Review: Black Feathers, Lansdown

The Happening has been happening (ahem) for a good few years now and is a splendidly straight forward concept – great quality acoustic music in a pub, with comfy chairs and an atmosphere of convivial bonhomie. The events regularly sell out and the organisers are considering moving to a bigger room to accommodate punter demand. Their Easter offering was sold out too, and before it all started as many punters were turned away ticketless as arrived ticket in hand.

The candlelit night opened with Louis Edwards who played a scant four songs, but they were of good enough quality to warrant a future viewing at the earliest opportunity. Opening tune Big Fish stood out, a Caribbean inflected folky blues narrative that got feet tapping and heads nodding.

Next up Elliot Hall and Rapunzel, seasoned Bristol musicians who played a delightful set of tunes (despite Hall fighting off a virus and losing his capo) demonstrating their knack of writing songs with both unexpected lyrical and musical twists. Rapunzel has a powerful voice that adds a rock feel to her leads, but switches easily to a folk tone when required; Hall’s virus meant his voice was croaky at times (sounding uncannily like one imagines Leonard Cohen sounded when his voice was breaking), but that suited the material – particularly Hard Drinking Man. The songs were an even mix from both writers; Rapunzel’s Anelise and Covered in Dust stood out, the former a moving tune inspired by the life of Anne Frank and the latter skilfully describing a young love affair destroyed by war. A last minute set change saw the duo open with Home, a moving song written by Hall and played at the insistence of his mum, present in the crowd (it was that kind of an evening). A new album is in progress but meanwhile pick up a copy of their most recent or catch them soon, you won’t be disappointed.

The Black Feathers are a duo based in Cirencester – wait a minute – are you scoffing at Cirencester’s rock n roll credentials? Two words: Cozy Powell. Anyway, the Black Feathers are husband & wife Ray Hughes and Sian Chandler and they’re currently touring their debut long player Soaked to the Bone. They play acoustic music that flirts with Americana but has a very English folk sensibility. Opening with Goodbye Tomorrow the Feathers had the audience rapt from the off – harmonies like having honey poured in your ear. The second tune in was an audacious take on that hoary old one hit wonder Sprit in the Sky, here reinvented as a spooky blues that redeemed the song from every appalling version released since the original. A coda comprising several bars of the Adams Family Theme (with finger snaps natch) was a touch as humorous as it was sublime. Hughes is a hugely accomplished guitar player, and the pair really hit the spot with an off-mic performance of You Will Be Mine that demonstrated their talent in no uncertain terms.

For all their remarks about the misery & darkness in their tunes, Hughes & Chandler are a remarkably accomplished double act, plenty of off the cuff banter and humour by the yard meant the show had a lightness about it that complemented the tunes delightfully. They also have a powerful chemistry as they perform, eye contact & body language that palpably illuminates their status as a couple (In fact the vibe was so powerful at times it felt intrusive to be watching them perform). The inevitable encore was another off mic song, a cover of Big Yellow Taxi accompanied by a mass singalong and leaving the audience wanting more but happy to pick up a CD, chat and make it clear that the Black Feathers needed to be planning a return date sooner rather than later.

And finally full marks to that audience: what a pleasure it was to be at a gig where people actually listened rather than using a live band as background music for their inane jibber-jabber. The campaign for listening properly starts right here, right now.