Zenith Cafe showcase at Gibson Garage: A night of musical mastery and guitar splendour

Just adjacent to London’s shopping metropolis of Oxford Street is a quieter street that is home to the Gibson Garage. A waking dream for any guitarist, the Gibson store has some of the world’s finest guitars proudly hanging and glittering on display, including the legendary Les Paul. There are several black and white photographs of Noel Gallagher visiting the shop adorning the walls. And on a Spring evening in the capital, three singer-songwriters who wield their guitars beautifully, Gareth Dunlop, Danny Addison, and Nathan O’Reagan, are taking the stage in the Gibson Garage’s basement as part of a Zenith Cafe record label showcase.

Zenith Cafe is an independent, family-run record label operating between Cambridge and Belfast, founded by Paul and Nikki Turner. With a strong penchant for singer-songwriters, the label has helped nurture its artists with live opportunities like this Central London showcase, as well as landing the artist’s songs into films, television, and international sporting events.

Once tonight’s audience has enjoyed some finger food and drinks in the presence of the exquisite guitars, it’s time to head down into the basement before the music begins. The night is hosted by the Turners, who introduce the evening’s opening act, Gareth Dunlop. Belfast-born and raised, Dunlop has been nominated for Album of the Year at the Northern Ireland Music Prize, and his tunes have been heard in huge TV shows including Nashville, Love Island, and Suits.

He takes the stage, letting everyone know how pleased he is to be, “Surrounded by gorgeous guitars and gorgeous people.” Like all three performers tonight, he appears with an acoustic, but mentions, “I’d thought about using one of the Gibson Flying Vs, but I don’t think I have the hips for it.”

First in his three-song set is Church, showing off his wonderfully husky voice and anthemic songwriting, which builds to a huge closer. Next up is Go Down Swinging, which Dunlop dedicates to his daughter. It similarly has a powerhouse chorus to match his powerhouse vocals. In fact, the song makes it hard to believe it’s just one man and an acoustic generating this performance on stage. Having said that, he calls up two of his bandmates on stage for some backing vocals for his closer, so that the room has some heavenly vocal harmonies to remember him by.

He’s followed by Hitchin songwriter Danny Addison, another troubadour on the Zenith Cafe roster. While Dunlop’s set was defined by the gravelly tones of his voice, Addison presents the audience with vocals that effortlessly switch between his strong tenor and whispering falsetto.

He opens with Back To You, a fantastic opening example of his wistful music and excellent acoustic guitar ability. With his second song, he takes the opportunity to plug his latest single and its accompanying music video, and on the evidence of tonight’s performance, Pheremones is definitely worth checking out. Finally, we’re treated to Tribe, a song about Addison “Finding his people.” And, in this music venue surrounded by guitar lovers, he could equally be talking about tonight. 

It then falls on Nathan O’Reagan, the second Irish performer on the night, to close out proceedings. He starts with the upcoming new single, Better Days. He introduces Babysteps first as a song about becoming a father and not feeling ready. He adds to that a story of playing it to his infant son, who raised his arms in the air, leaving O’Reagan thinking he was about to receive a round of applause, before realising it was actually time for a change of nappies. His final song, Family Number Two, which he says is “Happier than it sounds,” is another brilliant example of his bluesy songwriting, stunning guitar work, and the perfect end to the evening’s entertainment.