Tinchy Stryder @ The Assembly, Leamington Spa, 15th July 2011

Tinchy Stryder

Tinchy Stryder, Wretch 32, Her Majesty & The Wolves, Soundgirl, Talay Riley, Six D and Oh My! were in Leamington Spa at the acute setting of The Assembly. A great idea from “Future Hits Live” as the intimate setting provided a great atmosphere with big stars for a reasonable amount of money. The show had variation and introduced new and well known acts to the mainly young audience. A great idea and overall a great night!

Oh My!Oh My!

First up were “female Jedward” Oh My! Rhyming “Patrick Swayze with crazy” Alex and Jade performed a set of “fizz pop for mini divas.” “Run this town” really got the crowd going and the aspiring duo interacted well throughout. A great act to start the show, the girls brought back memories of “The cheeky girls.”

Talay Riley

Talay Riley, the new Taio Cruz (in my opinion) had the audience and the teenage girls at his feet. The R&B star performed well but like most UK R&B stars he has the commercial hooks just maybe not the soul factor that the US has produced. Hits “Make you mine” and “Humanoid” were well performed. Make you mine in a ballad style and Humanoid with robot talk and future speak, complimented further by Auto-Tune robo-vocals and an urban beat. Talay’s singing style puts the soul back into his genre of music and files him next to stars such as Neo and Chipmunk.

Soundgirl

Soundgirl were in the building, back from supporting Justin Beiber. It seemed that the girls songs are catchy (new single I’m the fool) definitely “went off” but live, like most other girl bands to put it bluntly can’t sing on stage! A lot of auto tuning is in place it seems for recorded tracks. Nevertheless the songs got stuck in your head and the audience loved it. The choreography helped the London based band engage with the audience throughout their 10 minute slot.

Six D

Six D were in Leamington. Type in six D on google search and batteries come up. Not well known the group, who admit to being inspired by “The Black Eyed Peas” performed well. “Best Damn Night” was great and the group provided lots of movement on stage involving the audience. The street dance crew entertained (probably because they were so many of them) and danced well.

Her Majesty & The Wolves

Next up were Her Majesty & The Wolves, the line up ex pussycat dolls member Kimberley Wyatt and MC Spencer Nenzy. I really enjoyed this act with the backing dancers and liveliness. Previously compared to the Black eyed peas as similar I believe the comparision is wrong unless you’ve just listened to “Stars in your eyes” a song that Fergie and Will I am would be proud of. This hit was the one of the best performances on the night. However by now someone should of really sorted out the sound quality as the backing track was overpowering the vocals throughout. I didn’t expect an ex pussycat doll to be able to sing on her own but Wyatt has a good tone to her voice and Nenzy could sort of rap (well better than Tinchy Stryder did.) Steering away from “Candy” collab with Aggros Santos (which is a really good thing) Her majesty and the Wolves differ from some of the pop disasters that the music industry has produced (Danni Minogue) and start to offer something different.

Wretch 32

Already a fan of Wretch 32 I was really looking forward to his slot. The other acts “okay” I expected big things from the chart topping Tiverton born rapper. Wretch bounded onto the stage with his bling glasses and embossed jacket after his recent chart success and stole the show.“Traktor” was by far the best performance of the night and I could actually hear Scott rap over the music (along with the fans.) I like how wretch after growing up in the same estate as artists as Chipmunk still keeps his music old school. His ability to rap over samples makes Scott different from other artists. Wretch is an engaging character and even the older members of the audience were nodding their heads appreciatively. Adult orientated Air was also a hit and even better acoustic, accompanied by a guitarist this track is one to look out for. The only problem with Wretch 32 was that he was not the main headliner.

Tinchy StryderTinchy Stryder

Now for the headliner Tinchy Stryder…Stryder has found the middle ground between pop and grime in his music with hits like “Number 1” (financially backed by MP Norman Lamb) and “Game over.” When the tiny character appeared on stage the crowd were on their feet. Throughout the set the audience were singing along. Some were hoping for Dappy to be in Leamington and you could see why in certain songs, especially “Spaceship” the new single they are promoting together. The sound quality was poor and the backing tracks were way too loud as not once could I clearly hear what Tinchy was saying. For a headliner the set seemed short, but this worked well as every song in the set the audience knew. A lot of arm raising was going and the audience were involved with every song. Stryder seemed lost without pals N dubz and I wonder if he could entertain for a whole show on his own! The DJ just seemed to stand there waving-in-time with Stryder. Nevertheless Stryder is a great showman and in hit “Never leave you” I could actually hear what Tinchy Stryder was saying!

Review – John Kirby
Photos – Jordan Hughes

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