THREE GIRL RHUMBA. Photo Credit: Sam Nahirny
Everyday we’re hustlin’… in the Notts music scene that is and if one thing is for absolute sure, it’s that the Hockley Hustle was on incredible form this year! With over 300 Notts acts gracing the various stages of the hustle, here’s a roundup of my personal journey round HH.
THE MOST UGLY CHILD played to an extremely packed out Angel Microbrewery and the guys DELIVERED. As always they got the crowd going, foot tapping, singing and jiving, spilling my gin, to their Americana powerhouse songs. A vibrant six-piece band, hollering a mix of Americana and blending into a classical Willie Nelson old school Country sound. They were worth spilling my gin for. Plus they announced they have a new EP coming out next month so keep your eyes/ears out for that too.
The Jam Cafe was host to lotsa great music throughout the day, including THREE GIRL RHUMBA, who put on a super energetic performance for the busy venue, the boys were on point again with their catchy alt tunes playing their newly released track “Pica”, as well as previewing for us their upcoming release “’Budget Day”, which is due to release in a couple of weeks.
I was drawn to this next band cos of their name – PUTIN AND THE DOLPHIN, can you see why? A raw intimate set at Edin’s Kitchen full of their own peaceful acoustic material was the perfect treat for Sunday afternoon. The ukulele and guitar wielding duo are pretty new to the Notts music scene having formed earlier this year, playing their own track “An Invitation” which they dedicated to their neighbour Nuna… who they only ever met through a window… Seriously. Their music had me swaying on my stool, closing my eyes and taking me to another worldly dimension, but hey who knows that coulda been the alcohol too.
LeftLions stage at Broadway was full of awesomeness too. One of the awesomeness bringers was KETO. Leah’s hypnotic and haunting vocals on “Waiting on Dreams” cast a spell over the crowd turning us all into silent listeners. Except for the rowdy whoopers at the end of every song but that’s totally normal for the hustle. The intense violin on “Nowhere” filled everyone in the room with hella emotion and hella goosebumps. And I didn’t spill any of my gin this time.
Hockley Arts Club played host to one of the most dapper men in Nottingham, ADY SULEIMAN. EVERYONE in there was singing along with his infectious jams, from “Ain’t that Beep”, to the mesmerising “So Lost”. Hockley Arts was so busy for him, it was one in one out, with a queue of like 100 peeps! Madness. Throwing it back to “State of Mind” in his set too, crowd pleaser Ady powered through his sore throat and played an encore as the crowd wanted more from him. One of my personal favourite performers of the day, and now I have to compete with my Boyfs man crush on him too, thanks Ady.
FISTS played at Rough Trade to a crowd of enigmatic Punk headbangers, a sort of comeback show for them at the Hustle as they’ve not played there since 2008! And they were welcomed back with a bang. Air guitar inspired tracks had the crowd mini moshing, and by that I mean, not breaking bones moshing. With heavy drum clambering and guitar solos in “6 5 Special” the crowd were going mental!
I finished my night at Bunkers Hill to watch the epic self-proclaimed “hillbilly outlaw Folk” band, DH LAWRENCE AND THE VAUDEVILLE SKIFFLE SHOW who got the crowd involved from the get go. They handed out tambourines and kazoos to everyone watching. Surprisingly the kazoo is one of the hardest instruments to play, for me anyway. A fiddle grooving and foot tapping set filled with an infectious jolly atmosphere all the way through, they were so good that a pirate was square dancing on the floor. Yup, a pirate. Amazing.
Obviously, the Hustle is an enormous festival, this is just a brief review of the acts that I had the pleasure of seeing. Big love to all the acts who played, the promoters, the Hustle team, and everyone who made the day awesome.
Time for a gin now, I reckon.
Yours in Love of New Music,
Angelica Giugno x
