Ben Marwood (Monarch, 10.10.17)
Off to Camden for the third time in four days, this time to the Monarch for a rare Ben Marwood headline show.
He was supported by the Quiet Quiet Band, who introduce themselves by saying "we're a band who sing songs about murder". Which is true for the most part. It's country music with a sort of black comedy sensibility, or certainly the song about wanting to wear someone's face is. Their closing tune about drinking with the devil is particularly catchy and distinctive. Would listen again.
The Reading singer songwriter takes to the stage with chants of "MARWOOOOOD". There are about a hundred in the Monarch tonight and a higher than normal level of good natured heckling. It's basically a pub show with a pub atmosphere.
On top of writing some great songs, Marwood is a charming and entertaining host who takes the loss of a bass guitar string in his stride, jumping straight into "Lock And Key" instead, whilst jokingly referring to the attempts to fix it during solo songs as "like watching a pit stop in the corner of your eye". There's not much that can be done in the end, but no-one seems to mind, as he's a more than capable solo performer.
A rendition of "Baby You're A Mess" with accompanying drums is sweet and soulful, whilst "Friends, Close" is similarly pleasant, even with the terrific opening line "Take your lullabies and fuck off". The level of goodwill is such that Marwood plays a song that he claims to have written that day in addition to "Safe Mode" which apparently only exists in demo form. The latter already appears to be a live favourite with the more knowledgeable fans in the crowd.
The impact of "Singalong" is probably self-explanatory, but the die hards oblige in singing the backing vocals too. His main set concludes with a beautiful cover of The Postal Service's "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight", a song that Marwood makes his own. It's poignant, bittersweet and brilliantly encapsulates the show as a whole. Like his music, it's an evening that feels uplifting under the misery of the lyrics. Life's shit, we're all going to die, but it won't stop us from striving for better times.
He was supported by the Quiet Quiet Band, who introduce themselves by saying "we're a band who sing songs about murder". Which is true for the most part. It's country music with a sort of black comedy sensibility, or certainly the song about wanting to wear someone's face is. Their closing tune about drinking with the devil is particularly catchy and distinctive. Would listen again.
The Reading singer songwriter takes to the stage with chants of "MARWOOOOOD". There are about a hundred in the Monarch tonight and a higher than normal level of good natured heckling. It's basically a pub show with a pub atmosphere.
On top of writing some great songs, Marwood is a charming and entertaining host who takes the loss of a bass guitar string in his stride, jumping straight into "Lock And Key" instead, whilst jokingly referring to the attempts to fix it during solo songs as "like watching a pit stop in the corner of your eye". There's not much that can be done in the end, but no-one seems to mind, as he's a more than capable solo performer.
A rendition of "Baby You're A Mess" with accompanying drums is sweet and soulful, whilst "Friends, Close" is similarly pleasant, even with the terrific opening line "Take your lullabies and fuck off". The level of goodwill is such that Marwood plays a song that he claims to have written that day in addition to "Safe Mode" which apparently only exists in demo form. The latter already appears to be a live favourite with the more knowledgeable fans in the crowd.
The impact of "Singalong" is probably self-explanatory, but the die hards oblige in singing the backing vocals too. His main set concludes with a beautiful cover of The Postal Service's "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight", a song that Marwood makes his own. It's poignant, bittersweet and brilliantly encapsulates the show as a whole. Like his music, it's an evening that feels uplifting under the misery of the lyrics. Life's shit, we're all going to die, but it won't stop us from striving for better times.
Comments
Post a Comment