4 Music


Trio bring out album of youth


BRISTOL: Flowers


LONDON trio Flowers will release their debut album Do What You Want To, It’s What You Should Do in March via Fortuna POP! (UK/EU) and Ka- nine Records (USA). Produced by Bernard Butler, it captures the intensity of being young in 14 deceptively simple pop songs taking their power from their brevity, elevated by Rachel Ke- nedy’s extraordinary voice. Flowers are Sam Ayres (Gui- tar/Synths), Kenedy (Vocals/ Bass/Synths) and Jordan Hockley (Drums), brought to- gether by Sam’s advert for a singer to make music like “Ma- donna through a broken tape machine”. The three of them immediately moved in together and spent the following weeks writing pop songs, practicing daily in their living room and recording through the night, barely sleeping with the excite- ment of it all and amassing a huge collection of over a hun- dred songs in demo form. Across these 14 songs, Flow-


ers explore the gamut of emo- tions that come with youth. As Rachel says: “We were young writing this album (we still are I think!), so all the songs reflect the emotions of being young, which covers just about eve- rything to the extreme; loneli- ness, happiness, rejection, love, torment, excitement...” For every song about the carefree, halcyon days of youth (Young, Forget The Fall), there is anoth- er about the pain of relation- ships (Drag Me Down, Lonely). Catch Flowers at Roll To The Soul in Bristol on March 5.


Follow us on Twitter @Argus_The Guide Friday, February 27, 2015


ARENA: Lionel Richie


Super hits all night long


SINCE his massive Tuskeegee tour in 2012 delighted audiences across Europe, today the multi- platinum selling artist Lionel Richie announced he is set to re- turn for a 31-date tour that will see him perform in nine cities across England, Scotland and Wales early next year. The five-time Grammy win-


ner and international superstar launched his current tour in the USin September 2013. Since then he has played an incredible 70 shows in stadiums, arenas and


festivals (2014 saw Lionel headline the Bonnaroo Festival in the US) across North America, Oceania and Asia winning rave reviews eve- rywhere he goes. Speaking about bringing his tour


to Europe, Lionel said: “I can’t wait to get back to the UK. The audienc- es are always so great and I always have an incredible time when I’m in the United Kingdom. The show feels like a great big singalong most nights, so I’m looking forward to singing along with the people of the UK again.”


Lionel’s shows feature songs from


one of the most loved repertoires in music spanning his entire career from the Commodores through to the present day. The tour has re- ceived incredible reactions from fans all over the world. Lionel’s performances have become re- nowned for being much more than just a concert – reviewers around the world have commented on the unique party atmosphere he cre- ates as he unites the audience with songs like Dancing On The Ceil- ing, Say You, Say Me, Hello, Three


Celtic music act take to stage


JAMIE Smith’s Mabon will play Le Pub in Newport on March 6 as a fundraiser for the 26th Tredegar House Folk Festival. Tickets are £8 and £6 concessions. The folk festival is being held


over the weekend of May 8-10, there are free dance displays Sat and Sun afternoons featuring Degumnieki from Latvia, Madhur Sri Lankan dancers and many lo- cal and UK groups. Musically there are concerts


from Geordie MacKeeman and his Rhythm Boys – a Bluegrass band from Canada, Steve Tilston, Allan yn y Fan, Vicki Swan and John Dyer, Bob Fox, the Jaywalkers, Pete Coe and Alice Jones and the Meg Cox Band. All details are on the website tre-


degarhousefestival.org.uk. Both events are sponsored by Arts Council for Wales.


FUNDRAISER: Jamie Smith’s Mabon by Paul Michael Hughes.


Times A Lady, Easy and All Night Long. The showreally does deliver on its promise of all the hits all night long. The tour is a celebration of Li-


onel’s incredible career. He has sold over 100 million albums worldwidewhile receiving prestig- ious awards along the way includ- ing Grammys, American Music Awards, a Golden Globe and even an Oscar. Tickets for his Cardiff Motor- point Arena Showon March 16 are available from 029 2022 4488.


Soul band to perform for 25th anniversary


ON SATURDAY, February 28, Big Macs Wholly Soul Band are making a return perfor- mance at The Ebbw Vale In- stitute. This show will be one of many shows they are playing to celebrate their 25th anni- versary. The ten-piece outfit have performed previously and have always had a great reac- tion from the audience par- ticularly if there is room for them to dance. Their high-energy perfor- mance of all of the classic six- ties’ Soul and Tamla Motown hits get the audience upon their feet and encourages them to “let their hair down!” Tickets are £12 in advance


RETURN: Big Mac’s Wholly Soul Band.


for the event available from EVI Box Office and globalpro- motionscardiff.com. Tickets for the event cost £14 on the door.


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