Without an album to support per se with ‘Other People’ out in the Autumn of last year we are treated to a thorough run through from across their two albums and ‘Australia’ EP. With Kami nursing a bad throat after a cancelled gig earlier in the week its very much James taking the lead tonight.
It’s all electric and we’re graced with Rockingbirds alumni Sean Read on organ to further boost the live sound. We kick off with the first two tracks of the latest album ‘The Cally’ and ‘Late Surrender’ and this sets the scene pretty much for the whole evening. There’s often comparison to Richard and Linda Thompson but James’ voice is not as distinctive as Richard Thompsons but he harmonises perfectly with Kami. One area where James does compare is as a guitar player. I rate him as one of the top five guitarists around at the moment.
The highlights for me still come from the debut album ‘Fair Warning’ with tracks such as ‘William Taylor’ and ‘Panic Attack Blues’ but it’s the title track that hits the spot. That said ‘Mansion of Happiness’ in the encore is a superb track.
The band are on all form tonight but it’s over very quickly It’s been a high quality year on the live front and this has continued with a great night with the new face of British folk royalty.
‘Till the next time, keep on rockin’ y’all.