East Slope is pretty full tonight for the first of a planned succession of gigs put on by the Independent newspaper for up- and -coming unsigned acts. Tonight is a double bill of singer-songwriters, former student Steve Olley and Third Year Danny Stevens. Support act is Olley, who opens with a Hefner cover, before embarking on a number of original numbers including "The Dragon Song" and the finger-picked "Lonely Hope", a melancholic number about "being in a relationship and continuing to make the same mistakes”. Steve is clearly a natural entertainer and at ease with the audience. Displaying vocals somewhere akin to Tom McRae and Ben Folds, his range is vast and he is not let down by his guitar playing. He ends his set with a rousing rendition of the Moody Blues' "White Satin", much to the crowd's approval.
Danny Stevens begins his set with self-penned song, "One in Ten", a harmonica driven acoustic ballad. This is subsequently followed by "24 hour Love Song", which he introduces as "a love song about a girl I'm yet to meet", he then requests for girls to see him afterwards, but not in a sleazy way- Danny is no Peter Stringfellow that's for sure. There's an intense degree of honesty in the lyrics- "Take my hand and teach me all about love" he sings in a not as yet titled tune, and 'Got to be more to love this/.. More than a drunken kiss' on "For You."
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Danny’s influences appear to be rooted firmly in the alt-country/ folk genre. His set bears the hints of Ryan Adams, Gram Parsons and to a much greater extent, the solo work of Tim Burgess. He mixes melodic guitar rhythms with jaunty strumming patterns and love-struck vocals. Emotional heartache and wistful desires feature heavily in Danny's set; "Maddison" is dedicated to a girl he met last summer in New York, whilst "Pippa's Song'" is for his latest admiration, albeit she still has a
boyfriend. "Bollocks!" Danny exclaims to the crowd.
The set is slightly marred by a number of technical delays with the amplification, but Danny handles the situation well and the quality of his set more than makes up for it. He ends the night with "Fade" and "You're Beautiful". The latter features exquisite harmonica playing and vocals, though it is slightly let down by its mandolin-esque chords, which really require a second guitarist to flesh it out. Overall though, the future looks bright for live music on the Sussex University campus, whilst Danny Stevens displayed a solid set and looks a promising act in the making.
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