30/06/2011 – Charlie Simpson @ Newcastle O2 Academy 2 | iShootGigs

Jun 30

30/06/2011 – Charlie Simpson @ Newcastle O2 Academy 2

Posted by john on Thursday Jun 30, 2011 Under Featured Categories, Past gigs

Fightstar favourite Charlie Simpson came to Academy 2 this evening, and I had the pleasure of shooting the show AND grabbing some portrait shots beforehand.

If you haven’t had chance to hear any of Charlies solo material then I suggest you do so. Young Pilgrim is the name of the album, and it could just be up there as one of my favourites of 2011.

After getting the portraits out of the way just before the curtain came up (major thanks to Charlie and to Ste Kerry – two top blokes), I settled down in the ‘pit’ upstairs in anticipation of the bands arrival.

Charlie hasn’t scrimped on anything in the sonic department on this tour. A lot of people would be tempted to just do the rounds solo acoustic, but the performance tonight is extremely faithful to the album, in that there are multiple layers and harmonies, both vocally and instrumentally. There are 6 people on stage tonight and they all play a vital role in proceedings.

The set itself was relatively short (there were 4 bands on the bill), but I get the feeling it was done this way for a reason. There is only one cover performed, and it’s not from one of Charlies other bands. In my opinion this shows a confidence in the new album and is a brave move that is richly rewarded.

Down down down and parachutes are the two lead singles he’s chosen, but it’s Thorns and Cemetery that really do it for me and provoke the biggest reaction of the night from the crowd. For such a new album, it’s suprising how many of the songs that the crowd know, but this is testament to the fan base that follows the man around.

Charlie has every reason to be proud of his new solo venture, and he delivered it with aplomb this evening.

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