Just 7 days until The Smoking Hearts give your Tuesday evening a good kicking at The Boileroom! Here’s a snippet of what you can expect, it’s gonna be a great show!

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First post in almost a year! Hopefully we’ll be keeping this page a bit more updated with reviews, photos, news and all sorts of lovely things for you to while away the hours with! There’s some awesome gigs we’re just finalising at the moment that are going to be seriously awesome, pretty keen to get them confirmed so we can let you guys know.

But while you wait, here’s our latest highlights flyer with a taste of the great stuff we’ve got coming up for you this year! x

Full listings can be found on our website.

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Review by Neil Manrai

The riots of the last week would have some people believing that all youngsters are hooligans and thieves. However anybody who attended the Boileroom’s Red Cross Fundraising Event would tell them otherwise. Put on by the under-18s for the under-18s, a night of entertaining live music was planned with the primary aim of raising awareness and funds for a great cause.

There was a crimson sea of Red Cross t-shirts inside and outside the venue, as the charity workers welcomed the youthful crowd into the venue. After a short congregation in the ‘beer’ garden (after all there was a clean bar), a mass of fans made their way to the stage for the first of two acts. Five -piece The Mayz are a young covers band who play a barrage of hits from well before their time. Slick covers of The Beatles Come Together and Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots Are Made For Walking kicked off proceedings before moving into more songs that could quite easily end up on a future Hot Rats album. After an accomplished female-fronted version of Tainted Love and a high-octane rendition of One Way Or Another, there was a ferocious tide of requests from the parents at the back, crying out for songs from the likes of Led Zeppelin. Alas there was no Stairway to Heaven, but there was little disappointment when Rolling Stones’ Jumpin’ Jack Flash ended the show with four of the band singing around a microphone sandwich. All the songs were played to near-perfection, staying true to the essence of the tracks, making for an entertaining set for both their peers and their parents.

Some charity workers have an amazing ability to harass you into a sense of guilt, so it was liberating that the young Red Cross helpers remained respectful throughout, proving to be great advocates for an equally great organisation. After over-dosing on juice at the bar, it was time for the second and final act, the Goldtones. There was a slightly shambolic start as the band went on stage without their singer and drummer. Fortunately the lost members were retrieved before the compasses and OS maps were brought out, and the set could finally commence. Like The Mayz before them, the four-piece showed signs of being inspired by music from the 70s and this was definitely evident in the raw riffs of early track Night Time Lies. After a cover of Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine, the Woking band showcased new material to follow on from last year’s EP. Lead singer Zac Guy belted out every lyric with a passion that far exceeded his small frame, showing why the Surrey music scene is as strong as it ever has been. A brilliant impromptu cover of Stuck In The Middle went down so well that nobody was reaching for the nearest sharp object to saw off their ears. It helped close an entertaining set and end a thoroughly enjoyable night for all the generations that were in the venue.

Photos by Jo Smith

Feed The Rhino

Fly This For Me

Palm Reader

Darko

Review by Neil Manrai

Every now and then a British act emerges that sends fans and critics into a frenzy. Previous occupants of the hype-tag have included Arctic Monkeys and Mumford and Sons, but this year it is the turn of Ed Sheeran. After years of hard grafting, the 20-year-old is finally reaping the rewards, with a single at number three in the charts and selling out venues as big as Shepherds Bush Empire in no time at all. So what a coup it was for the Boileroom to book the Suffolk singer for not one, but two dates. This was the second show and the queue was snaking round the back of the venue well before doors opened.

As the predominantly young crowd filtered inside, many rushed towards the front, determined to secure a good view. By the time support act Kal Lavelle made her way on stage, the pit was bulging. The Irish singer-songwriter was given a warm reception as she began an accomplished repertoire of emotive songs that has seen her reach the top 10 in the iTunes folk charts. Her nonchalant yet undeniably passionate vocals were mesmerising and early tracks such as The Ocean had a hint of a mellow Melissa Auf Der Maur. Despite the slightly eerie nature of her vocals, there was a lot of on-stage banter between songs. Before the tentative Gypsy Blood, she asked if anyone had ever questioned the impact former partners had on their lives, a philosophical debate maybe a little lost on the doe-eyed audience. Most of Lavelle’s songs are based on past experiences, none more so than Disaster, about her moving to London because of a former flame but broke up just six months later. The loud intro and the aggressive belting out of the lyrics ‘breaking me down, breaking down’ showed genuine flashes of anger. Having got the crowd singing to a cover of Mcfly earlier in the set, the Dubliner closed with an equally popular version of Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy, ending both a thought-provoking and shamelessly entertaining set.

Before Lavelle departed, she invited the crowd to share a drink with her to talk about the Irish economy. Sadly that was never going to happen and fans remained static, eyes glued to the stage, waiting for that head of ginger hair to appear as they tried to periscope over the bodies in front. There were plenty of unfamiliar faces, with Ed Sheeran’s trademark paw print symbol painted on their cheeks. It was clear that fans had travelled far and wide to nab a golden ticket. Eventually the lights dimmed and after cries of ‘we want Ed, we want Ed’, the man of the moment walked on stage.

The euphoria was incredible and it took an age for Sheeran to hush the crowd for opener Grade 8. The young singer-songwriter asked for total silence as he amazingly tried to play the song without his microphone, which was always going to be a mountainous task in front of the buoyant fans camped in the pit. It was as if he was still used to playing in front of pub crowds and did not realise quite how famous he had become. After a shrieking cry of appreciation, Sheeran explained that there would be chilled out and loud parts of the show before launching into the beat-laden intro to The City Never Sleeps, beginning an impressive hour and a half long set of tracks from his upcoming album and his plethora of EPs.

Appearances on Later with Jools Holland and backing from Rio Ferdinand of all people, have added to the extraordinary level of hype, but it is his fast-singing that has launched him into the stratosphere and there was wooing all round when he demonstrated this uncanny ability during You and I. Sheeran is clearly inspired by music of black origin and end of Homeless, asks everyone to become a gospel choir and ring out the chorus ‘not a homeless life for me, it’s just home less than I’d like to be’. Like Lavelle before him, there was a great deal of crowd deal interaction, telling stories of half-dead birds and wedding tracks with an appreciative response. Sadly there were moments during the quieter tracks that a handful of Danny Dyer wannabes felt the need to shout out nonsense from the back, but the ever-professional singer refrained from directing them to the nearest Millwall match.

After a little rant about his hair wax, Sheeran brought out his loop for his haunting cover of Jamie Woon’s a cappella track Wayfaring Stranger. Following songs about watching Shrek and comparing the smoke machine to a Sinead O’Connor show, he finally launched into the song that been cleansing the polluted upper end of the singles chart for the last six weeks. The A Team, a song about the only woman in a homeless shelter, led to a mass sing-a-long and Blackberrys arched in the air, like a salute of respect. As the song closed, the loudest cheer of the night came when rapper Mikill Pane was invited on stage for the remixed version, Little Lady and the chorus ‘she’s just under the upper hand, goes mad for a couple grams’, is sung-back with heart-felt gusto. Comically, Sheeran asked the crowd to bring out their phones for the track, unaware of the flashing red dots already blinding those on the outskirts.

The long set was drawing to a climax but not before playing You Need Me, the video of which premièred just hours before the first Boileroom show the previous day. The rapier like intro and upbeat fusion of rap and pop has all signs that it could reach a higher chart position than the A Team. The song is essentially a narcissistic rant about his credentials but with witty rasps such as ‘I’m up and coming like I’m ****ing in an elevator’. A rhyme about his ginger hair got a huge cheer prompting Sheeran to split the crowd into two to see who was the loudest, culminating in a decibel crushing roar. You Need Me has a melody that almost invites different variations of the song and Sheeran even tested a new verse for the track on the audience, met with typically rapturous appreciation. After the shortest encore ever, he once again returned to the stage asking for quiet, in return for the unusual step of playing the final part of the set standing a stool in the middle of the pit. There was now an impeccably observed silence as Sheeran whispered the final few songs under the glare of the recording devices. It was an intimate end to a set from a young man who has all confidence to cope with the celebrity status that awaits him. But there is a sense he will miss such intimacy and wants to squeeze every last drop of adrenaline before he inevitably moves onto arenas and the top end of festivals.

Review by Neil Manrai

Photos by Justine Jones

In June, female-fronted pop-punkers The Hype Theory won a Red Bull competition, landing a spot on the Download Festival line-up. After experiencing the Sebastian Vettel feeling of winning something with the energy drink, the Londoners broke out of second gear to fire up a busy summer schedule. Their show at the Boileroom was one of the first gigs before travelling the length and breadth of the country to play the likes of Sonisphere and T In The Park.

Shepperton six-piece Tear Me Down started proceedings with their own infectious brand of pop-punk, before Fake The Attack took to the stage. After an instrumental intro, they launched into ‘November’. The nucleus of the track is the rain, which brings back floods of memories of the Guns N Roses ballad. However the pounding drums, punchy riffs and the wailing chorus ‘pouring down’ ensured they were nothing like unpunctual legends. The Hampshire quintet seemed to be defined by their front-woman’s prolonged crying of vowels at the end of every verse, which was a stark contrast to the mechanical rhythm section. It was a pleasant trademark to distinguish them from the generally clichéd pop-punk genre and was a well-received set.

Following on were adrenaline-charged Woking boys, Escape Artists. Three of the members are called Joe but that little-known fact is made to look very average when compared to their live show. Their half-dressed vocalist was as in-your face as you could get, spending most of the gig perched of the edge of the stage screaming lyrics into the crowd, with an undecipherable message blazed across his chest. The rest of the band were far from shrinking violets either, bringing a crowd member up on stage early on to add to the carnage. There was more testosterone than the ex-presidents in Point Break and you were waiting for them to leave to have a night-time surf on the River Wey. Having only made their debut at the Boileroom in April, they have amassed a healthy fan base prepared to climb on people’s shoulders at the front-man’s command. There was little doubt that the performance was superior to the tracks, but when most of the crowd started clapping to the final chorus ‘I will not escape this’, there was definitely a sense that those songs will start to become familiar to the local fans.

Escape Artists

The Hype Theory came to the stage fairly innocuously, almost with an air of being the warm-down band rather than the headliners. During the early songs front-woman Katy Jackson and the guitarists seemed to move in unison throughout the gig, stepping back towards the drummer before rampaging towards the crowd. At times it seemed a little choreographed and after just two tracks the band asked for a sing-a-long, which was largely ignored. But as soon as Jackson picked up a megaphone for the intro to new single ‘Kids At Heart’, the band stamped their mark as headliners. The set continued with an accomplished array of pop-punk songs, including their best-known track ‘We Will Be Singing’. They ended with a concise and very random anecdote about their bass player being arrested, which showed the rawness and early stages of the band. This kind of care-free attitude went down well and with a more consistent stage presence they will have the perfect set for their summer-made tunes.

The Hype Theory

Review by Neil Manrai

Photos by Justine Jones 

Six top-twenty albums over 17 years, three of which went platinum. Enough said. Supergrass were undoubtedly one of the most important bands of the Britpop era and probably the only one to maintain commercial and critical acclaim well into the 21^st century. Sadly they called it a day last year, but lead singer Gaz Coombes and drummer Danny Goffey are back already with The Hotrats, covering songs from rock’s most recognisable names. Anyone questioning their relevance should only need to point to the fact that they just supported Foo Fighters at the gargantuan Milton Keynes’ Bowl. So what an honour it was for them to play the Boileroom just a few days before.

The venue was unsurprisingly jammed full, so it was only right that the support act were a band of the highest pedigree, and Brother and Bones were most certainly that. After a quiet acoustic-based beginning the band exploded into life with a raucous hoe-down reminiscent of an adrenaline-filled Mumford and Sons. ‘Here Comes The Storm’ moved from a delicate array of whispering melodies to a full-blooded cry of the eponymous chorus sung with the gusto of Chris Cornell, while the rocky ‘Good For You’ was just as sleazy and dirty as a Dead Weather track. The layers of acoustic and electric guitar and the addition of two drummers created the energy to get the crowd dancing for the many instrumental solos. For many the nu-folk revolution comes across as a bit weak and timid but Brother and Bones throw that argument out to sea with the other wet bands because when the next tide comes in they will surely be carried onto the crest of a high wave.

Brother and Bones

Suitably pumped up, the mass of fans, including Nikki from Big Brother (I know, who is she) welcomed The Hotrats to the stage. Gaz was instantly recognisable to those of us brought up listening to Oasis, Blur et al, and his giant red sunglasses were not going to disguise him from the adoring fans. Starting with a party-version of the Velvet Underground’s ‘Can’t Stand It’, the Oxford-duo played punchier versions of classics including the Cure’s ‘Love Cats’ and single, the Gang Of Four’s ‘Damaged Goods’.

Despite the incredible appreciation to each track, the mainly older crowd were quiet during the early part of the set, maybe stunned that they got to see a band of such esteem so close up. But when they pulled out a similar version of Roxy Music’s ‘Love is the Drug’, mass cries of ‘whoa’ began and the commotion continued into the less surreal cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘The Bike’.

The Hotrats

Covers bands are a strange kettle of fish, not everyone’s cup of tea, and if brewed wrong they can be loathsome like Bob Dylan’s live versions of his old classics. The Hotrats generally play it safe by sticking to the essence of the influential tracks, just polishing them off for the youthful generation. ‘Mirror in The Backroom’ was a perfect taster for the Beat’s autumn Boileroom show and ‘EMI’ was a brilliantly indie-pop version of the Sex Pistols punk classic. The band went off to a rapturous applause not long after before returning to close with new single, Elvis Costello’s ‘Pump it Up’. The set was very much one of nostalgia, covers of classics from the 60s to 80s by a band most prominent in the 90s. However, the poppier and spikier versions will no doubt bring in a new legion of fans, especially having just played in front of tens of thousands of Foo Fighters fans. Gaz and Danny are here to stay and their teeth are still nice and clean.

The Hotrats

Review by Neil Manrai

Photos by Justine Jones

Less than a fortnight after the award-winning Susie Clarke launched her new single at the Boileroom, another local-act-done-good chose the venue to launch their own. Although not quite as glamorous, Woking-band The Stanley Blacks are causing quite a storm following a series of high profile gigs in Los Angeles of all places and are hoping their new release ‘Everest’ will take them to new heights.

Four Fears kicked off the night with a quartet of emotive tracks sung passionately by their enigmatic frontman. The band’s name could have easily described their set as there seemed to be a bit of anxiety when the vocalist chose to spurt out lyrics to the stage floor than face the good-sized crowd. But it was more likely he was cradling his mic under the breadth of his shoulders like a bird protecting it’s nest because they were definitely songs to be coveted.

Four Fears

Following on were the more forthright Luminaires. The London band had a real swaggering attitude combining pop-punk with electro-pop. Although many of the bursts of hook-laden tunes owed much to the So-Cal scene, the final song Solid Gold was a real spark of originality. The surreal keyboard intro sounded like a drunk Native American going totally bonkers on the cedar flute before launching into a stint of indie/electro madness that would have Bloc Party stand up and take notice.

Luminaires

The video to ‘Everest’ had been shadowing the support acts throughout the gig, teasing the crowd before the main set. But unlike Susie Clarke’s gig there were no burlesque dancers or similar razzmatazz, just a simple walk to the stage. The cut-throat approach summed the band up in one, a good-old-fashioned guitar-band, that have drawn comparison to the Beatles and the 2004 indie-rock invasion bands . Acclaimed single ‘Caroline’ and ‘Had to Be Done’ were early treats, like a less theatrical version of the Killers, and it was easy to mistake Ashley Reed’s harmonies for Brandon Flowers. Big-hitting ‘Canary’ used the Alex Kapranos style of song-writing and had all the hooks to become a classic. The line ‘the end is nearing, dust clouds clearing’, signalled a change in musical direction, from the style of the Jam at the beginning to the vastly different Boy Kill Boy-esque conclusion.

The set was very much about the music but there was a moment of comedy when the band dedicated the summery ‘Time To Wonder’ to a friend in the crowd. Asking where he was they heard the blunt cockney response ‘E’s outside smokin’ a fag!’, so they dedicated it to someone else. The set reached its climax with ‘Everest’, a rawer track, very different to their other releases with a sudden ending that almost screamed out for an instrumental blockbuster of an ending to close the show. But the band are not one for gimmicks and the closing line ‘of find your way home’ was a just ending for an enjoyable hit-filled set.

The Stanley Blacks

Photos by Joanne Smith

Newrising                                                   

David Goo

Anna Burton