My main reason for going to the New Roscoe was to see the woman touted as America’s ‘next Queen of Country Rock’ Gina Villalobos. Of course, if you believed everything the music press said, you’d think that every new Joe Schmo was poised for world domination. But, for once, I think they might be right. Gina Villalobos is gifted with a raw, whisky-flavoured voice and will obviously draw comparisons with country singers past and present. She was joined on stage by accompanying guitarist Ben Pringle and their style is very reminiscent of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. The duo worked well together with a lot of cheery audience banter and I was particularly amused by their bewilderment at the term Bank Holiday. “Is that where all the bank employees get the day off? What about the rest of you guys?” All in all, I was really impressed with the set and you can guarantee that everyone in the music industry will want a piece of her before too long. You can also guarantee that I’ll be the annoying bloke at the bar who won’t shut up about being there from the start. Next up were the headliners Ezio, who I’ve seen a couple of times previously at various
festivals. They started playing against a backdrop of inane chatter from the back of the room and it became apparent that the duo weren’t happy. Neither for that matter was the vast majority of the audience, myself included, and it came as a great relief when lead singer Ezio Lunedei decided to speak his mind. "Why pay 7 quid to come in here and talk over us? Why don’t you just f*** off?" Everyone cheered but the chatter didn’t end – some people are just plain rude. Ezio are essentially made up of two lead guitarists, Ezio Lunedei and Mark ‘Booga’ Fowell and play a sort of mix between traditional British folk music and a more flamboyant, Latin-American sound. Lunedei is a commanding presence as a singer and he clearly has a forceful personality to match. In contrast, the quiet and thoughtful ‘Booga’ comes across as a gentle giant and he can certainly play a mean guitar, although he does have a slight tendency to indulge in a bit too much ‘noodling’ from time to time. All in all, it was great night and proved for me that the New Roscoe, despite a tendency to be a platform for endless tribute bands, is one of Leeds’ premier venues for up and coming artists. | 
