Newton Faulkner played the Leeds O2 Academy on 13 Oct 2012 to a capacity audience.
The main floor was already packed by the time the support Colour The Atlas came on. A four-peace band who’s EP recently charted above Ed Sheeran in the Singer-songwriter charts. Playing tracks from their upcoming EP, shockwave and Satellites showed the vocal talents of the lead singer, Jess Hall and her young band mates. Jess projected beautifully strong lyrics.
Having recently played York, Faulkner has gained a reputation for coming on early and playing well past venue curfew time. Good news for the ticket-payers then and value for money from the night.
True to form, Newton didn’t keep the fans waiting and he played all of his big hits and some of his very early work.
Newton is proud that all the sounds he plays come from him and without the help of a loop machine. Something that he demonstrated with his sock-clad feet – in a way he was like a sophisticated one man band, just without the harmonica.
During the night, rather than just play polished songs, he experimented. This left the audience feeling that he was doing something new and different especially for them. In a way it was like being in Newton’s basement having a jam session rather than being at a big city venue.
Part way through his set, Newton was joined on stage by Ryan Keen. Ryan is a strong soloist in his own right and has previously toured with Ed Sheeran. Ryan provided a necessary interlude, but only for a single track. A track more or Ryan playing Orelia as a soloist would have been even better though.
Back to Newton and his smooth tones, engaging the audience, both during and between tracks.
Nearly two hours in, he began to wrap the night up by taking songs thrown at him by the crowd. This made him dig back into material from his very early days and there were clearly some long-term fans watching.
