Dorset Music Awards Quarter Final 2

Dirty Jerkers can’t make it due to acute illness, so get well soon. This means the starter is Shaun Gary Palmer, who plays an awesome looking and sounding acoustic guitar. He starts with the intricate fingered chords that won his style over to me in the heats, before slipping into some sombre strummed songs, before livening things up again near the end of his 20 minute set.

Sean Hatton is next; he demonstrates a wider range of strumming chord techniques, picking some of the notes, good twiddling with upbeat chords keeping it happy in nature. He’s using a variety of capo settings to provide an interest to the music, while keeping his vocals in what is probably a comfortable range for him.

Bad Magic wake us all up by playing some awesome rock, a stunning contrast to the previous acoustic music. Tuneful, loud, brash, with enough attitude to take the building by storm, its hard to believe they’re not out of their teens yet. All the posturing is here, backed up by good music; they also throw in a couple of ballads as if to show they can do those too. Lead singer and guitarist Chris shows good vocal control, able to wail them out long and loud, holding notes on choruses like a pro.

Know One finish off the night in style. Singer / MC Dean and the sax player take time out to jump off stage and join the inevitable mosh pit. They finish with Potential, which has a big rock riff in the middle , totally broken time with the rest of the track, a 1-2-3 from Dean and they all break back into the fast ska-reggae beats they’ve been playing, totally tight. Kudos also for giving shouts to the rest of the artists tonight.

I finish in the Cellar Bar where the auditory delights of Jouis are entertaining the massed crowd. Hearing them do their funk / soul / psychedelic groove as a full band, on a full PA, with a very active and vocal audience, is another treat for my now well-over indulged ears.