The First ‘Front Room’ – Sold Out!
The first in a series of three live acoustic music events, The Front Room, has proved an incredible success. The sell out crowd at Haddington’s John Gray Centre on Friday 28th September enjoyed original music from accomplished musicians Blueflint and Caroline Gilmour, with support from local youth act Nic Tate and the Sharks.
The venue was given a make-over to create an atmospheric ambience – the foyer decorated with vintage pieces setting the mood for gig-goers as they arrived, with the bar and function room beyond full of artwork, entitled The Cardboard Collective, by artist Vic Macrae – cardboard art of furniture pieces stored in East Lothian Museum’s collections. www.vicmacrae.co.uk
Nic Tate and the Sharks were the first to impress, the three girls entertained with guitar, cello and cajon and amazing harmonies. Caroline Gilmour was next to the stage performing songs from her album and recently release EP ‘What Georgina Said’ Caroline’s voice was incredible and enthralled the audience with her soaring rock ballads and entertained with stories of her recent mini UK tour, of which the John Gray was the last gig. Caroline said about The Front Room,
“Playing at The Front Room was the perfect end to my mini UK tour – a fantastic venue, very well organised and a sell-out crowd! Lamp House Music have done themselves proud and long may this event continue.” www.woosh.tv
Finally, Blueflint took to the stage, the five piece were enthusiastically welcomed and gave a lively performance that had the audience in high spirits. Their new single ‘Take Your Shoes Off’ was particularly well received and it was clear to see why The Proclaimers have chosen them as their support on their UK Tour. Deborah Arnott’s and Clare Neilson’s vocals perfectly complimented each other and sat beautifully with the banjos, ukelele, double bass, drums and fiddle. The band effortlessly carried the audience through the musical journey of each song and closed to a room full of cheering and an encore request, much to the delight of Blueflint. www.blueflint.org.uk
The feedback from those attending the event was immensely positive, there was a real buzz in the air with compliments to Lamp House Music and John Gray Centre staff from members of the audience, the partners in the project, and from the musicians themselves. Silver Storic, a North Berwick resident said of the night,
“It has to be said what a fantastic evening we had on Friday at the launch night of The Front Room. Great music, crowd, venue and fabulous decor. Congratulations to all involved, it’s wonderful to see your devoted commitment to encouraging music in the community. Inspiring stuff. Well done. Next date is in the diary!”
The next evening of live acoustic music at The Front Room is headlined by Edinburgh based singer songwriter Paul Gilbody who has performed all over Scotland, Australia and London, absorbing wide-ranging influences to create his own unique sound. Having worked with many other talented musicians, appearing on albums by artists such as Andi Neate and KT Tuntstall, he has recently released his debut EP Eponymoose in his own right. (September 2011) www.paulgilbody.com
Support comes from popular local band Fallen Stone who recently played at Trad on the Tyne.