March’s first gig at the Ironworks was upstairs in room 2, in intimate surroundings with candles on round tables, a bit of an Ironworks trademark now. Support came in in the form of Graham Brown (following the late cancelation of Ben Montague), a local lad who played a well received set, if a little shyly. At times he was a little apologetic for the downbeat nature of some of his songs, but he had no need to. Sung with a youthful passion, Graeme was a great opener for the headline act and I wish him well at Live and Unsigned 2011. Find out more about Graham Brown
Leddra Chapman writes some great songs, but unfortunately for Leddra almost all of them are written when she is heartbroken, or if not Leddra, one of her friends in the case of “Story”. However, this is actually quite fortunate for us, as it helps Leddra produce some beautifully, witty numbers. Leddra sings with a smile on her face, clearly enjoys herself performing (and also enjoys having her name on a tour bus!). It was a credit to the audience who turned up to listen to Leddra, and Graeme too, that they did listen, and the bar fell silent during performances.
The only criticism that I would have had was the range of Leddra’s band. A lad stood on each side, one with a fiddle and one with an acoustic guitar. There was a great togetherness between them, but something felt missing, it just lacked that something. That something turned out to be a keyboard player without a keyboard. Leddra explained,prior to the last song, that the aforementioned Ben had apparently gone off with the keyboards at the end of the previous gig, leaving the unfortunate Ashley to sit at the back of the room, twiddling his thumbs.
Notwithstanding that matter which was out with her control, Leddra connected well with her audience, was down to earth and genuine, a name to look out for in the future and hopefully a return to Bella……if only we could have some tables and candles….
Thanks once again to Frankie Boy
