The Beat Surrender

It’s always been said that you shouldn’t mix business with pleasure, which while I can see that is an appropriate phrase to take into a lot of situations, it doesn’t always translate as well when you put it into good old rock n’ roll.

Ok so Beth Rowley may not be a drug taking, nymphomaniac, with wild slashing guitar riffs that leaves the crowd sweat soaked and shattered, but very much a part of the great rock ‘n roll music trade she certainly is having seen her debut album shuffle nicely into the top ten recently.

So it is that I find myself and a colleague from work heading to The Stables in Milton Keynes on a Thursday night to see the latest wonder woman of the female vocal. I figured as I was going to be in Milton Keynes on business, I might as well try and chuck a gig in with the trip, due to the fact that I like Beth Rowley on record and possibly just as importantly, it was the only gig I could find in MK that night, it meant she got the nod.

The venue itself is worth a mention, it’s not in Central Milton Keynes and so is a seven quid taxi there and back which isn’t bad, it’s up a little side road, off the beaten track that suggests as you approach up the tree lined driveway that you are heading for an exclusive country club.

What it is in actual fact though is a very modern theatre, complete with open plan box office and bar, the sound is impeccable which you would expect from something newly and specifically designed for this purpose. It does have a nice intimate feel to it, thanks in the main to the fact that it’s quite small, holding around four to five hundred seats.

First up tonight is Akayzia Parker who has just one friend and an acoustic guitar for company for most of the set. She appears as though she is the shyest girl in the world, lacking in confidence between songs and seeming slightly ill at ease with the crowd. Once she sings though the transformation is huge and she does have a really nice voice. Unfortunately tonight her strange stage manner does over shadow her performance, although she does still do a decent trade in her EP after the set.

Ms Parker though is merely a distraction tonight though, the sell out crowd are here to see the latest challenger to the Duffy / Winehouse / Adele / Melua / Marling easy listening female vocal title. On tonights evidence she has every chance of challenging and outshining many of them, if she can just add a couple of things to her live repertoire.

The first thing is that as impressive as her cover versions are of Bob Dylan, Jim Crawford, Willie Nelson and Etta James and believe me they really are good, having that number in a relatively short set that she does, detracts slightly away from her being able to stamp her mark on you.

The second thing is that she needs to find ways to engage the audience more, as much as she does talk to the crowd, the atmosphere is missing from the gig. This may be in part due to the nature of the venue and the crowd, but I think a change in pace musically now and again, more emphasis on making the gig more visual and some different interaction would really help.

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