Elliot Minor - Islington Carling Academy
Amazing, mind blowing, breathtaking, incredible, energetic, enthusiastic, and professional. The review should really stop here, as these words describe just how remarkable this gig really was. These up and coming rock musicians have their origins set as choristers, which is an added bonus when it comes to their song writing and performance. Elliot Minor obviously knows their stuff in terms of musical talent. What we have are five young, talented guys throwing all their musical knowledge into creating a HUGE range of excellent punk/rock/pop tunes. By looking at their stage presence, vocal talent, writing ability, and musical aptitude it is extremely hard to believe these lads have only been rocking out professionally for less than a year; they blend together as if they had playing together for a lifetime.
Elliot Minor's style may be classed as pop rock, but sure doesn't have its feet securely planted in that genre. On many songs, they tend to sway more to the rockier sound, which seem to appeal to young teens, as well as people in their twenties and thirties, of both genders. You would probably expect a group of fellas in their early late teens/early twenties, to imitate the musicians that are inspired by, Chilli Peppers, Foo Fighters, and Lost Prophets. Elliot Minor has the ability to stand-alone, and creates their own style and fans. Their music is so polished and professional. They are not a 'teeny-rocker' band like Busted or McFly. They are rock, and sound terrific. Going from choirboys to rock musician must have been quite a change for the lads but they have made it look easy. The vocals of these quality musicians are astonishing. Alex and Ed are amazing vocalists who have the ability to stand alone and sing their individual parts, join together to belt out one heck of a chorus, but more impressive is the combined vocal arrangement and harmonies. There's a quality to the music these guys are playing, with an underlying punch that sets them apart from the rock/pop boy bands.
All material to date is original songs, written and recorded by Elliot Minor. Some artists seem to play for the sake of it. But the expressions of the lad's faces you could tell they were doing something they were born to do; make so many people happy through sheer enjoyment of the music. Despite their novice status, the band has built up a solid following that were out in force last night. Islington's Carling Academy may be a small venue, but the mix of amazing music and the crowd's screams were electrifying. Guys and gals - of all ages – sang, danced and cheered their hearts out. They have so much talent and so much enthusiasm that the audience were going wild. In such an intimate gig, the guys got closer to their fans by supplying them with enough glow sticks to light Piccadilly Circus in a blackout. They had the fans jumping, dancing, singing and of course most importantly, SCREAMING!!!
These rockers can defiantly play their choirboy hearts out. Whoever said the Brits are unable to rock it with the best of them are about to be proven wrong. Their new single, apparently about Jessica Alba, lucky girl, sounds great. These guys had every touch right. The bass was loud, but the remarkable vocals were still audible underneath the amazing tune. As a bonus, Alex on violin was breathtaking. As well rock tunes these guys sure know how to sing, write and play a ballad. 'Lucky star' has a ballad beginning, then more upbeat when it comes to the verses. Ally bought the hearty piano of superbly melodic 'Time After Time' to life. The guys saved their amazing debut single, 'Parallel worlds' to near last. The impact was incredibly powerful on the crowd, what a way to go out. As with most bands, an encore brings the fans to their climax and all hell breaks loose. This track was 'Last call to New York City', a loud, upbeat tune that pulled the entire gig together in one song. All that talent, emotion and hard work and variety into one song, which had a ballad touch to the verses with an unforgettable catchy chorus. With its pounding bass lines, amazing vocals and lyrics that are easy to sing along to, this was a great way to end the show.
Elliot Minor must be one of the best gigs the Islington Academy has seen in a long time. The only disappointing aspect was that the gig wasn't long enough. These lads are so talented, enthusiastic, and entertaining that the fans could have easily sat through another twenty songs, they obviously love Elliot Minor. These guys are going to be huge, rocking with the likes of Good Charlotte, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and the Foo Fighters. Remember the name because if this gig is anything to go by‚ 2007 is going to be huge for Elliot Minor. Why not visit their myspace, sit back, and listen to some top quality music, by top quality musicians.
www.myspace.com/elliotminor