Brooke Fraser outdid my expectations last Tuesday evening by playing an impressive set of her music from the two albums she currently has released. I wasnt sure what to expect from her folky music style, but within a few minutes any reservations were soon blown away as she took the audience through a catalogue of songs drawn from "Albertine" and "Flags".
The Glee club in Birmingham was an interesting venue - all sit down with small chairs packed close together that made the atmosphere a bit slow to start with however Brooke soon got chatting to the audience and crowd participation followed. For a three-piece they made an impressive sound, Brooke, her drummer/percussionist and Michael Guy Chislet on guitars, however they made great work of numbers like Flags, Albertine and Coachella and finishing the hour-long set off with a storming version of her current single "Something in the Water". Another 15 mins of encores followed and then sadly the show finished...could the set have been just a few minutes longer???
One outstanding point of musicianship was the sound Mr Guy Chislet was squeezing out of his Gretsch. Speaking as a guitarist and bass player - totally amazing...#droff would be drooling.
I'm off to buy some albums.