2017 brings us a fresh start, and what better way to kick it off than with one of King Tuts’ annual grassroots traditions  – the New Years Revolution festival.

The first night played host to the monthly FCK Yes show, with the team in a bid to get the ball rolling in style, but did they achieve that?

We reserved our ticket and got down within plenty of time; being greeted to the most joyous blast of heat ever, welcoming us in from the irritable January cold.

After an hour of waiting, chitchats, meeting new folk and catching up with old friends, it was at last time for Apache Darling.

Again & Again got the crowd rallied up nicely, and even more so with a blistering cover of Hall & Oates’ You Make My Dreams Come True.

Andrew showed great skill on the keys and Stefanie proved to be a sensational vocalist; their recorded material does little justice as to how good she truly is on stage.

There were issues now and again with the volume levels, and in the venue’s defence, the bar itself is not the most tailor-made area for playing music, but it did become a distraction at times.

After what was all in all an enjoyable set featuring that was capped off with More Than Me and Ground – the latter highlighted by an infectious bass line – the group received a warm reception from those in attendance, and certainly made a strong first impression on us.

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Half an hour later, Indigo Velvet from Edinburgh were next to bring us their unique brand of tropical pop – “trop”, you could say – with us standing front and centre, and did they kill it.

Easy Love served as a bouncy opener, the insanely catchy Blue was simply marvelous and they dished out plenty of new material which all sounded cracking.

Darren and Jason were not only slick on the guitars, but made for a top-notch combo with their warm harmonies, whilst Laurie and Billy flowed together nicely in the rhythm department.

By set’s end, the entire place was abuzz and it took a while for us to settle down from it. Simply incredible stuff.

We had to leave early due to pesky work commitments the following morning, hence unfortunately we could not stick around for the Vinyl Noise ladies and their DJ set. To relieve some guilt, we will recommend that you all check out their website here, they do a lot of superb work in regards to the music scene.

Big props to Phoebe and crew for what was a hell of a gig, which indeed did kick off the festival – and 2017 – in style.