Fatherson - Play an impressive set at the London Barfly

**** 1/2

 Scottish band Fatherson rocked the Barfly! 

To put it simply this gig went far passed all expectations and I was amazed. It started with vocalist Ross Leighton walking on stage alone and singing their song 'An Island' as a solo, just him and his guitar. This totally threw the crowd and the gentle and unusual intro totally mesmerised the crowd, sending everyone into silence being lost in the moment. As the song built up, the other members of the band snuck on stage throwing the gig into full swing.

The second song 'Hometown' was greatly performed and the energy and passion of this song showed be how awesome this bands are, and it  really engaged the crowd and everyone were singing and cheering and this help to create the atmosphere which was electric. Up next was the track 'Mine for Me' which got you jumping instantly from the intro and showed that this band have something special when they perform. They sound exactly like they do on the album and seem to have no weaknesses at all during this show, which really shocked me. This particular song  was one of the best ones they performed at the Barfly that night.

'Lights' was a strong song with a nice steady groove from the latest album, and the audience seemed to know it already and were joining in, showing that their new material is really song. This song was a interesting contrast to the next song in the set which was entitled 'Cat Stevens' a title that you instantly start to wonder about. The band luckily explained the reason why they decided to call this song 'Cat Stevens' and this was because when you search Fatherson into Google, it comes up with Cat Stevens track 'Father and Son', so they thought they would switch it up, so when people Google Cat Stevens, they would pop up instead. Not a bad idea, but may take awhile to have an effect on a search engine and also might confuse a lot of Cat Stevens fans in the process.

This was a great tight performance from the band, with a slow gentle intro but building up at the end picking up the pieces and bringing the full band in. 'First Born' was the sixth song on the setlist so around the middle of the bands set and this is one of the bands older songs, which meant everyone knew it and loved it even more. As soon as they started playing it, the crowd went crazy and instantly starting singing like it was an anthem. It was a great moment for the band, catching the guitarist Chris Beltran cheeky smile as he had realised what was happening, you could tell they weren’t expecting it to cause that much of a stir.

'Half the Things' was a great way for the band to reel things down quickly and catch their breath for a minute with its slow intro, But as soon as they kicked in the chorus, with the guitars roaring and the drummer and bassist rocking out, they barely had a second to relax, this was a pure energy driven performance with some real grit to their sound. 'Kitters' really showed the lead singers vocal abilities with its sky high notes, and helped build the atmosphere up for the next song. 'I like not knowing' instantly got everyone jumping with its loud, in your face intro. The band ripped the stage apart with this song, with everyone giving everything they have before the encore.

Check Out! the Video for 'I like not Knowing' Below...

'Foreign Waters' opens up the encore, which on the album this is a ten minute long, but honestly this doesn't seem so long on the night and fly's by. Everything about the song was so good, and just made you want more from Fatherson. It was so tight and the band really did the song well to pull it off, because what acts do you know can play a ten minute song live without losing the audience interest. This was not a problem for Fatherson and every second of it was loved by everyone.

'Dust' was the second to last song of the night and really lowed the night down and calmed the whole room, giving every one a break from all the jumping around. However, the whole room were still having fun and enjoying it singing every word at the tops of their voices, which even overpowering the speakers at points. This really made this penultimate song one of the best of the night.

 'James' the final track of the night could not have finished the night off more perfectly. The gentle intro kept everything calm and relaxed until the chorus kicked in, allowing all the band members to give it all they have one final time in the night. Overall, I’d say that if you ever get chance to see this band live, take it, you will not regret it. I will be going to see them again and checking out the material I do not know, because I loved every minute.

Fatherson - Setlist
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An Island 
Hometown
Mine for Me 
Lights
Cat Stevens 
First Born 
Half the Things
Kitters
I like not Knowing 
--------------------
Foreign Waters
Dust
James

Review and Photo's by Ryan Monshall

Check Out! the Video for 'Mine for Me' Below...