Allie Bradley with support from Richard Miller and Jamie Neish
Friday 29th June 2012 – No Alibis, Belfast
The first act supporting Allie Bradley whilst she launches her new EP at this very intimate gig in No Alibis bookshop, is Colorado born solo artist Richard Miller – who is playing his first ever gig in Belfast. Richard takes to the mic and starts to strum out a very chilled folky/pop sound on his acoustic guitar. Vocally he could be likened to ‘Jason Mraz.’ The small crowd watch and listen in awe to songs such as ‘Time I Wasted’ and ‘Seven Days’ that seem to tell stories of love, heartbreak and regret. Richard seems to have impressed the crowd as they sway along to his soft vocals, and it is clear he has gained a few fans tonight as he leaves the crowd in good spirits.
Igniting onto the stage, oozing confidence is an artist called Jamie Neish. He begins to strum his semi acoustic guitar passionately while belting out heartfelt lyrics. The growing crowd seem mesmerised by his talent, with his sound lending itself well particularly to fans of Mumford and Sons. Jamie invites ‘Kris Platt’ up to perform with him, explaining to the crowd that Chris ‘has a voice like pure silk’. They combine to sing ‘The Beast’ – a blues song with a folk like twist, which causes the growing crowd to clap and sway along in their seats. Despite telling us how much he hates love songs Jamie performs a spine tingling rendition of ‘I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You.’ With the audience in the palm of his hands; he finishes with ‘On The River Side’ – a song filled with folk and soulful vocals.
As Allie Bradley takes her place at the microphone, there isn’t a seat left in the house, and people are now actually queuing outside to try to sneak a listen of the smooth soulful vocals. As Allie strums her acoustic guitar it seems that everyone in the room has fallen under her spell. Not for the first time this evening the crowd start swaying in their seats along to ‘Fire.’ Allie is then joined by a band, enabling her to reach a level of noise that doesn’t seem to belong in the setting of an intimate bookshop yet somehow works fantastically. Allie begins to tell the crowd how much she loves playing in the No Alibis bookshop and thanks everyone for their support as she calls ‘Kris Platt’ to the stage again. The two sing ‘Simplest Of Freedoms’ a song that Allie says is very special to her as she claims her mum came up with a few of the lyrics. The band who have only been together for two months introduce us to Allie’s new song ‘Firing Line’ – a song that is a lot harder, more alternative, with an Alanis Morrisette-like attitude spilling out. Going on to surprise the already impressed crowd, Allie and the band belt out a blues cover of Marvin Gaye’s ‘I Heard It through the Grapevine.’ As if that wasn’t enough Allie shouts “bet you never saw this one coming” while taking the bridge off of T.L.C’S ‘No Scrubs’ – and the crowd get a chance to sing-a-long. Closing up, Allie modestly turns to the stunned crowd to thank them for coming, not quite believing herself just how many people have turned up to see her perform. The reception of the crowd says it all, and although it is clear that Allie enjoys playing intimate venues, she does indeed have the potential to go on to bigger and better things.
