Dowsing Sound Collective, The Apex, Bury St Edmunds, Sunday, July 13

Two near full houses, a venue full of big voices and an incredible eclectic mix of music.

Described as “a harmonic phenomenon bursting onto the scene like a firecracker”, the Dowsing Sound Collective burst into life on Sunday with its two shows and its debut at the Apex.

Fronted by Bury-born and former County Upper School pupil Andrea Cockerton their show, which featured 120 singers and a group of 11 musicians plus beatbox artist Skilly Skillz, was a dynamic 90-minute performance which at times lifted the rafters of the complex. The range of music was divers and diverse and included two spots from husband and wife duo Megson, nominated three times for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and double winners of the 2011 Spiral Earch Awards.

It was an incredible sight to see the singers stacked up on stage with the musicians in front with a variety of instruments including strings, trumpet, drums, guitar adcordian and an eigenharp with Andrea conducting from her piano.

There were many well known tunes which the audience joined in with including “Wake Me Up” by Avicii, Primal Scream’s “Movin’ On Up” and Coldplay’s “Waterfall”.

But it was the beatbox numbers “Power To The People” and “Radioactive” which stole the show. An incredible mix of music and sounds.

There were also numbers from bands including Katzenjammer, The Gotan Project, Asgeir and Rufus Wainwright with profits from the shows going to The Dosoco Foundation, a musical foundation set up by the Collective to unlock the world through sound and music by funding small projects using music for social good.

Russell Cook