Showcase at Doctor Browns

Wednesday 30th July, 2008

Tonight we had a very special evening planned. Femme Fatale - a band from Stockton were at Doctor Browns to launch their new single - The Woah Song. Femme Fatale have been enjoying a lot of publicity over the last few months as the video for the Woah Song has been receiving airtime from Sky Channel 195. Released on Monday, the track has already been selling steadily on I Tunes and The Indie Store. Tonight marked the official launch and the first appearance at Doctor Browns for Femme Fatale. Support for Femme Fatale tonight came in the way of Blackwell - a local Rock Band who have been making waves locally with their range of rock covers. We were particularly excited to have Blackwell appear tonight, if the reputation these guys have already earned is anything to go by they are set to become the next big thing on the cover circuit in Middlesbrough.

Blackwell

When Blackwell take to the stage there is a very definate shift in the mood of the evening. These guys have a personality to them which comes through instantly. Made up of Josh Manyon - vocalist, Michael Grace - Lead Guitar, Jordan Cassy - Rhythm Guitar, Chris Dibbol - Bass Guitar and Chris Meek - Drums, the line up is fairly new as Blackwell as a band have seen a few changes along the way. Finally settled with a group that have the right dynamic Blackwell are set to hit the local circuit. So what can we say about these lads? First off it must be mentioned that Josh Manyon as lead vocalist was absolutely amazing. He has a voice which suits the genre of Rock / Blues, raunchy, raw and defined, with the personality to match it. He belted out the tunes with power and style. As a front man Josh is brilliant, you can't fail to get caught up in his performance. Gracey is a quality guitarist, very comfortable with the style of music and absolutely fantastic to watch. Again he performs as well as plays. No standing around playing along for this lad, he was out front with Josh the whole set! Brilliant! On Rhythm Guitar we have Jordan Cassy, often overlooked and outshadowed by the lead guitar the rhythm guitarist can be the unsung hero of any band. Jordan, however was definately not one to stand in the background, as a double act Jordan and Gracey were superb. Again another talented musician who put on a show which was memorable. Chris Dibbol - bass guitarist played to the same standard as the rest of the band. Good, solid bass and Chris made the songs his own, complimenting the guitars and playing in unison with the drums. Outstanding. Finally we come to Chris Meek on drums. No exception here to the rest of the band Chris is a first class drummer who has boundless energy and puts every ounce of it into his performance. The final element to a group of musicians collectively known as Blackwell.
If we have one critisism of this band it would be that they simply did not play long enough! By the end of the set Doctor Browns was bouncing and everybody in the house was shouting for more. Blackwell are definately a band to keep an eye out for, together as a unit they are outstanding both musically and in their performance. For a long time now we have noticed a definate gap in the music scene of a classic rock original band, whilst there are many fantastic cover bands around you can't help but wonder why none of them are writing their own material. Blackwell are in the process of doing just that and we can only say that if they do then these guys will be a band to be reckoned with! You can find out more about the Blackwell on their MySpace page.

Femme Fatale

Next tonight we had Femme Fatale who were all set to launch their single to a very full Doctor Browns. This band is made up of 3 young ladies - The Femmes, Emma Taylor - Vocals and Rhythm Guitar, Sara Brennan - Bass Guitar, Simone Silvistris - Synth and backing vocals and also one guy Martin Hall - The Fatale - on drums. They describe themselves as being dangerous and seductive with their music and persona and we would have to agree. Femme Fatale were ready to hit Doctor Browns with the best they had to offer and not one person was disappointed. Launching straight into the Woah Song the girls - and guy - blew the audience away with the whole performance. Emma is a fantastic vocalist she has a quality to her voice that sets her apart from many female singers. Powerful and profound she never missed a note all night. Often you hear singers trying to match their vocal range to a style of music which is not quite in their comfort zone, this cannot be said for Emma, her vocals are perfectly suited to the songs they have written and the performance by this lady overall was outstanding.
Sara Brennan - Bren - The bassist in the group was amazing. She was dressed to kill and it has to be said a killer on the bass. This lady knows how to rock, she was absolutely bursting with energy and enthusiasm and it has to be said one of the best bassists we have seen perform. Her stage presence is huge, throwing herself into the performance, she absolutely shone.

Simone Silvistris plays synth and does the backing vocals in the band. A relatively new addition to Femme Fatale, Sim fits in perfectly and adds another dimension to the performance. Her harmonies with Emma were superb and the synth added a defination to the songs they played. Finally we have Martin on drums. He can only be described as brilliant and definately provided the iron fist inside the velvet glove of the group.
Femme Fatale played a range of all original tracks and absolutely brought the house down. Already on the road to success this band has all the right ingredients to go far. They are currently playing all over the North East and further afield, check out the MySpace page for details of where they will be playing next near you. We will be having the Femmes back to Doctor Browns and also to The Alice very soon. We wish them every success and hope when they make their break into the music world we can say we had them play for us first!

Back to Showcase