Jade's Music Blog

But aside from their penchant for close-fitting denim, these two acts share a gift for songwriting and a stage presence that made last night a must-see date in any music fan’s diary.
Over at a jam-packed Bumper, The Hot Melts rattled through a fabulously raucous set, much to the delight of their crowd of late-teens fans.
As the opening chords of Shrink rang out, a cheer raced through the hot, sticky throng, signalling something special.
The Wirral four-piece, with their vociferous odes of broken hearts and shattered love affairs are quickly building up a massive fan base in Liverpool, and rightly so.

Meanwhile, across town, few solo performers would relish the challenge of filling the enormous stage at the packed Alma De Cuba, let alone with only an acoustic guitar plastered with gaffer tape for company.
Fewer would then perform songs they’d only just written and had never played in public before (“This is the first time I’ve played this. Well not the first time ever, that would be terrible. But the first time I’ve played it for anyone.”)
And even fewer would receive quite such rapturous applause for it.
But then there is only one Eugene McGuinness.
In the time I’ve been covering music for the Echo I’ve seen Eugene go from strength to strength.
Last night, as he sung tracks from his debut mini-album, The Early Learnings of Eugene McGuinness, his hometown crowd sang along with every line.
For High Score, A Girl Who My Eyes Shine For but my Shoes Run From and the dazzling Bold Street they almost lifted off the exquisite roof.
For with his uber-geeky stage persona, the LIPA graduate is effortlessly charismatic. In his own pale, haunted, skinny kind of way he delivers a flurry of sharp, sardonic and self-deprecating one-liners both within and between songs.
It’s not often that you spot the next big thing just before it happens, but every now and again an act comes up that just seems destined for success. Last night we had not one but two. Catch them while you still can.
10/10