You can scroll down these pages to see some great photos and reviews of the vast majority of our past gigs. If you go to our Past Shows pages, you can also leave a comment on any show you’ve attended here by clicking on Post Show Report.
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Heidi Talbot & Boo Hewerdine
Friday 15th October 2021
Photos and words by Keith Belcher
Friday 15th October 2021, The Live Room, Caroline Street Social Club, Saltaire. Boo Hewerdine and Heidi Talbot. Heidi had visited several times but this was Boo’s long overdue Live Room debut. I for one hope he becomes a regular visitor.
Nathan Bell (USA)
Sunday 10th October 2021
Photos and review by Keith Belcher
Nathan’s first visit to TLR. I somehow doubt very much that it will be his last. It was a relatively small crowd but my, how they a very happy crowd at the end of the night. Wonderfully attentive and involved throughout. There were some that commented that this was the best show they had seen at TLR. I’ve seen Nathan several times and this show was possibly the best I’d seen.
He’s always great but on Sunday he was on fire from the opening notes of Angola Prison to the 60’s classic For What It’s Worth, a cover from what may have been the first supergroup, Buffalo Springfield comprising Steve Stills, Neil Young and Richie Furay (Poco). That was the only cover of the night.
The new CD Red, White and American Blues (It Couldn’t Happen Here) featured very strongly but the show also covered the span of Nathan’s releases. Great songs, superb guitar , wonderful and lively humour and rapport , what more could you want. He knows more about football (soccer) than most British musicians.
Re the guitar work; his thumb worked so hard during the night it deserved its own picture. This tour his wife Leslie joined him on stage for Jesus of Gary Indiana. Catch him next time around. He really is very good. – Keith Belcher
From TLR:
We were thrilled to welcome Nathan for his first visit to TLR, not only because we have been chasing him for around three or four years, but also because he is our first guest from overseas since 15th March 2020. He delivered a wonderful show to a small, but perfectly formed audience, who were enraptured by his voice and guitar playing for the evening. Some comments from those present are below in the comments section
We do hope to bring him back to the UK again soon so more of you can see him.
Joshua Burnell Band
Saturday 18th September 2021
Photos by Robert Mitchell
What a band we had to close out the festival with! Fabulous songs a great front man in Joshua and a brilliant band. They got a standing ovation from the crowd and we can’t wait to see them back here so the rest of you can see them too!
Lauren Housley
Sunday 12th September 2021
Photos and setlist by Keith Belcher
LAUREN HOUSLEY BAND
TLR,Saltaire
12th September 2021
Lauren Housley on Vox and acoustic guitar
Thomas Dibb on electric Guitar/BVs
Mark Lewis on Bass/BVs
Xavier Winton on Drums
Chris Larcombe on acoustic & electric guitar
Clive Mellor on Harmonica
Set 1
The Song I Sing – (A)
Guaranteed Sunshine – (A)
What’s Troubling You Child – (E)
Stay Awake To Dream – (D)
Sing To Me – (F)
Bless His Soul – (E)
Willin- (E)
This Ain’t The Life – (C)
The Beauty Of This Life – Acoustic w/ Clive (C)
Set 2
My Sleeping Heart – (Ab)
Sweet Surrender – (A)
The Waiting Game – (Bb)
Why Are We Making It So Hard – (C#)
Breakdown (C#m)
Jolene – Acoustic (C#m)
Ghost Town Blues – (E)
We’re Not Backing Down – (D)
To Love Somebody – (A-solos G/A/C)
The Magpies
Sunday 5th September 2021
This show was originally set for the end of March 2020, but we all know what happened there! After several abortive reschedules, we finally managed to get the band, albeit with a revised line-up, onto our stage. We needn’t have worried that the long gap may have blunted their edge, as they delivered a brilliant set for us, full of terrific musicianship, harmonies and a genuine sense of fun. Bella, Holly and Kate are now working on a follow up album and we’re sure that they are going to build a huge reputation on the folk scene.
Serious Child & Andy Ruddy feat. Kirsty McGee
Thursday 2nd September 2021
We were intrigued and excited about this collaborative project with two very different singer songwriters combining their talents on a new album, ‘Talk About The Weather’. Throw in the huge bonus of Kirsty McGee as both support act and part of the band and the whole night just came to life. Wonderful harmonies, brilliant songs and witty banter made the evening a joy from start to finish.
Sam Carter
Friday 20th August 2021
Photos by Keith Belcher
The fifth visit altogether for Sam here to TLR, the third under his own name, the other two being with his friend Jim Moray in False Lights. A beautiful evening showcasing his crystal voice, clever and moving songwriting, and of course his brilliant guitar work on both acoustic and electric. Here are some comments from our visitor’s book:
And some of Keith Belcher’s brilliant shots from the night…
Blue Rose Code
Friday 30 July 2021
Photos by Keith Belcher
What a return to larger capacity shows we were treated to on Friday! Ross, deprived of part of his band owing to a family illness, but with his phenomenal guitar player and long time sidekick, Lyle Watt, nevertheless gave the gig-hungry audience a blistering show. The energy generated by these two fabulous musicians really set the crowd afire and at times the performance was right out on the ragged edge, just as live music should be. For the first time in well over a year, it felt like The Live Room of pre-pandemic days.
There are some lovely comments from our visitor’s book at the bottom of this post. More of this please!
Covid Restrictions and TLR
We, along with many other people involved in live events, are thrilled that we can once again hold shows without restrictions, it has been a desperately hard year and a half and there were times when we feared for our future. However, the virus has not gone away and will continue to present a threat to health, so with the dropping of all restrictions comes responsibility. The government has effectively handed that responsibility to us and we have to recognise that, while there are many people who can’t wait to get back to normal, there are many that are doubtful and even fearful. So, we are going to take things a little more gradually.
As we stated in a previous newsletter, we are going to continue with limits on capacity for the remaining two shows of our summer, on 30th July and 20th August, which will enable many more people to get double vaccinated, reducing the chance of transmission. We are also asking people to observe some simple mitigation measures to show consideration to other gig goers and club staff just for the time being.
Six ways to enjoy a safe visit to The Live Room at Caroline Street Social Club…
1. Under no circumstances, if you are showing any Covid symptoms should you be even thinking of going to a show, similarly if you believe you have been in close contact with someone with Covid. If you are suffering from Covid symptoms or fear you may be an infection risk and therefore shouldn’t attend, we will offer you a refund or exchange on your ticket.
2. Before coming to one of our events, we recommend that you do everything you can to make sure that you personally are not infectious. You can do this by:
-Getting vaccinated
-Taking a lateral flow test
To be clear, we don’t believe that we should operate a policy of excluding you from our venue because you haven’t done those things and we will not be operating a certification or passport model to enter our shows. There are lots of reasons for this, not least the large numbers of people who have not had the opportunity for both vaccines and vulnerable people who cannot be vaccinated. But you, personally, can make sure you aren’t adding to anyone’s risk by keeping your record of immunity up to date, getting vaccinated when you are able and/or taking a free lateral flow test before you come.
3. We are going to continue to wear masks when we are moving about during our events. We also encourage our audience to continue to wear a mask on entry and when moving around if you are able to do so, however we will not be enforcing this or making it a term of entry. We know that wearing a mask is not a pleasant experience and we hate wearing them ourselves, but the scientific evidence shows that masks work to help stop transmission, so please try to be considerate of others.
4. Anyone who has visited us since we got up and running again, knows that we have been cleaning and sanitising all contact surfaces between performances and we will continue to do this. Sanitising units remain around the building, and we ask you to please play your part in keeping the building clean from contact risk by regularly washing your hands and using the sanitiser.
5. We will be keeping doors open before, after and between performances to enable the air in the room to circulate and we will also be opening doors at the end of performances to minimise any queueing to leave. We will encourage people to leave in as orderly a manner as possible.
6. Screens will remain at the customer contact areas, to help protect staff as the club moves back to bar service. We strongly encourage you to use contactless/cards if you are able to do so and limit cash payments as much as possible. Again, we won’t be enforcing this, but would like to keep as few contacts as we can.
7. The club has installed Virus Killer (TM) technology to both purify the air and deactivate any viruses and pathogens in the concert room
Finally, please remember other people may hold different views to you so please be kind to one another. We hope you will support us and the club in our efforts to run safe and enjoyable events.