Jeff Arundel and Courtney Yasmineh Gig Review

Swindon music lovers were given a real treat when Jeff Arundel and Courtney Yasmineh came to play at The Beehive. It was the first time either artist had played in Swindon but both went down a storm with the crowd that had gathered to see them perform. Jeff Arundel opened for Courtney Yasmineh doing a half hour set of amazing songs. Jeff’s music was captivating and really engaged the audience. His music blended blues with an organic/acoustic sound. One song Jeff sang, Elmwood Place from his 1993 album release COMPASS, really stood out from the crowd – it was about going to back to the house you were brought up in many years later. The lyrics were so poetic and the song was just beautiful. Jeff may have been the opening act but I think the people of Swindon could have easily listened to his music all night! By the time Courtney took to the stage the Swindon audience were really fired up. Courtney was joined by Rob Genadek on drums and John Lehmkuhl on electric guitar. Courtney performed songs from her 2009 album release BEAUTIFUL LONELY as well as a couple of covers and one quirky new song. The audience loved Courtney’s vibrant up tempo music as well as her slower delicate songs. Courtney did a wonderful rendition of Beautiful Lonely really bringing the emotive song to life. She also did an amazing version of Stones, which starts off slow then explodes into quite a heavy number before slowing right down again. Courtney treated the audience to a blistering version of the popular Nanci Griffith song Hard Life. John Lehmkuhl’s guitar playing was stunning and so beautiful to listen to, at times he sounded like a one man version of The Shadows. Courtney performed other songs from her album including Stars (which featured a solo by John Lehmkuhl, which was out of this world), Seven Times As Lucky, Part I Like and Luna Moth. Early on in her first set Courtney performed the rousing song Daydrunk, the song went down brilliantly so much so that people were up dancing. To end the evening having had so much praise for the song Courtney performed Daydrunk once again. Courtney’s encore featured a thrilling version of the classic song I Don’t Wanna Talk About It. Courtney put her own stamp on this well known and much covered song. Courtney made a lot of new fans in Swindon after her polished performance at The Beehive. By the end of the evening there was already talk of a return visit next year.