After an epic journey up and down the country the ATOM Live Tour 2009 has come to a close! The tour travelled across the UK visiting each of our centres and putting on a variety of music from ATM students in a local hot spot venue.
It’s been a rollercoaster of a ride, but along the way we’ve seen some fantastic bands, solo artists and MCs, as well as a colourful spattering of costumes, comedy and general craziness.
Off to Norwich (via Leeds!)
One white tour van, rope lighting in tact leaves London and begins its journey all the way up to Leeds to pick up the original touring band - Last Gang. Come Monday morning, van safely loaded with leather and tweed clad indie boys and a whole array of guitars (an unnecessary amount in fact). We drew the line at an enormous fan which the drummer insisted he needed, with the crew vowing to waft him with a magazine if temperatures rose to high … they were not amused. Soundtrack for the road trip - mostly the Clash.
The tour kicked off at the Arts Centre in Norwich, and what a night of music! All the way from Wakefield Last Gang were strangers as they took to the stage at their 1st set on the tour, but not for long, they quickly warmed the crowd with their catchy, energetic indie pop songs. Inspired by the Clash and Buzzcocks these boys put on a fantastic set with hits such as Youth run the City and Beat of Blue whose lyrics quickly embed themselves in your brain!
The rest of the night was a success too; a complimentary mix of punk rock and ska from 3 1/2 Inch Floppy, rock and slap bass from Kapok, a Guns & Roses influenced set by Lick the Dice and a fantastic end to the night from Dogtown as they welcomed the crowd to join them in Dogtown!
Next stop Southend
The beach, amusement arcades, fish and chips and sand castles. We wished. The reality a grey, windy, rainy night in Southend - so windy that we couldn’t even properly escape from the elements inside the venue! With each gust of wind, each door in the seafront venue Chinnery’s opened wide to treat us with a fresh blast of icy North Sea wind. We did get the fish and chips though J The musicians of Southend put on a great show with a variety of music from the melodic tones of Chanelle, Vicki and Torri to the rampage of a set by Through the Thorns.
Up North: Manchester
Music Box; dark and cave like. A great turn out and when you saw the talent of the students it wasn’t hard to see why. Performances by Hostile Era, Nine Till Dawn, Spirited Away, Hannah and Laura, Pineapple and Still City Sounds all of excellent standard with Still City Sounds, especially, proving a hit with the crowd.
The Email
It was all going so well … and then disaster struck! An email arrived stating that due to financial trouble the band, Last Gang, had pulled out of the tour! Alarm bells ringing, a doomy question mark lurking over the future of the tour. Please welcome to the stage, events extraordinaire Jono Heale and some fantastic ATM staff who managed to turn the situation around in just a couple of days.
The New Band
The new touring band was one of ATM’s own bands: The Interpreters from Norwich. Drawing their influences from an eclectic pool of music such as Aretha Franklin, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix they take their love of the sixties and bring it right up to speed combining it with a contemporary indie pop feel. The twist inducing, catchy tunes are infectious.
North Again.
Next we headed up North. Unfortunately The Interpreters couldn’t start immediately and so we had two dates on the tour which had no touring band. However, Warrington and Hull weren’t fazed. From Warrington a fantastic range of vocal artists including a beautiful set by Sophie Hollis and Mike Hantom. And from Hull some fantastic costumes from Dr Unik and Phil Nicholson with singer songwriter Fudgey proving a great highlight to the evening.
Up the A666
Quick stop to pick up The Interpreters. This time with slightly fewer guitars but just as many pairs of skinny jeans we headed on up to Corrupted in Blackburn. Forget the smell of stale beer and sweat, here they were literally applying the last licks of paint as we arrived for the get in! A lively night of music from the Badniks, Epics, Absolute Beginners and, I think the crowds personal favourites, the Beavers. The chemistry of The Interpreters when they were on stage was evident from the excellently mastered harmonies of Will and Mike and the banter between them all as they treated the audience to catchy tune after catchy tune! A great start to take two of the tour!
Sea & Marrs Bar
Next up Scarborough at Vivaz and the Marrs Bar in Worcester. Kicking off the night in Scarborough were The Furys who, despite a few technical hitches, put on a fantastic performance. Performances also included Platinum Disco and Beyond Sanctuary. And at Marrs Bar the powerful lyrics and vocals of singer songwriter Anna Rice and Jess Allen accompanied by her band on bass and drums, she sounded immense!
Playing at the O2
Heading into the West Country we arrived at the O2 Academy in Bristol. St Paddy’s day and plenty of sunshine drew the crowd in. In particular Gecko, Know Buses and Decoys shone - attracting huge crowds and working the audience. The Interpreters seemed to go down well here too, managing to sustain the crowd with their infectious energy and passion, never missing from their shows.
In the Dark
Birmingham artists at the Custard Factory laughed in the face of terrible lighting! Hats off to all those that performed: Rob Kinetic, Simon Alexander, Tegan and Trousers Down for acting like true professionals!
In the North Country
Next stop The Duchess in York with a great line up of acts including Lost Boy Found and Error State who really engaged with the crowd and, in a relatively big venue, managed to fill the space with their sound.
The Mezz Bar in Lincoln was a great night! A smart venue, on the campus of Lincoln University it brought in the crowds on Friday night. Jenny from Jenny and the Argonauts overcame her nerves and wowed the audience. The Rafters were a fantastic end to the night, really getting the crowd going with their hit ‘Dirty Little Rascal’.
Back to the Smoke
The Islington Academy in London played host to the tour for two nights with a whole range of artists from the melodic duet Chantel and Albert to the intelligent lyrics of MC Brainlokk- due to release his album in July. Joining the students on the 1st of the London gigs was acclaimed hip hop artist Kasha. Taking the UK by storm the rapper wowed the audience with his thought provoking lyrics and excellent stage presence.
End of the Pier
And so we come to the end of the tour, the last gig was in Brighton at Free Butt - a tiny venue but a great atmosphere. Joke Against Man really worked the crowd with their energetic stage presence demanding attention. And in an entirely different way, so did quirky duet Martin and Sophie - playing an eclectic mixture of songs, only pausing to dart from one instrument to the next!
What a tour! With a complete change of bands in the running of the tour this years ATOM Live Tour has certainly been an exciting one! We’ve seen some great music from our students as they’ve strutted their musical talents at some of the best live music venues across the UK. A big thankyou to all of the artists, staff and crew who worked on the tour and to all the friends and fans who turned up to the gigs to show their support.
All in all the tour has been a great success so watch this space as Access to Music continues to promote and showcase the freshest new talent from around the UK.
The Interpreters
Kasha
Headlining the autumn tour in October 2008 was Josephine Oniyama who is signed to Island Records. Josephine is a Manchester-based singer-songwriter with a fresh sound which has been delighting audiences across the country. She visited ATM centres and talked to students about the experience of being signed to a major label while in the evenings ATM students performed along side her at local venues, as part of the tour.
The tour offers work experience opportunities for students. For more details on this please go to our Get Experienced page.
