Words by Nick Mee. @Nickjmee
Picture by Duncan Martin
The month-long Blogtober Festival got underway at The Finsbury this weekend with two nights that set a high bar for the remaining 29 shows. For Folk’s Sake was at the helm on Sunday, sagely plumping for August And After (above) as headliners. The Cambridge band had just disembarked from the Eurostar, having been recording in Paris, capturing intricate, harmonised material that tonight would segue from as subtle as a breath to as forceful as a storm, invariably within the same song. The band were preceded in some style by the supple shantyisms and witty patter of multi-instrumentalist four-piece Patch & The Giant, and two exceptional solo artists, the soulful acoustic troubadour RiverChild and Norfolk-based nu-folk storyteller True Adventures.
This followed a buzzy opening night, headlined by the dazzling alt-rock of Judas, who, all hair, sweat and blinding tunes, turned up the heat for a fervent Saturday night crowd. Also on the bill, curated by Young & Aspiring, were ferocious glam-grunge Brightonians Safe To Swim; potent arena-indie quartet How’s Harry; and Hume, whose jazzy chops on the Gretsch fleshed out his slick solo act. Roll on the rest of the month.