Nathalie Blonder checks out Sofar Sounds Leeds at Holbeck Underground Ballroom …
The clever play on words of the event title says a great deal about the event itself; good, chilled-out music in a good, chilled-out setting. Sofar Sounds is an international organisation that sets up non-profit secret gigs around the world and has graced living rooms from Atlanta to Brighton, and Singapore to Hamburg – It’s safe to say that Sofar gets around.
When I was forwarded the email with the details of the event, I couldn’t help but get overly excited about its exclusivity, and the fact that it was being held at the Holbeck Underground Ballroom (a newly favourite hangout spot of mine). Once I RSVP’d, yes, yes, 100% yes, I received further details of the event which stressed that I be as punctual as I possibly could. However, despite my rushing around like a headless chicken to get there, the event didn’t actually start till half an hour later and until the show went ahead, me being the introverted, socially inept type, I felt a bit awkward. As I looked around, I could see that around 50 people turned up; mainly preppy 20-somethings that obviously attended underground events like this all the time, darling. As we all waited, we indulged in the £1 a drink bar, hosted by HUB manager Porl Cooper, whilst easy-listening indie/psychedelic music played in the background.
Despite the fact that I was alone, there was a very relaxed and friendly vibe about the place which instantly put me at ease – everyone had come to lounge in an intimate environment, bonding and absorbing the wonderful sounds that we were soon to experience. When it was finally time, we were led into a classroom-sized performance area, decked out with fairy lights and comfy chairs. The host, Joe Lawrenson warmly introduced the show to audience and encouraged us to Tweet away throughout for the benefit of the artists that were to perform. Kicking things off was a David Henshaw, who had an Ed Sheeran get-up and a Damien Rice-esque voice. I was blown away by the power he packed into each refrain, serenading each of us individually with a passionate longing to love.
Following him was an act new to the HUB, a spoken word poet, Philadelphian sister Alyesha Wise. I knew I was going to like her before she even opened her mouth; she had this confident, independent woman air about her that could silence even the most misogynistic man. She introduced herself, what she was about and then went straight into seducing me and everyone else with these dynamisms that seeped in through one ear, caressed the inner-workings of the brain, and then oozed its way out the other. She spoke of her grandmother who had an obsession with bleach, her incarcerated Blood brother, and of herself, the happy clown. She spoke so assertively about her feelings as an African-American woman, and how experiences affected her that I could empathise with her with acute precision.
We got a short 15 minutes respite to recover from the wisdom that we found ourselves drowning in, and returned slightly fresher from beer to Witch Hunt, a double act consisting of Louisa on lead vocals, and Chris playing guitar and back-up. As soon as Louisa began to sing, I had to double-take as I tried to come to terms with how melodic her voice was – it was as if she had swallowed a violin. The pair had a distinct Blue Foundation vibe, but maybe with a little more Lana Del Ray bluesy about them. The simplicity of Chris’ Gibson and the male/female harmony combination created this beautiful lullaby sound that I could quite happily listen to again and again.
Succeeding them, I didn’t believe it was going to get any better, and then Sam Airey took to the stage, guitar in hand. He was accompanied by a bassist and a drummer of such skill, it’s hard to effectively describe their talent. Their set kicked off with Endless Sea, a song that instantly captivated the audience and sent us into a hypnotic trance, believing each and every word he sang. The drums provided noises that took me straight to the ocean and I felt myself being carried away by each cymbal crash to a world of euphoric fantasy. The rest of their performance was just as magical, and the audience remained deadly silent throughout, struggling to remain in the realm of reality.
Thankfully, we were granted another break to snap ourselves out of our melody-induced dazes and came back to the performance room feeling more like I was among friends than strangers. The evening took a new tone when it was George and Kane’s time to shine, and I don’t think I was the only one overwhelmed with how American they were. They encouraged the crowd to liven up and engaged us in a little audience participation (an activity I normally hate but I agreed with how sedated we had all become). G and K as they liked to be called were another spoken word act but unlike Aleysha, they were a lot more playful and featured a lot of puns and play-on words in their poetry. As they rhymed they used movement and sound effects to further illustrate their narratives, and charmed the audience with their passion and sincerity. My favourite part of this act was George’s solo performance where he integrated his fluency in Japanese into the story he told of his relationship with his father – I felt it was an effective and heart-warming way to portray just how strong his love for his dad is.
The evening closed in barn-dance style with the six-piece band from Stafford, High House. Each member could sing as well as they played, and the harmonies were so sharp and clear that the sound was palpable. They were like a happy choir each with an instrument in hand: violin, acoustic guitar, accordion, djembe, xylophone and tambourine. Their style seemed to me reminiscent of Devendra Banhart crossed with Fleetwood Mac and this was very much demonstrated in their closing number, covering Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams – it was brilliant and had the whole audience singing along.
Considering this event cost me nothing to attend and a £1 a time to drink, it was of such quality that I can’t quite understand the kindness and generosity of the artists. I suppose the idea is to raise awareness of the acts through the medium of Sofar Sounds who seem to just want to promote the likes of such talent. There were EP’s available for sale, of which I snapped up Sam Airey’s and have had on repeat constantly since I returned home (lots of the stuff is also available online at the links above so you can have a browse and see the amazing artists at your own disposal). If you are lucky enough to be in an area where Sofar Sounds are running an event, I suggest you attend because missing out on this would be a tragedy and a crime!
‘To find out about the next Leeds Sofar event email leedssofar@gmail.com‘