Ks Choice Acoustic Night at Unit 51

So this was another new venue for us to see some amazing acoustic music but the first problem was going to be making sure we could navigate through the usual Friday rush hour mayhem to Liverpool from Sandbach. With this in mind I closed up early and we headed down the back lanes avoiding the gridlocked M6. We arrived at about 7pm and to be honest when we looked in through the panoramic windows at first we couldn't see an obvious way in. Not phased we approached the large wall of glass in front of us to be confronted by some strange new internal access apparatus. Conventional techniques were not going to work here we were going to need cunning and guile to gain access to the buildings innards, so we used all our years of entry experience to read the instructions and slide the doors open like a huge patio door. We were in (I know that was a bit over dramatic sometimes that's just where my weird head takes me!!). First impressions were that Unit 51 was a lovely space emitting a very chilled vibe, I liked it. The hope was that the acoustics would match up to the surroundings? Well the nice thing about arriving early is that we got to have a chat with one of the owners of Unit 51 and found out a bit about the creative area it's situated in . They really have created a great environment to chill out and listen to some live music. There were locally produced drinks and Lynn expressed her approval of the coffee (the amount of coffee shops she frequents I'd say she is something of a connoisseur). Once adorned with drinks we positioned ourselves close enough to the performing area to get a good view but not so close as to freak the artists out by looking up their noses ;]. Once we'd enjoyed the silent piece just called 'The Coat Stand' (only performed for early arrivals as once they were ready to get going properly Derek moved the Coat Stand out of the way) everyone was ready to enjoy some audible pleasure.

The Coat Stand in full flow

The evening was introduced by Derek King who started the musical ride with a couple of covers and an original and pleasingly he warmed the room up nicely and demonstrated the acoustics of the venue were going to be a perfect partner to the surroundings. After a short change around which was going to be the order of the night Billy Kelly was introduced. It's always great to see someone I've not seen before and Billy Kelly carried the evening on in fine style just confirming this was going to be one of those top nights full of acoustic quality. Following Billy Kelly was Jo Bywater... She's alright;] Who am I kidding Jo was one of the main reasons I was there and for the second time in a month she blew us away (for more superlatives of Jo Bywater's performing go check out my Chasing Tales EP launch blog). Once we'd all finished marvelling at Jo Bywater's slide playing it was time to drive a six inch nail through my foot because I was liable to knock the table over when Me and Deboe start playing. I should explain a little further, every time I hear Me and Deboe my leg starts tapping away like I'm thumper the rabbit(think I said this before in another blog but can't think of a better way to explain). Tonight was no exception they delivered again. The night was nearly at an end but not before a lively and charismatic performance by Shoes4Brakes (I like this name by the way seems like a biking ref to me? and I like bikes a lot), what's not to like they've got a cajon and great energy.

I'm sorry I've not been to be as detailed as normal in my musical description of the night but while all this wonderful music was going on we managed to have a chat with Me & Deboe which was cool and I also spent quite a bit of the night discussing guitars and grunge bands with Jo Bywater but don't shoot me I'm not a reviewer this is just a blog and the main thing from the evening was that we all had a great night.

Derek King put on a superb evening and I'm sure the K's Choice Acoustic evenings at Unit 51 are going to go from strength to strength. I know we really enjoyed all of the music and the atmosphere of the event, I can't recommend it enough. The fact that it is free is almost criminal. While people were out paying £30+ to see processed pop this amazing talent was available to see for free.

So if you've not guessed I totally recommend if you see any of these names around go and check them out. Big thanks to Derek King, Billy Kelly, Jo Bywater, Me and Deboe and Shoes4Brakes

Just a surreal note during the evening a Fox scuttled across the windows and then returned from it's night out in Liverpool a while later..... weird.

For all the info on K's Choice Acoustic events..
http://kschoiceacoustic.wordpress.com/

For Unit 51 check them out on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Unit51Coffee?directed_target_id=0

You can find Billy Kelly here...
http://www.reverbnation.com/billykellywwk
or here
https://soundcloud.com/billykellywwk

Everything Jo Bywater   including guitar tuition.....
http://www.jobywater.com/

For Me & Deboe (I actually know which one is Sarah Deboe and which is Mercy Elise now. Cheers Jo)
http://www.meanddeboe.com/

Everything Shoes4Brakes can be found on facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Shoes4Brakes?directed_target_id=0‎

 

To find out what the Fox says

http://youtu.be/jofNR_WkoCE