Dave Giles, Joe McCorriston and Carl North
September 9th, 2016
The Kings Arms, Salford, Manchester
For me a good night out at a concert is
always a must and tonight promised to be just that as Dave Giles announced he
would be playing an intimate show at the Kings Arms in Salford.
The Kings Arms is not a venue I had ever
been to before. It is an oddly shaped
pub on a corner plot, hidden two thirds of the way up Bloom Street, which is
off the beaten track and not a place you are likely to just stumble over. It has a lovely bar area down stairs and a
small theatre upstairs.
Tonight's gig
was in the theatre part of the building, which boasted a small tiered seating
area and an enormously high ceiling.
Kicking the night off was Carl North
although originally from Derby he now resides in Manchester. Like all of the acts tonight he was
performing solo but he had the job of warming up the crowd for the other two
performers.
As Carl took the stage I settled back to
casually listen to a few songs, but I wasn't prepared for what I was about to
hear because when he opened his mouth he blew me away! Carl is possibly one of the best blues
vocalists I have ever heard, and although I didn't know the songs as he sang
original material and a cover song that I wasn't familiar with, I
thoroughly enjoyed his set.
My only disappointment was that he didn't
have CD's for sale as I could have happily listened to him again.
Next up was Joe McCorriston from Morecambe.
Although I don't live too far from him and
tonight was his 500 show, he is not an artist that I had come across until
today but again I wasn't disappointed.
Joe has a fantastic voice and
quirky lyrics, but I have to admit that when he played 'Broken Yo-yo' I
was unable to take my eyes off his fingers as he demonstrated some amazing
guitar work during that piece. (It was almost as if he had grown extra
fingers!)
Luckily Joe did have CD's for sale after
the show and I went away with one knowing that I will probably be making a trip
to Morecambe when he next plays there.
Headlining tonight was Dave Giles, the
tall, barefoot, hat loving singer from Essex.
I've seen Dave a few times now and have always really enjoyed his
shows. Tonight was no different.
Just before his set started he set up his
phone so that he could live stream the set to his many followers and friends on
Facebook. (A week or so before the show Dave live streamed one f his rehearsals
and he was on air for two and a half hours)
Dave started the night with 'The Brew
Song', which is one of my favourites from his discography. He then went on to play pretty much every
song that was requested as well as many others
Dave managed to play all of my
favourites including 'Whisky and Wings',
'I am What I Am' and 'The Girl Who Said Yes'.
He also slipped in a great cover version of
Katy Perry's 'Roar'.
Dave has a great voice and his songs have
relatable lyrics. I know I have reviewed his sets a couple of times before on
my blog and I have always given him a good review as he is a great performer,
and as he proves at every show, he just gets better each time..
If you have never checked him out head over
to YouTube and check out 'Bangarang'.
This is always his finale song and my other favourite from his
collection. I guarantee you will fall in
love with this song (and probably Dave).
