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Although the event did start a bit late (1.5 hours to be exact), we waited in the lovely XOYO  bar with entertainment in the form of a bingo night and a game of "penny up the crack" (we won't go into detail but it involves a penny, your bum and a cup. You'll have to visit there for more info on how to play)

And so to the music, the line-up included the likes of Jelisa Shanel (Great Vocalist), Mic lowry (the new JLS with justin bieber touches), Benjamin AD (Good lyricist and meaningful subject matter), Adam Moss (Very good solo artist, performs like Ed Sheeran but looks like Buddy Holly), DVS (Hood Music through and through, passion driven lyrics), Ayanna Witter-Johnson (Soulful and classical, with masses of charm) and Pepstar (Energetic with captivating stage presence, made his performance an experience for us) who brought along guest performer - influential grime artist Ghetts.

We were at the front throughout the event paying close attention to each and every act and appreciating their talent - there is no doubting that each and every act on the night was talented. However there were two that stole the show in this occasion , the first was Ayanna Witter-Johnson who came on stage with a cello and immediately this was something unexpected which is always exciting. She played the cello beautifully and in a way which i have never seen it played (Not that i'm an avid cello concert attendant) but then she started to sing and that just brought the crowd to attention, this type of voice cannot be ignored. It is truly refreshing to see naturally talented vocalist making waves in the charts once again,  from Adele to  Emili Sande to Laura Mvula, and Ayanna can sit right alongside them with her cello and fantastic backing singers and have our attention.

The other outstanding act was Pepstar, someone i came across when he was about 17 i believe and wanted a music video for what was one of his earliest projects, he was still learning his craft at this point with his studio set up in his small bedroom. Fast forward about six years and we see before us an extremely talented musician who has worked extremely hard to learn what he knows, An artist who can create a beat live and perform to it - his stage presence and diversity in sound made him stand out from the other rappers on the night, his diverse subject matter also meant that he was more palatable. He has already drawn comparisons with Kanye West but why should being a creative musician and producer in Hiphop mean that you're compared to Kanye, it should be the norm. Indeed Kanye "Came into the game and made his own lane" but should't every respectable musician strive for the same instead of doing what millions of rappers are doing. Pepstar is one to watch and i have feeling he's on the bring. 

"Ilovelive" are doing a wonderful service to British music and i hope they have a long lived presence within music and influence others to give talented musicians a good platform. We will be visiting more of their events as we feel that we can one day say the words "I saw so and so perform before he were famous"  Hopefully next time they will allow us to film some footage.