Herman Dune with support from Royal City & John Stammers Soothing home based acoustic led pop music produced by John Stammer plus 2 opened the evening, warmly reverberating around the attic like venue, metaphorically hugging each member of the audience with its warmth and feeling. Bright ballad’s such as debut single ‘Ivy & Dennis’ made for a laid back and contented start to proceedings. Subtle percussion was produced with a deft touch from the drummer whose well timed participation added to the heart warming feeling of the opening set. Stammer’s ironic wit after one of the songs; “thank you Glastonbury” hit home a poignant message that good music is good music, no matter where it is played. Touring in promotion of their soulfully tantalizing second album ‘Little Heart’s Ease’, the Toronto four piece Royal City wooed the gathered audience with their uplifting mix of sincere and succinct songs. The set consisted of tracks from their compelling, raw and almost Dylan like first album ‘Alone At The Microphone’, including the impressive ‘My Brother is The Meat Man’ and numbers from the latest album like the longing ‘Count The Days’. Front man Aaron Riches bounced off the crowd, as without the aid of a set list he improvised and molded the set into a tender and emotive crowd pleasing offering. This was no more prevalent than in the finale when the sharp ‘Spacey Basement’ was followed by the newer ‘My Body Is Numbered’ that saw Riches |