First Aid Kit with Fanfarlo
Trof, Grosvenor Street, Manchester
Monday, September 28th 2009
As is seemingly customary with double-headliner affairs, tonight’s line-up is in the opposite order to the one the poster for tonight would suggest: cue a very brisk walk in the newly autumnal (and dark) Manchester evening lest I miss the action.
London’s Fanfarlo were very much the highlight on a bill at this very venue earlier in the year, and with debut album Reservoir recently receiving its full release there’s quite a buzz at Trof tonight. It’s a slow-building but well formed start to the set, with just three of the band performing Drowning Men.
They have a delicate sound, the vocal contrast between Simon Balthazar and Cathy Lucas already directing attention quite masterfully. The crowd are silent and rather in awe, and when the remaining band members come up on stage the sound is simply huge, resonating around the music hall perfectly. It seems that Fanfarlo have grown in confidence since their last visit, and the result is a set of beautifully crafted songs tied together in a map of rises and falls in depth and emotion.
Past single Harold T Wilkins is immediately recognisable and yet rather subtle, but the real highlight has to be The Walls Are Coming Down: following an acappella opening which serves to show how gifted this group of musicians are, it soars and swoops – gloriously rich folk to warm the darkest of hearts.
One thing that can definitely be taken away tonight is just how multi-talented this band are: switching instruments between almost every song, from violin to trumpet to saw and beyond. Far from breaking up the flow of the set, it leaves many gaping at Fanfarlo’s musical prowess.
It’s a stark contrast when we switch from the seven members of Fanfarlo perching on the over-crowded stage to the more simplistic set-up of First Aid Kit: two girls, one guitar, one keyboard and one instrument I honestly don’t know the name of. They’ve got a tough act to follow, but the Swedish sisters manage remarkably well.
Aged only 16 and 19, Johanna and Klara make sweet music that belies their lack of years. There’s maturity, honesty and a wonderful way with storytelling here, tied up in melodies informed by folk, country and bluegrass. Having been impressed by their performance on BBC 6Music earlier in the evening, it’s particularly pleasing to see how songs such as You’re Not Coming Home Tonight and their cover of Fleet Foxes’ Tiger Mountain Peasant Song silence the large crowd. First Aid Kit get both the attention and adoration they deserved (though I didn’t want to know what one man said to elicit the response “no, she’s definitely too young” from his friend…), heart warming stuff for a cool Monday night.
words: Hannah Bayfield
www.myspace.com/fanfarlo
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