#alternative

Apr 2, 2019
4 min

Acoustic Rooms Weekly: 01/04/19

Nearing the end of term, last night was The Mic’s penultimate night at Acoustic Rooms before the Easter break, and as always it delivered a diverse line up of talented musicians, showcasing local artists skills. Opening the night was Louis Croft who has previously performed at Acoustic Rooms and kicked off with a Jake Bugg feel and continued to play his original songs, ending on a more macabre note. Following Louis were Chris and Stella who also have played Acoustic Rooms be

Acoustic Rooms Weekly: Birthday Special 04/03/19

Abby Clarke

Mar 5, 2019
5 min

Acoustic Rooms Weekly: Birthday Special 04/03/19

Last night was a special Acoustic Rooms celebration evening marking the 10th birthday of the acoustic night which has featured thousands of artists since it began ten years ago. The night promised free cake alongside the usual happy hour bar prices and some extra special acts to truly highlight the talent we have on the current Nottingham music scene. The night kicked off when current Acoustic Rooms host Laurie Illingworth introduced the night and sang a couple of songs along

Abby Clarke

Feb 19, 2019
3 min

Acoustic Rooms Weekly 18/02/19

Last nights acoustic rooms featured special guest Tash Bird at the start of her ‘Reminded’ release tour. It also featured some great artists, a couple of which have never performed at Acoustic Rooms before, so it was great to see some new talent. First up was Ben Smith, who performed some great acoustic numbers including his own song ‘I think this is going to work’ from his EP ‘Streets’. Following Ben was Ross Harding who started with is own song ‘Delete the world’ and went

Cameron Chadwick

Feb 12, 2019
3 min

Acoustic Rooms Weekly: 11/02/19

Opening the night this week at Acoustic Rooms was favourites Stella and Chris, who last played a couple of weeks ago. For those unfamiliar, the pair are characterised by Chris’ bluesy guitar riffs and Stella’s soulful vocals. Switching it up, they closed their set this time with a more upbeat jam they call ‘The Phoenix’ which proved popular with the crowd. The Mic crew were all excited for the second act of the night as it seems Luke Irwin has added some new tunes to his repe

Abby Clarke

Jan 29, 2019
4 min

Review: Beat The Streets 2019

Beat the Streets is a fantastic one-day music festival spread out around some of Nottingham’s historic music venues, with great acts on the line up and extra bits and pieces going on throughout the day all to help raise money to fight homelessness. This year was set to be another fun-filled day with some talented musicians playing from one in the afternoon all the way until eleven at night, and The Mic were there to cover it. The day started with Matthew Moore who opened the

Cameron Chadwick

Jan 29, 2019
3 min

Acoustic Rooms Weekly: 28/01/19

After last week’s incredible jazz night, Acoustic Rooms returned with a week truer to its name. An array of talented singer-songwriters (plus a couple of surprises) took to the stage and were welcomed by an ever-lively atmosphere. Opening the night was the innovative Josh Leverton, who wowed the crowd with a folky opener which saw him use his guitar and loop pedal to lay down a beat under his impassioned vocals. Josh then explored a variety of sounds and genres throughout his

Abby Clarke

Dec 11, 2018
3 min

Acoustic Rooms Weekly 10/12/18

Last night was The Mic’s last acoustic rooms of the year before the Christmas break, and it did not disappoint. Accompanying the usual great standard of live performance was a back drop of Christmas decorations, a tree and on top of the all-night happy hour, Rescue Rooms are also doing a different drinks deal each day in December. Kicking off the acoustic night were returning duo- Stella and Chris. The pair have opened a few of the previous nights and their unique covers of c

Abby Clarke

Dec 8, 2018
2 min

Don’t Forget Rupert @ The Bodega

Nottingham based indie-rock band Don’t Forget Rupert headlined the Bodega last night for their last show of the year, managing to sell it out just under a day before. They were supported by Ava Saint and For the Girl, also both from Nottingham, and succeeded in performing an explosion of a homecoming show. Ava Saint kicked things off with an alternative-rock/punk performance including a unique take (but not quite cover) of Brittney Spear’s ‘Toxic’. Lead singer Holly Taylor-Ga

Abby Clarke

Nov 13, 2018
4 min

Acoustic Rooms Weekly 12/11/18

This week at Acoustic Rooms was a lot busier than last week, back to normal after a quieter bonfire night the week before. There were a lot more artists signed up to play so they kept to three or four songs each this time. First to perform were Stella and Chris- with Chris on guitar and Stella providing the vocals. Stella seemed very comfortable performing and interacting with the crowd and it was obvious this wasn’t her first performance. Next was Louis Croft, a young Jake B

Abby Clarke

Nov 6, 2018
3 min

Acoustic Rooms Weekly 05/11/18

Acoustic Rooms Weekly Rescue Rooms hosts an open mic night every Monday from 8pm until late, and The Mic magazine will be going down every week to keep you updated on who’s performing, including weekly interviews with a performer from the night. To set the scene, Rescue Rooms has been an iconic music venue in Nottingham since it opened 15 years ago, hosting a variety of artists from The Killers to Bloc Party to The Libertines. The open mic night is run by Laurie Illingworth-

The Mic Magazine

Oct 25, 2018
4 min

Live: Black Honey at Rescue Rooms

Brighton-based indie rockers dazzle a sold-out crowd in Nottingham with a career spanning set and a bill that showcases women in rock music. It has been four years since glamorous indie-rock band Black Honey first entered the music world, with a dazzling display of confidence amongst a huge catalogue of hits which were instantly picked up by representatives for BBC, NME and Q Magazine amongst others. Since 2014 they’ve released a mix of EP’s, toured with fellow Brighton rock

Abby Clarke

Oct 25, 2018
2 min

The Blinders @ The Bodega

After the successful release of their debut album ‘Columbia’, The Blinders have embarked on a UK tour, bringing their political punk rock music to The Bodega last night with support from Nottingham’s Those Howlin’ Sounds, and Calva Louise from London. First up were four-piece Those Howlin’ Sounds, who also released an album earlier this year. They opened with an instrumental song and had a grunge/punk feel to them. The crowd really enjoyed them and by the time their set finis

Abby Clarke

Oct 25, 2018
3 min

Interview with The Blinders

A couple of hours before their headline show at Bodega, I sat down with Matty, Charlie and Thomas, better known as the alternative political-punk band The Blinders. Nottingham marked a quarter of the way through their UK tour and the three were finding it great so far, having played in Birmingham the night before at The Castle and Falcon which sold out. The three really enjoyed playing Manchester and were excited to play in Nottingham having only played a couple of times befo

Abby speaks with George Gadd before his UK tour kicks off

Abby Clarke

Oct 23, 2018
4 min

Abby speaks with George Gadd before his UK tour kicks off

I sat down with musician George Gadd on an unusually sunny October lunch time to chat about his ten-year anniversary of performing, his upcoming UK tour and some the highlights of his time in music. Going back to the start with George’s first ever performance, he told me that he used to have “floppy emo hair” and even put on an American accent which he admits is really cringey to look back on. Apparently, there are videos out there although George assured me that they are ver

Abby Clarke

Oct 11, 2018
2 min

Cassia @ Rescue Rooms

Cassia have begun their UK tour after returning from playing in Europe, and they started it at Rescue Rooms in Nottingham. They were joined by The Mocking Jays and Manchester band Larkins and filled the venue with their chilled-out tropical indie vibes. First up were indie-pop band The Mocking Jays from Nottingham who have now played the Rescue Rooms stage twice this year. They’ve really been getting their name around the music scene and have played lots of shows and festival

Abby Clarke

Oct 3, 2018
2 min

Pale Waves @ Rock City

Pale Waves returned to Nottingham on Tuesday night after they’d previously played an incredibly packed out set at this year’s Dot to Dot festival. Having only just released their debut album “My Mind Makes Noises” a couple of weeks ago, the Manchester four-piece have exploded onto the music scene, helped by The 1975’s Matt Healy, and don’t look to be slowing down any time soon. Starting the night off were angsty indie rock band- King Nun. They took a little while to settle in

Oct 2, 2018
2 min

Sleaford Mods at Nottingham's Royal Concert Hall

After a couple of years of listening to and trying to figure out Sleaford Mods and where they stand in today’s music scene and its decline in originality, it can be said with great certainty that Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn are delivering ideas that are bold, new and often feared. As we watched the interesting choice of supporting band, Grey Hairs, an ostentatiously angry performance in which the seemingly passionate lyrics were drowned out by the rest of the band, it w

Aug 18, 2017
3 min

Wolf Alice @ The Venue, Derby

Wolf Alice’s intimate UK tour kicked off in the heart of England at Derby’s prime music venue – aptly called The Venue. Scheduled before the release of their second album, ‘Visions of a Life’, the tour acts as a kind of warm-up for their huge European tour this autumn, which will see them headlining London’s Alexandra Palace for the first time ever. Arriving too late to catch the support band, we wait excitedly for Wolf Alice to hit the stage, the atmosphere – and the heat –

Nov 14, 2016
2 min

Sad13 – “Slugger” Review

Speedy Ortiz frontwoman Sadie Depuis has replaced the last two letters in her forename with numbers and released an indie-pop solo album – “Slugger”. Depuis wrote and recorded the majority of the record in a two week period and it proves both intimate and meticulously put together. If you haven’t heard any of Speedy Ortiz’s stuff they’re a comic book loving alt-grunge band with articulate 90s influenced guitar lines. Fans of the band will find “Slugger” treads similar ground

May 20, 2016
3 min

Dot to Dot Preview

Its less than a week until Dot to Dot returns to Nottingham to kick off the festival season! Held across almost 60 venues in Nottingham, Bristol and Manchester, the one-day-event showcases a varied line up of established and up-and-coming artists. A joy of D2D is its promotion of local artists by having headliners play all 3 cities while local bands populate the setlist of their respective cities. As previous winner of UK Festival Award for Best Metropolitan Festival, this