Featured Tours

Mamas Gun At Ruby Lounge, Manchester

• 17th Mar 2010

Mamas Gun with support from Rene and Switchboard Spectacular playing and Ruby Lounge in Manchester on 28th March *Venue has been upgraded*.

MAMA’S GUN…

“Already banking radio play with this delicious modern take on sumery ‘70-tingled soul…(Mamas Gun) openly filters the multi-layered spirit of Stevie and Marvin through latter-day smooth sensualist such as D’Angelo or Maxwell… Think Mark Ronson without the smarm” Uncut Magazine

“Mamas Gun are to be commdended: it’s pretty hard to reinvent the sweet, warm, groove filled – r’n'b of the 1970’s with credibilty . Their trick is to sound like they’ve cherry picked the finest deatils of an eclectic record collection…This, together with frontman Andy Platts’s winsome vocals and the outfits experimental instruments, means they’ve nailed some seriously crowd pleasing tunes” The Metro

“One of the best things you can do on radio is play a good record, today someone bought this little gem into our studio, I played it and I thought well, it really doesn’t get any better than this…(plays Pots Of Gold)…Can you believe that we get songs like this delivered into us?. How good is that song?….unbelievable!…contemporary, its just smacks of quality” Chris Evans

“Mamas Gun – a great new artist” Trevor Nelson

“Mamas Gun, led by über cool vocalist Andy Platts sound fabulous on record and go down a hoot live too!” Steve Lamaq

“One listen and you’ll feel like real soul music and music with real soul has finally found its way home.” Blues & Soul Magazine

RENE…

Quite literally carving their own groove, René stand out and proud against the sea of swirling distorted guitar with which the original live music scene is awash. For years these five musicians have polished their stagecraft, always querying why the tunes that invoke passion in themselves and their audience just don’t seem to get written anymore. Now they’ve elected to take matters into their own hands and are hitting the stage with a vibrant sound inspired by the best of the Britfunk era and funk/soul legends of decades past. To see them live is to be part of a performance buzzing with energy, and the passion they have for their music really shines through…

SWITCHBOARD SPECTACULAR…

SWITCHBOARD SPECTACULAR is born out of a love of body shaking, fire starting tunes; the ones that build fortified stations in your brain as you go innocently about your day, the ones who inseparably attach to memories of your past (and dreams of your future), the friends that will still be with you years after the boys and girls you know have long deserted. Maybe it’s the sugary Blackpool rock in the bloodstream, or the carnival atmosphere of the Promenade, but something set lights in these guys’ minds blinking bright party neon.Switchboard channelled the bands that sound-tracked their lives – Kings of Leon, Foo Fighters, Oasis, The Beatles, and The La’s – and started writing their own score. And maybe a few others would pick up the tune as they led.

That’s not to say it’s all happy-clappy “Top o’ the morning” stuff though; Switchboard infuse their poppier sounds with shards of new-wave guitar, grand trumpet refrains, spacey laser riffs and plain unrelenting groove, leading to one number described as ‘something like a mixture of Pearl Jam and Keane.’ As endorsements go perhaps you’re a little sceptical; but picture the little Keane cherub howling his way through ‘Alive’ and try and tell me that’s not something you want to see.

The band have chased the great chorus in the sky since early 2007. After local Battle of the Bands success the they offered up the ‘Dan’s Face’ E.P (one of a series of works on the theme of one’s face), and headed out for the revelry of the Manchester scene, playing legendary venues like the Night and Day Café and the Manchester Academy, with some BBC Radio Manchester appearances to boot. One Manchester journalist remarked; ‘Without wanting to make any dramatic predictions, I can imagine these guys being very appealing to a lot of people.’ Switchboard Spectacular are happy to make dramatic predictions. They love you, and they think you might love them too.

“This Blackpool 4 piece end 2009 having been voted Rock Quest winners by their local newspaper, followed closely by the release of their latest single, Like I Need You. It bodes well for them in 2010 as their infectious sound is commercial enough to see them picked up for radioplay while still maintaining a huge likeability factor that should see them playing sell out gigs as word gets out about them. They seem to have conquered Blackpool in 2009, the next 12 months should see them taking over the rest of Lancashire.” Guest List Music

“The five piece band had little difficulty winning the panel of six judges over with their fresh sounding commercial material. Elswick-based frontman Dan Clayton has a classic rock charisma but the whole band has a tight delivery – from Beth Pawson’s crisply economic but forceful drumming through to Mike Stevens reliable guitar work, Jack Halpin’s dependable bass and Andy Palfreyman adding occassional trumpet to his already competent keyboard work” Blackpool Gazette

“The Blackpool five-piece won the judges over with their energetic and spiky brand of rock.” Blackpool Gazette

“Switchboard Spectacular have landed. They arrive with the foot tapping, upbeat and energetic sound of their brilliant signature track, “Twists And Turns”. As well as being tight and to the point their new single is also a lyrical masterpiece of social context”. Jump Radio

“Upbeat indie pop with a serious party twist, these guys have a lot to offer. If their live show is anywhere near as infectious as this track, they are bound to be going far.” Dave Chislett / Matchbox Recordings