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Clare Bowditch & The Feeding Set + Aviator Lane Jade Monkey, Sat 27 Aug I was positively reeling from disappointment having discovered that Sodastream, whose name had been emblazoned on all of the promotional material for this show, were actually not making the trip down to our fine town. However, my spirits were soon enlivened by a stellar performance by Aviator Lane, otherwise known as Michael Radzevicius, his guitar, his keyboard and his minimalist backing tape. Playing a similar set to his This Is Your Captain Speaking support, and thus providing me with a second opportunity to digest his new material, I can say that he is only improving with time. Having said that, I must declare that by far the highlight of the set was the closing track, a fantastic rendition of previous single Lengthways We'll Run, accompanied on drums by Marty Brown (who played on and recorded the brilliant EP 'Today, The Hills Are Closed'). After a short break, Clare Bowditch and her Feeding Set (including the aforementioned Brown on drums, Warren Bloomer on bass and Libby Chow on the French horn) comfortably took to the stage. Although lacking bandmate J. Walker (who is currently recording a new Machine Translations record), the quartet still put in a masterful set to a crowd of exceptionally enthusiastic punters. In fact, the Jade Monkey was practically full; seemingly of people who seemed to have never been to such a venue before. This gave the atmosphere a more naive, innocent feel: for one thing, during Ms. Bowditch's show, people were vying for standing-room spot at the front, while there were plenty of seats and tables completely empty. At the Jade Monkey, that's almost unheard of. Ms. Bowditch herself has become quite an amazing performer, really putting on a show for her devoted, enthusiastic supporters. Musically, of course, it was nearly faultless, and while the crowd was more supportive of those songs with which they were more familiar (Autumn Bone, Buddy and Homage To My Dad And The ABC in particular received rapturous applause), a pleasant selection of tracks from the forthcoming album 'What Was Left', such as the brilliant I Thought You Were God and the near-singalong of Lips Like Oranges, also went down better than expected. Her crowd banter was impeccable and made us all feel rather special, and I'd say that makes her the most special person of all. Choosing the unbelievably brilliant Midnight Bird as an encore, I was completely under her spell. Sure, acoustic pop music does wear out after a while, and some of her songs (Human Being, for example) hold my attention more than others. But forget the legions of folk-pop singer-songwriters making money nowadays. For the real experience, you can't go past Clare Bowditch.  |
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