Photo by Gary Barwell
Once upon a time, a shy young
lad approached a radio station I was working for and asked if he could come and
play. He was a likeable chap, dedicated to his music, and obviously destined
for greatness with a work ethic that would make a lesser person crumble. His
name was Josh Kemp. His name still is Josh Kemp if the truth be told, and that
shy young lad has now got (probably) close to a thousand gigs under his piano
key belt in addition to two EP releases (here tonight to launch the third),
YouTube hits-a-plenty for his music videos, radio sessions on both sides of the
Atlantic, and something in common with Errol Flynn and Russell Crowe thanks to
a starring role in yet another adaptation of the Robin Hood story.
The occasion tonight was the
launch of his EP Chatterbox, and the Bodega was
full to bursting for the occasion. In a room festooned with glow sticks and
balloons, and having had the crowd warmed up expertly by Molly & Jack and
The Rascels, Josh walked on to the stage to a much deserved applause and kicked
things off in his trademark style, breaking into well known track ‘The Reason’.
By this time things were going
well enough, but then something totally unexpected happened. Subtly and
sharply, there was suddenly a band accompanying and by the end of the song the
room reverberated to a much fuller sound that suited the songs down to the
ground although I would personally hate to see the end of the solo shows. The
new tracks from the EP, ‘Chatterbox’, and ‘Four Letters’ came next and showed
that he has evolved as a songwriter while keeping his cheeky charm, and the old
favourites were rolled out to mass approval akin to Sinatra breaking into ‘My
Way’.
A mass sing-along of the crowd
favourite ‘The Hangover Song’ closed the set, but Josh wasn’t going to get away
that lightly. Returning to the stage alone to crack open one of his renowned
cover version medleys, he brought together ‘Gold’, ‘I Wanna Be Like You’, and ‘Sweet
Child Of Mine’ and still wasn’t allowed to leave. Having been treated to a
crowd rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’, Josh struck back with another medley; ‘Sex
On Fire’ and ‘Mr Brightside’.
Josh took this adoration in
his stride, looking as if he still couldn’t believe his luck to be given this
opportunity. This is nothing to do with luck however, this is all down to hard
work and talent and one day everyone in attendance will look back on the day
that Josh Kemp played such a small venue.
