Gig Review - Jake Quickenden / O2 Academy Newcastle

Thursday 23rd July 2015

Written by Anna McMillan

From failing to make it onto the live shows of X Factor in 2012 to then being voted off the show in 2014, things weren’t looking good for Jake Quickenden in terms of music.  

However, this didn’t stop the singer songwriter from continuing his musical journey as he began his first ever UK tour this month, taking to the stage at the 02 Academy in Newcastle on Thursday night for his penultimate night of his Laid Bare tour. 

Supporting him on tour was Chris Bourne, little brother to Busted’s James Bourne and Concept, a 5 piece boyband setting the stage for a male dominated night of music which was fitting as the room was packed out with female fans of all ages.  

With drinks in hand the noisy crowd welcomed Chris on stage as he opened the show for Jake. Since leaving his former band Hollywood Ending, Bourne has opted for an electro sound as he began his set with ‘If I Could Just Say Hey,’ an upbeat, techno tune with a hint of auto tune effects. Unconventional but affective as it got the large crowd dancing, warming up for the rest of the show.   As cheesy as the song and lyrics were, you find yourself singing along to it hours later, a bit like Rebecca Black and Friday.  Well done to him though for only singing original songs. Most new and upcoming artists can only connect with the crowds by singing covers but Bourne gathered a lot of crowd participation with his techno sound. 

Concept brought their boyband good looks and covers to the stage by starting their set with ‘Uptown Funk’ gearing the crowd up with the sound of Bruno Mars. They even added a bit of Beyoncé’s ‘XO’, bringing the charts to the stage. However they brought more than pretty faces to their set as they sang one of their own songs called ‘Young and Rebellious.’ The original song had a fun loving vibe as it was an upbeat, summer anthem track with high tempo moves as the drunken crowd members cheered and danced along to the music. The boys even got everyone to join in with singing by telling the crowd ‘we say oh, you say oh,’ causing the fans to erupt in bad singing. Their set hyped up the fans for the arrival of Jake. 

Quickenden opened his set with a track off his debut ep ‘Obsession’, a dance track which is set to be released next month. The crowds responded well to the new sound as the move from slow, soulful ballads Jake used to sing on the show to please the judges, was a welcome change for the singer songwriter. 

Jake is one of the few singers to come out of X Factor, untainted by the machine that is Simon Cowell. We’re used to watching ex contestants turn into manufactured popstars with cheesy, cliché lyrics about love who are still holding onto their 5 minutes of fame status. Luckily Jake didn’t conform to the machine by writing his own songs about his life and the journey he began since being on the show. All he needed on stage was himself and his guitar, no gimmicks or band just his soulful voice.  

He even wrote a song called ‘Make It My Own’ about Nicole Scherzinger not putting him through to the lives in 2012 saying, ‘I wrote this song after Nicole didn’t put me through and it’s about not letting anyone get in the way of doing what you love, the bitch.’ That got the crowd cheering. His Ed Sheeran style rap was about his setbacks in life but not giving up on his dreams.  

He even made one nervous fans dreams come true when he invited her up on stage for him to sing another original – ‘Mile High.’ Granted, the melodic rap about the girl’s love controlling him mentally and sexually probably wasn’t the best song for him to sing to a crying and shaking fan. Although, the bear hug she received after probably did cheer her up. 

The crowd fell silent when Jake announced he was going to perform an original song which was close to his heart called ‘Blindfold’. He wrote the song after his little brother died not long after his first appearance on X Factor from a brain tumour. Just before his death, Jake’s brother got married to his college sweetheart so he wrote her the song for her memory of him. Well there wasn’t a dry eye in sight when he began singing the song with such passion on his face. ‘Little things took over your mind… Why did I have to leave you? Baby you could look up to the sky.’ The heart felt lyrics had the fans sobbing around me. 

Jake went on to show his gratitude for his most watched Youtube video of his cover of ‘Say Something,’ which he sang on The X Factor, racking up almost 14 million views. His disbelief in how many people listen to his music was humbling, ‘I am just a guy doing what I love.’ Taking the crowd back to 2012 when we first heard the singer perform the ballad, Quickenden belted out the lyrics with a beautiful range of falsetto. There were plenty of goose bump conjuring moments as he allowed the crowd to sing the song back to him. It was a proud moment for most fans as they have seen how far the singer has come since his first appearance on the show. 

Ending the night with his debut single ‘I Want You,’ a dance track which transported me to the clubs of Ibiza, Quickenden finished on a high. The cheeky Bolton boy also decided to add to the dance club feel by soaking the fans with numerous bottles of water he found on the stage. It was safe to say fans left the gig refreshed and wet. 

Gig Review - Young Guns / Think Tank

Written by Nad Khan

Young Guns have spent the best part of six years tightening the screws of their big rock sound. Second album Bones, contained their most successful material, garnering a positive reception for its stadium-sized choruses and shout-along gang vocals. 

Latest album Ones and Zeros is much of the same, although the band seemed to have reigned in their more alternative nuances and honed in on making simple, yet effective ‘Tunes’. This straight –edged approach to songwriting definitely helps tonight as they play Think Tank to a sold out crowd. Everyone knows the words and Singer Gustav Wood doesn’t stop reminding them how important they are to the band’s success ‘Sorry we’ve been away for so long Newcastle’, ‘I’ve never felt better than when I’m playing to an audience like this’. He’s right to be so appreciative, the crowd give everything – screaming the lyrics back in solidarity and some eager fans doing a bit of face-planting off Think Tank’s smaller than average stage. 

Young Guns are clearly made for bigger venues than this and it’s easy to see why they’ve gained such a loyal following. Their stage show is slicker than thou – each member looking as if they know exactly what makes the crowd tick. I’d have paid £13 just to see the drummer play so hard, that his face looks like it’s about to drop off. You certainly get your money’s worth with a band like this. It doesn’t even matter if bassist, Simon Mitchell flicks his hair back like a L’Oreal advert every two seconds or Wood’s is wearing the most garish Nike emblazoned snapback – this is pure entertainment. 

It could be easy to slag the band’s cliché lyrics off, but you’d be missing the point completely, this is a band made for the immediacy and power of a loud, live setting - there’s no time to ponder what the songs are about. Tracks like ‘I Want Out’ and ‘Rising Up’ are unbelievable catchy and equally memorable as I sit and listen to them days later, immediately recognizing each moment of the gig. 

It’s not what you’d expect of a band who supported Bon Jovi and have been likened to Lost Prophets – something that would now be classed as tarnishing. Look past the predictable chord changes and the band’s sound is made up of intricate, glitchy electronics, arpeggios and panoramic ambience that would put them nearer to Pendulum or Enter Shikari. ‘Daylight’ begins like an old Muse track and evolves into a strong rock ballad with some effective Violin-work. 

As the curfew looms (to make way for a club night) the band continues to work the crowd, some of whom are passing out near the front. Wood offers them water and makes sure everyone’s ok, before finishing off with ‘Bones’. Young Guns are nothing short of epic live, something that’s down to their craftsmanship and professionalism, but most simply their love of playing to a responsive crowd.