I find charity gigs quite bitter-sweet in general.
Predominantly it’s a band or artist constantly reminding you that you are having a great time while other people are struggling through some of the most horrible human experiences, inevitably leading to a mixed emotional bag of awkwardness.
Clearly not everybody feels as I do though, as the tickets for the gig were sold out days before the event. I caved and purchased the last two tickets available; the opportunity to see Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison perform an intimate and acoustic solo set was, and for future reference is not, an opportunity to be missed.
The atmosphere at stereo emphasised the bitter-sweet element of the evening; the excitement was juxtaposed by a relaxed and pensive friendliness. Everyone knew the meaning and purpose behind the night’s performance, but equally it seemed as though everybody was there primarily to experience some truly moving music.
Haight Ashbury made a strong start to the evening. Clearly influenced by American folk music, with a healthy amount of sixties love and protest based lyrics thrown in, Haight Ashbury managed to intrigue the surprisingly large audience for the first act on.
As the second act set up, the crowd grew extensively; a couple of shunts forward and the last bar trip of the evening undergone, two exceptionally stunning ladies came to the stage.
Now it wasn’t only the duo’s looks that grabbed the crowds attention and grasped on tight so that they had no choice but to sit up and take note; by the end of their first song, Gill and Jenny managed to stun the audience into a suitable awe struck silence, followed quickly by a mass round of applause.
The girls are not only exceptionally talented musicians, with both of them switching from guitar to fiddle, but they are so harmonised in their vocals that it came as a complete shock when they announced that this was the first time that they had performed together.
Their hauntingly harmonised vocals were also impressively and imaginatively altered during one of their songs, when one of them sang through their violin string, creating the oddest, yet perfectly suited reverberation of sound.
Their set concluded with a comic, yet original cover of JLS’s Beat Again, where the audience gave enough whoops and cheers to prove that they were most definitely ready for the main performance of the evening.
Frightened Rabbit/Scott Hutchison gig review to follow...
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