gig reviews from July 2025

Good venue, good size. Intimate. Good crowd. I like it when the promoter for local acts introduces the bands and Snaz (afterlight management) did a good job of welcoming everyone and bigging up the acts. And the first thing I want to say is how impressed I always am with solo acts. It takes some courage to get up there. 

Olly Crozier was pleasant to listen to. Very nice voice, solid guitar playing. His delivery was in a deliberate half-mumbled fashion which was nice and lulled me in the way a semi-audible radio lulls me to sleep. I liked it. Although at times I did find myself trying to catch what he was singing but failing to. But overall a decent set.

Anna Carson came next with a softly-played guitar and a beautiful lilting voice. I’m always a sucker for a well-delivered female vocal and Anna’s voice has a lovely feel to it. I dislike making comparisons but she reminded me of the excellent Natalie Merchant at times. No harsh edges even at her loudest parts. I preferred her more ‘angry’ songs than her slower ones, but I’d certainly go see her perform again. Also I feel she has a lot more to give in terms of holding her notes longer. I think she could really impress if she mixed up her vocal style.

Judd Finn was the headline act. He wasn’t my cup of tea, but he is certainly very talented both with his voice and his guitar playing. He is super-confident and engaged so well with the crowd. Acts asking the crowd to participate usually feels so forced and cringe-worthy to me, but he got the audience joining in thanks to his enthusiasm, charisma and catchy chorus on ‘Says A Lot About It’. He switched between singing and a sort of singing/rapping style with a kind of acid jazz guitar rhythm. In my humble opinion you have to stand out from the crowd if you want to get anywhere and Jude’s act is certainly different to the majority of solo singer/guitarists.

Overall a very pleasant evening enjoyed – I think - by everyone.