WORTH A LOOK?: ****
10 years ago Spraggan sang her self-penned song Last Night (Beer Fear) during her successful audition for TV talent show The X Factor and it is referenced during this single perhaps to indicate how far she’s come in that time.
It’s been quite the year, it’s almost Christmas and what would the festive season be without some recognition of the best of 2021? Over the next month we’ll shortlist five nominees in each of 15 categories for our Oscars, or monstas if you will, of 2021.
Covid-19 and the lockdowns that have followed in its wake have meant gig-going has been impossible for most but the arrival of vaccines mean our chances of live concerts this summer are increasing.
WHEN?: Thursday 4 March 2021
It’s the afternoon before Lucy Spraggan finds out whether her new album will fulfil its midweek chart position of number 5 and she’s understandably nervous.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
OUT: 26/2/21
TRACKLIST: Flowers; Roots; Sober; Run To The Hills; Heartbreak Suites; If I Had A God; I Spent A Night In The Desert; You’ve Let Yourself Down; Animal; Wild; Run; Choices (Don’t Be Afraid); Why Don’t We Start From Here?
If you’re familiar with singer/songwriter Spraggan it may well be thanks to her song Tea And Toast which was a top 20 hit before she’d even appeared on TV’s The X Factor live finals in 2012.
Spraggan won our gig of the year monsta in 2020 and we said then: ‘Her warmth and empathy really shine bright in the guitar-based, folk-influenced material that she writes and performs.’ Her 6th album Choices is released 26/2/21 and includes Sober, a song of the month for us in November. Tickets were on sale for an April tour which has now been cancelled because of Covid-19 but you can watch that gig of the year. Details
monstagigz readers have been voting throughout December for their favourite pop, theatre, TV and film of 2020 from our shortlists. Read on for details of our 2020 monstas winners …
2020’s Best Theatre Actor
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: 20/12/20 via livestream
SETLIST: Lighthouse; Fight For It; Flowers; Tea and Toast; Sober; Run; Fairytale Of New York; I Don’t Know; It Doesn’t Feel Like Christmas; Lucky Stars; Lightning; Don’t Know Nothing About The Blues; Choices; Stick The Kettle On; I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles); Unsinkable
Spraggan’s social media reaction immediately after this show tells you everything you need to know about what it meant to her: ‘It’s been a year since I played with my full band, last night was like a complete dream and there is nothing I love more than making music with those guys.’
It’s been quite the year, it’s almost Christmas and what would the festive season be without some recognition of the best of 2020? Over the last month we have shortlisted at least five nominees in each of 14 categories for our Oscars, or monstas if you will, of 2020.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
OUT: now
We were supposed to be seeing the 29-year-old singer-songwriter from Buxton, Derbyshire, this month at the 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire but COVID-19 has now pushed that back to April 2021.
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