After a recent Bank Holiday full of gigging, I was hungry for more, and so my mission, which I duly accepted, was to check out Ancient Lights Cocktail Bar in Chelmsford, which puts on regular acoustic nights. These nights feature Jakob Deist Oelofse, and (when he’s not on tour with signed act Fei Comodo) Marc Halls, along with some special guests. On this particular night Jakob took to the mic with special guest Russell Charlton taking the guest spot. Between them the pair brought a mix of pop/folk/indie/alternative sounds into the intimate bar setting.

Russell took to the mic for a short set while Jakob was having a breather, and if you like The John Butler Trio, then I think it’s safe to say you’ll like him! He put in an interesting set of instrumentals in between Jakob’s sets which received a warm response from the audience.

The night was mainly focussed on covers from Jakob Deist Oelofse though, with his set a mix of the old and the new! While I was there he played his way through Big Yellow Taxi, Under The Boardwalk, ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’, and Wet Wet Wet. I was also a more than a little pleased to hear three of my favourite songs in there, Daniel Merriweather’s ‘Red’, Lionel Ritchie’s ‘All Night Long’, and the Journey classic ‘Don’t Stop Believing’.

Along with favourite songs, what also makes a covers set interesting is when the artist plays songs that you have never really liked before, and you find yourself enjoying them, which happened here with Gnarls Barclay’s ‘Crazy’, and Scientists by Coldplay. Also in the mix were artists I’d never heard of before such as John Mayer, and City and Colour, so the night was something of an education as well. There were a few mistakes, which Jakob boldly admitted instead of covering up, but there was also a good variety of material, a voice that projects well, and a new, as yet untitled song that has a melody worth listening out for. It was the first time I’d been to a night like that, but it was cozy, friendly, and good fun.

For more information/music visit:

http://www.myspace.com/jakobdeistoelofsemusic

or check out the bar at http://www.ancient-lights.co.uk/