used to but the guy looks good for his age! You can't knock that. My buddy was all 'Noooo, he got fat....' No he didn't, he got older. And he's still working it... Though to be fair when he started grinding against the mic stand I think everyone looked away in uncomfortable embarrassment.

Overall, it was wicked. Because I got to see D'Angelo. In the flesh. And close my eyes and listen to his sweet nectar voice. Over excitement was captured in the abundance of videos that were snapped until I ran out of memory...doh. But I saved enough for Brown Sugar. Win.

Below are my shaky hand vibe catching vids. As many as could be taken before becoming that dickhead that spends the whole gig filming.

@Bristol: Love and Luck

So I know its a bit late to write about Valentine's Day but mine was so wonderfully weird that I really felt like I should share. Especially as I'm making my way down to @Bristol tonight for Giles Petersonn- got my memory a whirring...

Whilst booking an 'alternative' Valentine's Day guest for BBC Radio Bristol, I got talking to the press office who invited me down to At-Bristol: After Dark.

It was much less sinister than it sounds. Essentially; At-Bristol opening its doors to couples and singles to come and play without any pesky kids running around hogging the machines - and of course nothings really adult until there's a bar... Brilliant.

So I went down there with a couple of friends and I have to say, I had a ball. The problem with At-Bristol is there's SO MUCH TO DO. I feel like I'd only be satisfied after five solid hours of running around in order to hit everything properly, but regardless I managed to pass through some main attractions,

Firstly: 'Have A Go Heart Dissection' *not: much more do-able after a strong double*

I'm not particularly squeamish but it was pretty intense. It felt like I'd hopped back a decade to Year 9 Biology and I'd forgotten that smell. That very specific smell of a raw pigs heart. It actually surprised me that I recognized it quickly, maybe it was that mixed with the artificial smell of the gloves but  bleeeeeurgh. Saying that, I couldn't walk away...and a twisted satisfaction playing with it... Evidence caught on camera...

Next was standing in a womb...that was odd. I think the idea is that you feel like you're a baby - the floor moved, the walls vibrated, mum's voice was heard muffled, and then you were birthed. It was an experience....

After I went to the Wiltshire Chilli Farm and took part in their Chilli Challenege. Holy crap. I can handle spice but the last one they gave me to try was madness. It was black. Do you know how disconcerting it is to voluntarily eat something that is pitch black? It looked like danger..and yes, it burned. Beautiful chilli flavours though, it you're a chilli lover, you need to check these guys out.

Last pit stop was the planetarium where we were taken on a journey around the solar system... If you haven't visited the planetarium before, the seats are practically horizontal. It was amazing though, I've heard whispers of films maybe being shown on that screen and good lord, if they put horrors on in there the whole place would be blubbering wrecks.

Here's a short 'n' sweet package I made post visit...


A huge thank you to At-Bristol to inviting me to come down and get up to mischief! Next visit will be Gilles Peterson at The Planetarium - eeeeek!!

Here are some more meaty pics... *insert cheesy heart in hands quote here*