Monday Motivation

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#WorkInSilenceThenShowTheWorldLater #GotMyTicketDontKnowBoutYou

Love Sara

KINatural at the Bull's Head Friday Night!!!

If you're in Birmingham this Friday night, get yourself down to The Bulls Head in Moseley Village and support the amazing KINatural!!





The Duo will be preforming tracks from their amazing new EP P.A.I.N including their track current track 'Danger'.  





See you there my loves! 

Stockholm Weekend

Hey Lovers!!

Last weekend my bestie and I decided to get away from the UK and its bad weather and experience a new part of Europe, but I was pretty pissed when we landed back in the UK to discover that it was and had been warmer here the whole weekend than in our chosen destination. Gutted!

 

So where did we go? Stockholm, Sweden, where the people are tall, gorgeous and life is like a never ending catwalk show!

So what was it like? Clean, stylish, calm and nowhere near as expensive as people made out it would be. Before we left people kept telling us to brace ourselves because it was going to be hella expensive, but in all honesty, financially it just felt like a weekend in London (she says without checking out her bank statement).

 

So what did we do? Landed on the Friday (into the cheaper airport with the shortest runway I have ever landed on in my life) only for our bus that was to transport us into the city to breakdown! Typical! Once the bus got going again we finally made it into Stockholm late afternoon and met up with my besties amiga who was our host for the weekend and went for something to eat at Vapiano in GamlaStan and had a great girly chat!

Later that night we met up with my amiga who has been living in Stockholm for 4 months now but it honestly felt like she had lived there her whole life! We went out for some dessert and then to dance the night away at the Hotspot Fasching until 5 in the morning! It’s been a while and half since I’ve had a night like that but with a DJ that drops a few Prince tunes into his set, how oh how could I ever resist!

 

On the Saturday we slept way longer than we’d intended but eventually found our way out and about exploring Stokholm City by day and by night ended up in a random Thai bar compliment of Swedens Thai wives.

On the Sunday morning we visited Tenstakonsthall an Art gallery in a neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city which my friend liked to refer to as the Ghetto, well if that was their Ghetto it was the cleanest Ghetto I have seen in my life.
In the afternoon we took a boat from the city centre that stopped at a bunch of little islands and hopped off at the last stopped and walked around a town with some very beautiful Scandinavian looking homes. By night we went to eat at a North African Restaurant called Habibi’s which sadly was closed so if you ever go you’ll have to tell me how it was. Instead we went to a Turkish Restaurant across the street Aya Sofya which was quite nice.

On Monday which was our last day we started out with a walk in the woods and Tea and cake at a Castle tea house. Then we met up with my friend for a lunch after visiting the InternationalLibrary which I have to say was such a nice place for a book worm like moi to sit for a while. We ate lunch at an enchanting little café nearby that had every kind of fresh tea imaginable but unfortunately we were cutting it fine and had to rush off to get out flight home, but I we did manage to squeeze in an apple tea.

 

Overall Stockholm is a great place if you love fashion and you love to socialise in cafes by day and restaurants and bars by night. But if you’re the type of person who loves a city with a bit of edge or rebellion of some sort then Stockholm probably isn’t for you. As much as their architecture was easy on the eye, it was also lacking in uniqueness, as for me there was nothing strikingly beautiful about the buildings there that intrigued me in the slightest I'm afraid. But that’s not to say it’s not a great place to visit because I had a fab time, however had me or my friend not known people that live there we definitely would have had a completely different experience to the one we had. Either way we had a great time as we had great company. Would I go again? Despite no being completely wowed... Yes I’ll probably go later this year to visit my friend again as it is the perfect place to hang out and catch up due to it’s calm and socialising culture.

 

Have you been to Stockholm? What did you think?

*Images are a combination of my own and sourced from Google

                                          

Interview with JP Cooper

The first time I heard JP Cooper I was immediately blown away by his talent , but when I had the opportunity to meet him at the last Soul Live Birmingham I was in no way at all prepared for the pure level of humility of Mr Copper or his enthusiasm, love, understanding and passion for honest music. He is hands down the most intriguingly humblest man I think that I have ever met.

For a man with a rare yet powerful Soul, it’s hard to believe that his musical beginnings started in Rock bands which he said helped to mould his sound and voice that has taken him 10 years to find.

Emerging from a “very white working class” background in Manchester it was through Coopers exploration of Gospel music and being a fan of Soul that he was able to find this voice that I just can’t get enough of.

With Musical Influences like Donnie Hathaway, Bill Rivers and the legendary Stevie Wonder, Cooper is definitely a man who is serious about real music. So to find out why Mr Copper is officially my first music obsession of 2013 keep reading and I’m sure by the end of the interview you'll be obsessed too.

For those that aren’t familiar with your music, how would you describe your sound.

Wow, you know what I really don’t know. In what I do I try to be honest, try to keep things simple, I try to reveal as much as I can and I try and strip it down to the bones and as far as the sound goes… I don’t know, because it isn’t soul, it isn’t folk, it’s number of things.

What sets you apart from the other soul artist out there today?
It’s probably is because I came from such a different background, and I mean here tonight I feel blessed to have been invited into this kind of event, to be accepted. I mean its Soulive, so for someone to say I feel your soul when you sing, that’s what it’s all about.

So how would you explain your background?
I grew up in a very white working class area, so I was more exposed to indie music. I live in Manchester, so the whole Manchester thing was going on and everybody was in Indi Bands, that’s maybe why it took me so long to get into soul music because there weren’t many people sharing that. Luckily over the years I’ve found Gospel Choir, I’ve found other musicians and I’ve learnt a lot, whereas I used to hide behind my long hair and loud guitars.

Considering you started out in Rock, is this something that you still delve into or are you solely Soul Music?
I don’t know if I would go back into that, I probably wouldn’t because I’ve always wanted to do something acoustic, something soulful, I think it was just finding the confidence to bare that and it took me ten years to focus on what I had that was special and individual, so I feel like I’m just scratching the surface now.

 

Who or what inspires you lyrically?
I don’t really know if there’s been any people that have influenced me to write. Most of the things are just everyday emotions, things that I’ve been nostalgic about, things that have moved me in a good way, things that have moved me in a confused way. A lot of the time when I’m writing I’m figuring things out, so half the time I don’t know what the songs about when I’m writing it and then when I finish sometimes it’s a year later that it says something to me and that’s what’s beautiful about it. I do really try and keep it simple and I do want to be able to speak to everybody, I don’t just want to just be able to speak to intellectual people, I want to keep it simple because I’m a simple guy.

 

Keeping with the theme of inspiration and lyrics, ‘Oh the Water’ is one of my favourite songs. What inspired such a powerful song?
I think that when I wrote that song I was trying to speak to a part of myself that tells me that I can’t do something. I have massive doubt issues with myself, I’m kind of working them out. It’s about dealing with self-doubt and not sweeping it under the rug, it’s about facing it and dealing with it and helping a part of yourself that is being beat on. So that’s what that songs about, and it’s another one that spoke to me.

If there is anyone that you could work with dead or alive, who would it be?
There are people that I would love to meet, but I would love to meet and learn from. I’m a huge Donnie Hathaway fan and I got to support his daughter Lalah Hathaway.
Stevie wonder, what a man, what a legacy. It would be great to sit down with Bill Rivers just because he seems like such a great down to earth kind of guy and I don’t know how he’s managed to keep that, that’s a really big aspiration to have.

So there you have it ladies and gents, a little insight in to who this magnificent artist is and where he came from! I definitely recommend you keep a close eye on him and if JP is coming to a town near you, not going to see him live is not an option! But for the time being check out the video below of JP performing ‘Oh the Water’ Live at Soulive back in February, and if you look closely enough you’ll see a little shortie in the front row who looks like she’s in pure heaven … yep that little shortie is moi and if heaven feels anything like I felt during that moment then boy, I better be on my best behaviour!

 

To see more quality Artist’s like JP get yourself down to the Rainbow Warehouse, Digbeth Birmingham on May 11th for round 3 of Soulive! I for one canny wait!!

See you there music lovers. xx

*Images sourced from Google

I Luv Live Birmingham

This Wednesday if live music is your thing and you are looking for somewhere to celebrate the mid week, I Luv Live Birmingham at Oh Velvet Bar on Broad Street in Birmingham city centre is the place for you. 

Image sourced from Google

This month I Luv Live Birmingham is bringing forward an great line up of talent.
The night is set to be an entertaining one with the likes of London rapper Shystie, Bobii Lewis and Birminghams own Allysa Rochelle, Safone and more.

So if you're in Birmingham on Wednesday April 24th at from 7.30pm, get yourself and some mates down to Oh Velvet Bar for a night of live music.

Love Sara. xxx

Top Secret Live Music Adventures

On Friday night my friend and I braved the cold weather and headed out for the night on a little adventure. My friend had signed up to Sofar Sounds (Which I had never heard of) and discovered that an event was taking place that night in Birmingham. For those that aren’t familiar with Sofar Sounds, it’s this amazing, fun and exciting movement for real music lovers that takes place in living rooms all over the world. It’s like a top secret operation, you sign up to the mailing list and when a gig pops up that you want to go to you confirm your attendance and then the day before the event you are told the address, but not the names of the performers, as they remain top secret until minutes before their they perform on the night.

This was my first Sofar Sound experience and it was pretty cool, I had no idea what to expect but i thought it was really amazing how music brought so many people together. However as a lady who doesn’t stick to one style of anything I can see how if you are not an open minded person when it comes to music, culture or art this may not be your kind of thing, as you have absolutely no way of knowing who the acts are for the night or what the genre of music will be, so what you get just may not be suited to your musical taste. But if you are open minded, happy to go with the flow and love to hear new music from new or underground artists in very intimate and personal surroundings, I would definitely say to sign up to their mailing list and give it a go.

You’ll meet some really cool people who do some really amazing things, my friend ended up talking to a musician who had spent some of his years touring with TheRolling Stones and I ended up being completely wowed by the hosts of the night Cannon Street, two sisters with beautiful musical talent (who also performed) and their parents who were gracious enough to open their home to a bunch of random music lovers for the night.

I will be traveling later this year in the three different parts of the USA and there is one State in particular in which I am dying to experience some live music, and that is down in Mississippi down in New Orleans! So I will be keeping a close eye on Sofar Sounds gigs because I think this would be the ultimate place to attend a Sofar night. But if Sofar doesn’t happen to have anything in that neck of the woods come July, I’m more than happy to soak up the music it the infamous bars of New Orleans with great company, amazing food and life changing events that will become life long memories. And besides, there are plenty other cities all over the world waiting for music lovers to attend their Sofar Sound nights hosted by some of their most generous citizens.

Love Sara (A little lady who loves live music). xxx

 

 

A Soulful Night to Remember

A few years ago I hung up my raving heels and opted for alternative ways to spend my late nights and early mornings. It’s not to say that I don’t like to have a great night out on the town every now and then, but just not every Saturday like I used to.

I have always loved live music, but ever since raving became a bore to me I’ve begun to enjoy it even more. So back in the summer of last year when my bestie told me that there was this amazing live music night that was coming to Birmingham called Soulive, naturally I was all over it.

Not really knowing what to expect we rocked up to the Rainbow Warehouse on a warm summers evening to experience what was I kid you not, one of the best nights we’ve ever had! The selection of artists was top quality and the crowd were there for one thing only, and that was for the love of real music.  So when I found out that Soulive Birmingham was ready for round 2, I accepted my Facebook invite before it was even sent out!

Due to such a huge success the first time, it seemed that word of mouth spread like wildfire because this time the event had been moved to the larger room at the same venue which they had no trouble filling at all.

The artists on the night were just as incredible as the artists from the previous event. The DJ of the night was Mike Bigz , who was more than on point mixing old school hip hop, Soul and R&B with the new school, keeping the vibe alive in between performances and at the end of the night for the dance floor skankers like moi.

First artist of the night was the Manchester cutie Daniel Walker who set the night off right with a few loves songs. This was the first time I had heard of Daniel and I was pretty impressed by his performance.

If you were a fan of Usher in his days of Confessions (specifically the loves songs) then I think you should give Mr Walker a listen. He definitely has talent and I think he’s just getting started so watch this space.

Next up was Lumi HD from Birmingham. I’m still baffled as to how I live in Birmingham and have never come across this gem star before?

Lumi’s performance had a great and infectious energy and she was having an absolute blast on stage with her band. Lumi  also had a great confidence about her that I always love to see in artists, she seemed to have a sense of spiritual and creative freedom which I find that not enough artists these days dare to have.

If you like artist like India Arie and Lauryn Hill who sing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, then I’m pretty sure you'll love this lady. Check out some of her stuff on YouTube and SoundCloud.

Marie Dahlstrom the Scandinavian Soul singer kicked off the next performance with a cover of one of my artist to watch of the moment Miss Jhene Aiko’s ‘Higher’, which I can say definitely set Marie off to a great start with the crowd.

When Marie entered the stage she apologised as she and her too cool for school band missed sound check as they had to come from London, but after the fastest sound check I’d ever heard they still did an amazing job.

Marie has such a powerful voice but if I am to be honest I feel like she has so much more to give, she’s like a little Lioness waiting to roar and I think that when she eventually roars, my oh my she will roar big! But that’s no discredit to her performance at all as Dahlstrom and her band did a great performance and her sax player even had two lovely ladies behind me all weak in the knees which was quite amusing.

But if you like soul with a funk and jazz edge, I would  definitely recommend little Miss Marie Dahlstrom. You can check her out on YouTube and SoundCloud.

Next we had our very own Birmingham artist who is doing incredibly well right now, Mr Jacob Banks. If you like your soul timeless and deep noted then this is your dude.

Jacob gave his hometown a performance to be proud of with an Acoustic set with a mixture of his own songs and a nice little medley that had all the ladies on a ‘I’m in the mood for a real mans’ love’ kinda grove.

I managed to catch up with Mr Banks before his performance for a little chat about what’s he’s been up to, his success this far and what the world can expect from him for 2013 and thereafter, so watch this space.But in the meantime you can check out the man of the moment on his YouTube Channel Jacob Banks, or on SoundCloud. 

After a Jacob we had another B-Town artist, Monique Thomas. When this lady entered the stage with her full band and three backing singers, we knew this pretty lady meant business. Starting her set with a little sump’n sump’n up tempo and uplifting, Miss Thomas and her band definitely had the Rainbow Warehouse feeling that we had all paid money for an arena show because they really went in.

I have to say that my favourite part of Monique’s set was her spine tingling love song medley.
Now if there is one thing that you should know about me is that I love Bob Marley, so when she started off with the most beautiful rendition of Mr Marley’s ‘Is This Love’ that I have ever heard I thought I had died and gone to heaven. It honestly filled me with so much excitement, amazement, happiness and joy all at once that I literally didn’t even know what to do with myself. The harmonies that were coming from her backing vocalists were just too much to handle for a sucker for love like moi.

If you love a good love song and up lifting music then Monique is your gal. You can check her out here on YouTube and Sound Cloud.

The final artist performance of the night came from yet another lovely Northerner who judging by the round of applause he receive when entering the stage, was the artist the almost everyone had come out to see.

JP Cooper is a name that you definitely do not need to sleep on… AT ALL!

Before the event I did a little background research on some of the artist that were performing on the night, and I have to say that I as soon as I saw JP’s YouTube video for his song ‘Oh The Water’ I was floored, so you can only imagine how I felt when I was able to see him perform it live.

Cooper started his set with his song ‘Oh Brother’ and within seconds I had Goosebumps.

It has been a long time since I’ve been blown away by an artist to the point where there are actually no word to express how amazingly talented they are.  At one point after finishing a song the whole room cheered and then fell into a silence as though we were all too scared to breathe, move or blink in case we missed a beat! I don’t think any of us actually realised how silent we were until JP told us how moved he was by everyone’s silence. Now I have been to my fair share of concerts and gigs, but as far as I can remember I have never witnessed an artist silence a crowd the way that Mr Cooper Silenced us.

I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing JP before his performance and I kid you not, he was the humblest man I have ever met who was just happy to be able to share his music with whoever cared to listen. So if you want to know more about the dude with the midas voice, who is also the biggest slice of humble pie you may come across this decade, watch this space, but in the meantime check out Mr Cooper on his YouTube channel.

So overall, I think it’s fair to say that Soulive have done it yet again. They seem to consistently dig deep to bring forward the finest selection of real, top quality underground soul artists, making their events nights to remember, and I for one cannot wait for round Three!

Till next time amigos.

A huge thanks for Andrea Thomas Mike Bigz and the rest of the Grey Cotton and Soulive team for bringing such an amazing event to Birmingham, it has been long overdue.

Love Sara (A Little lady in love with REAL music)

SOULIVE! Bringing Some Soul to Birmingham City

If you Love real live music the Friday 1^st February 2013 is a date that you need to put in your dairy!

 

Soulive is coming back to Birmingham City, UK for its second instalment of another huge night of quality live music from some of the UK’s most talented artists who are definitely bringing real music back and putting some Soul into it while they’re at it.

On the Night Birmingham’s own Jacob Banks will be performing, as well as, Monique Thomas, JP Cooper, Marie Dahlstorm and more!!

To find more click here to visit the Soulive Birmingham Facebook event page.

See you there Lovers

I Luv Live Birmingham

Birmingham can be somewhat of a bitter sweet city for some. Having lived here my whole life bar the odd few months here and there, it’s a city that you can easily grow tired for the simple reason that it’s small, there are no night busses and depending on what you’re into once you’ve been in one crowd you’ve pretty much been in them all.

So when I heard that I Luv Love was coming to Birmingham without a second thought I knew I’d be going but rolled my eyes at the thought of the Birmingham crowd.

Not that I’m trying to slag off my hometown or anything, but again depending on what music you’re into because I can’t speak for all genres, Birmingham can be a hard ass crowd to crack, I don’t know why but we/they just are.

On the night of the event I expected to see so many people that I knew but to my surprise I didn’t. It was a crowd of music lovers who were there for the talent leaving no room for negative vibes.

The talent selection was pure quality and the events team did a fantastic job, everything ran smoothly and with the right amount of everything. Hosted by Capital fm’s Sacha Brooks with DJ Triple SSS on the decks there was no pro-longed waiting around, the tech team were sharp and on point and the venue had a great ambience.  

I arrived just in time to see one of my favourite Brum town Hip Hop artists RTKAL take the stage with Metamore and MadFlow. As always RTKALS performance was full of energy good vibes.

It had been a while since I had seen RTKAL and Meta on stage together, but it was obvious that the magic between them is still there.

Performing his new track ‘My BeatBangs’ RT and his band went in creating and infectious energy throughout the crowd flying the flag for real Birmingham talent.

 

 

 

Next up was Arlissa, on our way into the venue two of my friends were asking who Arlissa was. I innocently said “is she that chick that has the song out with Nas” and they laughed, yes they laughed at me and said “No Sara”, so I was like.. ok maybe it’s not her then, but before performing her last track of her set she introduced the song and said “this is a song that I did with Nas, called ‘Hard to LoveSomebody’” (who’s laughing now ladies).

Arlissa’s sound was not what I expected at all, it was quite folky which is really an alternative sound to what this Brum crowd are used to, specifically at those type of events and it seemed that Arlissa had been give the 411 on the Birmingham crowd as she practically asked us to go easy on her, but to her surprise she got a great reception from the crowd, but why wouldn’t she? She has an amazing voice and unique sound and seemed like a total sweetie. Her performance was a great introduction to her sound and I am intrigued to hear more.

As Sacha Brooks likes to call them “Birmingham’s Answer to K-ci and Jojo” DT and Candy took the stage and reminded me of why I fell in love with them some years back. The Brothers have been singing on and off for a good couple years and have done more than a few rounds on the Birmingham scene. Their voices are BEAUUUUUTIFUL but yet I and so many others can’t help but wonder why they haven’t been snapped up yet? Seriously, they open their mouths and it’s like been thrown back into the 90’s where REAL R&B lived.

Growing up I was a massive Usher fan, yep it was serious, I used to carry a picture of him in my purse and everything… probably because I had nothing else to put in there as I was like 10 or 11 years old. So when DT and Candy performed a cover of Usher’s ‘Superstar’ I was in heaven, these boys really know how to compliment each other vocally.

Although I was a bit sceptical about seeing the boys perform as I’ve been frustrated with them in the past for not excelling, I was glad that I held my spot front and centre and I only hope that this time round this is it for the brothers and they make their mark on the UK music scene.

The line up finale of tshe night was Roxxxan, the cheeky pint sized Grime artist from Birmingham.

                         

Bursting with energy and ready to perform, the slot that had been given to the artist clearly just was not enough as she was ready to go hard all night for her city and her Back Pack Gang. 

Kicking off with 'Too F%@**?!Facety' Roxxxan constantly gave much love, gratitude and respect to B-Town and her fellow artists, giving the intimate crowd a homecoming show and a snippet of exactly why she got singed and is moving on to big things whilst proudly waving the flag for her home town.

 

Before the night came to an end there was the open Mic competition which had some pretty interesting competitors. There was the usual who by now I would’ve thought had realised that singing or rapping is just not their calling in life, but no they’re still on dis ting…….haaarrrrdddd mate! (Too hard if you ask me). But then we were blessed with some fresh faces, familiar faces and talented faces which made standing at the front a lot easier as I didn’t have to endure those awkward moments when you feel embarrassed for the person on stage and have nowhere else to look but at them … on stage.

After a long list of competitors it came down to two, my mate Allysa Rochelle,  Oi Oi!!! and Bee Nice. Us ladies screamed with all our might for Allysa to win but our delicate feminine voices were drowned by the deep masculine chants for Bee Nice that sounded like they came from the base of their souls from the days of Saprtacus. Que pena.  

 

Overall I Luv Live was a great way to spend and Wednesday night and I am definitely looking forward to seeing what the event has to offer next month.

Love Sara (A little lady who really and actually loves Live Music!). Mwah. xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allysa Rochelle Performing at The Bulls Head 14th December

On Friday 14^th December one of my best homies Allysa Rochelle will be doing an awesome gig at The Bulls Head pub in Moseley Village, Birmingham. So if you are a fan of real music, live music and alternative music with a soulful twist then get your cute backsides to the Bulls head for what will be a great night!

I promise, you won’t be disappointed! And I’m not just saying that because she is my best mate, the girl can actually sing!! If you don’t believe me come find out for yourself!

Find out more about Allysa Rochelle on her Facebook page , Twitter, YouTube and Sound Cloud.

See you there maties. xxx

 

1Xtra Live Birmingham

Last night my home gurl and I joined over 2000 people in a ridiculously long ass queue on a seriously cold ass night for the Birmingham leg of the 1Xtra Live  tour 2012.

Image sourged from Google

After being stuck in abnormal traffic, breaking red lights and taking every back route in Birmingham city centre we finally managed to get to the The Ballroom Birmingham for the show in one piece only to have been told to stand in the wrong queue and then re-queue for another half hour or more to collect our bloody tickets! But who was counting time one such a cold and bitter winter night?

Once we got inside the venue we headed straight for the stage front area and as a 5”1 person I would like to suggest that we small people get a movement going that forbids tall suckers from standing anywhere near the front of even the middle of a crowd at a concert, because what happens is when you’re my size or even smaller you spend most of the night being able to see jack shit!

The crowd was a great mix of people and I have to say that it was refreshing to go out to such a huge event in my home town and not see a soul that I know! There is just something that I love about meeting new people. But don’t get me wrong there were a good few moody bitches that clearly did not understand the ‘You Move You Lose’ gig rule. If you choose to leave your spot for whatever reason, please do not return to that spot with a pissy attitude because it is no longer vacant! And also if you can’t stand people bumping into you at gigs because they are dancing and having a great time… know that you’re boring arse can always stay at home.

The show was hosted by 1Xtras’very own Twin B and Mista Jam and was broadcast to a live national and international audience. In between acts DJ’s got the crowd going although I do have to say that the sound was very poor as we could all hear each other’s conversations which is never a good sign, like my friend said “I need to feel the base through my body and my ribs man!” I’ve gotta love a base line junkie, because a good bit of base can make everything better.

 Miguel opened the show which a great and energetic performance performing only a few songs but really won the crowd over or should I say the ladies with his hits ‘All I want Is You’ and my favourite track of the moment ‘Adorn’. I would’ve liked to have seen more of Miguel but it was a nice little taster of what his own live show would be like.

Image sourced from Google

Second onstage were the cute little Disclosure brothers and I am ashamed to say that this is first time I had heard of these boys and I was pissed at myself for not know who they were beforehand.

They absolutely killed their set and I loved every bit of it, the fact that the section of the crowd that my friend and I were stood in were really bubblin’ off their vibe made the boys performance all the more enjoyable. Their vibe was so sweet that some dude in a snapback fully vibed his whole way through the crowd, from front to back and side to side getting down with whoever dared to join him on his skanking mission.  Legend!

But the highlight of their performance had to have been their last track ‘Latch’ featuring Sam Smith! Amazing… I could’ve raved to these boys all night long.

Image sourced from Google

And finally after a little bit of Bashment and an appearance from DJ Trevor Nelson it was time for the last artist of the night and the star of the show Miss Alicia Keys to wow the crowd.

Now I have to say that I do love Aliciakeys but I have always believed that although the lady can sing, and she really can, I don’t feel that her voice is ridiculously spectacular… Don’t shoot me I’m just being honest, after all this is my blog and I make it my mission to always be honest despite who I might offend.

But even though I do not think that vocally she is the greatest I have always been drawn to A Keys because she has such an amazing energy.

If you have not seen this lady live I would highly recommend it, her energy is amazingly humble, she greeted and interacted with the crowd like a true lady and worked the stage which such confidence and grace.

Singing hits from her first album ‘Songsin Minor’ which was really the album that really opened doors for Alicia Keys as an Artist, Musician and a Songwriter and it had been a while since I had heard ‘Fallin’ but it sounded as good as it did when I first heard it as a school girl in my bottle green uniform.

Image sourced from Google

There were so many songs that Miss Keys sang that had me smiling as they brought back good memories and great feelings, but there were also other songs that she performed that I didn’t really care for such as her new track ‘Girl On Fire’. I feel really bad for not liking this song, but I just cannot do it because I know that A Keys can do better. Don’t get me wrong, I get the message and I love the message, but I just don’t like the song.

The highlight of her performance for me, had to have been without a doubt the last song of the night ‘If I Ain’t Go You’. This song does something me like I have never experienced before! To say I love this song has to be an understatement… It brought tears to my eyes for mascaras sake! For me, the show could not have ended in a more perfect way.

So, ‘after the show there’s the after party…’ and me and my menina rocked on over to the Rainbow to find a really fun and cool crowd ready to party and mingle. DJTargets’ set was on point and had me raving well good, after that it was a bit hit and miss, but I’m sure that the night picked back up after that as we didn’t stay too long. But the organisers of the event or should I say the cool 1xtra Family really did put on a great event, at the after Party there was not attitude no rudeness but just a really nice vibe for people that really like a bit of Base in their lives.

Over all it was a great night and for free… Lord knows you can’t get much better than that these days.

Well done 1Xtra! And cheers for great night.

Love Sara (A little lady who loves 1Xtra). xxxx