I actually found it really hard to write this. I enjoyed the gig so much that I didn’t want to appear gushing, but Oh My God! These guys are amazing.
It’s not just JD, it’s the whole band who make this what it is. Something quite special indeed. You can read my review on Goldenplec.
JD’s album ‘Signs and Signifiers’ is out now. You can listen to it on Rolling Stone, have a look at the video for ‘A Gentle Awakening’ below.
It was a sparsely populated Whelan’s that greeted ‘The Man Whom’ on July 14th. Accompanied by violin, cello, keys, bass and drums, Ian Doyle treated the audience to tracks from his debut album ‘The Greatest Event’.
The band started the set with ‘Autopilot’ which showed beautiful blends of vocal and instrumentation. Slowly the track builds up until the violin and cello come in for the end. While most of the tracks are of a slower tempo, Over and Under, which slightly echoes the stylings of Mumford and Sons, gets the audience bopping in time. Doyle then says that he hopes the audience enjoyed it as there’s not a whole lot of opportunity to dance to his music. (more…)
The past few weeks have gone pretty well for Benjamin Francis Leftwich. His debut album ‘Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm’ entered the Top 40 UK album charts and it was announced that a remix E.P would be released on September 4th. No, that’s not enough ‘Atlas Hands’ has been given the once over by The Street’s Mike Skinner and was given the title of Hottest Record in The World on Zane Lowe’s radio show.
July 20th saw Benjamin take in a Dublin show on his tour. By the time he was to come to the upstairs stage in Whelan’s, the crowd had pushed right up to the front. It’s not the best venue to get a vantage point if there’s a crowd but from where I was, it was as good as being a winner of Benjamin’s live in your living room gig competitions that he’s been running on his site.
As Ben’s roadie sorts out the stage for him, something catches my eye. Instead of a set list written on a piece of paper, the artist has his set list in a notebook. This is kinda cute, it’s like each gig for him is one to cherish. (more…)