30 April 2007 (gig)
02 May 2007
The Longing for Latitude Tour has kicked off and it was gracing the tiny Arts Theatre in Soho for a starter. Two names causing a bit of a stirring in the music circles at the moment are Alberta Cross and Angus and Julia Stone a brother and sister act from the land down under.
Alberta Cross a London act with a style of music flaring between folk, psychedelia and the delta blues. Lead singer Petter Ericson Stakee coming out dressed in a pair of black jeans so tight that even Caleb from the Kings of Leon would wince at and black fedora hat giving the stage presence of some sort of Blues Preacher man.
Opening with amazing country blueseque rock track Petters hauntingly high falsetto almost has a sort of despair to it, this continued into the next couple of tracks Low Man being the third with some beautiful harmonies each song subtly ending achingly leaving you wanting more. Lucy Rider was the forth track and I’m assuming there next single, Petters voice almost creeping under your skin and not being able to see his face hiding behind the long hair and big hat was almost kind of eerie in a gospel sense.
The last two tracks Hard Breaks being one of them pepped up a bit and not only showed some intricate guitar work but also allowed them to show that they can rock out just as well and may I dare say almost uplifting to a degree.
Angus and Julia Stone are a Sydney duo so deep in folk it’s simply irresistible. Julia’s voice sounding so perfect how she held and kept some of those notes I’ll never know, and Angus shying away from the limelight for most of the performance but when it came round to him singing he held his own against his sister.
Each track had you tapping your feet away and with that kind of sign it can’t help make you think that we’ll be hearing a lot more of them over the airwaves, Mango Tree already a popular song on a certain radio station is just one of the most perfect songs for the summer you can just imagine swinging in a hammock and kicking back in the sunshine. Private Lawns again like the previous tracks is infectiously toe tapingly addictive with Julia dancing barefooted around the stage before giving a trumpet a little airing all the while Angus is intricately plucking away.
Over all it was a fantastic evening and much enjoyed by all.
Alberta Cross 4 out of 5
Angus & Julia Stone 5 out of 5
