Articles | The Mic

May 15, 2019
5 min

Employed To Serve @ Rough Trade 13/05/19

Employed To Serve hit Rough Trade’s stage on Monday in support of their incredible new album Eternal Forward Motion, already hailed as a potential album of the year by many critics, which is a superb accomplishment considering that it’s not even six months into the year. Despite only having a half hour set the band (in their signature jackets) ploughed through eight fantastically heavy tracks from both their new album and previous release Warmth of a Dying Sun, which also gar

Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres @ Rock City

The Mic Magazine

May 14, 2019
3 min

Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres @ Rock City

Last month, former Libertines and Babyshambles frontman Peter Doherty introduced us to his third musical project, ‘Peter Doherty and The Puta Madres.’ Doherty’s latest work is a lot folksier than his previous repertoire, demonstrating inspiration from his new Margate abode, and includes fantastic Doherty-esque instrumental interludes illustrating the individual musical talents of each Puta Madre. Arriving at 7:30, I managed to catch the majority of Riding the Low’s set, a con

The Mic Magazine

May 2, 2019
3 min

Papa Roach @ Rock City

‘You know what? Best night of the motherfucking tour.’ This is what Jacoby Shaddix, vocalist for the Californian quartet, proclaimed during the encore of their sold out show at Rock City on Sunday night, and with good reason. Never having seen Papa Roach, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had, however, seen the support, Nothing More, back in 2015, and I was extremely excited to see them again. I interviewed Mark Vollelunga, Nothing More’s guitarist, earlier in the day, and he

Cameron Chadwick

Apr 17, 2019
2 min

Fontaines D.C. @ Rescue Rooms

Fresh off the hype of their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Dogrel,’ Irish post-punks Fontaines D.C. performed a rapid set to a sold-out Rescue Rooms. “My childhood was small/But I’m gonna be big,” proclaims the opening track to ‘Dogrel.’ One would have thought, in light of perfect scores from The Guardian and NME, ‘Big’ would have been the sure-fire opener to a sold-out headline set in Nottingham. This wasn’t to be however, as the Dublin 5-piece opted to open the set with

Abby Clarke

Mar 26, 2019
4 min

Acoustic Rooms Weekly: 25/03/19

Last night’s Acoustic Rooms saw a return to the more traditional open mic music, with singer/songwriters accompanied by their acoustic guitars dominating the evening. Opening the night was Tom Pryce who had been to Acoustic Rooms late last year. He opened with his song ‘Falling’ and then went on to play a couple more original songs which set the tone of a calm and laidback evening. Next up was Lee Moore who picked the pace up slightly with his cover of ‘Staying Out For The Su

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

Shadows Like Strangers @ The Angel Nottingham

Abby Clarke

Feb 9, 2019
3 min

Shadows Like Strangers @ The Angel Nottingham

Last night saw the album launch show for Shadows Like Strangers’ debut album Cali. They managed to sell out The Angel in Nottingham with support from Cut the Heroics and Jetlines, whilst also raising money for GRL PWR- a charity in aid of ovarian cancer. I had never attended a gig in The Angel before and the venue itself was very interesting. They’ve cleverly converted an old chapel above the pub into a music venue with a capacity of 110, using the old area for the organ as

Abby Clarke

Feb 7, 2019
4 min

Busted @ Rough Trade

This afternoon, Busted went down to Rough Trade in Nottingham to perform an intimate set ahead of the album charts tomorrow in which they are in close competition with The Special’s greatest hits for the number one position. Having only announced the show on Monday, and then announcing a second Rough Trade show yesterday, as well as a third in London the same evening, Charlie, James and Matt managed to sell the venue out. Doors opened an hour before they were due to perform,

In conversation with Haggard Cat at Beat The Streets

Sean Hubbard

Jan 30, 2019
3 min

In conversation with Haggard Cat at Beat The Streets

Sean went down to Beat The Streets on Sunday and got a chance to have a chat with rock band Haggard Cat before their set, here’s how it went: Favourite venues in Nottingham? We absolutely love JT Soar and Chameleon, but we’re lucky to have all these independent venues like Rock City and Rescue Rooms rather than a faceless O2 Academy. Favourite Local Bands? 94 Gunships – they’ve got lots of bluegrass/shanty elements and are playing Beat the Streets later on, but most of our fa

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

The Wave Pictures @ Nottingham’s The Boat House

The Mic Magazine

Jan 28, 2019
2 min

The Wave Pictures @ Nottingham’s The Boat House

When you think of a thrilling, energised gig experience, the Nottingham Boat Club does not spring to mind. This being said, this intimate, wholesome venue can guarantee a full, engaged audience of 6 Music listeners thus perfect for the talents that are The Wave Pictures. The club’s stage resembled an American proms’, juxtaposed with an audience who could be attending their 30 year high school reunion. Photo by Sadie Agg As the support act- Alex and the Christopher Hale Band-

Abby Clarke

Jan 15, 2019
3 min

Acoustic Rooms Weekly 14/01/19

Last night saw The Mic return to Acoustic Rooms at Rescue Rooms and oh wow, it was great one to start our year off with! An abundance of performers turned up to play a variety of styles of music and kept the night going until well past midnight. Starting the night off was Scott Makepeace coming all the way from South Shields. It was his first time playing Acoustic Rooms but he’s been picked up by BBC Introducing East Midlands previously. He had a raw, almost IDLES sound to hi

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

Patrick Donnelly

Dec 4, 2018
6 min

Acoustic Rooms Weekly: 03/12/18

Kicking off the night was Elliot Willaims. Undeniably a strong singer – confident and loud, with an indie-rock style – he got the attention of the room straight away. Although strong, he could use some more variety in his singing and guitar playing – some songs were hard to distinguish from others. There were some nice switches between strumming, picking and palm muted strums, for instance in his song ‘A long way home’. A good song, which felt like an acoustic Kings of Leon s

Abby Clarke

Nov 28, 2018
3 min

Acoustic Rooms Weekly 26.11.18

After Alexandr Misko gave an amazing performance last week at Acoustic Rooms as a special guest, it was exciting to see what this week would hold. The beauty of an open mic night being you never know exactly what you’re going to see. The night started with Ryan Dunn from the band Gazelle, who performed a strong triad of songs, turning the volume high for the night with his acoustic guitar and rough vocals. Next up was singer Kaiori, also accompanied by her acoustic guitar. Sh

Abby Clarke

Nov 20, 2018
6 min

Acoustic Rooms Weekly 19/11/18

This week Rescue Rooms held another packed night of Acoustic Rooms, with the exciting addition of special guest Alexandr Misko – an amazing guitarist that impressed the whole room. Kicking off the night were the returning duo Stella and Chris with their jazzy rendition of ‘Ace of Spades’ by Motörhead. It’s clear that the duo has a lot of fun performing – their happiness fills the room through Stella’s powerful voice and big smile. Chris then performed a solo cover of ‘Space O

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-

Ben Standring

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