The Magic Numbers @ The Live Rooms

Hailing from Hanwell, The Magic Numbers are made up of two pairs of brothers and sisters, Romeo and Michele Stodart along with Angela and Sean Gannon. The group enjoyed commercial success back in 2005 with their self titled first album, achieving Top 20 hits with singles ‘”Forever Lost” and “Love Me Like You”. Last night, they graced Chester venue, The Live Rooms, as a warm up for this weekend’s T in the Park Festival.

Support for their warm up gig game from Salford’s Ren Harvieu and the magnificent Goat Roper Rodeo Band, who are a fairly local band from North Wales. Those guys definitely deserve a mention and were without a doubt one of the most original acts I’ve seen in quite some time. I’m a huge fan of Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three, whose Americana and ragtime style I find utterly unique in modern times. However, the Goat Roper Rodeo Band pull of a fantastic blend of rockabilly, folk and country blues – I’d have never guessed they were from the UK, let alone North Wales. These guys are a band to look out for, with plenty of appearances at UK folk festivals over the coming months including Cambridge Folk Festival. After speaking to Jim, Sam & Tom, they’ve told me that they hope to begin recording their album in October.

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Being rather unfamiliar with the work of The Magic Numbers myself, I was pleasantly surprised by their music, charisma and charm, along with the crowd of long-time fans. With their blend of indie and folk music, excellent harmonies and melodic sound, it was a great first time experience and one that I would repeat. I managed to have a chat with siblings Romeo (lead guitar, vocals) and Michele (bass guitar, vocals) before the show and they were lovely guys to talk to. Michele expressed her excitement their upcoming forth album, ‘Alias’, which will be released in August, as well as playing some of the new tracks later that night.

Kicking things off with some new tracks, before diving into the ever popular “Forever Lost”, The Magic Numbers had an excellent stage presence and were all-round a very enjoyable act to watch. New track, “Roy Orbison” was a big hit with the crowd and my favourite performance of the night was 2006’s “I See You, You See Me”. The song featured beautiful harmonies between Romeo and Angela and was my highlight of the evening.

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Considering that I was a complete newbie to The Magic Numbers, I felt that they gave a fabulous performance and were certainly a crowd pleasing act.

The foursome are warming the stage up for the Manic Street Preachers and Pixies tonight at T in the Park and hitting V Festival next month before embarking on a UK tour following the release of the new album. If you get the chance, I’d recommend seeing these guys, especially in such an intimate venue like The Live Rooms. Also, keep an eye out for the Goat Roper Rodeo Band in the future, they’re one to watch out for.

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