Saturday 16th June 2012 – HMV Donegall Arcade
As part of the upcoming Sunflower Festival taking place in late August on Tubby’s Farm, Hillsborough – the organisers have been putting on a series of free live sessions in the HMV Store in Belfast with the aim of highlighting some of the brilliant local acts that will be playing during that weekend. Our first act of the afternoon is Katie + the Carnival who combine their folk pop sensibilities into an impressive live show. There is a definite indication that she has worked with Duke Special with the theatrical nature of their musical style. Their set is filled with tracks from their latest EP which although they seem very bright and cheery on the outside, the lyrics are dark and pensive. The highlight of the set is their brand new single ‘Dinosaurs (A little fool to you)’.
The second (and final) act of today session is Runaway Go – who I have managed to catch live several times in the last few weeks. As usual the tight knit band is on form, with the crowd drawn into their passionate performance. Songs like ‘Alligator’ and ‘Delicate Man’ sound even better in the more intimate surroundings. But I am most looking forward to the release of their debut album, where I hope ‘Getaway’ makes an appearance as it’s a great track and is brilliant live. Although there was a small crowd gathered in the store today it was fantastic to see such a big chain like HMV take a real interest and try and promote local music in Northern Ireland, they were even selling lots of EPs from other local bands like Silhouette. Both Katie + the Carnival and Runaway Go put on excellent performances and I will definitely be in attendance for the next session and urge you to do the same.
