Radar: The Dead Presidents with support from Allie Bradley and Wyldling
Thursday 28th September 2012 – Speakeasy, Belfast
To kick off the evening was singer/songwriter Allie Bradley; her and her guitar are renowned for small intimate gigs in tiny bars. Tonight however Allie is out of her comfort zone and supported on stage by a band. Allie performed songs including ‘Mistakes’, ‘Sincerity’ and ‘Bad’. One of the things I particularly like about Allie is not being able to put my finger on which genre it is that her music falls under; some of the guitar riffs having a country edge, and Allie’s voice can alter between soul, pop and country. She must be given credit for her ability to make each style work so well together in tonight’s set list. Indeed her ability to create songs that all sound so different from one another sets her apart from many of her contemporaries. I did feel though that Allie is more suited to more intimate venues as that unique atmosphere was missing from tonight’s show.
Next up was Wyldling, having never seen them live before I didn’t know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised. The lead singer is one of the quirkiest performers I have seen in the local music scene to date. She completely got lost in the performance and the music. Her voice was really peculiar and fitted the bands music style perfectly. They performed songs including ‘Let Go’, ‘Creep’ and they finished up with ‘Jailbird’, which finished up their set perfectly. The band completely got involved in their performance and put on such a great show; it was a great pity that the crowd didn’t get up and dance as the band deserved some appreciation for their electric performance. With the right crowd at their gigs some of their songs would result in a mental mosh pit.
The soul and funk legends, The Dead Presidents, grooved onto stage to deliver a show that finally got the crowd up on their feet dancing like ejits. ‘Dancing with the Devil’ kicks off an interesting set. The Dead Presidents make the audience get involved by passing on their feel good energy from the music and provide us with plenty of banter along the way. The front man is the definition of cool and looks completely at home up on stage; the music just flows from the band with such ease. They are a band where each individual musician is an expert at their respective instrument, and their tightness makes them an amazing live band. They performed “You Can’t Have It All” which is a feel good song. The brass section accompanied with the drums in the intro immediately puts everyone in the mood to dance. If you have some time check out: ‘She’s Falling In Love Again’ and ‘Losing My Edge,’ as they were two of my favourites in their set.
