Video of “Back To You” taken by my friend Susanne aka RedLabel769
Gig Review: Mighty Oaks (with support act Jackson Dyer) at Rockhal Club, 24.04.2014
So much for the chance to check out bands in the intimate settings of the Rockhal Café before they become famous – definitely too late in the case of Mighty Oaks! Luckily, the promoter realised it in time and announced in the afternoon that the gig had been moved to the Rockhal Club (one big advantage imo being the fact that you could take more and better pictures - see here and here). Even though the Club is huge compared to the Café, my fear that the move might result in the awkward situation for the band to have to play in front of a half empty venue turned out to be unfounded. The large crowd definitely wasn’t only there because of the fact that the gig was still for free or, as Ian suggested, Mighty Oak’s TV- and radio appearance of the same day, as no small part of the audience proved to know the songs very well, recognising them after the first few notes and singing along.
Even if the same wasn’t true for the support act, Australian singer-songwriter Jackson Dyer, he was still happy with the reaction he got and especially pointed out the attentiveness of the audience during his set. Jackson played songs of his two EP’s, the 2012 release The Child And The Sea and the (very) new one, White Threads, as well as one cover. I prefer his older songs, but also really enjoyed his final song, Fire That Will Never Burn from his latest EP.
What is most remarkable about Mighty Oaks is how much fun they have on stage and how that spreads to the crowd. On the other hand, it’s always a give and take, and the audience definitely made it easy for Mighty Oaks to enjoy themselves. They didn’t fail to thank the fans multiple times, stressing their surprise as they had been prepared to play at the Café to about 40 people and didn’t believe they could fill a much bigger venue with their first ever performance in Luxembourg.
The funniest moment was when after announcing their last song and the crowd going all „noooooo…“, Ian pointed out „Come on, you didn’t even pay for this gig – don’t be greedy!“ It was, of course, only a joke, and Mighty Oaks came back on stage to perform two more songs.
Judging by the rush to the merch stand after the show, the fans made good use of the money saved for tickets and invested it in CDs, posters, etc. Jackson as well as Ian, Claudio and Craig were also there to sign the items and take photos.
Mighty Oaks will be back in Luxembourg for the Fête de la Musique in Dudelange on June 14th (another free event!), and I’ll make sure to be better prepared by then for it is certainly even more fun if you’re able to sing along to the songs ☺ Find more tour dates here and go see them if you have the chance!
