Introducing Jack Francis – Early Retirement: an early contender for DBTR ‘Album of the Year’

In February I had seen Jack Francis open for Ferris and Sylvester at Independent, Sunderland. I was impressed, then I listened to his album Early Retirement and that first impression went up a level. He’s excellent live and the album comes highly recommended. It’s a mix of folk, alt country and soul - as Jack says ‘Its about dedicating yourself to something you really believe in, only to find it’s causing you irreversible harm.'

Damo brings the spirit of Bob Marley to Tyneside…as witnessed by DBTR

Damien Dempsey has described his gigs as ‘A spiritual gathering, a medicinal ceremonial sing-song that is a safe space for emotion and tears and joy, a joyous celebration of what truly matters in life’. Could Dempsey, [as he does in Ireland] inspire and lift up the Geordie public ? It seemed a big ask, but what followed was 90 minutes of pure soulful joy, an inspirational blend of poetry, music and teaching

A gig of two halves. Can’t you see?

Musically speaking tonight at the Independent it felt like being in one of those pick and mix sweet shops. On the one hand, we had a batch of floaty pop singalongs and on the other, some powerful, guitar driven blues-rock. I’m sure people took what they liked from the Ferris and Sylvester store and went away happy.