The Remi Harris Hot Club Trio bring swing jazz to Acapela Studio.

Remi Harris, Chris Nesbitt and Tom Moore make up this fabulous band. The trio bring together European Swing , Gypsy Jazz and Blues, while also paying tribute in parts to Peter Green, their inspiration. The trio provided a combination of fast and slow paced songs with acoustic guitar, cello and bass. The dynamic tone of the evening mixes well a variety of songs including classics such as ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ by The Beatles.

Past plaudits have come from Martin Blues MBE “master of both genres” and the performance is full of “artistry, virtuosity, musicality, and deeply felt passion”. Cerys Matthews says that Harris is “a brilliant guitar player”. But you should come and see for yourself! Find them on Facebook.

The trio are rewarded with a standing ovation – a performance which delivered excellent musicianship as well as some incredible memories.

Acapela Studio has so many more fun, vibrant acts coming this year and it’s not to late to get tickets.

Review by MEGAN BROWN

Apologies to ticket holders who bought tickets for Davina and the Vagabonds on the 28th August as we have now changed this concert to the evening before – 27th August.

Davina has received a request to appear at a major Scandinavian music festival on the 29th August and was finding it very difficult to get a flight that went late enough so she could fulfil both ours and the Norwegian gig….so we did the right thing and moved the concert to enable both to take place!

All tickets and tables have been automatically transferred to the new date.

Apologies to ticket holders for any inconvenience. If you are unable to make the new date –  27th August – as usual you can apply for a refund by emailing info@acapela.co.uk by the 31st MARCH 2025.

AFTER THIS TIME THE USUAL NO REFUND TICKET POLICY WILL BE STRICTLY APPLIED. 

If you mix folk music with an intimate comical stage presence –  you get Sarah McQuaid. She is an artist who enjoys her work and has been influenced by amazing artists like Nick Drake, Carly Simon and James Taylor. New to Acapela Studio but already expressing how she would “love to come back”, her folk music suits the venue’s unique setting.

Sarah McQuaid has been a solo artist since 2007 but has been performing since the 1990s. She has performed to 25,000 people at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and is one of the most unique and interesting artists I have seen. Sarah McQuaid has been described by the Huffington Post as having “subtle mastery on stage” and which has indeed made this one of my very favourite shows.

Sarah’s performance makes the audience part of the show. She uses audience participation, jokes, storytelling through song and speech, audience recommendations of songs and of stays around at the end to meet her fans.

Sarah sings songs based on her life experiences. Beautiful songs, such as “Slowing Down”, “Too Many Plates”, “Silver Lining” and “The Last Song”, follow her family, journeys and most prominently – nature.

Sarah is a one woman band as she performs using a combination of both acoustic and electric guitars, keyboard and drum which accompanies her vocals. She uses sound effects to emphasise her stories through her songs, but she also uses the audience. She encourages the audience to sing along including improvising animal noises to fit the songs.

All in all, Sarah McQuaid is a unique artist, both rememberable and fun.

MEGAN BROWN

The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican returned to the Acapela Studio for another fun, cheeky and bright night of songs and comedy. The band themselves say how they have “been giddy about this all week”, instantly showing how much they love performing at the venue.

Performing for 19 years at iconic venues such as the Glastonbury Music Festival – twice – and to an audience of 20,000 at Fairport’s Cropredy Festival, this band seriously know how to work an audience. Even before their songs begin, the audience is laughing at their hilarious jokes which could rival any stand up act. Combined with their, 1970s ironic costumes this adds to their unique and comical act, which is also said by the comedian Jason Manford to be “great fun”.

The songs themselves are a brilliant, post modern take on classic songs such as ‘American Pie’, ‘The Winner Takes It All’, ‘Parklife’, ‘Red Right Hand’ and ‘Amarillo’. Their songs create a hysterical performance through the topics which include loss of shoes, crazy golf, Barnsley, and their northern classic of ‘Too Good To Be Jus’.

Their audience participation songs include Wheel of Wonder; which follows passages from the Bible with a Northern twist. Entertaining costumes, sound effects, stand up jokes and crazy songs all amount to a night of laughter and fun. Not one to be missed!

Megan Brown