WHAT WE SAY

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Alistair
I know it's me, but it needs to be mentioned, we do a kick-ass version off Tenacious D's 'Tribute'. I watched a video of it, and yeah, the musics cool, but I look such a prat, which is why it's so funny.. My brother and I also do old Redwood / Lazydog songs, which is fair, cos we wrote them anyway.

It's lies, all lies..... seen here with the famous clipboard....

info@alistairmcowan.com
www.alistairmcowan.com

Angus
My brother, plays guitar, records and prduces music, and breaks manystrings

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Alex and Craig
Sang Chad Dawson songs..... fine stuff, though I've never heard of Chad Dawson. Singer has a sweet voice....

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Andy, Hannah and Jim.
Music that breathes, builds, draws you in, dynamic and original, without overplaying. Talented musicians (2 of them ex-Sunfactor). very cool stuff...

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Andy
Sang a song about Harry Potter, though I think there was a hidden meaning.... well structured songs, good hooks.....

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Alan
Played, got the fear, left the stage. To be fair, he was slightly pissed...... and rightly so, as he'd just become a dad. Plays clarinet and piano too

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Adam and James
Didn't totally know the songs they were playing, though Adam has an amazing voice which more than made up for it.

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Alicia.
Very bluesy, intricate singer. Hints of Joni Mitchell meets Janice Joplin. Total control of full voice, AND falsetto (if girls actually have falsetto - I don't know.) Good to watch, wears interesting shoes to.

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Adrian
Original stuff, has nice demeenor (I think that's a word), sang All Saints song Under The Bridge!?.
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Andres.
Provided the guitar for Open Mic for a long time. Has been known to play Green Day stuff. Would love to get together with another songwriter to write songs. Sometimes is the guitarist for landlord Phil. Columbian roots, speaks fluent Spanish.

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Alex
Plays flamenco box that you hit whilst sitting on it, plus other percussion. Likes salsa (would like to form a salsa band, for any like minded musicians out there)

"If you can play conga drums or you can play
salsa on the piano, have instrument, and want to play salsa in Guildford,
maybe we could start a new project. Please also get in touch if you have any related project I could join. Got trumpet, complete timbale set and bongo
drum. I would also join any tasty brass-enabled project to play trumpet,
from soul to funk to reggae to.. salsa?" Alex.

Alesio and friends
Plays heavy stuff.... probably Alice in Chains, Sabbath etc.... top guitarist.

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Bikini Black Special
Intricate percussion, with Van Morrison style songs, including emotionaal scatting, worthy of the original songster himself. Encapsulating to watch

Ben Hill
Ex Treadmill vocalist.... a talented songwriter.

Ben Lovejoy
Neil Young meets Turin Brakes, crossed with Ben Christophers and Jeff Buckley. Very good, endearing to watch. A voice that at twists and winds with emotion. At times, the venue goes quite as poeple listen (this is very rare at an open mic night).

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Cuba Libra
Very good band, Incubus meets Pearl Jam, acoustic, with good harmonies, intricate songs.... played storming set at Uni...

Cabbalah
Played 'without Ben'. A very good female Incubus, detuned guitar, way good musicianship, cool bongo thingy drums. Very good!!!

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Charlie
Plays original stuff, writes amazing songs. Should be off touring making loads of cash, and in time, most probably will be

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Chris, Tom and Dan
Fine guitarist, sing songs about June. Pleasant stuff.

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Christian
To quote 'It's the first time I've done this acoustic strummin'. Played well, we hope to see more of Christian. Smiles for the camera, which is nice

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Danny and Mikey
Talented duo, playing Chillis and Turin Brakes. Good musicianship, harmonies...... singer has hints of Turin Brakes in his tones!!

Dan
Seen here with Alistair. Very good voice, Pearl Jam like.... has own band.

Dan
Played with Kelly, fiddly guitar work, played well.....

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Dave
Sings accapella, which is very brave in itself........ to sing American Pie and Something Inside is braver still. Brings it off though. Sometimes plays with Mike on guitar

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David I
Very talented, original and cover. Subtle and intimate style, nylonn string acoustic, in the Damian Rice vien of music.........

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Dave
Mentioned above in Fox and Pelican Open Mic, but needs mentioning again, as was the first act to take to the stage at Pews. Bod Dylan meets Wllie Nelson in a cool Guildford venue......

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Darren
Plays his own self penned works. Hints of Oasis in the songwriting, catchy melodies..........

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Placid Ambience
Duncan and Jon, guitar vocal, have a release that should be available now.....

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Emma and Brad
Passionate vocals, songs with key changes....

Emma
Good voice with a gritty edge when she digs in.

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Georgie
Promotes, sings, likes Skunk Anansie songs, seen here with Sharp from Portsmouth

Gareth.
Play Incubus, Pearl Jam, Nickleback, Creed, and many other such musical delights. Gareth is a very good guitarist, used to play with Josh

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Gavin and Phil.
A mighty fine act of quality music, spot on harmonies and haunting floooting!! Gavin also happens to be the 'Grandaddy of all That is Open Mic' (which is a good thing)

Gaz
Bass player with Ben Lovejoy. Has own studio....

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Hayley
Girly who sings and wears a parker. Possibly a snorkel parker, but maybe a standard one.
UPDATE: Now has band called Haley and The Snorkels. She has a lovely voice.... Has sung Alanis Morrisette song.

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Holly
Official openmic photo snapper, sings lovely Bill Withers, Suzanne Vega and Crowded House, with Al on geeetar.

Ian (and Tim)
Played guitar for Tim. Subtle stuff, played Damian Rice Cannonball...

Ian (plus girl singing)
She sang, he played, e-mail me and tell me more....

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Ian (J.Tull)
Played Jethro Tull songs, though I couldn't comment, as I wouldn't know what one actually sounded like (though I did see them once at Guildford Festival)

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Ian, Raidy and Lucy
Stunning voice, Irish sounding, good guitarist

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Ivan
Played music, with a guitar. No picy, but these people could have been clapping him.....

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Ivan Chandler
Stunning player of instruments with black and white keys (keyboards, blowey keyboard things). Leans towards bluesy jazzy stuff, but plays anything. Can play rock'n'roll keys with his feet, Jerry Lee Lewis stylee, gets the audience singing along.

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Jamie
Great singer, songwriter, with a pure, honest sounding voice.

James Lee
Songwriter, moments of pure beauty and passion when he sings.... stunning lyrics, world class, I kid you not..... plays bass for Mindwire and September (re?)

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Jamie
Did a lovely version of that famous Midnight Cowboy song, Everybodys Talking....

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James Dean
Used to be in local band Snug. Pure quality songwriter. Recorded stuff is fantastic. If he ever has an album available, BUY IT!!

James and Chris
Lost my notes about these two, but I do know that one played guitar, and the other bass...... and they were a duo.

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Jesus Christions dot com
As the name suggests, religious songs about Jesus and God. Pleasantly surprised I was, as the music was actually dam-fine (if I can use such an expression) (Alex joined in onbongo-box thing)

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Jon and Jordon
Detuned Deftones cover. Good stuff, though freshly changed strings on guitar made detuning harder.....

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Jim and Nigel
Playing laid back, bluesy style covers. Used resonator guitar (as the famous Dire Straits one), though was hard to hear, cos it didn't plug in

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Jen and Martin
Played REM and Jewel songs. SHe had a brand new geetar, had had a very nice Taylor geeter. Martin has played many an open mic night, including The Beavers, St Johns one that happened many years ago.....

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Josh and Simon
Nickleback, Creed, Pearl Jam, but in an original form. Have band, don't know what it's called though

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Jeremy.
Plays original and covers. Does very cool versions of The Jam songs, as he can sound like Paul Weller.

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Jim
Known to play 'Sunny Afternoon', 'Your Song', 'Pinball Wizard', and a mighty fine blues, probably in E, or possibly A. Does own song about Bush and Blair getting together for a whiskey and discussing world problems.....

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Joe
Played a very good version of Thousand Trees by Stereophonics.

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Jay
One of the most amazing musicians, singer song-writers, in Charlie's league. Bluesy, latin feel. A joy to watch when he gets on the classical guitar. Soulful.

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Justin
From the skate skaa punk school of Guildford musicians, plays well, sings well, looks good. Think he writes his own stuff too

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Jontee
Drummer for Without Grace, and percussionist for whoever shows up at openmic. Highly skilled in these areas, and a top geezer too....(this is a picture of his band though)

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Kareem
Passionate but intimate style of singing...... nice chords.... did a song that sounded like Private Investigations, by the mighty Straits

Kashia
Talented songwriter. Hints of Kate Bush, emotianlly driven songs....

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Kelly
Has been coming to openmic ages, and has finally got up and played (with guitarist Dan). Good voice, original songs which have a 'country' edge to them

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Kristie and Dan
Play own songs plus covers (like Portishead and Jewel). SHe's got a good soulful voice, he's a solid guiarist.

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Kat
Plays her own stuff, did Cranberries song, hints of someone from the Corrs, for a moment, in her vocals......

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Lara
Very good singer, with the warmth and bass of Carol Carpenter, though more soul / jazz elements.....

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Little Red Car
Good voice, young looking band. Playing songs by Sublime, who are a tasty band (skate-ska, singer died. I've got 'Second Hand Smoke', which is just the b-sides, but the other albums are pretty cool).

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Lee
Lee is a well known musician around Guildford. He is exceptional on the guitar, with a very versatile voice. Get's up and claims to be drunk, but plays like 'the deveel himsaylf'.

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Manu
This guy is very good. Think John Mayer on guitar, with someone John Mayerish, but less soft on vocals. Cool, cool, stuff.

MC Nimatek
Rapper beatboxer dude with cool tatoos...... haven't really got a reference point, but it sounds good to me.....

Mcarthy
Forgot his first name.... American dude, plying emotionally driven alt. Hypnotically passionate..... Did Hotel California with Al, with the complete solo.

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Marie
Hints of Gwen Steffani / No Doubt from Marie. Good stuff.Good guitarist, intricate stuff (Andy is the man on the strings on this occasion

Matt
Stunning vocals. The grittiest side of David Gray, with the quality side of Oasis in his songwriting. Massive potential.

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Matt Rock
Blur kind of feel to his stuff, reminded me of that Coxon bloke (original, indy alt). Has or had his own band. Song about 'Overdose', or something like that. Quite at home 'on stage'.

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Matthew
Sang Frank Sinatra acapella, and very well too. Later on got up with young lady (Rachel) to do a duet, which also was very fine. has a love for Robby Williams songs.

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The Merry Hens
A very laid back version of comic poet abstract poet meets Led Zep. At times mezmorizing, at times chaotic. Can really depend on how much they've had to drink.......

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Mooks of Hazzard.
Song about Yoko in my Kitchen. Singing guitarist with bloke doing human beat-box. Fairly original approach to Open Mic, which is nice! Picture is of Martin Harley band, but it's all I've got (Adam bass playeris a mook)

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Martin
Plays Powerhouse, and everywhere else in the country actually. Too talented, so very cool that he comes and plays openmic.....

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Mike
Has very blond hair, also plays Powerhouse, sings song about 'we didn't start the fire'. Human jukebox, always playing different tunes.

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Nicky and Miles
She sang blues, he played 'Englishman in New York', very well.

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Nijel the Poet.
Tall bloke with beard and funny hat with feather in. Eccentric chap, good hearted. Reads poems that range from abstract to very abstract

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Ollie
Sang Wonderful tonight. Talented and endearing to watch.

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Oli and Reidy
A punky Blink 182 / Sum 41 thing acoustic. From local band of same ilk (though pluged in), very tight, very good, if you like that stuff, check them out. Another local band who just needs that lucky break. Band is called The Excuse.

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Paul Slack
Played a takamine. This is a nice guitar, and I can recomend it to anyone buying a new one....

I am looking to form a band, I have a guitarist, but need Bass, Drummer……like every other band forming out there!

Paul
Phoeninx red guitarist, has acompanied Josh, playing Incubus and Pearl Jam. Hits the guitar hard.

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Phil Mitchell
Sings a very fine song about someone stealing the lights on his bike, in a light hearted fashion. Other songs are more emotionally sung, with subtlety and..... emotion.

Paulina
Had blond hair. If she plays again, I can elaborate.

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Redwood
Only 3/4s of the band have actually played, but fine stuff it is (it's my old band, so I should say that)

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Radiate
Song based acoustic alt rock (though this all changes when they use their electric instruments. U2 meets Levellers meets Smashing Pumpkins

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Randine
Percussionist (maybe drummer). Plays subtley, which is rare, when drummers are presented with something to hit, and not much amplification.... good stuff!

Rob Fisher
A talented musician and songwriter. Down tuned stuff in the vein of the mighty Soundgarden. One to watch.

Ryan Cooper
Yes, the one and only RYAAAAN COOPEEER. He plays harmonica, guitar, bass, sings, does a strange kind of rap beatbox, and is from South Africa. Seeing is believing!!!

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Rael Jones
Awsome vocalist / guitarist. Weird messed up lyrics. Death Metal meets Jeff Buckley. Deffinately not everyones taste!!! Destined to make money from music in some way or other.........

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Rich N
Weird stuff, but played with conviction, which is nice.......

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Rach and Joe
Finely played stuff, pleasing to the ear, Rach wore a hat that looked good, previously wore brownish sunglasses. Hints of Alanis Morrisette. Joe plays on his own too (G'n'R cover, 'Don't You Cry').

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Ritchie
Nik Drake meets Del Amitri, wearing a scarf.

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Rob and Jon
The PA blew up as these guys were playing, so can't say what they were like. Looked the part though.

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Sam
Very, very good singer, gets all the notes, though goes for the more dischordant melodies that jump around like Bjork and the likes. Emotionaly-wonderfully-weird could sum her music up

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Seb
Sang Bowie song, very convincingly. Gives it attitude, really gets into what he's playing..... Divine Comedy meets Bowie, meets quirky pop. Good stuff!

Sergio and friends
A loose jam of Spanishy Latin stuff. Cool sax player, good version of a Sting song.....

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Sharlit
Incredibly good singer, shade of Alanis Morrissette?? though leans towards weird Kate Bush on original material

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Simon and Gemma
Good voice, good guitar, stuff with attitude......

Sid and Sara
Have own band, Sid was in local signed band Inter. CAtch them playing at the West End Centre from time to time.....

Steve and Colin
Play separately also. Nice blokes, like the odd beer, sing about something to do with flowers or sunshine...... not sure.

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Suzie and Adam
Adam is and amazing guitarist, bassist, and probably everything else. Suzie is a very cool, soulful, bluesey singer. They play a crowd stopping version of Cry Me A River........ also plays with Jay (see right)

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Sharp of Portsmouth
Aggressive, shouty, Levellers covers, sings with conviction. Has dark hair. Has been known to cover 'More than words' with Alistair on guitar.

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Sam and Tom
Sam finally played, after much Openmic guestbook chat. Good voice too.

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Stacey
Looks good, fine voice, was in grily band Crush

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Shay, Nola, Emma & Joe
Sang Skunk Anansie + blues. Cool guitarist, all girls very good singers

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Tanya
Sweet voice, sang Jewel songs, ok on guitar too.....

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Tim
Played Chilli Peppers, first time ever on any stage!! Important man up at Chancellors.....

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Tom Strum
Regular openmicer, and very good at it. Plays own songs and Verve songs. Hopefully Tom will write enough to record an ep / album, cos I'm sure we'll all by it............

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Tom
Nice bloke, plays covers, original ones, the kind that are hard to play, can't remember which though.

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Tony (rapper / producer)
A star perefrormer at open mic. Makes his own hip-hop backing tracks on cd, then raps / rants / curses / bobs anlong to them. If he stays on coarse, destined for great things....

Tony
Always plays new original covers, sometimes breaks guitar strings at the same time. Nice bloke, good voice......

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Tony and Sarah
Play in a band called Assonance back in Lincoln , mellow stuff, with gentle strummin on the geetar!

Tony and Adge
Both talented musicians, playing original covers (I Love You Baby, and that Elvis song from the tv ad). Adge is session musician, as seen on TV...

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Varsity
Sang very open songs from the heart. Pretty fine honest stuff....

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Without Grace
A favourite Pews act. Soon to be very famous. Check them out in a cool intimate bar while you still can. Sometimes have cd's to but, if your lucky . Stone Temple Pilots meets Reef meets Black Crowes. Play electric in big venues with big bands too.

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Walter
Singer from Hip Slinky, very talented. Sinatra meets Buckley. Should be going places, with songwriting aswell as playing.

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Will
Played well, Queens of the Stoneage songs, which is hard, so he must be good....... and was.

Will and Johnny
From a local band, though I didn't catch who. Rocky, melancholic, tuneful and passionate.

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Will and Nell
Play TV theme tunes like A team (without the Cylon noises). Fun to watch, doing original covers, which is always nice.

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Yellow Car
Very dramatic, remends me of My Life Story meets Pulp, meets Robbie Williams?? Have a feeling they, or the singer is a Guildford School of Acting chap, but not sure. Catchy songs, about beer and other such things

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Unknown Players
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Sang Hotel California, with rude words.....

Music wth attitude.... encaptulating

Bloke playing pleasant stuff

Bloke.....

Lovely voice, classic songs, gently sung with intricate inflections....

ACM SC. bloke, intricate guitar stuff, jazzy.

Bloke with long hair....

Bloke, who was at summer school ACM, I assume.

ACM summer school people....

ACM summer school people

Sweet voice....

Beatbox Bob
Plays with Jazzy Bloke, don't know his name....

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Girl
Good powerful voice, with well written songs. A female Kurt Cobain, not in the Courtney Love way

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Harmonica Man
Plays harmonica and sings, I imagine.

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Jazz
Chills out plays jazzy stuff, with weird guitar tunings. Had beatbox bloke with him. Pretty good guitarist.

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Left Handed
Left handed, plays own songs also, plus brings alog elctric guitar. Was wearing something black ontop.

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Pretty Girl
Pretty girl, can't quite remember her voice though. Bloke was playing guitar.

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Two Blokes
Two blokes, one playing guitar, the other singing

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Uni Girl
Think she goes to Surrey uni, nice voice, in a Carol Carpenter way.

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Double bass acoustic beat combo....

Bloke
A bloke who played guitar, I think quite well...

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Audience Pictures
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Pews

Pews

Chancellors

The Tup

Crowd watching Rob Fisher at the Tup