The Icarus Club has been running every Thursday night at The Station Hotel, Staplehurst Road, Hither Green since January. It is the same 8pm start every week, with the same format; only the acts change.
Although the aim of the club is to give local talent the chance to test-drive material in a friendly setting, so far this year acts from Australia, the US and Europe have all performed at the club. They have been joined by dozens of other bands and singers from all over the UK who have taken a date at The Icarus Club either as part of a tour, or in preparation for one.
Last Thursday (June 25) there were four acts on the bill; a three piece made up of members of the Rad Orchestra and three women singer songwriters, Steph Newton, Raevennan Husbandes and Nadeen White (below).
Each act plays two short sets, so if you don’t get on with one of the acts, you don't have to wait too long for the next one, says club organiser Andy Ropek.
The Icarus Club was founded by Andy, who lives nearby in Hither Green and Phil Dearing from Eltham, in May 2007. After stints at the Old Tigers Head in Lee and the Dirty South in Lee they have settled at the Station Hotel.
Andy, who works in music publishing, said: “The original idea was to provide a high-quality space for local acts to perform acoustically, playing a few songs in a relaxed atmosphere without them having to go through the process of arranging full gigs which can be fairly daunting.
“The emphasis was and is most definitely on promoting local acts, although as time has gone on, with the help of online tools like Myspace and Sonicbids as well as its own radio station, Icarus Radio the reputation of the club has extended pretty much all over the world.”
Although anything goes at the club in terms of style and you will hear everything from folk and blues to classical, from artists of all ages, there is a ban on cover versions.
Andy said: “We find that its pretty much always their original material that’s best.”
“All types of act are welcome as long as they can play acoustically. We can’t really cope with drums at the moment, but we can accommodate anything up to six people onstage at once, although its a bit of a squeeze.”
Rather than read what I thought about each of the acts, I recommend you go to their My Space pages and listen for yourself. That’s the wonderful thing about living in the My Space age. Somebody asks you if have you heard (insert name of obscure singer or band here) and instead of feeling like the most uncool kid on the block all you do is type in their name and there they are, sitting in the drawer like a pair of old socks.
If you would like to play at the Icarus Club you can contact Andy via email or visit www.myspace.com/theicarusclub.
To listen to the acts who appeared at the Icarus Club last week visit:
www.myspace.com/nadeenwhite
www.myspace.com/radorchestra
www.myspace.com/stephnewtonsongs
www.myspace.com/raevennanhusbandes
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