this was part of UC's annual end of uni year thingy, stone fest. they had about 7 bands on, but i only saw these two. i think they played about an hour each? it was outdoors, not a huge number of people, but it wasn't a huge space. still, good crowd - it's not like it was empty.

LOUISVILLE SLUGGERS:

Jazz/swing band. 7 piece. Chic singer, very nice voice. Electric guitar, drums, double bass, horn section (sax, trumpet) and keyboard/organ.

very very very impressed. it was very very dancable, very upbeat. The band all played extremely well, and as they are a jazz ensemble we were treated to some very impressive solos.

there was a lot of band interaction on stage, too, which was good to see. during the songs as well as in between, showing that not only do they play well, but they have fun doing it, and enjoy the people they do it with.

i noticed the guitarist had a pick resting between his fingers, but was fingerpicking... interesting. didn't notice if he ever used the pick... The keyboard guy played keyboard and organ. very impressive jazz piano, which of course i told him.

the double bass solos were also very impressive - very quick fingers. then he got out the electric bass for some heavier work, but fortunately only for half a solo before the double bass made a return.

the sound was really good, too. we were right at the front of the stage, but we could still here everything perfectly. nothing got lost, even with the horn section and electic guitar.

overall i was very very impressed. very talented, very lively, very tight, very enthusiastic...

they had their CD for sale for $10, 4 tracks, which they then proceeded to inform us was "$2.50 a track, for those maths students among you," and "includes GST, for the economics students"

overall very impressed. seven soloists is always a good sign, and the music was definitely not boring. i'd see them again tomorrow if i could.

as per usual we also managed to score setlists, and, again as per usual, all seven signatures.

ALEX LLOYD:

like you'd expect, pretty darned good at what he does. He had another guitarist, a bassist and a drummer, plus stacks of sampling on computer.

lloydy can sing. lloydy can play. but i've found that when you expect them to be able to do just that, you want a little more. but lloydy just played well and sung well.

actually he was also really friendly, chatting with the crowd...

i started off in the second row, but then some guy pushed in front... i wasn't going to let him, until he said "please, this guy's my idol" at which point i thought well, if it were the whits we'd expect front spot, so it's only fair i guess. as it turned out that somehow got me a front row spot too, so that was ok :)

lucky star was shunted up the list to second position, lloydy playing solo with accoustic guitar and vocal. before faraway the computer packed it in, but recovered in time... i think mostly it was noises that wasprogrammed, but there was a bit of keyboard, particuarly in... alien possibly? and the occasional drum or bass line was programmed. most of the bass was live, though, and not bad, either. some of the songs towards the end got quite quick in the basslines.

some didn't find it quite as thrilling... the security guards got the yawns very early on...

half way through lloydy ended up wearing a sombrero and floral lae courtesy of some of the happy punters.

for the encore lloydy came out with a cigarette, which found a home stuck in the guitar strings while he played. the guy who wanted front spot earlier leant over and nicked it, then after making good use of it tried to put it back, which lloydy correctly told him he wouldn't be able to manage... then the guy decided to get on stage, danced around for a bit while the security guards looked on, and one of the guys with the band (the one who soundchecked the instruments) had to drag him off stage.

at the end when we got the setlists (two setlists from two performances, how good am i?? both fully signed, too :) the security guard decides to step in and stop us... so the soundchecky guy says no, they can have them... bloody security. are they dopey???

SETLISTS:

LOUISVILLE SLUGGERS

ALEX LLOYD