Jodie Nicholson @ Gulliver's, Manchester
Gulliver's bar in Manchester has always been a favourite of Mancunians; a nostalgic piece of Manc history with an acoustically sound venue upstairs. It allows for intimacy and that Northern rawness which I have grown up with. I find it one of the best places in Manchester to find new talent, a new voice.
First up was Flowers of Evil, a Manchester based band that merges electronica with percussion. Even though they were down a bassist, the two that were left followed through with their set in true musical persuasion. The lead singer, Oscar has a voice that is pure indie rock vibe, giving Alex Turner vibes (but humble). I much enjoyed their presence, bravado and musical compositions mixing and matching sounds with pizazz. They ended the set on their latest single 'summer of '69'; Psychedelic and sexy, please do give it a listen!
Ambiere was on next, lighting the stage with her fiery performance, focusing on elements of dance, grunge and pop all poured into a pot then layered with her ethereal vocals on top. Playing tracks such as 'Holy Faith' with Flowers of Evil as well as 'Whispers' which emphasises her vocal talents tremendously. She uses a great mixture of sounds and rhythm, I could really see her doing an appearance on a Garage track in the future.
I First came across Jodie Nicholson last year in a time where emotions were high, I was instantly taken aback by her voice (a breath of fresh air that I needed). It was 'Second Sun' which brought me close to tears, It perfectly captured what I then grew to knew as her first album Golden Hour. The album itself is both emotionally raw and yet delicately entwined with songs that layer sounds and timbre to create a quirky melancholy vibe to her music. I was excited to see her live. With this being said I am happy to say Jodie undoubtedly has pure talent, whether that's playing the keyboard or guitar, using her voice as her main instrument (no auto-tune needed).
A few of my favourites of the night also included 'In spring', which is an airy, delicate song which serves as a great entry for those new to her music. Juxtaposed to this is the track we had 'Move' which is more dance-y in comparison. The use of trance like lyrics coupled with a jovial tempo brought a more up-beat aura to the set which acted as a nice segue into the latter half. I have to say, Jodie's rendition of Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably Numb' was beautiful, making it more mysterious and earthy which I enjoyed. In addition to this, Jodie wears the stage well, engages with the audience with ease and performs like a true artist - her whole performance is art.
All in all the entire night was fun, well thought out and full of talent. From Flowers of Evil's dynamic set, Ambiere with her crowd pumping tunes to the spotlight on Jodie Nicholson. it flowed well and I would love to see them all again live.
You can listen to their music here on Spotify and please follow them on Instagram too:
SPOTIFY
Jodie Nicholson Spotify
Ambiere Spotify
Flowers of Evil Spotify
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