As part of the Proms 2025 the BBC has put on a range of events at The Beacon in Bristol. This event saw the Proms and BBC Introducing team up to promote rising talent in the West of England; a free show in the foyer of The Beacon featuring an eclectic mix of folk, pop, R&B, jazz, blues and roots.
The MC for the day was James Threlfall, BBC Introducing DJ and a great champion for South West artists. Every performer said they owed a lot to the BBC Introducing platform and Threlfall for playing their music. It’s worth appreciating that, despite the severe cuts to BBC Introducing in the broadcast schedule (something that caused anger from emerging artists as well as established stars such as Lewis Capaldi, Elton John and Niles Rodgers), it still does amazing work promoting new music. After all, those major players headlining the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury will have, at some point, played to four people on a wet Wednesday in the back room of the Dog and Duck.
Firewoodisland
The auto-correct troubling band Firewoodisland are Bristol based Norwegian/Welsh duo, Stian Vedøy and Abi Eleri. They started the afternoon in the most rousing fashion with upbeat tunes, close harmonies and the kind of folk-pop reminiscent of Hothouse Flowers. You could see how much they enjoyed playing live and their easy charm with the audience was mixed the warmth of their musicianship and the gorgeous close harmonies of Vedøy and Eleri (with Vedøy having a particularly angelic falsetto). There is also no greater praise for a band than the fact that they had a gaggle of children twirling with abandon at the front of the stage for their whole set.
Firewoodisland: Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram | YouTube
Chloe Foy
Chloe Foy is one of those rare artists who, like Joni Mitchell, has a voice so good that you don’t immediately notice what an accomplished guitar player she is. Her recorded songs come with a full band, but I found the stripped back nature of her set hypnotic and totally engrossing. Her voice is faultless and with songs like ‘I Tried So Hard To Disappear’ and ‘Elephant In The Room’ (below) in her set her fan base should easily grow to the popularity of acts like The Staves or First Aid Kit. I also loved her off-the-cuff joke that she was “Foy playing in the foyer”.
Chloe Foy: Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram | YouTube
Immi Dash
Immi Dash is the kind of genre-fluid musician who moves effortlessly between RnB, pop and jazz. She has an exceptional voice: smooth but with a hint of smoke that gives it an edge and stops it from being too saccharine. I don’t normally comment on outfits, but I loved her just-off-the-ice-hockey-rink outfit. It’s not hard to imagine her having the same kind of career trajectory as Little Simz or Sudan Archives as she builds a following while appearing on a litany of ‘one to watch’ lists in the coming year. As she says on her Facebook page “one minute ur growing up in Stroud experimenting in a little band at the SVA and the next ur playing the Bristol Beacon for the BBC Proms and BBC INTRODUCING????huh????”. Give it a few years and I can see her coming back to play the main hall.
Her next single ‘Late In The Moonlight’ is out on 29 August.
Immi Dash: Facebook | Linktree | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok
Boci
Boci (pronounced ‘bocky’) was the reason I came out today. When I received the marketing email from the Beacon I listened to a few of the artists and it was Boci that caught my ear and made me decide to come along to the show. I was not disappointed as I was treated to a mesmerising set that utilised her skills as a guitarist, violinist, vocalist and whistle player. She opened by looping a dazzling array of violin melodies that grew into a murmuration of sounds and caused a moment of silence at the end as people took time to process what they had seen before their brains said “applaud!” The rest of her set wove sounds that maybe be rooted in folk but feel as if they are broadcast from another dimension. Boci was accompanied by t l k on keyboards and vocals, and together their two voices were utterly sublime. Ethereal is an over-used word in reviews but given the clarity of two such pure voices it fits perfectly here. Definitely the highlight of my afternoon.
Boci: Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram | YouTube
Lady Nade
If you look up the phrase ‘crowd pleasing’ online you are likely to find a picture of Lady Nade. By the time she took to the stage with an impressive band of bass, guitar, steel guitar, drums and saxophone the foyer was packed, and they were treated to folk, Americana, soul, jazz, blues and roots all stirred into a fantastic stew that had the audience eating out of her hand and ultimately heading out of The Beacon on a high.
Lady Nade: Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram | YouTube
I don’t doubt that that every one of the acts who played will have earned more fans. Streaming only gets you so far* so I hope that this brings the artists some sales as well as meaning more people turn up at future shows like this.
You can find out more about BBC Introducing here, it’s a great source of new music from around the country and if you’re an artist you can set up an account and upload your music.
Review by Paul F Cook
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* Roughly $0.003 per play on Spotify and you have to get over 1000 plays before it starts counting. Source: VIRPP
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