Simone Felice at Bush Hall

Bush Hall is like a stargate into the 20^th century. With its red carpets, old woods, and precious decor, this venue mixes early 20s with 50s, and touches on some 80s glamour. The music of Simone Felice sounds like a stargate too, into the 70s and alt-country tradition, with some features of contempory pop music. This mix of time and space, Louisiana country music with a touch of Brooklyn, could sound weird, but actually it works quite well for Felice.

Felice is one third of the Felice Brothers, and is also a talented solo artist who has just released his brand new record entitled Strangers. His alt-country is fresh, full of hope and deep lyrics. The songs on this new record are pretty nice: Molly-O is a pop adventure with an upbeat mood, If You Go To LA is a pop-folk ballad, and Bastille Day a tender love song. In general, his music is great radio-friendly pop, with some country and folk features.

Onstage the line up is formed by a guitarist/banjo player, a cello player and Felice both at the drum and guitars, giving to his music a more rough and rock cut, even though his references are the likes of Bob Dylan and The Flying Burrito Brothers. The name that comes up during this live performance is, more than anyone else, Ben Harper – especially during the gospel track Running Through My Head and The Best That Money Can Buy. In general, the performance is good, with a strong response from the audience, who largely appear to enjoy it, singing along with Felice during the last song before the encore. The only problem with his music is the similarity between the songs, which tend to be too close to each other.

Simone Felice is an experienced songwriter who still needs to improve a few aspects of his talent, but by the next record he is sure to become a complete artist.

Lorenzo Cibrario
Photos: Rosie Yang

For further information and future events visit Simone Felice’s website here.