Until this show I never realised that the Micklegate Social was a gig venue. I remember the basement there being a rather musty extra seating area for the upstairs bar/ coffee bar. But now it seems transformed into a fabulous, intimate small venue that is perfect for showcasing local upcoming talent. Tonight was the launch of “Weighed Down” a new single from York singer songwriter Noggy. But before his set we were entertained by three more mightily talented artists. The first of those was Rosalind, who replaced Edna Sulemanjovic who unfortunately couldn’t be here. She played some perfectly chilled ballads that made me recall New York’s Janis Ian around the time of “At Seventeen” which was a massive US hit in 1975. Rosalind’s songs and her singing showcase some immense emotional depth. She also played a stunning take on a Benjamin Francis Leftwich song. I definitely want to hear more from her and if you read on you may well see her mentioned again in this post.
Next up was another York artist, Alex Golisti who I last saw when he supported Hooray For The Riff Raff at the Crescent in York back in August 2017. He was good then and is even better now. Alex opened with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young”. It is always a brave move to cover a Robert Zimmerman song and Alex with his rich, bassy voice really pulled it off. His between song banter has a chance of becoming legendary and if his music career doesn’t take off, although it should, then he could easily develop a career in stand up comedy. His acoustic guitar picking skills are reminiscent of early US deep south country blues artists. In a previous review I had likened Mr Golisti’s vocal style to George Ezra and that still stands. I also reckon that if George Ezra has the archetypal angel on devil on his shoulders that determine his moral guidance then Alex should apply for the devil role. He would smash it and however you read that I do mean it as a compliment.
The abundantly skilled and talented York singer songwriter Laura Kindelan followed and regular readers will know that I am a huge fan of Laura and her music. I caught up with her briefly before her set. She is currently studying music at the Leeds College of Music and now has a band, although they weren’t playing with her this evening. She continues to work on new material and I for one am looking forward to hearing that when she feels it is ready for us. This is the fourth time that I have seen Laura play live since first seeing her supporting Billie Martin back in July 2017. Laura opened her set with a haunting rendition of “Take Your Time” which shows how she uses not just the music but the space between the notes better than many artists can. She revealed in her introduction to another of her songs, “Fingertips” she revealed that it wasn’t in fact a love song written from experience, but ‘shock horror’ it was written for an assignment. Was I disappointed at this revelation? No of course not because however the song was born it is still a fine, classy tune. Laura was supported by Luca Vitale, a cello maestro, for the last couple of songs. Her Arctic Monkeys cover, “Do I Wanna Know”, was incredible, she really gave the song her own spin. I truly believe that if you cover a well-known tune, make it different and this was very definitely Laura Kindelan and not Alex Turner. Laura closed her set with “Spiders” which is indelibly stamped with great emotion, deep feeling and a real darkness. For me this song really showcases Laura’s great talent and I still believe that she has the style and presence to be the kind of force that Jeff Buckley was before he left the world nearly 22 years ago.
Finally it was time for tonights headliner, Noggy. He opened with a cover of the Gregory Alan Isakov’s haunting song “The Universe”. This was a highlight for me, Noggy’s performance turned the emotion in the tune up to 11. Apparently his own composition, “Hologram” was the first song that gave him the confidence to perform his music beyond the confines of his bedroom. That is no surprise as this track has the makings of a classic about it. I, like I am sure many of you, are supremely pleased that Noggy did make the leap from performing tunes in his bedroom to bringing them to us in the wider world. Noggy was joined by show opener Rosalind for some fine vocal harmonies an a couple of songs before ending his set and the evening with his new single “Weighed Down”. Whatever style of music you love, and my taste is wildly eclectic, you surely cannot fail to grasp the beauty of this ethereal, emotional and frankly 100% beautiful ballad. I noticed on-line that Noggy is often described as folk or indie folk (I had no idea that the indie folk sub genre even existed), but I think he is much more than either. “Weighed Down” is in simple terms a great piece of music which you need to have in your life. Click here to check it out on Spotify.
Public Service Announcement – all the pictures, apart from the gig poster, were taken using my cheap Chinese Android phone. The videos were found on YouTube. If any of the videos are yours and you would like me to credit you or remove them please let me know.
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 