Getting me some Human Love.
First observation at the Newton Faulkner gig on Saturday 23rd April at the De La Warr Pavillion...I
didn't see as many couples as I expected. The few I saw were relaxed,
drinking beer out of plastic cups and leaning against each other side
by side, hands in alternate back pockets. That was most agreeable,
even a little cute. If there's one thing I hate it's having to watch
a gig through a buzzing cloud of over-affectionate couples tangling
tongues...
To
be fair, Newton Faulkner is dreamy enough to suit every couple in
this world. I wouldn't be surprised if half his songs are 'our
song's.
I
personally discovered Newton back in my school days, when 'Dream
Catch Me' was playing in every motivational PowerPoint presentation
about the road ahead post-GCSEs...I fell madly in love with that
whole first album, and kept tabs on his later releases as the years
went on.
I
saw him live for the first time in my third year of uni, somewhere in
Portsmouth, just after 'Studio Zoo' came out. It was the most joyful
and enlightening experience – it even took my mind off my
dissertation for one whole night! That's how magical and captivating
it was. The music that night, and that hug he gave me when we met
afterwards. *sighs*
So
it excited me like you would not believe when I heard he'd be ending
this tour in Bexhill, the lovely seaside town just 15 minutes down
the road from me, and in the De La Warr Pavillion – the place where
my grandparents met and danced together in 1958. That place is somewhat magical for me and my family.
I
also took my home girl Clare along; we had a delicious dinner
beforehand at Little Phatisserie in Endwell Road (a total sweet
spot for we veggie + dairy free humans) upon arrival we found our
perfect spot towards the back against a wall (maximum leanage), then
got totally lost in the loveliness of the night.
Newton
Faulkner brought us all to life and entertained endlessly with his
jokey chillaxed manner between songs. The crowd lapped him, them, up
– Newton and his Tobys. Toby Faulkner and Toby Couling, the backing
singers and musicians who were really more like a complimentary
all-star duo, not just back up. There was such onstage in-sync-ness,
you really felt they were a team.
Song
highlights included: Shadow
Boxing, off the latest
album Human Love
which was masterfully played on just one guitar but with so many
layers; I Need Something
my old favourite in which Newton bridged the gap between gentle
intimacy and awesome power most perfectly; obviously Dream
Catch Me when the whole
audience started yelling along filling the room with nostalgic love;
Up Up & Away,
the happiest new single; Far
To Fall, funky as can be; People Should Smile More which was given a slight makeover but is always a classic; and let's not forget Write
It On Your Skin, while
Newton delivered the ultimate finale in this classic my dad and
grandad found me and told me they'd blagged their way in two songs
ago – and were loving it!
I
was a little dismayed that At
The Seams wasn't played,
but then relieved as that song never fails to make me weep...
Newton's
sound has changed a fair bit over the past decade. It's like he's
grown into this enormous energy, had some electric funk injected in
recent years to intertwine with the raw perfect honesty, the magnetic
vocal range and insane guitar talent (he can do that thing
where he plays the guitar by
plucking a string and smacking the fret board in various places?!
Idk, so awesome). It was
refreshing seeing him live again, it didn't just remind me how much I
love him (seriously Newton, hello. Let's coffee sometime) but also
how much I love live music. How happy it makes me.
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