GiggingNI.com
Newtown Faulkner
With Lisa Mitchell;
When I got tickets to see Newton Faulkner in the Mandella Hall, Belfast, I really didn't know what to expect. I was obviously excited since I am a massive fan but I've never heard of anyone that had seen him live or even make a passing comment on what they think he'd be like. For weeks I resisted watching YouTube videos of his previous performances just so I could have the element of surprise when the big day finally came.
Lisa Mitchell was the first to grace the stage and I swear, she has to be the cutest thing my eyes have ever laid upon. She delivers her indie/folk/rock sound in a wonderfully enchanting manner. Before this gig I saw her as just that girl who had that awesome song in a laundry detergent advert and when she played that song, 'Neopolitan Dreams', first - well, I laughed. I felt that I couldn't do much more. When a musician plays the only song you know first then it's pretty hard to be enthusiastic about the rest of their set. But this wasn't the case at all with Lisa Mitchell. I was completely lost in each and every of her quirky, charming and simple songs. She played a half an hour set but it really flew in; it just felt like as soon as she got on the stage, she was gone again. If I wasn't so excited about seeing Mr. Faulkner, my heart would have broken. I loved how comfortable she was on stage; bobbing her head from side to side has to be the most adorable thing I've ever seen, especially if you take the way she delicately wandered around the stage into consideration. She is a beautiful woman with a beautiful voice and she really deserved supporting this show; and more.
The wait for Newton Faulkner killed me. Was it worth dying inside a little? Hell yes! Newton Faulkner is definitely the best musician I've seen in a very, very long time. His folk rock sound melted by heart and hearing the majority of the room sing-a-long and join in with the craic made the atmosphere just feel electric. What made it feel all the more special was when he really looked like he was enjoying himself - it's fantastic when the person who is entertaining a room full of hundreds of people is having fun in doing so. He really knew how to work the crowd; he got everyone to sing three part harmonies, got us hyped up to sing a final chorus louder with a pirate scenario and gave us a dance for U.F.O. What more could we ask for? A dancing alien? Well, we got that too. He even had a camera by his feet to show the audience that he was really playing his organ - that was pretty interesting.
His honesty astounded me. I hate when musicians claim to be perfect and die inside when they make mistakes but he just told it straight that he played songs wrong before and only recently realised how they are supposed to played and when he played 'This Town' for the first time, he just came out straight and said that it could possibly go very wrong but not to panic if that was the case. He was so humble - he could basically be Jesus and sometimes the lights would shine on him in just a way that he really did look like a divine entity who come to earth to save us all; while playing awesome music. There was a great switch in atmosphere; I loved how one minute I was dancing and everything felt lively and then he'd play something that really sounded like it came from his soul and I'd find a few tears chase each other down my cheek. I was just constantly overwhelmed by emotion. And as a final note; hearing absolutely everyone in a crowded room sing 'Dreamcatch Me' was amazing. I could write reams and reams about my experience in the Mandella Hall that night but this would be a painfully long review so I'd advise you to get tickets to his gig in the Ulster Hall on February 28th 2010. I assure you that there won't be a disappointed face in the house as Newton Faulkner puts on an utterly fantastic show and even if you don't know much from his new album 'Rebuilt by Humans', a healthy mix of old and new songs is provided.
