Michele Stodart + The Breretons @ The Big Comfy Folk Club, Coventry, 19th May 2016
Welcome to Far Gosford Street: Coventry in Microcosm. A strange blend of what passes for urban improvement in these parts, and slight menace, with typical groups of lads, bigging themselves up and giving you the evils as you pass. At the top of the street, previously the site of some light engineering and manufacturing, is the FarGo Village. FarGo is a success story. Shops, some in colourful converted freight containers, food, coffee, artists, more coffee, creative workspace, markets and even more coffee – think Camden, Acton, or Brick Lane in miniature and you will have it just about right.
FarGo is also the location of The Big Comfy Bookshop, venue for The Big Comfy Folk Club and various gigs, as well as being a bookshop. Posters for Hattie Briggs and Lowri Evans are in evidence so you can get a flavour of the type of scene that the Bookshop supports. It’s one of those places where you feel that you may have just witnessed the future of provincial small venues. A venue with a small audience, above average prices and above average ambience, the place adds to that feeling of gentrification of the area at odds with the few remaining, garishly-lit food emporia on the main road. It sees couples sharing bottles of red, little boxes of Ribena for the designated drivers, appropriate comfy seats, and tonight it’s the scene for nicely understated acoustic sets from Michele Stodart, and The Breretons.
The Breretons, a Sister and Brother duo for the night rather than the whole ensemble, played a short set of well crafted, if conventional, folk tunes, taking a couple of songs to get warmed up. The more expressive Charlotte Brereton became the better it got, particularly on the nostalgic When We Were Young and trailing their forthcoming new album with Locked Up.
Michele Stodart, freed from the bosom of The Magic Numbers, was something of a revelation. Playing in the shadows cast by couple of energy-efficient table lamps and the reflections of the clouds scurrying across the huge skylight she opened with Something About You. The lightness of touch both vocally and on guitar was a surprising change from her day job. Or maybe this is her day job now?
It was an interesting contrast. The only time I had heard her solo stuff previously was when The Magic Numbers supported McAlmont & Butler, when Michele trailed a tune or two from her second solo effort. But that was still in the context of the band and none of the gentleness and subtlety on show tonight, was afforded any space. This stuff is obviously not The Magic Numbers but there were some recognisable undertones.
However it’s not as if solo work is a new thing to Michele and for Invitation to the blues from first album, she was joined by guitarist Matthew for stayed the rest of the set, swapping acoustic and electric guitar duties with glockenspiel and contributing backing vocals.
The bitterness of When Is It Over was put aside jokingly as Michele took up Electric guitar laughing and throwing some shapes for the bluesy new 12” Ain’t No Woman. Previously having had no solo stuff on vinyl she told us that she had literally hugged the 12″ record when it dropped on the mat at home.She was sensible to ignore the pantomime of an encore and played straight through ending with Will You Wait For Me; familiar from that night in Brum with from McAlmont & Butler. The well behaved audience even sang along.
So we had a fine evening of music in an interesting venue. I have to say I don’t see how it all works economically but no-one sees to care. What I do know is that it is highly enjoyable.
Review: Ian Gelling
Photographs: Stephanie Colledge
Ain’t No Woman’ will be the the first single off Michele’s new album ‘Pieces’. It will be released on 28th of this month on 12″ vinyl and the usual formats. Pieces will be released on 8th July.