The quote of the day, and that was just before 1pm! Too good to resist.

To those who know, welcome back, great to see you. And to those who don’t, it’s a warm welcome to you. And thanks for checking this out, the first of my day-by-day roundups of the events of FOCUS Wales right here at Millimagic in association with Unity!

Amelia gave me a major leg up when she first invited me to guest blog here two years ago, and I have returned each year since to do the honours. 2024 is my first year doing it without Unity being here in Wrexham too, and I’m still getting used to that to be honest! But I’ll definitely hold the fort down for her, and for everyone else interested.

Okay then, shall we get down to business?

My 2024 FOCUS Thursday kicked off with my usual walk over to Glyndŵr University to see not only the first of the acts scheduled to play, but also to reunite and catch up with the staff and students who I’ve become friendly with over the years. This here is Nia, who I initially met during her first year, saw her again during her year two, and now here again just weeks away from her graduation. So cool to see the transition and her confidence grow from year to year, and I wish her all the best in her career going forward.

The music part of proceedings kicked off with a showcase of Canadian talent, the first of it being Fold Paper. This ensemble, led by Chell Osuntade, produced a vibrant opening offering.

Plenty to listen to, and to be excited about.

Everybody who performs at the university also takes part in an interview later on to complete the media package. It was cool to watch from a distance, and to see Chell be calm and composed with his answers.

Next up at Glyndŵr were sibling led Candian band Vox Rea. Some relaxed, chilled numbers in the offing. And it was them who gave me my ‘dripping wet reverb’ tagline during their soundcheck!

Many different musical influences on display. The song they performed here was a particularly emotional one.

More acts played at the uni for a fair while longer, but as is my tradition, it was then time for me to head into the city centre and start the venue hopping! First on the agenda was my first 2024 visit to Hope Street Church and to check out a handful of Ukranian acts playing a showcase. First to see were Akine. No nonsense, straight from song to song, and completely held the attention of the assembled audience.

“Hi. My name is Ratmir Bilodid. I’m a performer…obviously”

The dry, subtle humour to go along with his multi-instrumental talent.

He did a good job, rather captivating.

Next to play was electronic artist NFNR, who explained that the majority of her work to be performed during her set was composed in 2022 around the time of the Russian invasion. A poignant reminder of the reality of the current situation.

From there, it was a first visit to Old No. 7 and the Larynx Entertainment showcase. Always great to touch base with Dave Acton, you saw him up above at the very top of this piece.

First to take the mic was Greyzee, his first ever time performing at FOCUS. He said that he was nervous afterwards, but he didn’t show it.

“What’s the vibes? MILLION VIBES!” KAYO brought the party, the carnival atmosphere and the general good vibes all the way from St. Lucia for his set. You couldn’t help but get down with him.

Always great to hang out with the Kaptin, wherever whenever. Kaptin Barrett is truly one of the industry’s good guys.

If the guy running the show is able to step up with bars of his own in the event of a scheduled performer having to withdraw, it isn’t the worst backup plan in the world. Dave Action handling his business on the mic…

…before taking his message directly to the people.

After saying my goodbyes, I then headed over to HWB Cymraeg to see Parisa Fouladi perform some beautiful songs in Welsh. Standing room only.

Well it would have been rude to have rocked up at the time I did and then stood in their way!

A FOCUS first then followed for me, as I then headed over to The Fat Boar for a first ever visit in any capacity. Providing the tunes was Nicole Ariana and her cool band.

The Rockin’ Chair always features in my FOCUS plans. A fleeting first visit this time around to catch Angharad and her band perform. The message up front means everything.

I was in The Parish the day before for the launch event. Back there properly at this moment to see Wrexham locals Jonny Ash do their thing.

I’ve seen them play once before, and it was great to have the pleasure once again.

I love returning to Tŷ Pawb, it is such a cool space! French band W!ZARD certainly attracted my attention during the planning stage for my own personal schedule, and the live experience of seeing them play certainly didn’t disappoint.

I just love this shot. A mixture of nonchalence and cool.

As I was leaving Old No. 7 earlier, I told Kima Otung that I would catch her set over at Tŷ Pawb later on. I’m a man of my word.

She’s a very confident performer.

Some country happenings next in the Flexible Space courtesy of Cowbois Rhos Botwnnong.

Yep, we made our choices. Not going to dwell on that here. I’d been waiting literally years for this moment to see Sage Todz play, and I was going to grab it with both hands…

…and I loved every second.

Back then to The Rockin’ Chair for the weird and wonderful part of proceedings.

I went to Room 1 to be graced by an intstrumental of ‘Sexy Extra Terrestrial’, heralding the imminent arrival of Wrexham settling aliens Cosmic Dog Fog. When one sees them, one never forgets the experience.

The short hop over to Room 2 saw me then witness Worldcub do their thing. Plenty to be enjoyed there.

A bucket list moment then followed in the big room, as I then saw Snapped Ankles in their latest emergence from the forest. As with Sage Rodz, I’d been waiting a very long time for this particular live experience too.

Whoever knew that trees could play music in a manner as good as this?

This picture does not in any way do justice to the amount of feral energy that SHLUG then brought to proceedings in Room 2. But keep reading…

Oh wait, what’s this!!!! NO WAY. Minas then emerged with a mic, and you know that intensity was immediately going to ratchet up!

So, so crazy. And I enjoyed it. And would have done so anyway even without their special guest.

But it’s still fun to hang out with one of my people.

I go to Manchester all the time for shows, and I like to keep my ear to the ground in respect of music and artists over there. Sometimes I miss a few, so it was great to make the acquiantance of Antony Szmierek as his band in the quintessential ‘better late than never’ manner. The party atmosphere of his set was the perfect way to close out the events of Day 1.

Wall to wall as usual when I’m in Wrexham without missing a beat.

I already showed you my plans for Day 2 in my last dispatch, and the full roundup of what was a glorious day will be coming your way early next week. So much good stuff happened, and I want to ensure that you get the full LG flavour with the time, care and attention that the piece deserves.

Here’s what I have in store for Day 3:

A visiting taste of Manchester comes to the fore with me looking forward to taking in the sets of The Red Stains and LIINES. But in bringing things back to Cymru, I’m so very pleased to be taking in the soulful reggae of Aleighcia Scott once again, and to see JP take to the mic at Old No. 7. With Deerhoof unfortunately being unable to travel over to Wrexham after this schedule was produced, Gallops are a more than worthy replacement.

The roundup to Day 3 will naturally follow after Day 2 early next week. Look out for them both.

And thank you very much for reading and engaging with everything that I have given you whilst here in Wrexham.

Take care and speak soon.

LG

Oh, hello there. Long time no speak!

I’m baaaaack. For those who don’t know, Leo’s the name, and I guess regular blogging is my game now.

I just launched a blog of my own, but my getting to this point only came after the friendliness and encouragement of a handful of people who believed in my writing ability.

And few more so than my gracious host here. Don’t you worry, there will be no primadonna behaviour from me. There will be plenty more Unity-LG collabs to come in future, and not just during the festivities of FOCUS Wales.

That LG Takeover link you see up above? It’s been there a while, and the hope was that I’d start writing more regularly here sooner. But I’ve had a few significant life changes and there are other things in my life that have taken a greater priority in my life over the past few weeks.

I’ve since managed to ‘recalibrate’ things if you will, and after this round of dispatches for FOCUS WALES 2024 is complete, you will be seeing a lot more content from me here in times to come. And bespoke pieces too, you won’t even find them on my own blog! (It’s called Enigmatic Shenanigans II, by the way.

But back to the here and now. I am very excited to be back here in Wrexham for my fourth straight FOCUS. Though it is with a tinge of sadness as it will be the first one not being in the company of Unity. She’ll definitely be missed, but the show must go on. And I endeavour to do her – and everyone else reading – proud with my content.

As always, the first place to read about day-by-day festival schedule is right here. So let’s get to it for Thursday, shall we? You know how I do, wall to wall always!

There are a lot of artists new to me when I get going in the morning, but there are some who have been on my (virtual) list of people who I’ve wanted to see for a while, such as Snapped Ankles. In fact, the only act here that I’ve seen before – and at a past FOCUS, no less – is Jonny Ash, one of Wrexham’s finest. Looking forward to seeing them grace a stage once again.

And now time to address the elephant in the room.

2145. Oh my days. Easily the worst clash I’ve had to deal with in my entire time attending FOCUS. So, so cruel. If you look at the schedule in full, you will note that two outstanding artists in Sage Todz and Skunkadelic are set to play at exactly the same time in different venues.

Why, FOCUS. WHY!!!!

And each with only one set too. In the end, I went with Sage Todz simply because I’ve been waiting for a chance to see him do his thing for literally years now, and even though I’m missing out on Tumi this time around, I’m sure we’ll bump into each other many times during the weekend, and it is inevitable that I’ll either see him onstage solo or with Afro Cluster at some point in the future. And hopefully soon.

As always, check back here on the daily or on the prompting of a link shared by Unity or myself. And hopefully you’ll have fun experiencing a taste of FOCUS vicariously through my experiences.

Bye for now!

Helloooooo!!!!!!! Y’all ready for this, my FOCUS Wales roundup, part two? Yeah, you know you are. The first step is admitting to yourself that you want it, the second is giving in, fully immersing yourself in what is to come, and then hopefully enjoying it.

Hello friends, it’s LG once again to deliver you my take on all things Wrexham related within the friendly confines of the online home of Unity! You know, when you’re done reading this, you should stick around and check out other parts of her website. Start with the ‘Walls’ tab to see her Graffiti creations, and then thank me later. As someone who has personally witnessed her at work, I know just how much she puts into it, but it also comes from a place of love.

It doesn’t matter if she has a can of spray paint or a microphone in her hand, my friend puts in the work! That’s her up above (right) in the cover snap, and stood between us is the fantastically talented Ostara Days. You’ll read more about them later in this piece. To the left is ADJUA, you’ll see some words written about her in tomorrow’s piece. Spoiler alert: they are nice things.

So, if you read my previous piece, you’ll know that these didn’t go out in the way that I intended. But, judging from the positive reactions I’ve received so far, it seems that the delay hasn’t dulled your appetite in any way! Thank you for this, the appreciation on my end is real.

The bulk of this and the next piece were written upon my return home to Sheffield, but with the memories of Wrexham still fresh in my mind. As you read on, I definitely want you to feel as if you had been there if you weren’t able to come to the festival this time around. And for those who were in attendance, hopefully seeing this will reignite some happy memories of your own.

Okay then, day two roundup with LOTS of pictures. Shall we?

Again, as is now tradition, my 2023 FOCUS Friday once again saw me make the short walk from the Premier Inn hotel, past Y Cae Ras (home of Wrexham AFC, congratulations on the promotion!) and back to Glyndŵr University to commence proceedings.

A taste of Canada got things going at the television studio, with Edmonton rapper Mouraine bringing some good and positive energy early doors.

Mouraine: “How do you know about Edmonton?”. LG: “Because I’m educated?”. A good-natured exchange that broke the ice at the end of his set. Got to talking to him and his crew afterwards, very nice people. And thankfully none of them took offence when I explained my one-and-done policy at FOCUS when I was asked if I would consider watching another one of their shows at the weekend. And besides, there were plenty of other happy and welcomed chance encounters over the rest of the weekend.

Mouraine’s new album ‘In Search OF Gold’ is out now. You should definitely consider giving it a listen, especially if rap music is your thing.

Having seen them play on exactly the same stage at a previous FOCUS, I knew exactly the kind of thing to expect from Grimelda. I just hope that everyone else in attendance – particularly those in the audience – was ready. You know how people sometimes say “you’re not ready” in anticipation of dropping something big? I’ll go ahead and suggest that this applied here.

Especially when the band’s drummer and co-vocalist decided to go on a little walk, and started playing the floor with his sticks…

And there he is coming up into the audience, snare in hand. Like I said, I knew what to expect, I was lapping up every moment.

Some more snare action in the audience area, I think the seats were being played at some point too.

On the way back to the main stage now. See, don’t sleep on those playing early if you’re in Wrexham for the festival. You never know what you could be missing out on.

Back on stage now, to round out a performance that I’m sure those who were present will never forget.

That concluded a short programme for me at the uni on the Friday. After saying my goodbyes to students (including one who I twice met during her first year, it’s been fun watching her grow in skill and confidence with each passing year, hopefully I’ll be back to see her one final time before she graduates next year) and staff with the full intention of returning in 2024, I headed back into town. And, as with Thursday, the next destination was Hope Street Church.

Back To HSC, and my second consecutive Spanish Wave. After being wowed and impressed by some really cool Spanish acts in 2022, the class of 2023 more than lived up to that standard. Below are Los Premios, I joined their set in progress where the assembled crowd were having a good time. As did I.

Some classic rock with a Spanish flavour up next courtesy of Black Maracas. Yes, some headbanging did occur.

A bit of Catalan flavour supplied by Guineu and her bandmates came next to wow the crowd.

Don’t mind me, just a little selfie post I made for missionary purposes in between sets. Promoting the bands The Empty Page with my shirt, and Millie Manders and the Shutup with my hat. And yes, I did have people asking about them. But that’s me, constantly doing my part to promote the bands and artists that I love in my own way.

Afterwards, some performance art that those present at HSC will never forget, and hopefully remember fondly. I had no idea what to expect when I saw Argentine-by-way-of-Spain Valentinskka dragging a suitcase through the crowd on to the stage, but it proved to be the start of a story that she told with dancing, acting, and smooth vocals. Here she is part way through it all.

Suitcase in evidence in this shot. There were many costume changes.

But with no noticeable breaks, she kept going throughout.

Like I said, a performance to remember. I don’t know of any way that I would have discovered Valentinskka without having seen her perform in Wrexham. That’s what this festival is all about for me.

I have no problems quoting myself when the situation calls for it. And in a piece right here (posted during the technical woes) that I’m guessing that many of you missed, I previewed some of the acts that I was expecting to see on the Friday. Here’s what I wrote about the next one:

“Also on the Friday priority list to see is the wonderful Mali Hâf. Again, if you saw my 2022 Top 20 countdown, you will know that her collaborative song ‘Mamiaith’ stood firmly and proudly at number one (one of her collaborators being Kitty, who I’m also seeing perform her own solo set later in the day), and she is such a great performer with the vocals, dance moves, and her unequivocal love of the Welsh language. Come to Old No. 7 by 4:45pm if you want to see a genius at work.”

I stand by every word. She is that good.

There was a large crowd assembled at Old No. 7 in anticipation of Mali Hâf’s set. Very cool to see. She started things up very well.

Just look here at the passion and the effort that she brought to her performance. No half measures.

In mid movement, she is still as photogenic as they come. Joining her on stage with the bass was Ioan Gwyn. I would see him play later on with another talented artist, who you’ll read about later into this piece.

But back to Mali. She did play Mamiaith, and prior to doing so she dedicated the performance to me, whilst thanking me for recognising the song as being my top track of 2022. You’re welcome, always.

Mali Hâf. A fantastic performer. The sky’s the limit for her.

My first visit of the weekend to HWB Cymraeg – a hub set up in the heart of the town centre to celebrate all things Welsh – saw me first take in a lively performance from skylrk., accompanied by a full band. Everybody gave it plenty.

I particularly enjoyed the performance of ‘Niwed’, a track that appeared on the February release Sbardun EP, courtesy of High Grade Grooves (not that I’m biased or anything, but I think that you should all get a copy!). The live version just went OFF.

OI OI!!!!!! Touching base for the first time in 2023 with Unity. I love how our friendship has developed over the past year-and-a-half, staying in contact outside of FOCUS, and my subsequent visits down to Cardiff on two further occasions to see her and other friends have been moments to treasure.

Watch out world. We’re not done yet. I asked if she wanted a redo of the selfie. She said no. I love that attitude.

She was next to take the stage alongside Ostara Days (who I mentioned up above) and Brooke (aka Tom). The sounds of Samhain could also be heard during the set. However, as you’ve probably figured out, this was snapped before it all kicked off.

There are no stills from me of the performance, as I had a special request to film it (shout out to TrishnaJaikara, missed you SO much at Wrexham this year!). Here it is for all of your viewing pleasure. It’s close to twenty minutes long, so come back to this part later on if you need to. But please don’t ignore it, it’s so much fun to watch.

All of us would make our way over to The Penny Black, where we would see Queen of Harps take to the stage, with Niques on deck duty. I do believe that she might have been the first Scottish rapper that I have seen, if this is the standard to go by, I’ve clearly been missing out. Definitely need to check out some more. To anyone in the know, any reccomendations?

I do love my angled shots. Niques is now up front with a microphone in her hands hyping up her girl.

And, as with Dave Acton one day previously, it was cool to see some of the assembled MCs in the audience take to the stage to drop some guest bars when invited to do so. This community likes to have fun.

I love the point, specifically on Fridays in Wrexham during FOCUS weekend, when the festival crowd starts to blend in with those who are on their regular Friday night out. A mini cornucopia of noise, colour and fun. That started to happen around about this time.

For Friday’s primetime shows, I set my stall out over at the Wynnstay Arms Hotel, as I had five acts in a row that I wanted to see over there. Some tough choices had to be made during that stretch in terms of clashes, but I’ll definitely do my best to see those who I missed out on at other shows as soon as I can.

Speaking of clashes, one band I missed out on seeing during the 2022 event was Hourglvss. As soon as I found out that they were playing this time around, I made sure to list them amongst my priority acts to see. Worth the wait? Yes, absolutely. And the near capacity crowd in attendance for them definitely agreed from what I was seeing from them.

I discovered Atay & JAX during the planning stages, and I absolutely fell in love with their song ‘Avril Lavigne’. It definitely would have been a Top 20 contender for 2022 had I heard it sooner.

They delivered a very cool set, and they definitely won the crowd over by the end of it. I chatted to them afterwards, nice people. Our paths would cross again at various points over the weekend, and right at the very end when our respective journeys home saw us commence them on the same train service. Hopefully they’ll make their way back to these shores again before long.

Next up to take the Wynnstay stage was Kitty. She also performed on the Mali Hâf-led song ‘Mamiaith’, so I made a point of watching her perform too. That impromptu French lesson will live with me forever.

I enjoyed it, not just her performance on stage, but also the friendly natured banter that she had with her mother throughout. She was sat a few rows back, proudly cheering on her daughter.

So here’s myself and Minas having a ‘where’s the camera’ moment? A very busy weekend for this one with his own performances and on the decks for others. Very hard working guy, all the success that has come his way is richly deserved.

You like pop music, don’t you? Give MACY a try, I’m sure that she’ll have something amongst her releases that you’ll like. Note the presence of Ioan Gwyn on bass duty, my second time of the day seeing him grace a stage.

Listening to her song ‘Swear Down’ – an unapologetic slice of feel good pop – was the clear motivating factor for me seeing her perform here. I enjoyed what I saw and heard. Bravo.

And then it was time for Friday’s main event.

If you know LG, you know that LG loves him some CHROMA! I’ve known KT, Bev and Zac for nearly seven years now, and I couldn’t be prouder to watch them continue to grow as a band, both from near and afar.

This one mainly showcases Bev. His axe work continues to be top class.

Zac looks as if he’s being distracted by something. But no worries here, his mind was 100% on the job.

Obligatory ‘Katie in flight’ shot. Got to be done, you know.

The atmosphere in the Wynnstay was electric for CHROMA. I turned around to see the place completely packed out, as well it should be. No place I’d have rather been in that moment, and as long as CHROMA continue to play FOCUS Wales, I’ll continue to be there to watch them.

After saying my goodbyes to my dear friends, I made my way over to The Rockin’ Chair for my only visit of the day. But what a great reason to be there. If you ever have an opportunity to watch Afro Cluster play live, you just HAVE to take it. They are fantastic value.

Here’s a small sample of the atmosphere, but trust me, this little clip scratches the surface when it comes to justice being done. You really had to be there.

Kaptin Barrett is one of the good guys, another of the movers-and-shakers within the industry giving others a platform to shine. I love this snap. You should find out more about him, go to his website, his name without the space, followed by the obligatory dot com.

My day concluded with my only visit of the weekend to The Parish, where Boy With Apple rounded off proceedings. Note the presence in the assembled crowd of John Robb (if you don’t know who he is, then go away and educate yourself as soon as you’re done here), and Emmi Manteau of Baby Brave.

So that was my 2023 FOCUS day two, many acts seen over a timespan of thirteen hours. Go hard, or go home. I know no other way. And neither do I want to.

Alright, I hope you enjoyed all of that! Perhaps I’ve given you some ideas of acts to check out for yourself? If so, my work here is (almost) done. Come back on Saturday for my final day piece, ya hear?

‘Til next time

LG

Hi all! LG is here!

Unfortunately I’m having a few technical problems at the moment, ones that are getting in the way of letting you have that nice day one FOCUS Wales 2023 report that I’ve prepared for you.

Rest assured that I am doing everything that I can to resolve this. Worst case scenario, you’ll have to wait a while, until I return home on Sunday at the earliest. Yeah, I know it’s not the greatest. But technology is not on my side at the moment.

But all is not lost. Until then, you can at least see my plans for Friday, my thoughts on said plans, and other ideas for acts to see. So, shall we proceed?

(The following is adapted from the piece that you were SUPPOSED to be reading right now. I’ve still tried to keep this skeleton version as informative and as entertaining though.)

First off, ignore the gap towards the bottom, I used last year’s schedule as a template, and forgot to remove two lines from it before publishing. But thanks to the wonders of modern technology (when it actually works!) I made them disappear.

Now that’s out of the way, you won’t be surprised to learn that my friend, generous platform provider, and fantastic person in general Unity appears on the list. Her set with Samhain and Ostara Days over at the HWB is not to be missed.

And of course CHROMA are there. It’s an unfortunate three-way clash at the time when they are playing for me, but these three are my homies. No way I’m missing out on seeing them at the Wynnstay Arms.

Also on the Friday priority list to see is the wonderful Mali Hâf. Again, if you saw my 2022 Top 20 countdown, you will know that her collaborative song ‘Mamiaith’ stood firmly and proudly at number one (one of her collaborators being Kitty, who I’m also seeing perform her own solo set later in the day), and she is such a great performer with the vocals, dance moves, and her unequivocal love of the Welsh language. Come to Old No. 7 by 4:45pm if you want to see a genius at work.

Afro Cluster will more bring the smooth vibes, and they would be in many respects a great way to close out the day at The Rockin’ Chair, but of course there will be more. It’s how I roll.

I’m also looking forward to finally seeing Hourglvss for the first time, I missed out on seeing them last year, and in no way was I prepared to see lightning strike twice.

And if anyone assembling at the university early on hasn’t seen Grimelda play before, I promise you, to use modern parlance, that they won’t be ready.

Best of the rest? Of course.

If you have a chance to go and see Shelf Lives and are interested, PLEASE take it. They’ll bring the attitude, you won’t forget them in a hurry.

They were part of my triple clash, along with JUICE MENACE. If you’re planning on seeing the Cardiff CEO, GET TO PENNY BLACK EARLY. The energy in that room when she performs is going to be insane.

Two opportunities to see Aisha Kigs, so no excuses if you were planning to see her and failed to take at least one. You will have seen the high praise I gave to NADUH high up in this piece, go see for yourselves what I’m talking about (yay, I used that phrase correctly) over at the Penny Black (they’re on right before Juice.)

(EDIT: I wrote lovely and beautiful things about NADUH in the original piece, they really are all that, and I cannot wait for you to see it in full. No, really. I can’t.)

Half/Time will play a full on set in the early evening at The Rockin’ Chair, so maybe you’d like to experience some of that intensity (that I talked about in the original piece) for yourself? And I saw Mauvey on a past FOCUS visit, he’s got the goods.

Again, just suggestions that look beyond the obvious. Plan out your day the way you want to. Or just go with the flow and see where it takes you. It’s all good.

So there you go. Not all that I wanted you to see right now, but I PROMISE you that I will get the rest out to you as soon as I can.

Enjoy your collective Fridays!

‘Til next (and a hopefully happier) time

LG

Hey all. It’s that Leo guy again with my final blog post on FOCUS Wales 2022 in association with Unity and LOR Cardiff. I’ve seen the reactionary love and the retweets for my scribings from earlier in the week. Thanks, it means a lot, nice to know that I’m having a positive impact. Perhaps I should do more of this more often.

I started writing this the Monday morning after on a train that departed early doors from Colwyn Bay. Wait, what? A bit of a trek from Wrexham, right? Well, what you need to know about me is that while the festivals may wrap up for another year, the live music does not.

A dear DIY musician friend of mine who goes by the name of Grant Sharkey is currently on a tour of his own in promotion of his latest album. He travels all over the UK in his car to play to anyone willing to listen. And how fortuitous it was that he happened to be playing a string of shows in Wales at the same time I was in the country. He played an open mic night at The Pavilion in Colwyn Bay the evening after FOCUS, so it was an absolute no brainer to travel further north to see him and his double bass in action. Yes, you read that right. Here’s some pictures. And go check him and his music out, there might be something there that you’ll like.

(The second of the two pics is used with permission from Grant, because, frankly, the selfie he took with his camera is far better than the one I did.)

Yes, a little digression there, but a little something to give you a better insight into me and what I’m all about with the live music thing. It’s my biggest passion in life, I love it so much.

People will have said this before about FOCUS, but the general vibe of the festival is so special. And how cool is Wrexham for the setting? I’ll definitely consider travelling there for one off shows in the future.

I loved the interactions and conversations with people outside the venues as much as what I saw on the various stages. Interactions such as the two I had with members of Vagina Witchcraft, they are really cool people. Giving a cheery hello and appreciation of the set they just played to Aleighcia Scott and her bandmates as they walked past me on the Friday evening. Seeing the bandmates of Samantha Savage Smith having breakfast in the dining area of the hotel on the day of departure, walking over and having a friendly conversation and giving them tourist tips for when they visit Manchester later during their tour.

Numerous fist bumps with Skunkadelic when passing each other at various times. Bonding with Kaptin Barrett over a shared appreciation for black midi. The quickest of catch ups with Maditronique in the entrance of The Royal Oak. So many welcome LOR interactions, too many to mention but one that stands out was a nice lengthy chat with Małgola a few doors down from The Parish on Friday. I was unable to see her solo set at FOCUS – that’s clashes for you – but I know even now that I am certain to catch a future solo or 100% Rabbit show. Just a question of when.

So many others I could mention and they were all good, but yes, you’re right dear reader. Time for me to get on with the day three FOCUS review. I hear you.

Just the mere twelve hours of action to close out proceedings. But I didn’t miss, I saw everyone as planned – and, get this – I actually scheduled a meal break for once as opposed to grabbing a quick bite on the go! Yay me for being sensible.

My day started off at Hope Street Church and with a showcase laid on by Fierce Panda Records. Manchester band SHADE were up first, and they did a very solid job of getting things up and running.

If you’re going to call yourself Enjoyable Listens, you’d better have the tunes and the character to back it up. Both boxes checked, and Luke – the guy who bought his suit from a charity shop for a fiver just minutes before the set started – has oodles of charisma. His in between banter was on point, and I enjoyed a nice chat with him afterwards. We’ll meet again.

Good three piece bands will always bring the energy, and JW Paris had plenty of that. The photo you see below should provide ample proof of this. People moved around in quite the enthusiastic manner during their set.

I planned my entire time at HSC on day three around Moon Panda, their Spotify offerings impressing me greatly during the planning stages. They lived up to my expectations when on stage, and like so many other people I encountered this weekend, they’re cool people too. If things work out, I might have a chance to see them again later this week in Brighton. Yes people, I do get around.

Now excuse me if you will, but I’m going to step away from doing things chronologically just for a moment. Because what I saw next from Unity and the LOR crew at Old No. 7 needs way more emphasis and attention. You’ll read more on this later, but for now look again on the cover shot of myself with the aforementioned Unity on the right, Skunkadelic and the fabulous Cara Elise.

I hate the fact that UK Garage declined in mainstream popularity at some point in the noughties. I still have a lot of love for the two-step, and what I saw from Niques was top drawer. She has bags of personality too, and she made everyone in the sizeable Old No. 7 crowd feel as if they were all a part of it, like one big happy gang.

My final visit of the festival to The Royal Oak and its single file viewing saw me take in a solo set from Aderyn. She’s got the tunes and the chat, and I enjoyed what she had to offer.

A flying visit to CENTRAL after the aforementioned meal break saw me go over to Room 2 and take in a set from Irish band Manilla Times, their choice of stage outfits a clear show of solidarity with the country they were playing in. They did a good job, and a shout out to the little lad also in this shot, he was well into it and I loved to see his enthusiasm. He started a one man moshpit at one point.

I saw Razkid do his thing at 2021’s FOCUS, and I was expecting something good from him at Penny Black. Of course the man delivered, and it was cool to be a part of the crowd there to see him do his thing. He kept calling on us to come further forward, at one point I thought that we were all going to be hanging out with MINAS behind the decks. More on him later.

One final visit to Llwyn Isaf to catch the set of Art School Girlfriend, in case you didn’t figure this out from the snap below. I liked what I heard.

Back to Old No. 7 to catch a piece of history in the making. Whenever I mentioned the name of sorry stacy to anyone, those in the know without exception told me how good she is. I’d planned on seeing her before reaching Wrexham in any case, but the glowing reports received from others only served to heighten expectations.

She did really well. It’s highly likely that she would have been dealing with first performance nerves, but if she was she hid them well. Hopefully we’ll be seeing and hearing more from her from a stage many more times in the future.

Back then to CENTRAL and the nightly shuffle between Rooms 1 and 2. What I will discuss here will be out of sequence with good reason if you continue to read on.

The last time I saw Big Thing was many years ago in my Swansea residing days. I’d come over to Cardiff for a gig at Clwb Ifor Bach and they were one of the support acts, playing then under their previous band name of Winter Coat. Until Saturday night I hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing them on a stage since then, I definitely enjoyed the experience this time around.

I read in the artist bio section on the FOCUS Wales app that SUNHILL named themselves after a cheap wine brand. It would have been funnier still if they’d somehow come across some old episodes of The Bill in their native Sweden and used that as their band name origin story instead. They were quite loud, but very good and they had Room 2 rocking.

Next in the top to bottom trio are KEYS who also made a joyful noise to those in Room 2 land, and Eitha Da who took advantage of a longer set time to give a largely knowledgeable and appreciative Wrexham crowd everything that they wanted and more.

CRAWLERS were a band that I cast a particular critical eye over. When planning for gigs and festivals over the past few months, I kept seeing their name popping up over and over again. So I’m like okay then, let’s see what you got.

And you know what? Yes, I’m believing the hype. They have decent songs, and their leader Holly Minto was definitely meant to front a band. I particularly liked the way how she went out of her way to personally acknowledge those who were there just for her band in the front row who had queued outside the venue long before it opened. If they maintain that level of love and respect for their fans throughout, they’ll go far. Definitely keen to see where they go from here.

But out of everyone I saw in CENTRAL that night, nobody had a greater impact on me than MINAS.

Yes, the above sentence is there on its own for deserved greater emphasis. Man, this guy. I’m not going to suggest for one second that people who perform aren’t passionate about what they do. But there are some out there who are next level, and it just shines through in their output. He is one such person.

I saw him in various places during the week on deck duty for other artists playing. Some performing acknowledged his role in the production of some of their work. (I particularly enjoyed Niques during her set talking about setting up a potential Direct Debit scheme in order for the two of them to get back into the studio to work on new material as quickly as possible.)

This dude gets it. His desire to help other artists be the best they can be shines through. And as for his own work…damn! Just damn. Let’s just say that man’s set flew by quickly, and I could have listened to twice as much.

As I said up above, his passion comes through loud and clear in his performance, and the impact on those in the crowd was pretty cool to see too. Especially Benji Wild. He was 100% feeling it. I’ll remember his reaction to what he was seeing just as fondly as the performance.

Definitely have to see him somewhere again with the mic in his hand, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be at a future FOCUS. Joint best performance of the day for me.

Okay, you’ve waited long enough. Time to rewind back to Old No. 7 and the Starving Artists CDF showcase as hosted by Skunkadelic.

I started talking to Unity about the prospect of writing this guest blog on her website from the previous Sunday. I consider myself to be reasonable at this writing thing, so why not?

We then met up in various places during Wrexham, watching the same artists play on many an occasion. To be honest, it blew my mind a little when she made it clear on the prior Sunday how much she appreciated my passion for live music, as we hadn’t spoken much to each other at that point. But we have mutual friends, hence the invitation to blog.

(Big up LUCE KANON and St Bernadette. Your collective presence was definitely missed in Wrexham this year!)

So it has been cool bonding with her over the past week. And of course I was looking forward to her set at Old No. 7, along with the LOR crew.

Having seen her in the exact same venue last time around, I knew that it was going to be good. After all, how could she fail with TrishnaJaikara backing her up on the decks? And also with Cara Elise pacing her with her own silky smooth vocals? What a team.

But yeah, she’s got the bars and she knows how to spit them. And as with MINAS, I definitely could have listened to her perform for much longer.

And her crew too. Big up Asha Jane, Harriet, and Trish for what they did when they each took their turn on the mic.

TeiFi almost stole the show when she got up and did her thing, actions that I highly approve of by the way.

And a shout out to Brooke for playing a mean guitar, and to Eädyth for laying down the cool basslines. Some real talent on the strings right there.

Yes, I could go on and on. And yes, I was thoroughly entertained.

My personal 2022 FOCUS came to an end in the upstairs part of Penny Black taking in a set from Seazoo as part of an evening’s entertainment broadcast live on BBC Radio Wales. Yet another band that somehow managed to miss my attention until now. But that’s what these events are for, they’re definitely on the LG radar now. Yes, the radar is a thing. I refer to it a lot as regular readers of my writey stuff on Facebook can attest to.

And that was my Wrexham adventure done for another year! I had so much fun for the second year running, and even though I have no idea where I’ll be at in life 12 months from now, I have to say that those FOCUS Wales 2023 Super Early Bird tickets look seriously tempting.

Time for thank yous. A wholehearted thanks to the team behind it all. I’m so appreciative, and I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that Andy Jones somehow noticed this and gave such a lovely reaction in response. Thanks for everything that you, your colleagues and your whole team do.

Thanks to all of the FOCUS staff and crew for helping to keep everything running smoothly. And thanks to all of the security personnel for helping to keep everyone safe. They don’t get anywhere near as much respect for their role in all of this in my opinion, and they should be celebrated more.

Thanks to all of the movers and shakers. The promoters, the delegates, those providing networking opportunities. Your role in all of this is appreciated.

Thanks to all of the artists who I saw on stage, and for making my decision to come and watch you play a good one. Especially if I saw you play for my first time.

Thanks also to those who I missed out on seeing, and for making the choice to pass on as difficult as possible. Trust me, you haven’t gone unnoticed, and I will see many of you play elsewhere at some point along the line.

Thanks to Ladies of Rage Cardiff! It’s been a pleasure to catch up with many of you from last October, and to meet many more of you for the first time. I’ll be seeing many of you again, and not just in Wrexham either.

And, of course, the biggest thanks of all goes to Unity. THANK YOU SO MUCH for giving me this opportunity. It’s been a pleasure to bond with you this week, and I am more than up for future collaborations if and when the opportunity arises to do so. Changed my mind about sharing this one. I assure everyone that I wasn’t harmed during the making of this photo.

I hope I’ve done you proud.

So that’s me done. But before I go, let me leave you with a screenshot of my upcoming plans for May. Some of you might have seen this already, but for those who haven’t, just sharing so that you can truly see what I’m about.

Yes, I’m doing all of this, no joke. By the time this goes out I will have gone to Nottingham and seen FOCUS participants Eädyth and Mangka perform. And this coming weekend will see me do something similar to what I just did down in Brighton for The Great Escape 2022. I plan on seeing a handful of acts down south that I also saw in Wrexham.

The rest you can see for yourself. This is my passion, and I cannot ever see myself stopping completely unless I’m physically unable to continue.

Okay, time to sign off. For those who read any of this, whether it be a few words or every word, thank you so much. And thanks again to everyone who has shown me love for all of this. It’s still blowing my mind that anyone would care to give attention to any of this, but please don’t think that I don’t appreciate it. I do. Wholeheartedly.

Thanks for reading.

LG