A Musical Escape at The Cowley Retreat

The Cowley Retreat hosted its first acoustic night on Thursday (November 7^th) with several acts performing a mix of original and borrowed material.

“It’s a glorified open-mic night, quality music by students, for students.” Said Conor Hickey, event organiser.

Conor opened proceedings himself with a small set which included his take on Imagine Dragons. Accompanied by Charlie Hughes on guitar, his confident demeanour shone through, his gruff and gritty voice invoking images of Caleb from Kings of Leon.

Harry Legge and Conor Hickey

Following Conor came Becca Nunneley, who has previously featured in The Tab. Sat on a leather wingback chair Becca soon had everyone’s full attention. Beginning with her own song, Hide and Seek, the blonde guitarist moved onto a wonderful cover of Liberty X’s Just A Little which had a few people dancing at their tables. Closing with another original song , Becca brought her subtly brilliant few songs to an end.

Becca Nunnely on stage

Kiki Hopkins and Charlie Hughes were up next with their take on Droplets by Colbie Caillat. Their voices were very complimentary, levelled excellently with Charlie’s guitar. Charlie moved on alone into his own song, White Feather, his explanations of its emotional value rendered redundant by the sound of his voice.

Kiki Hopkins and Charlie Hughes

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Johnny Percival then sang with Charlie, an unusual and interesting vocalist that added something new and exciting to the evening.

Johnny and Charlie

Next came Out of the Blue, of X-Factor fame. Their acapella sound was sadly drowned out by the drunken hum of the bar. They ran on and then ran off again, a quick set, but those that heard it said it was impressive.

Out of the Blue

Finally Conor, Harry and Charlie came back to the stage to perform an impromptu set and the odd verse from Jerusalem. This was by far the highlight of the night as people sang along, a very special way to end.

The acoustic evening is set to become a monthly occurrence – if you’d like to perform contact Conor Hickey for more info and look out for more exclusive content on The Tab. If you’d like to write for us we’d love to hear from you. Email [email protected] to find out more.