Lastly, the main act, Ferris and Sylvester. I had been standing just a metre or so away from them as they had enjoyed the other artists perform and I had caught glimpses of them conversing: these two were very comfortable together. They opened on a poignant note with, Save Yourself. The drawn out plea from Issy to, ‘break my heart…’ had the couple in front of me looking at one another in heart-felt despair and my +1 friend shaking her head. It was a clever introduction, they had captured the attention of their audience and pushed the boundaries of their comfort zone with this well-crafted, melancholic tune.
The tone lifted a little with, The Room. The lyrics told of hardships but the the music carried us through with an element of hope.
Having listened to their EP before this gig I had a preconception that I would find Archie on guitar and Issy on vocals. How wrong I was. Ferris and Sylvester are a partnership in all ways both of them every bit the musician and sharing in the vocal delivery. This was driven home to me in their performance of the track, Superhuman as Issy changed to bass and the pair literally rocked the room. This was not the sound to which I had been accustomed over the past few weeks. It was much bigger and heavier and they pulled it off superbly. Issy joked that, ‘you get all colours of the rainbow with us!’ and this gig was a wonderful display of their passion and versatility.
They took us through an emotive journey. The set moved through some other rock-rooted tunes and progressed into the more light-hearted zone of, Better in Yellow, luring the audience into participation. Their finale of London’s Blues, a personal favourite, didn’t fail to have the crowd clicking/clapping/foot-tapping to the rhythmic blues tone.
The chemistry I had observed earlier in the night flooded out on stage and I (along with many others) was smitten! When can I have another dose?!
sonicbreakfast 