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Live in the Square 2005, 29 May 2005
The Market Square was still packed on the evening of Sunday 29 May 2005 when the last group came off stage after over 6 hours of music at AIM's successful "Live in the Square" event.
The afternoon got off to a great start with the very talented young local musicians, the Jazzmanian Devils, whose members attend Amery Hill School and Alton College. Their jazz interpretations set feet tapping, with great trumpet and sax solos by Laura and Justin. Next on were The Schmooze Bros., whose happy-go-lucky style and very professional renditions of such Rat Pack numbers as "New York, New York" and "I've got you under my skin" really entertained the crowd.
4-piece band Audiobalm came next and slowed the tempo down, enabling the growing crowd to enjoy the lovely voice of lead singer Nicole. They set the mood for singer/songwriter Nina McCann from Overton near Basingstoke, who - standing alone on stage with her guitar and poignant songs - brought a hush to the audience.
The atmosphere changed completely, however, when Kindred Spirit wowed the audience with some fantastic fiddle playing from Isington resident Sim. He and Elaine Samuels performed covers like the Eagles "Horse with no name", as well as some of Elaine's own compositions like the fast-moving "Child inside of me". It was Sim's finale solo in "The devil went down to Georgia", however, which had the audience on its feet.
Whilst Kindred Spirit moved on to play at The Bull, Bentley later that evening, the event was brought to a rocking and ear-blasting finish with a young band from south Buckinghamshire called "Tonight is Goodbye." Their raw brand of in-your-face music was a complete contrast to the rest of the afternoon's programme and they played a mixture of their own songs and a great interpretation of one of Avril Lavigne's hits.
The musical interludes whilst the groups changed over were provided by DJ Cat and the stage was a lorry provided by Mill Lane, Alton company Laleham Healthcare. Meanwhile another local company, Opus Telecom, provided some welcome sponsorship for the event.
Town Initiatives Manager, Vernon Pearce, who organised the event along with AIM director Gideon Cristofoli, said, "It was a great success and we were so pleased with the enormous age range of the people who came along to enjoy the music. There were families with very young children, whose the mums and dads were able to relax whilst their toddlers ran around in safety in the Market Square and old ladies in their and '80s. It really was music to suit all ages. The pubs and restaurants around Market Square did a roaring trade and we achieved our objective of attracting visitors to the town and putting Alton firmly on the map as a place where quality events are held."
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