Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Liam Frost/ Hush/ Stephen Fretwell, Kings College London
Last night we went to see Stephen Fretwell play a small gig with support from Liam frost and a two-piece called Hush.
But first a little history. Badly Drawn Boy has a lot to answer for. He was the first manc singer songwritter to shamble onto stage with an acoustic guitar and then all of a sudden they seemed to multiply like mould on a shower curtain. Liam Frost and Stephen Fretwell are the latest in a long line of earnest Mancunian singer songwriters to appear on our radar (or if we’re going to continue with the mould analogy – the latest to appear on the shower curtain).
Liam Frost was actually pretty good. We arrived just after he started his set and he kept us entertained for half an hour with stories of lost loves and a patter with the audience. Definitely worth investigating a little further (And his little web page is nice and personal)
In comparison Hush are awful. An awful Hoxton Chancer, Dave Stewart look-a-like playing guitar and a girl warbling faux Country in a mid Atlantic accent (I thought at the time she may have been from Scotland but have since found that she is from Denmark; she want’s to be Tammy Wynette so badly that's for sure). They made my teeth itch – that’s how bad they were; and my palms are still red from having my finger nails dug into them. Anyway they played a session for Janice Long on the radio yesterday and you can probably hear how bad they are (for the next week or so) on her home page.
We saw some of Stephen Fretwell’s set at V festival and were least than impressed. I guess we weren’t in the right mood or he wasn’t into the festival because I remember thinking – oh god no, we’ve booked tickets to see this guy.
So we were actually pretty impressed with his set – half of which he banged out on his own with an acoustic guitar and half of which he plays with a full band. Some of the songs are quite Ryan Adams like – country tinged blues, and some of the stuff with the band sounded like Coldplay. We left the venue (which is actually a pretty good venue, very intimate) thinking about going out and investing in the album. There is no higher praise.
By-the-way, Hoxton Chancer is a great name for a band, so I’m looking for a drummer and a guitarist to join me in this new venture. Any takers?
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