CLEAN BANDIT

Hello! There has been a series  of unfortunate events... I was  only planning to stay away from blogging for a week but my laptop has decided that browsers apparently aren't a thing, meaning that I haven't been able to properly blog so I'm coming to you from my Kindle. Does anyone else really hate all of the blogger apps?... 

I saw Clean Bandit on Tuesday nightand thought I would share with you all my thoughts (clue: they didn't disappoint!)

First and foremost, the venue was great. It was held at the De la Warr Pavillion which is fairly small making it great for an intimate evening. We were about three rows back and to the right of the stage which still left us being able to see perfectly. 

The support act was Colour the Atlas which consisted of 3 boys on all of the instruments, one of which also sang and a girl who was playing the keyboard and the main vocals. You may have heard them on radio 1 recent just if you're a big fan of their introducing bands. They went really great with the act to follow although they were all very slow sings whereas I would  have liked to seen someone with a bit more  energy and movement. They have a lot of stuff on YouTube and iTunes so go check them out!

Clean Bandit started of with A and E, a personal favourite of mine. Florence Rawlings and Elisabeth Troy are the vocalists on their current tour who I have seen do live lounges with them in the past on radio 1 and I think that they know the group so well. The dynamics between Clean Bandit and their vocalists are really great and it adds to the enjoyment of watching them perform. 

I found it really amazing that they were on stage playing electric cellos and violins and there were teenagers (and adults) all dancing to it, enjoying it and singing along to every word. If you are not familiar with Clean Bandit's music the band does all of the music with violins, keyboards and add vocalists on the top like Jess Glyne in Rather Be and Real Love. They had a special guest join them in the stage which was Sharna Bass from a more recent song Extraordinary. Again, she gelled with the band seamlessly and was a pleasure to watch. 

My personal favourite part of the show was the last two songs. They sang a cover of You Got To Show Me live which was a lovely surprise and they still put their own Clean Bandit twist on it. They finished up with Rather Be which the whole audience was singing along with and you could hear that everyone was enjoying themselves. 

I had an amazing evening and they're just as good live, if not better which I love from an artist. Go see Clean Bandit live if you get the chance, especially if it's in a small, intimate venue! 

Hopefully I will get to sort out my laptop soon so I can start blogging properly again but I will try my best from my Kindle!

Lots of love, Hannah xxx

Dan Croll @ Scala

Hello! Call me a gig-goer, but I've been at it again this week. This time I was near Kings Cross Station in Scala, a teeny tiny venue holding about 900 people watching Dan Croll. Dan Croll has been played a lot on the radio recently after the release of From Nowhere but I was introduced to him about 6 months ago and a friend and I were unable to pass up the opportunity to see him.

I thought that Dan's first support act Jack Garratt was amazing. His voice and the way his music was put together was creative and something I hadn't seen someone do live and so simply perhaps ever. He also made me actually laugh with some of his comments between songs and his friends were clearly very supportive of his music. We the Wild was the second support act and while I thought they were good, they didn't interact with the audience at all apart from introducing themselves and saying goodbye which I thought was disappointing, especially as the size of the audience allowed both other acts to interact so closely. They reminded me a lot of You Me At Six vocals and sounded really good, I just wish they spoke a little more to us all! Despite this, I thought that both acts complimented what was to come (*tries to think of Compliment Your Soul joke*) and I am really excited to see what happens in Jack Garratt's future. 

The size of the venue did not dampen my experience, I actually loved how intimate the event was, especially as the crowd was able to sing along to Dan's songs and you could still hear him which is something that often irritates me in large venues. We were pretty close to the stage in only the second row so I did not have to stand on tip toes (bonus!!) which was a nice change. Something I particularly enjoyed about the closeness of it all was that everyone was singing along to Home and Compliment Your Soul and he looked incredibly pleased that there was a room of people singing his words back to him all at once.

'My first ticket touts... Does that mean... Does that mean I've made it?'

When Dan spoke to the crowd he made me smile because he seemed so happy that he was able to perform to people on his own tour. He performed a majority of songs from his new album, Sweet Disarray as well as some of the first songs he released which are the ones I knew the best. I was so impressed with his new album and I could easily see him every night. It was one of those concerts where at the end, I really didn't want to leave and I could have stood there for a couple more hours with him singing. I think I speak for both myself and Tom when I say it was an amazing evening in a lovely venue that I will definitely keep an eye out for in the future!

Have you seen Dan on his most recent tour? Or been to Scala before?