Sonic Youths @ NAC

There's no better way to while away a cold, grey January Saturday afternoon than hanging out at Sonic Youths, being entertained by young musicians aged 14-19 playing in Norwich Arts Centre's cafe bar for free. Armed with a steaming hot cuppa, I was delighted to see the place packed out with a huge age range within the audience. Especially heartwarming to see so many teens there supporting their friends...they're the future, man.

So we started off with Maya Law, a singer songwriter with a powerful, acrobatic and individual voice, and she's not bad on the guitar either. Shortlisted for the Next Big Thing 2016, she's already confident, but not over confident, and her style echoes that of multi million sellers Adele and Amy Winehouse, so she must surely be on her way to mega stardom. Nice one Maya.

Second up is an act I've been hearing lots about recently, Cabrakid. Consisting of rapper Cabrakan and beat maker Allergy Kid, the vibe from the duo today is a beautifully chilled 90's one; think Jazzy Jeff doing a Late Night Tales set. Lyrics about being in love and being hurt by love are well thought out and intelligent; the antithesis to gangster rap. The 30 minute set is filled with sweet beats and a blissed out atmosphere and pleasantly none of the usual arrogance or attitude you can sometimes experience from hip hop acts. One to watch in 2016 fo sho.

It's virtually impossible to find any of Poppy Rae Read's music on the interwebs, so I was looking forward to seeing her. She has a strong stage presence, and her voice gets considerably stronger and more brave throughout her performance. I can hear echoes of Kristen Hersh in her music, which is a great thing, and even though her instrumental skills are still in development, she's clearly on the road to becoming an original and from-the-heart act.

This is the second time I have seen the final act Dog's Dinner, and this time around front man Josh has overcome his nerves and he's a livewire on stage. Coming over as a cross between Mark E Smith on the glowering, fuck off front, and Iggy Pop on the energy infused rant front, he sure stands out and demands our attention. Musically they are fantastic today, seemingly having quickly moved on from Slaves style fun punk to more serious post punk, with nods to The Fall/Wire/early Arctic Monkeys/Mudhoney/Stephen Malkmus throughout. Their style is messy and shambolic; it really works. Their sheer enthusiasm and bravado wins the audience over once again. Can't wait to see what they're like next time around.