Lacey

December 2014

After being handpicked by James Blunt to support him at the Capital FM Arena last month, Nottingham’s Lacey are back in action with a show at Rock City this weekend. Bassist Graham Turner explains how it was playing the city’s biggest venue

THE whole day was surreal, from the moment we arrived and began unloading our gear behind the stage.

When James Blunt was soundchecking we had a little peak behind the curtain and saw the empty arena, thinking that it would be filled with 7,000 people later.

They really looked after us. At the soundcheck that we did they made sure were sounding spot-on.

He introduced himself to us, which he didn’t have to do. And he was thanking us for playing. He was an absolute gentleman.

He was given the opportunity when he was starting out (by Elton John), so he’s been there. And I guess he’s just trying to give a bit back, to the up-and-coming guys like us.

There were waters, beers and snacks in the dressing room but... and this shows how ignorant I was about the whole thing... I walked into the green room where there was a cold buffet set out. I sat down with some of that and then a waitress came to my table and asked what I’d like to order! I ordered the beef stroganoff, obviously. People were opening doors for us... it was crazy.

Half an hour before we went on we were really focused. All the banter stopped and we got our professional heads on. This was our biggest show, the biggest night of our lives.

It went as well as we had hoped. There were no hiccups. What surprised us most was the reaction of the crowd. They were really responsive and really involved. They were clapping along, they were cheering.

You can’t really see anyone, apart from the first couple of rows but you could hear them. After you finished a song the noise of the cheers was crazy.

Straight after the set he came up to us and gave us a few compliments. We didn’t know he was watching because we couldn’t see him.

And the guy was flawless for two hours during his show. I’ve not seen anything like it. He’s an incredible musician. He was smaller than I thought but that shows how he carries himself on stage. And yes he’s very posh but I’m not going to hold that against him.

We had a bit of spike on social media after the show, in terms of Twitter followers and Facebook likes. And people were leaving positive comments about the set.

We did 30 minutes at the arena but we’ll be doing an hour at Rock City and showcasing a lot of material from the album. That’s ready to go and we’ll be releasing it early next year.

Lacey play Rock City on Saturday, December 20 with Layby and Cut the Heroics from 7pm to 10pm. Tickets are £6 from 0845 413 4444 or go to alt-tickets.co.uk. For more about Lacey find them on Twitter and Facebook: Lacey OfficialUK. 

Saint Raymond

October 2014

HE’S already played a dozen shows but Callum Burrows admits “it hasn’t quite sunk in yet”.

The tour supporting Ed Sheeran, whose latest album X is Britain’s biggest-selling of the year so far, will run to a total of 37 dates across the UK and Europe, keeping Burrows, aka Saint Raymond, busy until the end of November.

The 19-year-old from Bramcote is facing crowds of up to 20,000 people a night.

“It’s a crazy experience,” he admits.

“It’s harder to see faces in arenas so you don’t realise how many people there are... not until the moment in the set where we get everyone to light up their phones. That freaks me out a little bit.

“Smaller venues are more nerve-wracking in a way because you can see their faces and how they’re reacting. When it’s on such a big scale you kind of forget where you are for a bit, which is great for the nerves. It doesn’t really sink in until you come off stage.”

This is especially true of the colossal O2 Arena in London, where he played four shows with Sheeran in front of 20,000 people each night.

“Even as a support, when the place isn’t full because not everyone has left the bar yet, there are still 10,000 people there, which is crazy.”

Has the Bramcote teenager been bricking it, preparing to face such numbers?

“I’m usually kind of chilled before shows but I must admit I have been pretty overwhelmed by it. The crowd have been really welcoming. When you get a really good reception from that amount of people, it feels amazing.”

Most of them may have forked out to see Sheeran but many know Saint Raymond, as he’s discovered when he’s “busked” outside venues for people queuing up.

“It’s been weird seeing some of them sing along,” he laughs.

“It’s really random.”

Do any of them think you are a busker and throw money?

“I wish.”

He’s also been meeting fans after shows.

“We’re getting hundreds of people turn up.”

Burrows, who signed to Asylum, part of the Atlantic group, last summer, has been doing a 40-minute set with his band.

“We do the same set every night to keep it solid. That’s seemed to work really well. And I don’t approach these gigs any differently to what I’ve done before. It’s just about keeping the confidence I’ve built up in the smaller venues. I’m not changing anything too drastically.”

The effect of being on the road with such a big artist has been a sharp increase in his following on social media, topping 26,000 followers on Twitter and 23,000 likes on Facebook.

If they all buy his new single Fall At Your Feet, released at the end of November, he’ll be guaranteed a place in the chart.

It’ll be his first single release after a series of EPs that have all landed in the iTunes chart.

And the album?

“It’ll be early next year, I think, but I’m not too focused on that at the moment,” says Burrows, who has been amusing himself on the road by playing Fifa 2014 (“I play that on the bus, like a loser, but I love it”).

He adds: “I’m always cautious about saying the album’s finished because I’ve been speaking to a lot of artists like Ed and they’ve said they wrote the best song on their album a week before going to press.”

It is common for support artists never to meet the headline act but that’s not been the case with Burrows and Sheeran.

“The first few days he was super ill and then he came to hang out in the dressing room a bit and I caught it,” he says.

“So we’re both still on the mend. But he’s often asking how it’s going and we’re texting. I think for an artist like Ed Sheeran to do that... a lot of artists wouldn’t give a toss.”

His shows often attract celebrities but Burrows hasn’t been star-spotting a great deal, it seems.

“I think Brooklyn Beckham was at the show the other night. And I was stood next to one of One Direction watching Ed last night.”

Did any of the magic rub off... on him?

“(Laughs) Yeah. Probably.”

Does he know which one it was?

“Yeah it was Niall, the blonde one, the Irish kid. It’s how I roll these days.”

The tour comes to Nottingham next week, with two shows at the Capital FM Arena.

“There’s nothing like being at home,” he says.

“I haven’t been back for three weeks. It’ll be nice to go back to my own bed and see the family, all the nieces and nephews. Especially after the craziness of doing all this.”

This week Saint Raymond was confirmed to headline a show at Rock City, only the fourth Nottingham artist to do so, following local boys Jake Bugg, Dog Is Dead and – way back in the 90s – electro-metal band Pitchshifter.

Callum says: “It’s always been the dream – and it’s definitely something to look forward to.”

Saint Raymond supports Ed Sheeran at the Capital FM Arena on Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm. Tickets, priced from £36.40, are limited. Call 0843 373 3000 or go to capitalfmarena.com to find out more details.

He plays Rock City on Wednesday, February 11 and tickets are £10 from the box office. Call 0845 413 4444 or go to alt-tickets.co.uk.

Lacey

October 2014

NOTTINGHAM guitar band Lacey will support James Blunt at the Capital FM Arena in November.

The multi-million-selling chart-topper chose the quartet from five local artists shortlisted by EG.

“Lacey seem like a lot fun, full of energy,” says Blunt. “I’m really excited to have them as my support act for Nottingham.”

He asked EG to help him find a support act from Nottingham for the date on November 22, part of his worldwide Moon Landing tour. Over 100 singer-songwriters, bands and rappers applied by sending in a link to a video of them performing.

EG chose the best five to send on to Blunt. As well as Lacey, whose Hometown video was filmed in the city centre and at the Albert Hall, the lost included rapper Ashmore, teenage singer-songwriter Tyler Nugent, soul pop musician Rob Green and quirky band 94 Gunships.

“It’s fantastic – we’re blown away,” says Lacey’s drummer David Pearson.

“Hopefully it’ll be a game-changer for us.”

Lacey, which also features Graham Turner, Josh Lewin and Pete Maksymiw, has been together for three years and picked up a strong enough following to pay for a debut album, which is soon to be released.

“The three others went to uni here and I lived with their housemate,” says David.

“We played in a five-a-side football team together and we were awful so we had to start a band instead.”

They toured the UK earlier this year.

“We were playing to 500-capacity rooms mostly, which is pretty good, but this one is absolutely huge.

“We’re confident we will be able to win over the 10,000 crowd. We put on an entertaining show.”

All band members live in the city centre.

Says David: “I actually live next door to the Arena so it’ll be a short stumble home for me.”

Blunt’s rise to fame was helped by Elton John, who invited him to support him on tour in 2002.

“One night I was playing to 40 people and then next I was playing to 40,000,” says the 40-year-old.

“It was a fantastic opportunity and I want to be able to do that for someone else.”


Tickets are £42-£88 from the venue. Call 0843 373 3000 or go to capitalfmarena.com. For more about Lacey search LaceyOfficialUK on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Watch their Hometown video at /entertainment.