Fast and loud with Virgil and his trio

Ohasis got together and set out with one goal: to become the world’s greatest tribute band to Oasis.

Ohasis have done their homework, playing the songs in the most current live arrangements, with amazing accuracy. Nailing the Oasis look was very important, as image is everything and was everything to Oasis.

Saturday, December 12, sees the King Street host a gig by Virgil and the Accelerators.

This blues power trio, led by guitar prodigy Virgil McMahon, with his brother Gabriel on drums and bassist Joel Wildgoose, is currently on tour to promote latest album Army Of Three.

Having made a statement of intent with their stunning all original debut album The Radium, followed by a series of high profile shows with legends such as Michael Schenker, Uriah Heep, Johnny Winter and Wilko Johnson, VATA are now establishing themselves as one of the UK’s premier exponents of high energy blues rock.

Finally, on Thursday, December 17, there’s another for the Flowerpot audience to enjoy a visit from Chantel McGregor, with support on the night from Jack Hutchinson.

A guitarist who takes the technicalities of Vai and Satriani and blends this with the excitement of Hendrix to create high energy blues-rock in the vein of Joe Bonamassa and Aynsley Lister, Chantel McGregor is one of the rising stars of today’s British blues-rock scene.

A female guitar prodigy, at 14 Chantel was told by major labels that she had a “great voice, but girls don’t play guitar like that!” Wisely ignoring the comments, she enrolled at the Leeds College of Music and became the first student in the college’s history, to achieve a 100 per cent pass mark, with 18 distinctions. Chantel left with a First Class Honours degree in Popular Music and a coveted prize, for outstanding musicianship.

When Chantel released her 2011 debut album, Like No Other, one critic said: “Chantel McGregor deserves to be held up as a messiah of blues-rock and given her own mountain. She doesn’t strum or pick her guitar but almost bends and distorts it, as if she’s channelling the ghost of Hendrix through her fingers.”

When asked about performing on stage, Chantel said; “Playing live to great audiences is one of the most wonderful feelings, I feel lucky to be able to do something that I love, see the world and bring happiness to others through my music.”

If you measure an artist’s prospects by the company they keep, then Chantel has been moving in the right direction. Early in her career, Chantel was invited to perform with Joe Bonamassa, on two of his UK tours.

Chantel was recently nominated again in the Guitarist of the Year category in 2015‘s British Blues Awards.

Doors open for all three gigs at 8pm. Admission is £8 for Ohasis, £10 for Virgil and the Accelerators and £13 for Chantel McGregor.

Advance tickets are available from The Flowerpot and RAW Promotions, as well as online at www.rawpromo.co.uk