Heat Two Winners: BlueFeed
After a very close Heat One, the audience and the judges were keen to see the five acts performing in Heat Two of BurySOUND, now in it’s 25th year.
Grace Wells was opening the night and we all know being the first one up can be the hardest, however this is the first time she has played with her band. The addition of a bass and drums, as well as Grace on guitar, really gave depth to her songs and it’s a good move. These potentially loud instruments didn’t overwhelm her lovely singing voice, they complemented her folkie indie songs and her soft deeper tones. There was versatility in the songs and they kept within her style. My favourite track was ‘Brother’. These guys have great potential.
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Soma came bursting on with their thrash metal craziness. Plenty of guitars and heavy drums. They added some sound effects which gave a shoegaze undernote which was a nice dynamic to the heaviness. I also appreciated there wasn’t a lot of singing. Whereas a lot of thrash rock can be full of screaming and yelling, these guys let the instruments do the singing and voice work was intermittent.
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Bluefeed engaged the crowd in an instant with their confident, easy, relaxed nature. They had an instant retro vibe with their cords and waistcoats and matched this energy with their well-crafted tracks. Only a trio, yet they delivered a sound with funky and deliberate bass lines, fantastic versatility of the guitar all kept together with well-considered drums. They played to their strengths with great feel good and radio ready tracks, they made it look easy and uncomplicated. These guys delivered on personality, entertainment and a fresh sound with every song being a crowd-pleaser.
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The 07s are a four-piece delivering some indie pop tracks which were pretty cool for a young group. The drummer was swapped out on a couple of tracks to showcase his talent, which was okay as he’s certainly got some talent, but it did change their whole vibe although they brought it back with their cover of Can’t Stop by Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The keys added some dynamic however I still think these guys are finding their way.
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The 29th Funktion were funky, dreamy, slightly hippy with an easy vibe with a strong female lead who was colourful and watchable. The guitar sound was fantastically soulful and I liked how the structure of the songs allowed all the instruments to breath within the songs and not cover kill on the singing. It was carefree listening like on a summer evening or a chilled Sunday afternoon. The last track had more depth as it was a faster heavier funky beat with the crowd enjoyed.
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While the judges went off to deliberate the headline act, London-based rockers Fightmilk kept the audience dancing and enjoying a night of live music.
Bluefeed join the winner of Heat One: Bury rapper EV
There are three more heats to go at The Hunter Club in Bury St Edmunds before the Grand Final at The Apex on 14th April. It is a fiver well spent to see five band plus a guest headliner.
For all photos of BurySOUND 2023 from Tony @sixtytwothings click here
This review appeared on GrapevineLIVE