Sam Hammond – Academy 2 With a Glastonbury performance still ringing in his ears, Sam Hammond’s North West country would be as happy on a Louisiana porch as it is on a Mancunian stage. With an off-kilter selection of tight tunes and a voice that comes all the way from his boots, he was entertainingly excellent and great way to start. Martyn Joseph – Academy 2
 | | Martyn Joseph (photo: Andy Stubbs) |
Is there anything worse than a forgotten, throat-weary protest singer? Banging his aggressive guitar and railing against the world as it turns, Joseph is lost in a time he doesn’t understand and cannot touch, sounding like an anachronism. If only he still made sense. Ed Cottam and The Everythings – Academy 3 Ed Cottam made a bad choice of songs for a good choice of voice. He struggled to grab attention, which is a shame, because he has a beautiful resonance, a touch of the epic and an echo of those classic Suede ballads stripped bare in a weary corner. This wasn’t the right venue, but don’t give up on him just yet. Pierre Hall – Academy 3 What Pierre Hall is and what he wants to be are unfortunately two very different things. In his mind, he makes perfect sense and beautiful music. In reality, he is jaded rhythms and nothing new, a bad voice with a good guitar tuned to dull tunes. Thea Gilmore – Academy 2
 | | Thea Gilmore (photo: Andy Stubbs) |
The hall might have been only two-thirds full but from the power of Gilmore’s voice or volume of the audience’s applause, you’d never have guessed. She has a voice of honey and gold and songs that beam out into the ether, buoyed up by emotion and filled out with burning passion. As a songwriter she excels and, thanks to her requests that we all “go home and pick up a guitar”, she wants everyone else too also. The Whiskycats – Academy 3 The Whiskycats are a joyously wonderful set of musicians with tunes as golden and as green as you could ask for. They call in references as diverse as Corduroy and Nu Yorican Soul, and stitch Latino into acid jazz, all in the name of making everyone dance. They are good times and good vibes and no more complicated than that. Isobel Heyworth – Academy 3 Born to the wrong generation, Heyworth has beauty in her moments and gentle glee in her smile. While the audience may have blathered all over her set, she disappeared into herself, leaving a door ajar for those who stopped, thought and listened to the splendour of her voice to follow her. She forgot the ignorant and the chosen few found her finery. Gideon Conn – Academy 3 Sometimes the idea of an artist far outweighs their ability. Gideon Conn wants to have us believe in sunshine guitar, irregular rhythms and dainty tales of ordinary life. Tragically, his reality is a million miles away, covered in terrible lyrics that are hilarious for the wrong reason while his inane grin makes him look like vacant possession. The choice of him as the headliner for SWAP unsigned must be a decision based more on hopeless generosity than on talent. | 
