Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly @ Cambridge Junction
29.1.07
It was pretty obvious by the number of shivering, excited teenagers
in skinny jeans and converses waiting outside the Junction, that GCWCF
had already gathered an impressive following. In fact, it was only around
18 months ago that Sam Duckworth played the Man On The Moon, Cambridge,
where he met his manager; it was obvious that this was a special gig
for him.
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly are probably the hardest working live act around
at the moment, keeping perfectly in time not only with the electro beats,
but with the music videos on the projector screen that were played in
sync with their singles War Of The Worlds, Chronicles Of A Bohemian
Teenager and Call Me Ishmael. He also used this idea to spread the word
of Fair Trade, with a video too about the injustices that many workers
in third world countries face. Obviously his heart was in the right
place here, but it seemed slightly pointless, as he was pretty much
preaching to the converted/not bothered.
The biggest highlight of the set was definitely his most
popular song, Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager. The yearning, powerful
vocals, coupled with the beautiful guitar melody, and the lonely trumpet
stopped the audience in their tracks, but when the electro beats came
in, the song changed pace to an eclectic pop ballad, and the show turned
into one huge house party, with the fans spurred on by a live feed of
themselves, causing them to jump as high as they could to try and catch
a glimpse of them on the big screen.
Some new songs were also played, which show a better understanding of
the technology he uses, as well as some more complex, darker melodies;
although he stuck mainly to the "acoustic guitar with trumpets
and electro backing, with big singalong at the end" formula.
Although each song was played to perfection, and the show was probably
the most inventive and imaginative gig I've ever seen, there was something
lacking in Sam Duckworth's performance, and he never seemed to truly
connect with the audience, maybe this is because he's used to the more
intimate secret shows and smaller venues, and the lonely, quietly yearning
nature of his songs didn't translate well to a larger stage. Aside from
that, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly is going to be a hard act to follow in
2007.
Support act TANAOU (or inappropriately long The All New Adventures
Of Us) were pretty mediocre, with a couple of great moments, generally
spoiled by singer Paul Macefield's strange brand of nasal, sarcastic
not-quite-singing. Frequent unnecessary guitar changes and lazy performances
from most of the band didn't go down greatly either.
Second act Walter Shreifels, however, was probably one of the wittiest,
most original, heartbreakingly honest singer-songwriters I've seen in
a long time. With lines like "Audrey, anything is possible/coffee
will overcome these obstacles" (a song about making up over breakfast),
and songs about his missing bicycle, he couldn't help but win the audience
over. His vocals were spot on, sounding like a slightly less intoxicated
Neil Young, and his wonderfully catchy, instantly memorable Johnny Cash
style folk guitar melodies were perfect. If bland, clichéd, boring
singer-songwriters like James Morrison followed his example, the world
would be a better place.
Cobie
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