Sunday 23 August 2015

Silverchild @ The Sugarmill - Stoke

First of all I would just like to announce a huge apology to all the readers of my blog, who don't already have me on social media - for not posting a review last Sunday. However I was very ill and I constantly kept falling asleep, therefore I was incapable of writing a review for you. On the other hand my next review will be on Leon Bridges new album - 'Coming Home' as that is the album review that I was supposed to post last Sunday, on the 15th of August. If you would like to be updated on my blog, you can go and like my facebook page -

https://www.facebook.com/musicblog89

Furthermore, I attended a rock gig yesterday evening on the 22nd of August at The Sugarmill in Hanley. The band that I am going to review are a local band called 'Silverchild'. Silverchild are a five-piece heavy rock band from Stoke-On-Trent. The five-piece consists of; female vocalist - Lex Hiley, Vic Jepson guitar, Eddy Jam also on guitar, Max Ryles on the bass and Al Burne on the drums.

I entered the Sugarmill around 20:45; and it was jam-packed full of eager rockers with a pint in their hand, in all-black and band tees. The audience was not of a specific age range. I would say that the majority of the fans there, were in their late-teens or upwards. The venue was scorching hot, due to the rammed and excited crowd. I got there in time to listen to a few of their support bands, and every song from every band got my foot tapping - so that got me really impatient to see the headlining act, I was looking forward to it so much! Then Lex Hiley, the lead singer created audience interaction straight away by thanking the audience for being there. Their set list consisted of nine songs, of which I am going to discuss for you now.

Silverchild's opening song was called 'Red Desert'. The guitars introduced this song; followed by the drums, and the instruments created a really powerful rock intro. Every band member was in their own zone right from the start, which was amazing to see! As usually, many bands are a bit awkward on their first few songs and then they begin to get into it later on into their set. I was mesmorized by Hiley's beautiful blonde wild locks, it really added that extra little bit to their performance, with her whipping it back and fourth, around in circles etc... I knew I was at a rock gig anyway, put it that way. This was a very captivating opening song, and the guitar riffs were spot on. The drummer and lead guitarist really stood out to me within this performance.

Right at the end of 'Red Desert' all of the guitarists did a solo, which exposed how talented all of the guitarists are. Following the guitar solos, the drums shortly accompanied them as they flowed into their next song called - 'Little Minds'. I'm not one for lead female vocalists; because there isn't many of them around, but this song made me realise that it's great to finally see a female vocalist and a female on the guitar! Also I espeically like how Hiley has a little bit of a country twang to her voice. Their next song to follow their set list was called - 'You Use Me'. This song was a bit more heavier than their previous two songs. Their instrumentals worked perfectly within every song, and this song particularly exposed Hiley's vocal ability. The bassist also stood out within this performance too as he really let loose and is so talented. The whole band is just mesmorizing, every performer gives it 110% - as if their life depended on it. Then the drums closed off this song.

Their fourth track was the one that really began to make the audience cheer and move; their fourth track was called - 'Birds Of The City'. The lead vocalist; Lex Hiley, does not just connect with the audience she also interacts with her band members on stage which is always a great thing to see. 'Black Cat Man' was their fifth song of the evening and the verses were very short, therefore this song was mainly dominated by the other band members apart from the vocalist. I guess it was sort of a paradox, compared to their other songs that they performed. Their sixth track was called - 'Jukebox Junkie'. Due to the crippling warmth in the venue, the lead singer even had to remove her jacket. The guitars got the song going, then the guitarists were shortly accompanied by the drums; like many of their previous songs. However; this intro was heavier than some of their other songs, and the guitar riffs were positioned perfectly into this song again, like usual. Hiley thanked the audience again and promoted the supporting bands by thanking them too.

Their seventh song was my favourite. Their seventh song was called - 'Fire Bird Revver' and it was by far the best vocal performance of the night. Amazing melody accompanied by a fantastic vocal performance, what can't you like about that? Every band members stage presence was still incredibly strong even by this point, and I would just like to say how the last note of the song was hit perfectly. Their second to last song of the night was called - 'Ain't Doin It'. Vic Jepson and Al Burne had another strong performance, yet again. Silverchild needed to do a guitar swap for their last song, and instead of waiting in awkward silence - Hiley interacted with the audience yet again! Their final song of the evening was called - 'Pluto Pass'. Even more of the audience were bopping their head to this long track. I couldn't hear Vic singing the backing vocals; however it was explained online how the microphone wasn't on, which is clearly out of their control.

In conclusion this is definitely the best local band that I have ever seen. The effort was at a constant peak, and I never saw it dip once. Visually, their performance was flawless. Silverchild reminded me how much I used to love rock music, so thank you for that. I would recommend you see Silverchild any chance that you get, they were that exceptional. I wish them all the best of luck, because every single band member is an immensely talented individual and it is extremely rare to get that. So I would just like to say a big thank you to Silverchild for a mint night. My foot did not stop tapping. ROCK ON!!!






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