1/12/2022 Kira Mac @ The Grace

Once again, Thursday night proves to be the new 'Friday Night'.

This is my first visit since it's reopening to the venue formerly known as 'Upstairs at The Garage'. Now re-branded as The Grace. I can't say I like it very much in spite of the much more state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems. The once fairly reasonable in selection and price bar is now shite - there is nothing I actually want to drink regardless of price. So I don't bother. 😒 Also...

...smoke machines - the deadly enemy of gig photography. All that mist floating about in the atmosphere reflects the light back and makes autofocus very unreliable. 😖

Opening tonight's proceedings is The Karma Effect - a name that is new to me.

I don't know who the frontman is, but he looks familiar from somewhere and I suspect he's been around the block a few times over the years.

I get the strong impression he's very much in love with himself, although to be fair he puts a lot of energy into his performance and is a very good frontman - I think he must have been doing this for a while.

He's a pretty decent guitar player too - and doesn't he just know it.

The band are actually pretty good - a strong 1970's/80's classic rock vibe, but the songs don't really grab me.

And on to the main act. I think this is the first London headline show for Kira Mac - and they've sold it out. It's not that surprising to be honest as Planet Rock radio have been playing them a lot over the last few months, and I think they could have sold out a bigger venue like The Garage downstairs.

The band take their name from their singer's stage name. Her actual name is Rhiannon Hill and she has passed auditions for 'The Voice' TV show - she certainly does have quite a voice on her!

The band's sound is very much in the 'classic rock' mould and strongly influenced by the blues-rock acts of the 1970's and '80's. Their material is strong - hence getting a lot of airplay on Planet Rock this year. They already have their first album out 'Chaos Is Calling' - it's pretty good, although many of the songs sound in a very similar vein as if they have been written by the same person. However, one of the standout moments of the night is a song that breaks from their hard rocking powerhouse sound - the singer introduces the song by describing one of her friends saying something like "Rhi' - why don't you write another of those quieter songs?" The result is the ballad 'Never Going To Stay' - which is one of the outstanding songs on their debut album and a highlight of tonight's show.

'Never Going To Stay' is almost the only quieter song of the night; All ten tracks from their debut album get an airing as well as covers from ZZ Top and Nicklback - and also 'Nothing Else Matters' by Metallica - which was the song Kira sung on her audition for 'The Voice. It's pretty good version too. 

This is a young and I suspect fairly inexperienced band, but I get the strong impression they have worked very hard to get to where they are now in a short space of time. I also suspect they have been very well managed to get to this stage this early in their career - but they certainly deserve it. 'Kira' herself has a very warm, natural and engaging personality on stage - she is very down to earth and makes no effort to hide her Stoke-on-Trent accent. Her likable personality makes you think she would be a good person to go to the pub with - I may be shallow but I tend to judge people by if they would be good company in the pub - imagine going to the pub with Brian Johnson from AC/DC? That would be fun!

The standard of musicianship is high, and so is the songwriting. It's very impressive that such a young band can sound so radio-friendly and commercial. I really like the fact that they have made no attempt to follow current rock fashions and dumb their act down to 'appeal to the kids' like many other current bands do. They do have an vintage classic rock feel to their songs, but there is a modern twist to their sound as well to keep things fresh.

The band really do themselves proud tonight with an outstandingly successful show. They are very relaxed and polished performers for such a young band and could have a promising future ahead of them - I'm sure next time the band play in London they will be in a larger venue...