It’s quality, not quantity, that counts though, and those who did make it into the Music Box were treated to four excellent sets from four of the city’s best young talents.  | | Rachael Kichenside (pic: Shirlaine Forrest) |
Stickboy kicked things off in typically tuneful style. “Now, just stop pushing, we don’t want anyone to get hurt,” he quipped to the empty dancefloor before him, but the sad fact was that his toe-tapping tunes, augmented by his wonderful live band, deserve a much bigger stage. There were rumours that this would be his last live performance. Let’s hope they prove to be untrue. You’d have forgiven Kathryn Edwards for wanting to give up though. Taking to the stage, she hit guitar problems that resulted in her having to make the choice between not playing or doing the whole thing with amplifiers. Thankfully, she chose the latter and her silken vocals and intricate tunes transformed what was becoming a cavernous space to something beautifully intimate.  | | Rachael Kichenside (pic: Shirlaine Forrest) |
Following her was an equally impressive voice. Backed by a simple pair of guitars, Rachael Kichenside unleashed her angelic tones on the assembled with a skip and a grin in every song. Controlling every note, she moved from gentle tenderness to thrilling emotion with ease, drawing in the assembled and even getting one or two people dancing! After that, there was only the headliner, Josephine Oniyama. Blessed with a sound that sits somewhere between Blackley and Barbados, she is one of this city’s most original and stunning talents.  | | Josephine Oniyama (pic: Shirlaine Forrest) |
Filling the air with charm and wonder, her set was a quick spin through her new material and a reminder of why she is so good. Even the false start to one song, for the benefit of her watching drummer "who’s the only person who knows how it goes and that I got it wrong", only added to the feeling of camaraderie that had built up between the performers and the audience. There’s a chance that this will become the worst attended, best performed gig of the year, but given the talent on show, there’s every possibility that, in the future, there’ll be a good few people who pretend they were here tonight. | 
