Review by Natasha Goldstein
The Wheelbarrow, Camden 07/04/11
This was my first visit to The Wheelbarrow in Camden and as soon as I walked in I was greeted with a smile and a lot of happy people which really set the tone for the night, I knew straight away this was the place to be tonight. From the get go everyone was having a good time and were just as excited as I was to see the night get under-way.
First to take to the stage was Maxwell Bianco. Before the gig I hadn’t heard of this singer songwriter so I did some snooping around on his Myspace and Maxwell describes his sound as being Bob Dylan-esque, and I do have to admit when I saw him live it was as if I was watching a young Bob Dylan doing his thing. You can really feel and see that Max puts his heart and soul into his music and it was just beautiful. All his songs were catchy and modern, but with an old folk twist and it was a great start to the night. When an opening act opens for the night you get a sense of what the rest of the night has in store and Max really set the bar for the other acts.
Second up were Jimmy & The Sounds. After hearing recordings of this band I was very excited to see them play live and they didn’t disappoint! They went down a storm with the crowd. Existing fans of the band were happy to be there and newly converted fans were thrilled they came to the gig. Their single Hearts for Rent went down particularly well and really caused an outburst of excitement and dancing from everyone. This band are definitely right up my street and their music would accompany a night out or a nice sunny day really well! I can’t fault these guys. AMAZING.
And finally Claire Nicolson, the lady we’re all here to celebrate with for the release of her new single You & I was absolutely flawless! Claire’s music gives you a sense of nostalgia of happy memories with her (in my eyes) 50′s movie sounding music, and she sounds just as good live as she does on recordings. Her quirky style and attitude really reflects well in her music and I don’t see anyone else pulling off what this lady has accomplished with her music. I think Claire is going to go far and we’ll all be seeing and hearing a lot more of her in the future. She has definitely bridged the gap to what sound is missing in the music industry.
It truly was a fabulous night! Great music, great atmosphere and a beautifully intimate venue. Perfect. I will be going back to The Wheelbarrow again, and again, and again!
