Hazel O'Connor and The Subterraneans

Arguably the best Covers band in Coventry and the surrounding area are The Subterraneans. A testament to that is their regular appearances at Birmingham's top live music venue, The Jam House who have also booked them to play their prestigious New Years Eve gig for the last few years.

Bad Manners and Buster BloodVessel

One of my good friends, Roger Lomas, produced Bad Manners' hits.

Yesterday they were appearing at Warwick University Students Union, better known as The Copper Rooms.

We went along, met the band before and after the gig and I snatched a couple of action shots of Buster in full flow with my pocket camera.

Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox

The story started on Facebook (it's part of everything these days scarily). Anyway Mandy and I came across a great version of "All About That Bass" which we then played to everyone at Christmas via YouTube on the TV. This was the first time that we had heard of Scott Bradlee and his Postmodern Jukebox. Here is that version which has had more than 10 million views on YouTube.

So my birthday is in January and my present from my two daughters was 2 tickets for us to go and see PMJ at The Institute in Birmingham on 14th February.

We had never been to this venue before so arrived at about 6.30pm when the tickets said the doors opened. We were a bit disconcerted when the taxi dropped us off to find a queue that went up the road and wrapped around the corner to disappear up the side street. However when we joined it the queue moved quickly and we were soon inside.

The code on our tickets apparently meant we were in a gallery area on the second floor. We could see why everyone got there early as it was first come first served for seats. We nabbed the last two which were effectively bar stools in from of a shelf where we could put drinks - ideal and a great spot.

It took a while to get served at the nearest small bar to where we were seated but it didn't matter as we had plenty of time.

The support act which came on at about 7.15 lasted 10 minutes and was 3 dancers which were actually part of the main show when it started. Not brilliant but they went down well.

Then Scott and PMJ came on at about 7.30. Scott is the founder and arranger etc who plays a keyboard on the side of the stage built into the frame of an upright piano.

The core band is bass, drums and two brass players in addition to Scott. He then has various singers who come on to perform the different songs. The musicians and singers were of the highest standard and put on a proper show rather than just singing. In addition to the singers was an excellent tap dance guy and a lad described as the 'best tambourine player in the world'.

A black guy called Michael performed the role of MC brilliantly as well as being a top class singer in his own right. Casey Abrams also knocked out some great vocals as well as occasionally sharing double bass duties.

There were two brilliant girl singers, one of whom was Morgan James who has a superb range. Here she is on Vevo

Their encore number was predictably the song that started this story for us - I captured this video on my pocket camera.

It brought the house down and was a great way to finish. The whole group made their way out to meet and greet by the merchandise stand which was a nice touch.

All in all a fantastic birthday present.

KING Phoenix

I felt very privileged to be invited along as Coventry band KING Phoenix launched live on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire.

Original King members Jim Lantsbery, Tony Wall & Mike Roberts teamed up with Tony Dangerfield & Matt Hart to play as King Phoenix.

The band played 5 numbers live and in between Vic Minett from BBC interviewed family members and friends who remembered King from the 80s.

My photos are here: http://www.lozmoore.com/king-phoenix/

Mike Roberts even brought his original pair of their trade-marked multi-coloured Doc Martens out of the wardrobe to wear!

Here is their Facebook page

David Sanders

Davis Sanders is a talented local musician and has just set up his own website. Very pleased to see that he has used a couple of my photos on his gallery page at http://davidsandersmusic.net/gallery/

Charles Dexter Ward and The Imagineers

Popped down to the newly opened Fargo Village in Coventry last week to see the brilliant Charles Dexter Ward in action

Fargo

Fargo Village in Coventry opened at the weekend and promises to bring a whole new dimension to the city offering niche and unique retailers, artists’ studios, creative workspace, crafts, cafes, markets and entertainment space. Affordable rents will allow new businesses to set up, thrive and survive in an attractive environment, in a community of like minded people.

Fargo is bringing a piece of the London cool scene of Camden and Brick Lane to Coventry. Twenty years ago these were run down areas of London but with investment into the creative industries they have now become major attractions bringing in visitors from all over the world and in turn supporting the local economy. To emulate some of that success here would give Coventry a huge boost in perception and appeal to locals and visitors. Fargo Village will inject energy and fun into Coventry.

Godiva Festival

The Godiva Festival in Coventry is a great free festival put on by the local council in the city's War Memorial Park. It is spread over a weekend in July each year, although it had to be cancelled in 2012 due to so much rain making the ground waterlogged and unsafe. The acts are a mixture of local talent and well know headliners.