Sunday, July 24, 2022

Gig review - Emily Lockett - Biddulph Town Hall

 

And so to Biddulph – a small town just outside Stoke On Trent – to the grandly named Town Hall, which in reality is a very nice community centre, in a small high street of pubs, takeaways and Sainsburys.  Its not a major urban centre, but to Emily Lockett it is home, so where better to host a headline concert marking the release of her latest EP, thanking those who supported her crowd funder and giving us all a chance to see Emily play with her relatively new full band.

Although technically a part of Biddulph festival, the gig was promoted and run by Emily’s family – Dad on tickets and lighting, Mum organised the merch, brother on camera and his girlfriend head of merch sales – which is very much how Team Emily operates. 

 

If you weren’t aware, Emily has spent the last three years studying at BIMM Manchester, and part of her course was to organise a crowd funder and write new music.  The outcome of this (as well as her degree) is her new EP “What The Hell Have I Got Myself Into?”

 

The show was opened by (formerly) local performer Celine Ellis.  Keen on the storytelling element of Country Music, Celine overcame the technical delays to show the almost full hall her folky/Americana voice and her excellent guitar playing.  Celine is quite a humble performer, just her and her guitar playing her upcoming release and some songs that she has thought about re-recording.  Celine with the fuller sound of a band, bass line etc will certainly be worth hearing!

 


We are more used to seeing Emily Lockett as “just her and her guitar” so to hear her music with four other musicians on stage was certainly something to look forward to.  Emily has always had a great stage presence, her ability to talk to an audience and interact is one of the best I’ve seen - as she demonstrated so well at the first British Country Music Festival in Blackpool playing not only one of the first sets of the weekend, but also the tricky outdoor stage.  Surrounded by her friends – all of whom are also BIMM graduates - she really comes out, and the interaction with her band adds to her performance and has clearly added to her own confidence.

 

The set list was a run through of previous releases interspersed with all the tracks from the new EP and was very cleverly split into three – full band for the six numbers, Emily alone playing the next four acoustically with the band re-joining for the final four songs and encore.  Emily’s style is reminiscent of Taylor Swift without being an attempt to copy, but while Taylor Swift writes a song about every single ex, Emily tends to write about the exes she has never actually had!  Able to write from experiences that she is yet to have, she still weaves parts of herself into every song, although the past three years have given her more experiences to draw on – a couple of times she said

 “but at least I got a song out of it”!
Emily is as gifted at telling stories from stage between songs as she is at telling them in her songs.

 


Hearing her old songs with the band gave them a new dimension without detracting from her style and distinctive voice – which combines beautifully with bandmate Harriet Rose on backing vocals as well as acoustic guitar and keys.  Laura Powell plays guitar and adds mandolin to “I said Hi” while the boys at the back – Tom Hetzel on Bass and Michael Shenton on drums keep the rhythm for them all.

It would be hard to pick out favourites from the evening, but some stand out points need a mention.  “If I Live to 100” from the “Do You Wanna Go Out” EP is the soundtrack to a life, and if it isn’t used as a wedding first dance or for a wedding video then people are missing a trick.  Emily sitting down at the keys to play “If Only I” from the new EP was a revelation, and demonstrated her evolving confidence, as she chatted whilst playing the intro like a seasoned professional.  There was just one cover in the hour plus set, and fittingly it was a Taylor Swift song.  How does Emily cover “Love Story”?  With her own style of course, and it was superb! The switch at the end from Emily singing to Harriet was a masterstroke.

The whole performance was polished (despite their rehearsal space burning down!) and as fun to watch as it clearly was to perform.  Sure, the sound mix could have been better to highlight those vocals but all five on stage gave their all to create a performance worthy of any big stage – promoters should take note of this band!

The encore came all too soon, and involved the whole audience standing for “Do You Wanna Go Out?  It was a perfect ending and the sheer joy on the faces of every band member’s face was evident throughout – especially Harriet’s smile!

Its been a while since I’ve seen Emily perform, and I was keen to find out what she had been up to, and if her university time had changed her. In conversation afterwards she told me

“I am more confident now, because I feel like the band has helped bring out the sound, it felt great to play up there live and it is so much fun to play with the guys”

Emily and the band haven’t been seen on the independent country festival circuit, but they have been playing big gigs such as Foodies festival – where they have opened for Blue and will next month be opening for Natalie Imbruglia in Oxford.

Coming out of university with a degree, increased confidence and a talented young band, the future looks bright for Emily.  With a pop country/rock crossover vibe (compared to Avril Lavigne and the Cranberries as well as Taylor) Emily wants to emulate other successful UK acts, mentioning Kezia Gill as a level to reach, with a desire to “make it” before she is 30. 

There is no reason why that won’t happen for Emily and the band.

 

Oh, and that degree from BIMM?  It was a first.  Congratulations Emily!



"What The Hell Have I Got Myself Into?" the new EP from Emily Lockett is available now. 

You can find and follow Emily on Facebook, Instagram and Spotify

 

 If you've enjoyed this review, please give us a follow on our Facebook page and on our Insta 


No comments:

Post a Comment