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Gig Review: Newton Faulkner – Scala, London

Newton Faulkner
Scala, London 

Tuesday 1st May: Continuing his spring tour of the UK, Newton Faulkner hits Scala, the only London date. Acoustic guitar virtuoso Newton Faulkner came to prominence in 2007; with the release of his debut album, ‘Hand Built By Robots’, the album went double platinum in the United Kingdom. Not just playing his classic hits, Newton gives the audience the opportunity to hear new material from his forthcoming EP and album.

Entering a packed venue, we were greeted by support act Emily & The Woods. Emily has a beautiful voice; each song had delicate lyrics and melodies, the audience were spell bound by the purity of the performance, a nice start to the show.

Newton takes to the stage, with his well-known hair, relaxed outfit, no shoes. With all his instruments set up (as he makes all the music and uses the audience for harmonies), and an atlas; which we later finds out opens and is where the tea is kept. The first two songs to be played are two new songs, then in to the single ‘I Need Something’. From the first few songs it is clear to see the talent that Newton has, from playing guitars to his amazing voice.

Newton keeps the audience entertained; when he is busy tuning guitars, with anecdotes or conversations with the crowd. The next song ‘People Should Smile More’, provides a good story about how the song came about, basically Newton had been having a few bad days, including being hit by an old woman with a bag. Next was a new song ‘Pick Up Your Broken Heart’, the song has beautiful lyrics, looking forward to this being released.

Another one of Newton’s well-known singles ‘Teardrop’, completely loved by the audience. Newton also did a cover of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’; Newton said in theory this song wasn’t meant to work, but did, and he was definitely right, the cover of this song is amazing.

After that we had some more new songs and a song from the album. The song from the album was ‘U.F.O’, which has a special dance routine and some quirky sounds. A new song titled ‘Soon’ is another one to look forward to.

The next two songs were the well-known singles ‘Dream Catch Me’ and ‘Gone In The Morning’, clearly the audience love these songs, as pretty much the whole audience knew the words. ‘Dream Catch Me’ has to be one of my favourite songs, and love it performed live. An unexpected last song ended the night, which will be a new song on the album. It was obvious that the audience wanted more and didn’t want to leave, but unfortunately that was the end of the show.

If you’re a fan of Newton Faulkner then you have to see him live and you should be excited for the new music he should be releasing soon. However if you don’t really know who he is, but like music that can only be described as pure and back to basics, then you should start listening to Newton Faulkner.

Review by Christina Benneworth

Listings Information

Tour Dates

Thu 03-May Birmingham O2 Academy 2

Sat 05-May Bristol O2 Academy (Bristol Folk Festival)

Tue 08-May Newcastle Mill Volvo Tyne Theatre

Wed 09-May Cardiff Coal Exchange

Thu 10-May Oxford O2 Academy

Sat 12-May Norwich Open

Sun 13-May Leamington Spa Assembly

Tue 15-May Holmfirth Picturedome

Wed 16-May Leeds Cockpit

Thu 17-May Sheffield Leadmill

Sat 19-May Manchester Academy 2

Sun 20-May Liverpool Uni Stanley Theatre

Tue 22-May Aberdeen Lemon Tree

Wed 23-May Dundee Fat Sams

Thu 24-May Glasgow Oran Mor

Sat 26-May Belfast The Limelight

Sun 27-May Dublin Whelan's

Tickets available at: www.ticketmaster.co.uk
www.newtonfaulkner.com

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