Description

Explaining Marty O'Reilly and the Old Soul Orchestra's music is like describing a remembered dream. It feels familiar, but at the same time it feels new. It's blues but not blues, folk but not folk, soulful but not soul.

Marty's voice is beautiful and distinctive, his lyrics stark yet lush over gritty electrified guitar. Chris Lynch's violin, Matt Goff's percussion and Ben Berry's rich bass meld beautifully. The chemistry of these friends is obvious. But one can also hear an urgency in the songs, expressing something elemental and perhaps contradictory: love and anger, joy and pain.

The live performance is at the core of this project: the band enters a trance and the music is born again as something new every night. They go from raw gospel blues to cinematic epics, from heavy driving grooves to delicately arranged folk songs. They leave the stage out of breath, the ground littered with broken strings and bow hairs. It's hard to describe, impossible to categorise. Yet people who know the music will try to explain it to you, just as you might struggle to explain a dream in the morning. The visions might slip away as you recount them, but the feeling remains.

The band formed in Santa Cruz California in 2012 and has been touring relentlessly ever since, from San Francisco to New Orleans to London to Seattle. They invite you to join them.

"A band true to its name: soulful" - NPR
"Delightful, well crafted music" - SF Weekly
"Raw musical excellence, guitar, fiddle and double bass played to within an inch of their inanimate lives." - 4000 Miles to Nashville
"Definitely on the top of the Americana list penned by any serious connoisseur of roots music this year." - Portland Tribune

Description

The Lexington is a classic London boozer turned lounge bar, with a hint of Kentucky charm and lashings of rock & roll excess. Enjoy award winning food served up with our favourite American craft beers or just lounge around in our baroque mezzanine exploring the best bourbon selection in London. If you like it a little bit louder, head upstairs for the latest and greatest bands in our live venue. Then dance the night away with our family of music loving DJs, playing everything from 20s jazz to the newest indie through the sea of counter-cultural sounds into the wee small hours.

The Lexington is an early Victorian building and as such is not easily accessible for anyone with limited mobility. While the main bar is on the ground floor and accessible without steps the music venue is up a flight of stairs. We’re happy to help with access where possible.

96-98 Pentonville Road,

City of London,

Greater London,

England,

N1 9JB.

020 7837 5371