Friday April 13th certainly wasn't unlucky for the boys from Beddau. It saw the release of their follow up album 'A Short Obsession With Time' and an album launch night at Cardiff's Clwb Ifor Bach.
If you want to check out all things The People The Poet then hit this link.
You get a little bit of history including the Tiger Please days with pictures, videos and music links to all their awesome tracks and the new album review. Plus I was lucky enough to have a chat with lead singer and lyricist Leon ahead of their big night!
Keep reading below for the gig review!....
The excitement was certainly building amongst fans, family and friends for this one! The People The Poet don't play live very much unfortunately, so every gig announcement is something to be relished and we know the boys won't disappoint! They definitely didn't this time!
The first support act, To Bear Sir, kicked us off nice and easy. Solo artist Russell Toomey (To Bear Sir) slides effortlessly between dark, depressive moods and upbeat loop tracks. He was on form last night with wit and cheek aplenty, probably helped by the confidence juice! Playing tracks from his first album and the soon to be released follow up, his quirky presence moves from simple vocal/guitar angst ballads to booming drum backbeats, even managing to drop in a quick 'I'm Too Sexy' by Right Said Fred!!
After a brief set up, the next support were four-piece indie band Carolines and seemed to go down a treat, as the venue started to fill up. Playing tracks from their self-titled debut EP and teasing us with some new ones, these guys certainly have raised their confidence and perform better each time I see them. Singer and guitarist Ashley is really starting to look at home on stage, even pulling out some cool mirror shades for a new tune. The rise is imminent for this band I'm sure.
And then onto the main event...The People The Poet!! The band were all set up and us usual front man Leon, kept us waiting a little while before he rocked up on stage and did his thing! But we forgive him everytime because he's brilliant at what he does...!
Starting the show off in style and straight into that infallible TPTP sound, the Beddau Boys gave us just that. Beddau Boys (We Were Born Running) moved sweetly into the second album track to be played that night, Late Late 28. With the addition of keyboards and sax on stage, it really gave it that E-Street feel. Even more so now one of my favourite new songs!
The band also had to give us a few favourite tracks from The Narrator and Paradise Closed and up next came the singalong track People. The smiles from Leon told us we were doing a good job and really was a moment that made the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
The following couple of songs were well known to everyone already and the singing kept raising the roof. Singles Where The Dandelions Roar and Kids On The corner were absolutely superb live.
The six-piece band continued with the new album tracks and Not From This Town, bringing back that Boss feeling again, lead nicely into some of the crowds old favourites in OCD (with the usual Leon twist intro..this time getting the fans singing Sexual Healing!) and the wonderful track Maggie..
Sadly, it was time for the last track of the night and last track from the latest album Love Will Find You In The End was perfect. The band disappeared off stage and the crowd chanted for more!! With a much needed breath of fresh air, The People The Poet soon returned, as promised and the opening bars of Molly Drove Me Away bounced around the venue to more cheers, clapping and singing. We had a stripped down version and it was sublime.
The second encore song and another from 'The Narrator' gave us a perfect ending but sadly wanting more! As soon as they drums started, the fans went mad and Not For Now filled the room with a dramatic climax, leaving the ecstatic crowd once again chanting.
So we got six out of the twelve songs from the new long player and even though the set was a little short, it was nonetheless pure brilliance. The band were on point and Leons vocals were goosebumping-ly amazing. He gave us the banter, the stories and the jokes.
Album cover teeshirts were purchased and we left Clwb Ifor Bach with smiles on our faces and songs in our hearts. Please play more Beddau Boys!!
Relive the gig or hear the set list for yourself on my Spotify playlist..!