Firstly, we have to say how surprised we were as we only live ten minutes away, we had never heard of Rodeos, so in having arranged to cover this gig by Laura Aston, we walked in to be met by extremely friendly staff who showed us to our seat. Immediately got a very good feeling about the place, which was nearly full. The idea behind these types of gigs is you pay for a ticket, which comes with a meal, and if you want can be upgraded. It was a very nice meal, so we were in a good place.

When Laura Aston took to the stage, although the set was initially plagued by some technical issues, she came back on again and continued as if nothing had gone wrong, showing a maturity beyond her years and experience. She has a really good voice, and of course with someone at this point of her career, the set contained a lot of covers of classic and well-known tracks, but her own songs held up very well, with the attendees showing much appreciation, as well they should. She has a great range; she can rock it and has a nice ballad voice. It was interesting that she informed us that the next song, sorry didn’t catch the name, was unreleased and she didn’t know to put it out or not. Let me tell you from the reaction the song got in the room, it’s a no brainer.

Well, if this is the quality that she has on the backburner it bodes well for 2025. All she needs now is more exposure, like festivals and such, she has the tools to grow – one to watch!

Photos by Geoff Griffe
Review by Jenny Griffe