Review: Ben Howard @HMV Ritz – February 17
Ben Howard has risen to fame overnight through little more than word of mouth and radio play.
The venue was completely sold out which undoubtedly demonstrates the modest artist’s popularity. He thanked the Manchester crowd for their support, saying that he hadn’t played up North much and certainly hadn’t expected the emphatic reception he received.
The support act, Daughter, who are tipped to be one of the biggest bands of 2012, mesmerised the audience with their haunting and pained songs.
Singer Elena Tonra’s vocals are eerie but somehow lacking in originality. The more I listened the more I travelled back to 2010 when Warpaint released The Fool.
The intricate guitar lines and hypnotic vocals were all too familiar and although Daughter are already on the rise, you should probably listen to Warpaint for a more authentic experience.
However, after an underwhelming performance from Daughter, Ben Howard did not disappoint.
It was only after one UK tour that Ben was snapped up by Island Records. His music has folk roots but there are definite points where you can hear the influence Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan have had on his style.
Rather than being a one man band he had a drummer, a percussion and backing vocals artist as well as an additional guitarist for some tracks.
The set was energetic with Ben showing off at some points when he repeated the chorus of songs, increasing in speed and then gradually slowing down to a stop.
He played pretty much every song off his debut album, Every Kingdom, including hits Old Pine, The Wolves, Keep Your Head Up and Diamonds.
My personal highlight was when he played The Fear where everyone got involved, clapping about and generally enjoying the amazing atmosphere.
On request he also came back on and played Roses.
A new tour has since been announced for November where Ben will play at Manchester’s O2 Apollo on November 12, 2012.
If you can’t wait that long to see him, you can always follow him to America where he is touring until he arrives back in the UK later in the year.
awesome review
awesome review
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