Turin Brakes + Tom Speight @ Glee Club, 8th March 2016
I first saw Turin Brakes live in 1999. I had to check this fact with my brother, who went with me, because I have no recollection of the event and only know I was there because I kept the ticket. I have no fear of forgetting tonight’s proceedings, but that is not solely due to the band’s faultless performance. It is due to Eliza Shaddad.
It is a rare occurrence to witness a performer whose inner light pours out from within naturally and without pretence. It is made all the more wondrous by the fact she appears at first to be the backing singer for support act Tom Speight. Eliza Shaddad sings and smiles through Tom’s songs as if they are a part of her, and her harmony to Tom’s lead is sublime. I find out later that Eliza Shaddad is an artist in her own right, and her songs and arrangements outshine everything in her universe. She is coming back to Birmingham in April and I seriously recommend you being there.
As for Tom Speight (the official support tonight), he does not put a foot wrong and is charming and clinically excellent throughout his set. His polite, good boy next door demeanour is disarming and the crowd would have all taken him home given the chance. His songs are as polite and unassuming as he is and when he courteously asks if he can step into the crowd to sing unamplified, the space opens up before him as if he were Moses. As an ex-LIPA student, he shows he has learnt everything about writing songs with melodic hooks and interesting arrangements; he also passes with full marks for his stage presence and audience interaction. However, lyrically there is a big room for improvement. Tales of broken relationships, heartache, woven roots of willow trees, plenty more fish in the sea, love is all you need, and more, are just some of the reasons the ‘New Boring Pop/Folk’ movement is fit for a single listen or mere background music. To paraphrase Edwyn Collins: too many love song singers, not enough love songs. If this genre of music is to your taste, then I recommend Tom Speight highly, he does what he does… it’s nice.
Turin Brakes are like an efficient plumber: you only know they have done a good job because you hardly notice they have been. No mess, no fuss, just a job expertly completed and a warm feeling inside. Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian have been on the circuit for 17 years and have existed in that special place in pop music where you can make a decent living but still be unknown to the majority of the population. It has given them the freedom to really concentrate their efforts on writing beautiful songs, and this they have done and continue to do.
Their sound on this tour is funkier than ever with Gale contributing Nile Rodgers-esque rhythmic hooks from his Strat, and this is supported masterfully by bassist Eddie Myer and drummer Rob Allum. Olly’s vocals are mindblowing. They occupy so much space in the mix that it feels like he is inside your head tickling your neurons. Believe me, it feels as good as it sounds, because Olly’s tone, phrasing, falsetto and use of dynamics is better than anyone. In ‘Mind Over Money’ particularly Olly moves from quiet and soft, to high falsetto, to a soaring head voice, sometimes in a single phrase.
As good as Turin Brakes is and as stunning as their songs are, I feel there is a point halfway through the set where everything sounds like repetition. Hardcore fans most likely will not feel this way I’m sure, but for a casual listener there is not a lot to differentiate between songs that cover their entire career.
I have to admit it is not until the encores of the striking ‘Sea Change’ and the sublime ‘Underdog’ that am I revitalised. The continuous build-up on ‘Sea Change’ is perfected live and the percussive explosion of the 2012 ‘Outbursts’ version is altered tonight and morphs into an uptempo country shuffle. ‘Underdog’, after 17 years is still a beautifully crafted song and time has not diminished it in any way. The live version tonight is stunning with an extended introduction and a faultless delivery. I will not forget this night easily after this performance.
The tour that promotes the excellent new album ‘Lost Property’ continues through Europe and back to the UK later in the year. As Gale mentions while thanking the audience at the end of the night, it has been a long road they have travelled since their first album in 1999 and it is testament to their continuing powers as songwriters and performers that much of the audience have walked the distance with them. That can’t be said for a lot of the band’s peers.
Review: Alan Neilson