MUSIC: Killa Kela - Nottingham Rescue Rooms : 4/11/09

If Killa Kela really does get asked what is beatboxing all of the time, he does give an amazing example. Mixing between his electro dubstep songs and his faultless beatboxing, tonight gave a glimpse of his awesome talent.

The onstage atmosphere with his backing band was fun and showed three guys just having a great time. This certainly rubbed off on the audience, getting them jumping and joining in even when the songs solely relied on his voice.

A lot of today’s crowd probably hadn’t been exposed to that much professional beatboxing, but Killa Kela is a perfect way of getting newbie’s into it through a seemingly perfect mix of music.

Word will inevitably spread about Killa Kela and when it does he will be filling venues like this twice over with his beats, this is truly beatboxing heaven!

**** 1/2

MUSIC: Ash - Loughborough Students Union : 3/11/09

There are many reasons a band might play a certain location – audiences, venues, accessibility etc. But for Ash, none of those factors count. They are playing an A-Z tour of the UK and when queried about a location for letter L, Loughborough was obviously the best candidate. Take that London!

Looking perfectly natural on the Loughborough University stage, which has come from their years of playing on the music circuit, the band delved through their vast collection of songs. During their set they played such classics as ‘Girl From Mars’ and ‘Burn Baby Burn’, with new songs also put on the table.

These new songs are part of Ash’s agenda to release 26 singles in a year and whilst it is safe to say these do not have the live brilliance of some of their old tunes, they still show a safe future for Ash.

Whilst other bands from Ash’s era are reuniting, Ash have continuously been around appealing to new fans and as more years go by, Ash will still be here and as good as ever. That’s if they make it through the very rock and roll Zennor Village Hall gig that will climax the tour! At least they know the alphabet!

****