A review of The Ironworks Summer Showcase number 1 on the 4th of July, 2012.
Summer was welcomed in spectacular style at the Ironworks first Summer Showcase with Dylan Tierney, Searching for Donkeys and Ashley and the Cosmonauts all taking to the stage.
The crowd slowly gathered in the room and there was a buzz of excitement in the air for the evening. First on stage was Dylan Tierney, armed only with his acoustic guitar, brilliantly distinctive vocals and endearing lyrics.
From the very start of his set he grabbed everyone’s attention and I didn’t want to stop listening for anything in this world. He played very strong set which fitted well into the folk/acoustic genre that is currently taking the industry by storm – yet he has something truly unique.
At times it was hard to remember that he is still so young as his lyrics discussed topics you’d expect from someone much older. He displayed how incredibly strong he is as he dedicated “Do You Ever” to his Mother who sadly passed away – it was such an incredibly moving moment, so much so it reduced me to tears.
I could happily have watched him play for the rest of the evening – this seemed to be the general consensus of those around me. He has an incredible talent and already sounds at a professional level. Other highlights of his set included: “Lying Here With You”, “Locked Up” and “Shine A Light” which worked beautifully with the light show in the background.
Searching For Donkeys then came along to shake things up and change the mood entirely. They’ve been described as being “melodic, indie listening with a dirty twang edge” – basically, this breaks down into a mixture of electric and acoustic guitars blending together to create some truly classic sounding indie tunes.
They played a set of catchy, feel good tunes that lifted the mood on the evening and earned a very warm reception from the growing number of people gathered to see them. Halfway through their set lead singer declared: “I probably should have said earlier, we’re Searching For Donkeys”, which invited a few smirks from the crowd as they thought about the wordplay on this.
Their set worked perfectly as a middle ground as they provided a mixture of the acoustic and feel good atmosphere we were to experience next. You can read more about the band with our recent interview with Searching for Donkeys.
No strangers to the Showcase format, Ashley and the Cosmonauts were the final band of the night. As soon as Ashley walked on the stage all eyes were on them, as a rather spectacular double bass was brought on. This isn’t a common sight these days, but it was at this point I knew we were going to witness something special.
With a five strong line-up the band all displayed their talents throughout the set of classic Fleetwood Mac-esque songs. Lead singer, Ashley Mackay, proved time and time again why she’s in that position as she has one of the strongest natural voices I’ve heard in a long time.
Their set included many of their own songs, such as “I Asked You” and “Behind These Eyes” as well as covers of Faithless and Josh Rice. They’re creating music that they clearly enjoy and appeals across all ages. “Castles” was chosen as the final song of the night, it fitted perfectly as it has a fun edge to it leaving everyone with smiles on their faces.
The standard of talent at the first Summer Showcase will take a lot to beat, but as we have another eight weeks ahead I have no doubt there will be some more gems appearing. The showcases are happening every Thursday until the 29th of August, so be sure to head along to catch some of the finest local talent.
Check out our coverage of the Summer Showcases.
Photos by Roddy Mackenzie
See our other photos of the evening below:
