Colour Presents: World of Fox + James Summerfield + Friends of the Stars + Richard Burke @ The Victoria, Birmingham 15th October 2009
Although not the packed-out ‘event’ that I’m used to expecting from local DJs and promoters Colour, the World of Fox album launch/Commercially Inviable label showcase was still a success. Each of the acts delivered a unique, warm set to the appreciative crowd of friends and admirers and it was clear that everyone was enjoying themselves. It helped that tonight’s line-up were playing at the Victoria, on a stage awash with candlelight and silk flowers.
I’d seen opener Richard Burke a couple of times before so new what to expect, and tonight’s set was delivered in his usual paired down style; marrying disarming lyrics with a cautious vocal. There were some problems with the sound during the start of his performance but Richard took all this in his stride, turning the first track ‘Old Couple on the Moors’ into a comically surreal jingle about being trapped down a well. Burke didn’t finish this track, but personally I thought he was onto something and I’d have quite happily heard the rest of it. That’s the thing about Richard Burke — you get the impression that he’s composing right there and then in front of you. His vocal melodies are simple but his guitar is like another voice, picking out the more complicated counter-melodies around the vocal line. Sometimes Richard’s songs have a danger of merging and blurring — they tend to be of a similar tempo and whilst they generally work together to paint an overall mood it is difficult to pick out individual stand-out tracks. Sometimes a particularly charming refrain would make itself known, for example on the track ‘The Benefit of Age’ but these did not occur as often as I would have liked. His choice of cover, Yazoo’s ‘Only You’ (also covered by the Flying Pickets which is the version I remember most fondly) was inspired. The lyrics could have been written by him and the catchy melody lifted the whole set.
I hadn’t seen Friends of the Stars before, and I hadn’t had the time to listen to any of their stuff beforehand. I found myself lulled into a dream by Burke (and Guinness) so I appreciated the musical counterpoint provided by Anna Russell’s striking voice (amazing despite the fact that she was a bit poorly). She has a power and softness to her voice which sounds elemental and ancient, immediately grounding the music within the tradition of her craft. Someone commented that her harmonies ‘wrap around’ Hamilton’s male vocal and I think this was a perfect description of their sound. I’m not very familiar with the folk/country genre and I thought I’d struggle to find a point of reference but this was not the case. Their stand-out track for me was ‘Drunk on my Porch’ — a catchy number which invited you to sing along (although thankfully I didn’t). It became really obvious that there was a mutual appreciation and a real sense of team spirit between all of the acts, evidenced by the Friends of the Stars cover of a track by James Summerfield. The cheeky banter between the acts on stage and those in the audience also flew in all directions.
I was very interested to see James’ set. Like Richard I’d seen him a couple of times before (most recently at Colour founders Matt and Katie’s wedding) and I loved his sound. I find myself distracted by Summerfield’s performance style — he looks like he’s in pain when he’s singing and something of this translates to the vocal — making his delivery a little strained. This suits the tracks and it’s part of his trademark but I’d love to hear how his voice would sound if it was more open and relaxed. For me, James’ ear for melody and his knack for composition which is at once child-like and the complex arguably make him the most easily accessible artist on tonight’s bill. I particularly loved ‘Stuck in the Mud’ with its breathy chorus and clever use of harmonics, the guitar-playing adding momentum and depth. He also chose to play ’35 Days’ towards the end of his set which struck me as a bit of an odd choice as Friends of the Stars also played it in their set. However, I did enjoy it second time around, feeling more familiar with it and I attempted a mental comparison between the two performances, however I was soon swept back up into live performance and atmosphere.
As with Friends of the Stars, I had absolutely no idea what to expect from World of Fox, other than the likelihood that Simon Fox would perform a few tracks from ‘Everything is for the Best’, released on 1st August and officially ‘launched’ at this event. My first thought was ‘ooh, a banjo!’ and I wasn’t disappointed, as Fox deftly bent the strings to his will making the instrument sound bright, cheeky, melancholy and thoughtful by turns. The banjo tracks were the most inspiring for me, although the guitar-based performances were also amazing. Mixing some new tracks from the latest album with others hand-picked from his back-catalogue it was clear to all that Simon is an extremely seasoned composer and performer. That said, he never takes himself too seriously, letting the music speak for itself and even parodying his own work in the clever, ‘Grumpy Man Blues’. The enduring image from the set for me was during the final track, ‘Idiocracy’ — a rather charmless title for what has to be one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have heard in a long time. Starting simple and building layer-on-layer, (with layering being a recurrent theme in the tracks played this evening) I found myself re-imagining the glint of disco-ball on glass as evening sunlight on calm waters. His music makes you feel warm and calm and his voice was rich and expressive — the perfect evening antidote to the gathering fall.
Setlists
Richard Burke:
Old Couple on The Moors (Aborted)
A Song for the…..
A Sense of Loss
The Sea Around Us
Only You
Japanese Hornets
The Benefit of Age
Brown Eyes, Dark Hair
Friends of the Stars
Leave & Stars
Drunk on my Porch
Brand New Morning
Feelin Blue
Out Little Girl
35 Days
Riverdigger
James Summerfield:
I know why the Cage bird sings
Road Killers
People Talk
Now I’m your man
Stuck in the mud
Films
35 Days
World of Fox:
Witness
More Fool Me
Leaves Me Blind
Oh My Love
Virtual
Easter Parade
Never Any Doubt
Grumpy Man Blues
Idiocracy
Colour blog:
www.wearecolour.com
You can listen to everything on Commercially Inviable here:
http://commerciallyinviablerecords.bandcamp.com/
and buy CDs from here:
http://www.cominrecords.com/releases/
World of Fox free downloads at
Where It’s At Is Where You Are Records
Review – Angela Slater
Photos – John Colson