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Ben Howard is one face in a generation of musicians creating an acoustic revival (Laura Marling, Benjamin Francis Leftwich and although it pains me, Ed Sheeran). He brings the emotion with a voice of raw talent similar to say, Damien Rice, to create music that can make you want to dance or cry, and when I saw him one dreary Tuesday evening in Leeds, I did exactly that.
Once we’d tracked down the hidden venue, we settled down for support from Michael Cassidy, a very lovely Scottish man with a charming beard. He sang about stuff that was relatable to anyone under 25; unrequited love, future decisions, a serious lack of money and being sick outside the Co-op. He even took a picture of the crowd for his mum; the set was all a bit genius.
Howard himself opened with ‘Diamonds’, a delicious track from his new debut album Every Kingdom. The crowd fell silent, seemingly mesmerised by the artist’s passion that was constant throughout the set. ‘Diamonds’ was followed by ‘Old Pine’, the title track of the EP that first brought Howard some media attention, leading to national Radio plays on 6 Music and Radio 1.
This recognition is surely deserved, as it must be said that he is a true talent on the guitar, and this is something visual that can’t just come across from a download. For ‘Under the Same Sun’, the singer sat down with his guitar across his lap in order to create the layers of sound for the chilled track, and the crowd drew in closer to watch him play with such intensity that it was as if he’d forgotten we were there at all. His presence on stage was quite quiet and shy at first, but as the set went on he joked with the crowd, even playing a request from a fan off his first EP These Waters (a slow emotional number entitled ‘London’).
Every song was received perfectly by the audience, whether with heartfelt silence such as ‘Black Flies’ or singing and dancing to tracks like ‘Keep Your Head Up’, and ‘The Wolves’. Capitalising on his popularity, Howard performed a mix of old EP tracks, his recently released album material and even a new song from his deluxe edition of the album, titled 'Bones' (which I would recommend checking out). In addition, Howard managed to convey all the feel-good energy and heart wrenching emotion that only a certain voice such as his can achieve. As such, the more animated songs became extended plays as the musician bounced off the energy from his band, India Bourne and Chris Bond, as well as the crowd so that Only Love became a ten minute sing along that had everyone smiling.
The Brudenell may not have been the most suited venue for Ben Howard, as it was a million miles away from his beach shows that created his passion for surfing and the nature that is the inspiration for so many tracks, yet he took the place by storm. With such wide and diverse material, it is unquestionable that Howard is on the edge of success. It’s rare to find an artist who is better performing live than their recordings lately, but here Howard delivered exceptionally, and I left just wanting to hear it all over again. And at what other gig would you get an encore of wolf howls anyway?
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