Avant garde and highly enjoyable
Danny Valentine is a front man filled with charm, his quirky banter and cheeky grin makes it hard not to like him; and indeed, tonight, he had the full attention of the room, bringing smiles to the crowd at Badgerjam, an Oxjam event.
But Danny Valentine and The Meditations are more than just an engaging show. They put on a set that was simply filled with epic music.
Layered vocals from Valentine, blended with the female backing vocals, set the tone of each song. Sometimes they blended harmoniously, at others, created discordant harmonies that jarred the senses in a good way and took the songs to another level.
The three vocalists were the focal point on stage, but, if you looked a bit further, at the back the guitarist was a non stop blur of energy, showing undeniable passion for the music they produced. The only negative I took from the set revolved around the trumpet. I'm going to blame the sound mix as it occasionally was a bit too loud and grating.
Billing themselves as indie/gothic/dub they are truely avant garde. Danny Valentine grabbed everyones attention and with The Meditations put on a strong set filling The Grosvenor with music that soared through the room and had all sorry to hear them end.