Friday 5th March 2010 @ Colston Hall, Bristol
With Support From: Charlie Winston

If it’s possible to have a relaxed excitement, I’d probably have to say that that’s exactly how tonight’s show felt. Tonight’s support, Charlie Winston, plays an array of well crafted tunes and while they’re not necessarily very original, they are well written and give the crowd a good taster and prime them just right for Mr. Faulkner.

It’s been a couple of summers now since Newton Faulkner first came into our mainstream and he’s been quietly knocking around ever since. Taking the term one-man-band to a whole new conception, he utilises modern technology as his personal back mounted kick drum. His finger-work and musicianship is not exactly that which you’d usually expect from a solo guitar playing singer song-writer, his guitar doubling up as percussion instrument as well as accompaniment visual computerised additions, sampling units and an organ he can play with his feet show that this one-man-band is a far cry from the ones you’ve seen marching around in lederhosen at your local carnival.

However, it is not just his keen eye for placement and musicianship that endears you to him, he has an everyman quality and a wacky sense of humour that somehow makes you want to support him as he muddles through his set. After all, you have to admire any performer that is actually keen to break down the illusions of his live shows and expose them for all his audience to see, some may call this showing off but he just seems so genuinely excited about how he has created it all and he wants you to know how it’s done. Whether it be the camera streaming the footage of his feet or the projection samples of himself playing a melodica or even, as he calls it, a Disney-style sing-along to one of his tunes keep you engrossed even when he is not playing one of his bigger hits.

When it eventually does come to his hits, the rooms comes alive; his cover of Massive Attack’s Teardrop was always going to go down well bigger hits such as Catch Me and Gone In The Morning are given that anthem feel by the crowd even when asked to sing it like pirates with rabies. Newton Faulkner is quite simply a really great night out whether you’re stood at the front dancing or sat on the balcony, and that is a rare thing.

www.newtonfaulkner.com

Adam Hooper
Photos by Laura Palmer