Kira Mac plus support from Empyre (Acoustic)

Arriving on this damp night at the Asylum, only to be greeted with Empyre performing an acoustic set. A band that I know of but never had chance to see, but always heard great things of, and they were right. Not performing an electric set tonight doesn’t diminish from the quality of the songs and power on display, very impressive. Even throwing in a version of ‘Titanium’, which is available as a free download from their site. Definitely must catch these guys soon as.

Now to Kira Mac, a band that I had started listening to even before front lady Rhiannon Hill took part in an episode of The Voice and performed Metallica’s ‘Nothing Else Matters’, and not being picked, (big surprise that was!), as rock singers don’t get picked. But anyway, it did its job in raising their profile as their debut album ‘Chaos Is Calling’ has just been released to fantastic reviews, and Amazon ran out of copies in a few days. And even this week on their first headline tour, has achieved a number one single on Planet Rock Radio and seem to be gathering a good head of steam. As for their live performance, well it was fantastic, even though they were penned in on the small stage here tonight. Obviously, the set contained most of ‘Chaos Is Calling’, with a couple of covers thrown in, ‘Animals’ by Nickelback and of course ‘Nothing Else Matters ‘, but their own tunes were great.

With many influences it is a varied album, with a few singles on but not too commercial. We loved the southern flavoured ‘Mississippi Swinging’ and the ear worm ‘Hell fire And Holy Water’. The sold-out crowd absolutely loving this and rightly so, and the band themselves are really nice people taking a lot of time meeting the people after. I for one can only see one way this band is heading and it’s not down. Can’t wait to see them on a larger stage, which won’t be long for sure.

Photos by Geoff Griffe
Review by Jenny Griffe