Acoustic Sunday at Borders Bookstore

Sunday 8th June

Sunday saw the first of our Acoustic sets at Borders on Teesside Park. The Bookstore has kindly agreed to let us hold weekly events instore to promote our local talent!
We were delighted when Borders events manager Helen Regent gave us the go ahead allowing us to bring these acoustic acts instore weekly at Borders, we were also extremely pleased with the warm welcome we received from all of the staff! The store itself although an unlikely place to hold a music event was perfect for this kind of entertainment. The bands are situated in the alcove by the stairs leading up to the coffee shop and the whole affair was warm, welcoming and very intimate.

Our opening act was Such Great Heights, a powerpop/indie band from Middlesbrough. We have heard them play many times now but never in a totally acoustic setting so this one was going to be interesting! We were not disappointed, however, Such Great Heights played a fantastic set made up of all of their usual songs brought down a level or two to accomodate the setting. The track that stood out was Recovery Mode which really highlighted just how good this band is at what they do. Evelyn gave an outstanding performance to a very full Borders treating us all to her wonderful vocal range. Ingenious improvisation by drummer Alex must be mentioned. Utilising the back of a guitar he kept the beat perfectly throughout the set even though he admitted to having sore hands afterwards! Callum played bass to perfection, the rich tones giving an understated depth to the whole performance and Huddy and Dave on guitars completed the line up. These two have a dynamic between them that not only works in a live full on performance but also is ever present in a more low key setting which they proved on Sunday.

Such Great Heights ended their performance to a thunderous applause from the book browsers of Teesside with even a few shouts for more from them!
You can find out more about Such Great Heights by visiting their MySpace Page

Our second act of the day was This City Romance, one of the most exciting new bands to come from Middlesbrough these guys are becoming extremely sought after at the more high profile local venues.

Today we had three of the band instore to give us a sample of their fantastic original material. Dave Affleck - lead singer and songwriter of This City Romance put on a superb performance for everyone. He has a voice which is unique, powerful and very distinctive. Keir McGill co-songwriter and lead guitarist in the band played along perfectly with Dave, the quality of his guitar playing evident to all watching. Dave and Keir are not new to the acoustic scene. Prior to This City Romance forming, these two guys played as a duo at many venues in Teesside. Frank Todd completed the line up today with an outstanding performance on bass guitar proving that this guy is possibly one of the finest bassists in the area.

Again this band put on a wonderful set of acoustic numbers, mainly own material but also a couple of crowd pleasing covers such as Michelle by the Beatles, they were extremely well received and ended to a fantastic applause. This City Romance can be found at their website here.

We ended our first Acoustic Sunday at Borders with J B Butterfield.

       

J B is one of the finest acoustic acts in the area right now so were delighted when he agreed to appear at our first Borders event. He has toured up and down the country and also in the USA. An accomplished Singer/Songwriter, J B is now signed to Spook Records and his performance in Borders today highlighted the popularity of this performer. Playing a range of his own material J B was truly in his element in this kind of setting. A couple of much loved well known covers completed his set and ended our first Sunday perfectly. To find out more about   J B Butterfield and where he will be appearing please visit his Website.

All in all today went down as a great success, so much so that we will be continuing our Acoustic Sundays over the next few weeks in Borders. We have a range of some of the top local entertainers lined up to appear and will be reporting on NEL after each event.

Next week we have Joe Burge, a young entertainer from Middlesbrough on at 12.30. Shoebox, a popular Indie band from Middlesbrough on at 1.30 and Rough Justice a Classic Rock band again from Middlesbrough doing a long awaited set of covers from the likes of Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin!

Come along and support these local entertainers, browse through the vast range of books on offer in Borders and have a great day out!

For more information about Borders please visit their website Here.

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