Benjamin Francis Leftwich - The Globe, Cardiff - 20th February 2012 (Live Review)
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Written by Dave Ball
Anyone who wasn’t already convinced that singer songwriters are well and truly back in fashion need only have scanned the faces of a capacity crowd at Cardiff’s The Globe to get final confirmation. A sea of expectant young faces, resembling a gathering at the Student Union, crowded into one of the better small venues the Welsh capital has to offer, queuing half way down the street to get a good spot.
Opening up and playing to a firstly empty but quickly filling room are ‘Fossil Collective’ who, in all honesty, sound better on record than they do live on this evidence. Hopefully it’s just an off day as they do have some good songs.
Following them is a very short but very impressive 20 minutes from Ren Harvieu. The Salford born singer, so far better known for her recovery from a back injury which almost paralysed her, wowed the crowd immediately. Her voice soars through the room with a beautiful soulful quality to it, almost a less affected Lana Del Rey type vocal delivery. A wonderful cover of The Beatles' 'Something' impresses with her set highlighted by her upcoming debut albums’ title track ‘Through The Night’. It’ll be her singing making the headlines sooner rather than later.
Headlining the night following an impressive 2011, punctuated by several impressive festival performances and a debut album which received universally good reviews, Benjamin Francis Leftwich takes to the stage alone for ‘Pictures’, his raspy vocals captivate the audience immediately.
Joined onstage by the rest of his band they pile through tracks from the aforementioned debut ‘Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm’ which demonstrates a depth of lyrics rarely seen by someone of just 22 years of age. One new track is showcased which doesn’t have an announced title although my best guess would be ‘Keep Your Hand Steady’. It lilts and gently bounces along offering plenty of promise for the follow-up to everyone who fell in love with his debut.
As the crowd chatter begins to build during songs, Leftwich announces that, with his band having left the stage, he needs silence for the next song. A mesmerising version of ‘Maps’ follows, Leftwich stepping away from the microphone to sing unassisted. It’s the most intimate moment of the night with his hushed vocals and muted acoustic picking drawing the entire room under his spell.
A crowd led rendition of Happy Birthday to Tom, his "best friend in the world", precedes ‘Butterfly Culture’ before a brilliant cover version of Arcade Fire’s ‘Rebellion’ shows off all of his musical ability. The new arrangement is less frenzied and more delicate than the Canadian multi-piece’s original and for me this version is superior to it’s better known counterpart.
A change of pace into ‘Stole You Away’ gets the crowd moving for the first time before ‘Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm’ closes the main set. He’s barely off the stage 30 seconds before returning for the customary encore, ‘Atlas Hands’ providing the biggest sing along of the evening before he finishes up with the beautifully tender ‘Don’t Go Slow’. The washy sound and lyrical sentiment makes this track ready made for appearances on any number of TV dramas, you can already see the chorus line of ‘If you smile and close your eyes, I’m yours’ sound-tracking a poignant moment or two sometime soon.
His heartfelt thanks, which feels far more genuine than you usually sense, is reciprocated generously. I have a feeling the next time he visits, it will be at a considerably larger venue.
Tue February 21st 2012 - Bath Komedia, Bath
Wed February 22nd 2012 - O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London
Thu February 23rd 2012 - Manchester Academy 2, Manchester
Fri February 24th 2012 - O2 ABC 2, Glasgow
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Joined onstage by the rest of his band they pile through tracks from the aforementioned debut ‘Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm’ which demonstrates a depth of lyrics rarely seen by someone of just 22 years of age. One new track is showcased which doesn’t have an announced title although my best guess would be ‘Keep Your Hand Steady’. It lilts and gently bounces along offering plenty of promise for the follow-up to everyone who fell in love with his debut.
