James Arden checks out the garage rockers latest album.
The Christian rock band from Brighton bring religion to the masses.
Recipe for modern R'n'B album: liberal helpings of guest rappers and an overdose of sexual euphemisms.
So, having missed out on seeing him two years ago in Sheffield, and then again last summer, I was determined not to miss out when he very considerately performed a gig within walking distance of my house.
Now, it embarrasses me to admit this, but I haven’t seen any live music (other than the less-than-captivating experimental jazz every Sunday afternoon at work) since I was seventeen: Death Cab for Cutie was my very first and last gig, way back in 2005. So, with a generous helping of hubris, I decided that when I went to my second ever gig, I would also review it:
The Duchess has a certain intimacy as a venue, as many people have no doubt observed before me, which makes it perfectly suited to Seth Lakeman’s contagiously energetic performance style. Having watched Dan Donnelly perform for what one could most accurately characterise as a ‘fairly pleasant half-hour’, an injection of dynamism was needed, and the five musicians who made their way onstage provided this in spades.
Playing a range of songs from three different studio albums, as well as some new material due to be released on upcoming album Hearts and Minds, the audience were treated to a vivacious performance on all fronts.
It would of course have been naive of me to hope what I heard to be a reproduction of the music recorded in the studio, and Mr Lakeman seemed aware of this, altering the dynamics of the tunes played to perfectly suit the intimate venue: 'Take No Rogues' was performed with an urgency that transformed it from its usual soulful incarnation into a lively jig, and the primal percussive quality of Seth’s music was nowhere more obvious than in 'Riflemen of War', where it was compounded by another increase in tempo.
The highlight of the evening, however, came with the solo performance of 'Kitty Jay', the song from the album of the same name which Seth performed for the Mercury Music Prize. It was this that most clearly demonstrated his formidable talent, as he accompanied his powerful singing with frantic fiddle-playing, whilst also picking out a beat on a small bass drum: absolutely captivating as he delivered a virtuoso performance.
As everyone left The Duchess after the raucously received encore had ended, one of my friends noticed an archetypal stressed manager hurrying out of a back door, and managed to catch his attention and politely ask for ‘a few minutes to talk to Seth’. We were then both hurried backstage to meet Mr Lakeman and have a chat, but I realised that because I hadn’t been too optimistic about managing to arrange any form of interview, I consequently hadn’t come up with any questions. My concern evaporated though as we shook hands and before I had time to say anything other than "Nice to meet you", I was asked how things were going at university, and if I’d like a beer - might as well enjoy the hospitality.
Though my questions were hardly inspired, and for the most part revealed little that couldn’t be discovered through visiting Wikipedia, it was still interesting to find out that dance music had been a major influence in his recent song-writing, and that at 3am that morning you could have found Seth Lakeman and his band in a club in Stockton, where he admitted to feeling "pretty old". As it turned out, though I was a poorly-prepared interviewer, I think I at least made a passable conversationalist. After all, I was told that if they weren’t rushing off to their next show that evening, they definitely would have come out for a beer with us...
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