Albeit too late for Christmas, snow was coming to London. Without quite the intensity faced by The Night’s Watch, it came briefly towards the end of a bubbly set by New Zealand’s The Beths at the intriguingly named Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen. The venue name sounds foodie-friendly but, with the likes of Florence & The Machine, Vampire Weekend and Mumford & Sons having used it as a staging post to stadia shows, the small gig room is one to notch up for any up-and-coming band. Tonight’s Antipodean guests hardly came dressed for winter but at least singer-guitarist Elizabeth Stokes wore a woolly hat as a nod to the outer chill. Inside all was warm and, though rendered a touch gloomy by our old
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outstanding contemporary music through news, album and live reviews, features and interviews.
Music is a great passion of mine. In my teenage years I was an avid record collector and concert goer. Stints as a booking agent, running folk clubs, promoting gigs and even a crack at artiste management followed. While it never became my main occupation, music was always on my personal radar.
During the past 10 years I have written for the leading US music website Consequence of Sound and breakthrough act site, BestNewBands. I am a judge for Glastonbury Festival's Emerging Talent Competition and have reviewed the festival for both the above sites.
Nothing gives me more pleasure than unearthing good, original new music and championing independent musicians. You’ll find many of them on this site alongside some legends of times past and I hope they will bring you as much joy as they give me.
Tony Hardy