Away for a few weeks, but back with a vengeance ILUVLIVE hosted king of funky Donae’o’s launch party with a summer special boasting a line up of amazing vybes and talent as per usual.

The night which was the first of three summer specials taking place in the up and coming months, changed the format by moving the first part of the evening to the roof, which provided a chilled out picturesque setting with a bar and chicken thrown in.

The first act of the evening was none other than soulman, Andrew Roachford - Columbia’s biggest selling UK act for ten years and seven albums under his belt.  Roachford, who felt humbled after a hefty introduction, performed ‘Addictive’ off of his new 2010 album of the same name. Keyboard in tow the passion was visible in his eyes and his sound authentic and raw. He brought on rapper, Wordplay to assist him as he admitted ‘I can’t rap’, and the combination of the two proved a dream collaboration.

"G FRSH was a definite highlight of the show."

Later, the crowd made their way down to the basement for a line up which admittedly this week, was a male affair. First up were Angha from Islington London. The group who "like making feel good music" performed a few tracks for the ladies, which were complimented by lead singer Dele, who added an R’n’B touch. The beats in all of their tracks were pretty strong but it was ‘West End Girls’ which was the highlight of their performance - a dance/clubby sound that brought some serious vibes to the room.

Some of the newer artists such as R.I.O and Incisive set the bar high for live UK music. R.I.O, the solo artist from Manchester came all the way to London to perform and told the audiences to listen to the content of his songs which ranged from cheeky to fairly deep lyrics. Songs such as ‘I Remember’ had a slower tempo whereas others where much faster which really showed his diversity as an artist. ‘In-to-the-ci-to-the-woo’ as he had the audience singing performed with a singer and a trumpet to accompany his sound which added a bit of a jazzy feel to his set, especially with tracks such as ‘Do It’ which was taken from his new album. He and his entourage had great energy on stage and the performance became quite electric at times.

"R.I.O and Incisive set the bar high for live UK music".

Repping Nigeria, 25 year old south Londoner G FrSh was a definite highlight of the show. From the minute he walked on stage with his sunglasses and chain, you could see they don’t call him G FrSh for nothing. His infectious flow and unique mastery of some serious beats had everyone vibing, especially when it came to tracks like ‘Magic’ and ‘Uh’.

The biggest highlight of the show however, was the funky king, Donaeo. His confidence and stage undiputed prescene was dynamic and pure in energy. He formed a cheeky rapport with some of the ladies in the audience and threw a t-shirt into the crowd during his medley of funky madness to really get them going wild. The performance of his hit ‘Party Hard’ had the whole room dancing and carried on throughout the set meant that there was never a dull moment. During his performance he stated "I love music you know" which was apparent - the passion in every word and dance move he executed was evident and admirable. His performance of his new single ‘I’m fly’ was also amazing and definitely the sound of another club banger.

When the clock struck twelve it was the end of ILUVLIVE. So until the next summer special where there'll be good music, good vibes and good conversation - we all love ILUVLIVE.
 
Words Kyomi Wade