A disembodied voice floats across the room. "Is this for real?" it asks, with a hint of a laugh. The voice, muffled and distorted through a tiny phone speaker, belongs to Guy Valerino's elder brother, currently in France. He speaks in response to Guy's public mid-gig call, intended to cheer him up by sending a live version of his favourite song through a hundred miles of air. Photographs, he is told, is about to begin, and one more word crackles out of the perforated plastic: "Awesome."
This is Guy Valerino's Platform. The Gibraltan songmeister impressed at PAS, with his inspired songwriting and loop-pedal usage sticking in the mind. Before, however, he had come by himself; this time, he had peeps alongside: Anthony Martinez and Rafael Felba on bass and cajon respectively. Guy's songs are always good anyway, the soft and soulful vocals combining with well-placed, -played and -written riffs, but this time there was an extra dimension, a touch of salsa in the fajita of music. Anthony's funky basslines and Rafael's percussive rhythms changed the whole dynamic of Guy's songs to excellent effect, the energetic, upbeat sections contrasting nicely with the more intimate moments for an all-round good time.
Guy was supported by two artists: Desi Valentine and Jamie Abbott. Jamie Abbott seems to be pretty well known around the London music venues, sometimes with a band, sometimes by himself. This time, he was all by his lonesome. Jamie's gruffness-touched and emotive voice is always pleasant to listen to, and some good songwriting add to the proceedings. The cover of Gangsta's Paradise is always a crowd-pleaser, and self-written songs such as Chasin' and Politician - which sounds a bit like the Allman Brothers have done an Aerosmith and teamed up with hip-hoppers - are nicely formed.
Desi Valentine's en-scarfed and mohicaned form stood on stage and vibrated, in the same way that Tom Morello (of Rage Against The Machine) foot-stamps to the beat, or Thom Yorke's crazy spoon-outs - it's just a stage thing. Desi performed mostly covers - a fair amount from Motown - with a couple of his own songs for good measure.
Dave Knight
The Platform is part of the
Portobello Acoustic Sessions, and is held every Wednesday night from 7:30 at The Metropolitan bar, Westbourne Park.
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The PAS Diaries: The Platform Presents Guy Valerino
The PAS Diaries: The Platform Presents Carrie Haber