Live at the Piece Hall

Hollie Cook hails from West London, and comes from musical roots with her Dad being Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols. She found solace in music from Marc Bolan, David Bowie and The Cure, and has been fascinated by arts from a young age having gotten into professional acting, singing and modeling. One day she decided that all of those performing arts just weren’t for her and found her way into performing on her own from a family friend called Ari Up, whom she sang backing vocals for.

I had the chance to go and see this songstress perform in her hometown, London UK, where she performed a set that was heavily reggae inspired. She worked the crowd fantastically, getting the audience involved in dancing and singing exerts of the song back to her. The whole vibe was just so fun, and it was a real party atmosphere. Backed by such an all star band of fantastic musicians, it is no wonder that everyone was having the best time throughout her set.

The house lights dim gradually and so begin the crescendo of the audiences contrasting howl as the beat of “Hands Off… She’s Mine” sounds, and everyone is dancing showing off their best moves for the main event this evening, Birmingham band, The Beat, fronted by Ranking Roger, run on to the stage still possessing the same excitement that they one had thirty something years ago.
The Beat have a very worthy discography, with three top forty albums, two of which, “I Just Can’t Stop It” and “Wha’ppen?” rocketing up the charts to secure the number three spots. Word on the street and the whisper amongst the audience is that they have another album coming out next year called “For Crying Out Loud”. If there is something that this band is good at, it is playing live. They are so well known for creating a party atmosphere with their distinct “Two Tone, Ska, Post Punk” sound. Ranking Roger is a worthy ringleader of this outfit. Blasting through their set playing songs such as “Jeanette” and “I Confess”, even more current songs such as a remix of “Mirror in the Bathroom”. It truly is a spectacle seeing these music giants do what they do best.