Stornoway – Gateshead Sage

Stornoway

February 14th 2010

Presented by Twisted Folk, this tour juxtaposes the two very different entities of Beth Jeans Houghton and Stornoway. Although billed as headliners, it is the fine young gentlemen from Oxford that take to the Sage stage first and on whom we shall focus. The whole aura around Stornoway is carried in a very understated fashion, a minimalist approach signified by the apparent meekness of lead singer Brian Briggs. He ambles closer to the microphone in instalments before mustering a barely registering “hello”.

Once the band strike up, the facade of simplicity dissolves into the many layers of their thoughtfully constructed tunes. Each song is well-received by a crowd that needed some encouragement, even for a Sunday night outing, yet thankfully Stornoway’s charm does enough to win them over. It is plain that many are here to see them on the back of TV appearances on Jools Holland’s Later… alongside Jay-Z; Foo Fighters and Norah Jones, and a BBC Radio 1 session for Huw Stephens.

We manage to spot one lady in particular who seems to be growing in delirium as their set progresses, rocking backwards and forwards whilst clapping in a strangely afflicted manner, and can frequently be heard calling for various requests. Such fandom is something that is surely only to increase where Stornoway are concerned, with their debut album expected sometime later in 2010.

Back to the matter at hand and the performance remains as sterling as one this writer has witnessed in the past couple of years. Supported by their friend Rahul Satija on violin and brother Adam Briggs on trumpet, their sound becomes augmented with a striking, piercing and ultimately beautiful quality. The likes of ‘End Of The Movie’ and ‘Cold Harbour Road’ receive the utmost of attention from the audience, seemingly enthralled and entranced throughout and only regaining composure upon the song’s ending.

A special reception is reserved for the band’s single from July 2009, ‘Zorbing’. An insanely infectious and sunny record likening the beginning of a romance to the thrills and spills of rolling down countryside hills inside a water-filled bubble. Who are we to argue?

“I’ve been singing you this song inside a bubble / Been zorbing through the streets of Cowley”

As a reward for their devoted attention throughout the set, Stornoway agree to perform one more track – electing to taken an acapella route. The genuinely warming ‘We Are The Battery Human’ is the highlight of the evening.

‘Cos we’re the new generation, generation / We are the battery human / But we were born to be free-range, free-range”

They shuffle off the stage in a similar fashion to their entrance to the sincere applause of a now-infected crowd. They are infected with the folk charm and honesty of Stornoway and its at this point that we realise we are contaminated in exactly the same manner.

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