While I’d never think of putting ‘quaint’ and ‘Hyde Park’ side by side, this intimate gig successfully brought the two together. The idea stems from Mikey Donnelly (stage name Epilogues), who runs Ishiwaka Records, and if I’m honest, there is no better vibe for a gig than blankets, a four pack of Scrumpy Jacks and fairy lights.

Epilogues was our opening act for the night, a voice unlike anything I’d ever heard before, being both rich and melodic. His cover of Taylor Swift’s ‘Blank Space’ had the room swaying and laughing due to his evident love/hate relationship with the aforementioned Swift. What made this even more magical was the acoustic guitar; he just got it bang on. Never have I witnessed a voice and music coming so perfectly together, but Epilogues does this almost effortlessly, especially on ‘Sea Shanty’ which he claimed ‘sounds nothing like a sea shanty’.

Next was Rory David Welbrock, who is nothing short of a lyrical beauty and also unique in voice. Most of the songs that Rory brought to the evening were relatively new, adding a mystery to his talents, urging you to seek out what he’s already produced. ‘We find comfort in the convenience of sleeping’, is a particular favourite lyric of mine, check out ‘In-between’ by him, it was truly a highlight.

Finally Devoted Friend (James Grimshaw), a true showman. Tuning his guitars to perfection before he dared play a single string. He even lived up to his name by dedicating a new song to Mikey as a thank you, the song itself was called ‘Epilogues’, which was the picture-perfect way to end the evening.

https://soundcloud.com/epilogues/sheaf-demo

Rianna Julian

photos courtesy of Reckless Curiosity Film