Florence is coming...

March 12th, SECC, Glasgow - brace yourself. The first time I seen the mighty Florence and The Machine was at T in The Park 09'. Stumbling in the direction towards a different stage myself and a group of friends suddenly  realised that Florence Welch was about to make her debut at T' in a much smaller tent. The festival was coming to an end and we had to make the decision; whilst largely under the influence, which act we would chose to spend our closing night with. Thankfully, we sided with Florence...


The flaming red head demanded attention as she whirled up and down the stage as we stared on  in awe of this goddess. The music provided by 'The Machine' which accompanied Welch's earth shattering vocals, genuinely struck at the core of every individual. Since that evening I have waited patiently to witness this force of nature once again.


After the success of Florence's debut album 'Lungs' which gained massive success internationally, she has now returned with the number one follow up album 'Ceremonials'. To accompany the bands mammoth achievements, they have stepped up a gear in regards to touring. Leaving behind the o2 venues and ageing theatres up and down the country, Welch and her band are setting off on a full arena tour of the UK which includes Glasgow's SECC on March 12th. 

It is common opinion that once you have experienced a band on a smaller, intimate scale, when they eventually take on the larger venues the fail to maintain the same connection and atmosphere. I genuinely cannot imagine Florence Welch's atomic presence fading against the scale of a venue. However, we will have to wait and see. If you have any sense, get tickets for this event and sit back and enjoy an empowering female at the top of her game.

Catch Florence on tour here!

http://florenceandthemachine.net/news/tags/tour

'Another Love Party' - What Glasgow has been crying out for

Wandering down the stairs to Bar Maggie May's basement on a Thursday night and catching a glimpse of a sign saying 'Open Mic Night', my immediate thought was - sack this. However, being drawn in with the adjacent sign saying £1.50 pints and the thought of climbing back up the stairs, I decided to soldier on. And by God was I happy I did.

'Another Love Party'

My initial fears were correct. Although the cheap bevy was magic - the accompaniment of plookey 15 year olds battering out car crash renditions of 'Mr Brightside' only to be followed up by a morbid mid life crisis of a man roaring 'A Lilttle Old Wine Drinker' by Dean Martin (I didn't know it was possible to make that song sound even more suicidal, fair play to him), we were soon headed for the door. Then, the girls appeared.

..."Good evening Glasgow, we are Another Love Party, and we're going to sing you a few songs".

Even though our ears had already taking a beating for a long half hour, the mood immediate changed when these girls graced the stage, we some how knew we should hang on for one more.

Immediately captivating. A four piece of absolutely stunning girls got everyone's attention. Then the instrument's appeared - Bongos, two guitars, a keyboard and a violin. What on earth were these girls going to sound like? Sure I was willing to hang on just to hear the bongos and violin together, a sort of Bob Marley meets Beethoven was my initial hope.

...Perfection. The song choices; both written and covered, the look, the harmonies, the stage presence - these girls are on to a winner. The girls revealed they are all trained in musical theatre which explained their note perfect performances.

Dominating the banter in between songs was the lead singer Holly Jack (2nd from left), after only a few numbers she had the crowd eating out of her hands. Covering a version of Ida Maria's hit 'I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked', Jack grins and winks to the audience during the line - 'I won't mind, if you take off all your clothes, come on, take them off!". It would be a lie to say many of the audience weren't tempted.

I wish I could describe what these girls sounded like, but, I can't think of anyone to compare them to. which is surely a good thing. Go and see them for yourself and see if you can conjure up a comparison?  They are the genuine article and I can't wait to see where they head in the future.

Click here to keep up to date with the girls!

www.myspace.com/Anotherloveparty