James Yorkston - Night and Day Cafe , Manchester, 8/3/3007

  by Emma Dawson

published: 23 / 3 / 2007

intro

At the end of what was a particulary bad day for him, Emma Dawson watches James Yorkston play against the odds stunning solo set at the Manchester Night and Day Cafe

Apparently, James Yorkston had not been having the best of days. No elaboration as to specifics was forthcoming, but you sensed his fear that the sequence of whatever misfortunes had already befallen him during the day was unlikely to end with the beginning of tonight’s gig. Indeed, the night was punctuated with false starts, forgotten lines and misplaced fingers on the guitar strings. He must have wondered at points whether it was worth the effort. Yet, despite these trials, Yorkston still managed to deliver a dazzlingly honest, heartfelt and humorous performance, the resulting power of which managed not only to transcend them, but also bring the audience onside and carry them joyfully through his two-hour set. A mixture of profundity, melancholy, belly-holding humour and colourful story telling (both and without musical accompaniment) gave the gig a rare aura of audience and artist togetherness without ever descending into mawkishness or sycophancy. Given the length of the set, Yorkston was able to play the material from his latest release, the excellent 'The Year of the Leopard', and also draw extensively from his back catalogue, so satisfying his older fans (although the omission of the lovely 'In Your Hands' was a surprise). A purely acoustic set, it is testament to Yorkston’s power as a stage performer and his songwriting that the two hours passed in what seemed like half the time. He was joined on stage for the encore by his support artist, Nancy Elizabeth Cunliffe, which added the welcome lilt and sonic warmth of harp and fragile voice to the proceedings. Yorkston is a genuine, first-class songwriter who really should be making the same sort of strides as his Fence Collective compatriot, King Creosote, who appears to be on the brink of major commercial success. Hopefully, as the eyes of the mainstream music world turn their attentions to King Creosote, the equally prodigious talents of James Yorkston will also come into sharper focus.

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