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Gig Review: Leeds Festival Fringe
Leeds Festival Fringe Hound Dog Promotions Acoustic Takeover with Ben Peel, Jasmine Kennedy, Town Street Sea Monster, Scott Wainwright & Jack, and Gill's Daughter
August 19th @ The New Conservatory
With palm fronds snaking around whitewashed walls and wooden panelled decor, The New Conservatory is a delightfully chilled setting for an acoustic evening.
The classy yet unassuming ambience immediately sets you at ease and encourages you to kick back, relax and let the music begin. So Leeds Festival Fringe begins serenely for me, with the Bob Dylan-style northern folk of Ben Peel who takes to the stage in an unforgettable fluffy faux fur coat.
His set is confidently delivered, and warms up the well populated venue accordingly. Ben's best song, Panstick, is well received with its clever lyrics and catchy melody.
Jasmine Kennedy is next up and she has us giggling straight away with her endearing banter - "you're not supposed to have heard of me so don't worry if you haven't."
Soft caramel vocals quickly draw comparisons to Tracy Chapman, and Jasmine is completely comfortable as she sings about her Streetlight Superhero. Her song Cardigan Sweater inspires a supportive listener to say to me as he goes up to the bar "some time in the next couple of years there will be people in this room who will wish they had listened more closely to that".
Following these mellow tones an extra, unbilled act completely take me by surprise with their musicianship and witty approach to acoustic folk. Town Street Sea Monster have us roaring with laughter at songs like Check 21 and Single Man's Best Friend (about a microwave being able to do things that apparently no woman can!). These two are refreshing and hilarious with a style that fuses northern indie-folk with hip hop and acoustic. Even better, they throw in an excellent cover of Lady Gaga, sung convincingly by Aiden on vocals and acoustic guitar with extremely tight Kajon playing from Pod. I haven't seen anyone attack an acoustic guitar with such vigour for ages, and the Kajon is spot on.
Scott Wainwright is a cool, acoustic gospel blues dude and he quickly has everyone nodding their heads with foot stomping guitar and powerful gospel vocals. The humour that has provided a relaxed tone to the evening is continues with his quirky asides. With a mouth organ called Excalibur and the ability to make it sound like a ringing phone - "Hi, I'm sorry I'm at a gig... sorry about that, it was my sister Harmonica", Scott has the crowd eating out of his hands.
Impressively for the song Down the Line he manages somehow to pull off beatboxing, harmonica playing and foot stomping all at the same time. He is an interesting and talented character who inspires good spirits.
By the time headline act Jack, and Gill's Daughter start to play, the night is already a success with a delighted group of music lovers soaking it all up.
The rhythmic and melodic picking of the acoustic guitar is complimented gorgeously by Gemma, (Gill's Daughter) who sings clearly and effortlessly with a vocal style that mixes Imogen Heap, Joss Stone and the folk-tinged sounds of artists like Bat For Lashes.
Their song Circles has been hailed by Tom Robinson of BBC 6 as a highlight, and it doesn't disappoint, while an outstanding cover of'Billie Jean and an atmospheric cover of Portishead prove that they are adaptable as well.
The perfect closers to this first acoustic night of the first Leeds Festival Fringe Jack and Gill's Daughter are utterly captivating.
Claire Cameron
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Weather for Leeds
Friday 25 May 2012
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Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
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