Expectation is my musical mistress who gives with one hand and takes with another. She had nothing to say to me about Sam Fender though and so I was keen to form a new opinion on the acoustic guitarist/singer from ‘Shields’ (presumably South). The opinion that I formed was very positive. Here is a young guy with bags of charisma (good banter included), who can play a bit and who has a voice to die for that belies his age. He reminded me (and others I overheard) of James Morrison vocally though his songs were more earthy and bluesy which suits my taste better than the schmaltzy stuff served up by his more famous counterpart. That said, the song quality was not very consistent and here’s where he has most room for development.
I love Tissue Culture. I like each of the members of the band on a personal level and love the noise and energy they bring to live performance. However, I did not think they would work as main supports for Eliza And The Bear who trade in tuneful guitar driven pop of an altogether less chaotic type. Well how wrong could I be because in the six months or so since I last saw Tissue Culture play live they seem to have found a way of tempering the noise with a more melodic quality and it really does pay dividends allowing them to demonstrate far more light and shade than previously I’d witnessed from them. Every six months or so I catch up with them and am always impressed with how they have developed. In six months time I doubt I will be saying the same because, to me they are now the finished article.
I first saw Eliza And The Bear at Sage Gateshead in February and absolutely loved them. They brought such energy and enthusiasm to their performance which perfectly complimented the exuberance of their songs. They were so good that night that they eclipsed some other wonderful talent sharing the same ‘Tipping Point’ stage - Mausi, Death At Sea and Amy Holford. Maybe expectation is to blame but tonight’s performance didn’t quite match up. There wasn’t anything wrong with it; all the best songs were aired and the lads gave it their all. The sound was, as usual for the Cluny 2, very good indeed and there was a good and positive crowd in the venue to add atmosphere. So why then did it feel slightly flat compared to the previous occasion when I saw them? I think it’s because this is a band who suit a bigger stage. At Sage they moved around a lot, darting backwards and forwards to the mic and this seemed to add a frenetic pace to the delivery of their songs. Also they actually fitted on that bigger stage; at Cluny 2 one member of the group had to stand off-stage due to space constraints. Maybe that was the reason. More likely expectation had got the better of me.
I first saw Eliza And The Bear at Sage Gateshead in February and absolutely loved them. They brought such energy and enthusiasm to their performance which perfectly complimented the exuberance of their songs. They were so good that night that they eclipsed some other wonderful talent sharing the same ‘Tipping Point’ stage - Mausi, Death At Sea and Amy Holford. Maybe expectation is to blame but tonight’s performance didn’t quite match up. There wasn’t anything wrong with it; all the best songs were aired and the lads gave it their all. The sound was, as usual for the Cluny 2, very good indeed and there was a good and positive crowd in the venue to add atmosphere. So why then did it feel slightly flat compared to the previous occasion when I saw them? I think it’s because this is a band who suit a bigger stage. At Sage they moved around a lot, darting backwards and forwards to the mic and this seemed to add a frenetic pace to the delivery of their songs. Also they actually fitted on that bigger stage; at Cluny 2 one member of the group had to stand off-stage due to space constraints. Maybe that was the reason. More likely expectation had got the better of me.
Words: Russell Poad
Picture: Daniel Robson
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