 What better way to spend a quiet Thursday evening
in Southampton than an acoustic night at Joiners?
To begin the night, former drummer for local band
‘Eight Tide Suicide’ Joe Lewis-Brown
took to the stage in a less than familiar role
to normal. Joe, who you would usually find behind
a drum kit put himself in the driving seat and
switched his drums for an acoustic guitar with
a combination of self written tracks as well as
a generous helping of Dallas Green covers. Clearly
nervous of his new role, Joe kept the chat to
a minimum and did his best to fit into his new
shoes. With the exception of the odd line being
forgotton and his generally awkward stage presence,
this singer/songwriter has more to give which
will hopefully shine through with more experience
To follow a calming, soft vocalled act, Robin
Henderson brought something different to the venue
and created an energy about the room with his
eclectic guitar playing. With the help of a loop
pedal Robin created the sound of a full band in
an acoustic-electro-ska style to compliment his
soulful voice. His confidence in contrast to the
previous act was on top form as he engaged in
crowd banter and kept his cool when recording,
tapping and plucking complex original songs.
 Next up was local act Matt Ablard. The singer/songwriter’s
music had clearly been influenced by his personal
experiences; the hot topic for Matt’s original
songs being his (lack of) luck in love including
‘Call My Bluff’ and ‘Fake Happy’
as well as expressing his negative views on The
X-Factor and his passion for real music. He finished
his set with ‘Prove You Wrong’.
After a lengthy and complex looking set up of
mics, guitars and pedals, Howard James Kenny (Dave
McPherson’s tour support act) took to the
stage in a reserved fashion. The crowd was silent
in anticipation of what was to come and were not
let down. His pitch-perfect, soft voice beautifully
complimented the slow build up of hand claps and
guitar picking with the loop pedal. With the use
of shakers and delicate vocals, ‘My Wrongs’
was a perfect example of the work of a true musician
with flawless timing and a huge talent for music
writing. The understated musician covered ‘Teardrop’
by Massive Attack and finished with an original
- ‘Insects’ leaving us with an epic
chorus of harmonies.
 Finally the eagerly awaited Dave Mcpherson took
to the stage and started the set with ‘Winter:
Hibernation’ – the first of his Four
Seasons themed songs. Dave reminisced to his previous
Southampton appearance at The Joiners in which
he had to run off stage to be sick, not to gain
sympathy but laughs, as he added that a fan asked
for his autograph whilst he was throwing up on
his shoes! Continuing with the theme he sang ‘Spring:
Hearts Need Blood’ – both of which
can be found on the upcoming debut solo album
The Hardship Diaries due to be released early
April. Dave’s casual crowd banter was very
natural and genuine, he announced his online campaign
had reached the £2000 mark recently which
he is raising for Save The Children.
Serious stuff aside, this man really enjoys making
people laugh whether it be at his own misfortune
or just through his cheeky smiles and cheesy jokes
throughout his set. He admits stealing a chord
from Neighbours theme song in ‘Before I
Even Had You’ and mocks himself at pronouncing
‘get involved’ wrongly - causing his
catchphrase of the night to be ‘get invoolved!’
Dave performed the new single ‘Summer: She
Puts Me in a Good Mood’ for which he has
his first solo music video and can be found on
You Tube, followed by a song close to his heart.
‘I Will Honour You’ is an emotive
song about his 2 grandads who passed away and
were clearly great influences in his life. To
lighten the mood Dave performed crowd pleaser
‘Boom Shake the Room’ and asked us
to ‘get invoolved’! Rounding the set
off with an acoustic version of InMe favourite
‘Faster The Chase’.
Dave will be back touring with InMe in the autumn
and continues to tour solo in the UK throughout
the year.
Joe Lewis-Brown 3/5
Robin Henderson 4/5
Matt Ablard 2/5
Howard James Kenny 5/5
Dave Mcpherson 5/5
Review By Jen Manley
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