Review by Paul Woodward of Midlands Rocks
First up tonight is Sacred Heart, a British AOR band, who have their third album out this autumn, called “Darkness Falls”. As the band take to the stage, I notice only Paul Stead (Vocals) & Mark Stephenson (Guitar) are present, Paul quickly apologises profusely for the absence of the bands rhythm section who had broken down in Bournemouth!

So the band attempts to play a set, purely with an acoustic guitar & an electric guitar only. Risky move and it could go oh so badly…… maybe a full on acoustic set would be a better idea, well that was my initial thought. Paul & Mark pulled it out the bag though and played an excellent set, and went down amazingly well with the audience; it shows the talent within the band and the quality of the songs that it could work so well!
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They kicked off with “Lay It on The Line” from their debut demo’s album, which very quickly showed the band could give the songs justice even in a stripped down format. They then kick into two songs from second album “Shake” - “Tonight” & the title track. Whilst I was disappointed with the second album after all the promise shown with their debut album, both the songs work well and seem to keep the cheers coming from an increasingly impressed audience.
 
But it’s the new songs where Sacred Heart finally blows everyone away as they finish their set with 4 new songs. Having heard a few songs from the new album, I already know that the band have recorded their best stuff to date and are finally fulfilling their initial promise. I have no doubt that “Darkness Falls” will win the band a whole new set of fans!
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“Top of the Class” is the first new song delivered and is already a personal favourite of mine an in your face AOR tune with a killer chorus, which showcases Paul’s excellent smooth vocals. Next up are the slightly harder edged “On My Way” & “Best in Me” which garner the band a great response from the crowd. They finish the set with “Music Man” their tribute to err…. Music…!
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A great band whom I hope to see again soon, check them out @ 
www.myspace.com/sacredheartshakes
and save your pennies for the new album it’s gonna be a killer modern British AOR album.

Set: "Lay It On The Line", "Shake", "Tonight", "Top Of The Class",
"On My Way", "Best In Me", "Music Man"

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