Opening act Kate Nash comes across as a modern day Beth Orton, her wistful, lilting melodies backed up by a voice that is at once fragile and powerful, She delivers her songs to a surprisingly enraptured audience, carrying us away with her softly spoken lyrics and light, rhythmic guitar. Though young, her songs hint at a growing maturity and in the years to come this singer-songwriter could become one to keep an eye on.
Next up was Walter Schreifels, founding member of such influential and well-regarded New York Post-Hardcore bands as Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand, Rival Schools and most recently The Walking Concert. I have personally been a massive fan of his since discovering Quicksand over ten years ago and was especially surprised to see him performing solo and supporting a relatively new band in such inauspicious surroundings. Needless to say, Walter engaged the crowd with his usual cheerful banter and proceeded to play a series of ‘acoustic punk’ songs, including several Walking Concert tracks and even the MTV hit ‘Used for Glue’ by Rival Schools. Surprisingly, his post-hardcore rhythms and time signiatures worked rather well acoustically, even without a full band adding extra layers to the sound. Stripped down to their basics, the songs are allowed to breathe and let the lyrics speak for themselves. Audience reaction was favorable, though I can’t help but feel that perhaps his previous work was too obscure for the fans of the headlining band. Even so, Walter played an exceptional show further cementing his reputation as a leader in the field of expressive, introspective songwriting.
Relative newcomers Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly have been on the fringes of massive commercial success for a good few months now, with near constant radio and MTV play for their singles ‘War of the Worlds’ and ‘Call me Ishmael’. Though the songs are all written by singer/guitarist Sam Duckworth, the ‘Get Cape.’ experience is filled out for live performances with a drummer and two horn players (switching between Saxophones and trumpets between songs). Sequencer driven samples and keybaords also float through the mix, raising the standard of this so called ‘future folk’ (or is it ‘folktonica’?) to new highs. Each song is a superbly crafted individual work of art, lovingly sculpted over a heavy period of gigging and studio time to achieve a fully accomplished and coherent piece. The melodies are intricate, with the occasional subtle nod to dance music taking them in directions unexpected. Soft synths and brass horns make these songs different to anything else currently receiving radio play, and allowing Get Cape to fully explore the wide vistas open to them offered by the sub-zero temperatures of the current musical climate.
Lyrically, the songs are of a reflective nature, as are many songs of the folk ouevre; but these have a disticntly modern feel, exploring the intricasies of relationships and the expression of desires within a 21st century context. When played live, these themes take on a life of their own, with the band appearing to have little control over the warmth or depth of the forces they unleash. Of course, this isn’t a bad thing, and the audience sing along until the roof is raised high with a chorus of alcohol fueled voices. But everyone feels included, the bands enjoyment at playing a packed venue with two excellent support bands is evident and telegraphs easily to the crowd, who can’t get enough.
Most songs had a video projected onto the wall behind the band, from the music videos of the singles to the homemade and intriguing stop motion animation that played throughout others. One video had a short lecture on the evils of capitalism written in Sharpie marker on cardboard sheets which were then cycled through in the style reminiscent of a silent movie. It sounds preachy (and it was a little) but it did seem to be a heartfelt plea for everyone (i.e. the audience) to reflect on where the money they pay for their trainers/coffee/merchandise goes. And no, it isn’t to the people who make them in sweatshops.
On stage, Sam comes across as confident without being arrogant- an important distinction to be made at this crucial time in his musical career; not yet are Get Cape successful enough to demand the world, but they are well on their way. In a way the sheer genuine nature of the band helps life them high above the self-conscious preening and ostentatious materialism of their peers. Sam does seem to mean every word that escapes his lips, from the clearly personal lyrics he sings to the between song diatribes against sweatshop labour and un-fair trade. This might have been the least comfortable part of the gig, and although important issues to highlight, the prospective recipients didn’t strike me as the pro-active revolutionaries that students have been in previous generations. One glance at the queues of people walking by the fair trade t-shirt stands after the gig to get to the cheap bootlegs outside was proof enough of that. Getting a message heard is important, but getting it to the right people and getting them to understand it is more so. Still, the lack of arrogance in Sams requests that we think before we buy our over-priced coffee made the situation less cringe-worthy than it could have been.
Musically, the band were on top form hitting every note with a unique style and crowd pleasing vigour that kept us baying or more. And though Get Cape have only a single album available for purchase, they never appeared lost for songs to play or things to talk about. They even played a few new songs that they had been rehearsing on the road, showing that complacancy has yet to set in and rob us of an original British talent. Is this future-folk? Is this folktronica? I don’t know, but I like it and so do the young people of Leeds.
Adam is the Manager of the Travelling Man Comic Book and Hobby Games Store in Leeds, UK. He’s a self-confessed über-fanboy and loves nothing more than chatting about the obvious superiority of the old-skool JSA over “Those damn glory-hogging kids, the Justice League”. He’s also a massive fan of small press indie comics, and loves reading new and exciting books that haven’t had all of the soul sucked out of them by the mainstream (yet). He also over-uses parentheses and hyphens, but likes the attention it gets him.