Newton Faulkner brought his ‘Octopus’ tour to Glasgow tonight and, more precisely, SWG3 in Glasgow’s West End. This multifaceted venue(s) caters to all sorts of acts and tonight it hosts Mr Faulkner… the size of the hall ensured an intimate, almost within touching distance vibe. The venue’s raw, industrial charm added to the atmosphere — cosy yet big enough to make it a special show.
As the crowd filtered in, Nadia Naffar opened proceedings… Sitting relaxed on a tall chair her chill was infectious. The audience welcomed her with a Glaswegian warmth as they busily entered the hall. A very slow and mellow start to the evening.
Next up was NATi. If Nadia was chalk then NATI was definitely cheese; the good stuff not the plastic stuff! With her pop-rock guitar style, a more commanding stage presence and East of Scotland witty patter, she cajoled the audience into some participatory claps, sing-along moments. One highlight was her cover of ‘You Oughta Know’ (originally by Alanis Morissette) — it brought a slightly edgier vibe before the main act.
The lack of multiple instrumentation on stage meant a very quick turn around and before we knew it the main man was on.
He strode on stage with a confident authority. His set and energy were up to the now expected and demanded level – a warm embracing vocal paired with guitar and, drum boots and fx pedally machine things… he even gave a quick demonstration of his “drum boots”! In short; they are exactly that – boots that somehow play the drums in time to his feet tapping. Some might say a technological wonder… I prefer to call it witch craft!!
Songs from his recent album ‘Octopus’ sat easily alongside some of his ‘older’ work. There were several moments of audience interaction — When your musical favourites call, you always answer. .. tonight brought an emphatic and positive response. It would be, I assume, difficult as a solo performer to get up there every night with nobody to fall back on. If the feeling fell upon Mr Faulkner then it didn’t show; even in those little moments of tech fail or, indeed, organic failure (that’s the term to use if you don’t want to offend anyone by saying that they’d made a mistake)
A full house running on sheer energy was interrupted, very briefly, by some sort of fracas in the crowd. This was dealt with promptly by the ever friendly venue security.
I’ve been informed that his boots are utilising technology called MIDI and not, as I had hoped, witchcraft!
Oh… he also had a stuffed octopus toy as part of his set up
Review & Photographs by John Brown Photography
