DAVID FORD, ex-vocalist of Easyworld and one time Manchester University drama student (but don't hold that against him) looks every inch the lovelorntroubadour as he takes to the Apollo's stage with aband that may or may not be called The Pitchfork Assassins (they haven't decided yet).
I was prepared to be thoroughly underwhelmed by yet another
David Grey clone, but was pleasantly proved wrong, as Ford and his gang unleashed beautiful songs that oscillated between bitterness and hope, bile and beauty. Ford has obviously been burned before, by love and the evil music business, yet is not afraid to admit that he has been guilty of emotional pyromania
himself.
Despite having spent time in Eastbourne and Nice, he wisely claims Manchester as his adoptive home and dedicates a song to Morrissey, the amusingly titled 'Cheer up (you miserable fuck)'. The highlight of his too-short set, however, is 'State of the Union', an unashamedly political and unabashedly lovely lament for a world where nothing means anything and the bottom line is all. Ford accompanies himself on this tune, building up layers of sound by live sampling a bewildering array of instruments and objects a la Matthew Herbert and (whisper it) KT Tunstall.
His band is not taking a breather at this point - bizarrely they are painting what I assume were self-portraits on an illuminated screen. Having set all his samples in motion, Ford is amidst the audience declaiming his critique of a world whose only credo is 'Go fuck your neighbour'. Let's hope there is room in the mainstream for this talented truthsayer - God knows we need more of his ilk.
STARSAILOR are almost on home ground tonight (well Chorley is pretty close) and this is a crowd that absolutely adores them. Over the course of five years they have built up an impressive body of work, and it's a shame that they are so often dismissed as second-division Travis/Coldplay copyists. This may be partly due to their diffidence. Whilst vocalist James Walsh makes a brave stab at being a rock star, the rest of the band seem happy just to play. You've got to love them for that.
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They play a good chunk of new album 'On the Outside', but inevitably it is the older songs that elicit the greatest crowd response. Thankfully Starsailor are wise enough not to get pissy about this - instead revelling in the warmth of an audience who obviously hold them close to their hearts. Like so many before
him, Walsh is in thrall to Manchester's illustrious musical heritage, namechecking all the greats who have emerged from the grime and rain of Cottonopolis and, rather bravely,incorporating the chorus of 'I am the Resurrection' into 'Good Souls'.
He introduces 'Four to the floor' as a tune that would take people back to the Hacienda circa 1989. All I can say is, given their age, Starsailor must have had pretty impressive false IDs and/or fake beards. They end the evening with an epic, spine-tingling run through of 'Silence is Easy', leaving the emotionally incontinent amongst us in tears.
For me, the one false note of an otherwise exemplary set was Walsh's acoustic version of the Sugababes 'Push the button'. Personally I hold Travis responsible for this annoying trend of covering crappy pop songs. Honestly, there's no need James - your stuff is much, much better.
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