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Blair Dunlop

Venue: The Band On The Wall
Town: Manchester
Date: 30/5/14
Website: http://www.blairdunlop.com

The new album 'House Of Jacks' had only been out a matter of days before the Blair Dunlop tour hit the metropolis which is Manchester and to what he admitted to as his 'favourite venue' (along with Sheffield's Greystones). The excellence of the hospitality and the food notwithstanding, something rather special was in the offing - and we're not talking teeny sensations One Direction packing thousands into the nearby Etihad Stadium for mass adoration, but more a privileged audience for whom taste, subtlety and appreciation of another outstanding young musician and his band was the priority.

Having witnessed a low key yet quite impressive opening set from Bolton singer songwriter, Olly Neasham delivered to an attentive crowd - not what he's used to in his home town apparently, although that may be doing Bolton some disservice, the similarly remarkably youthful Blair Dunlop band took but less than half of the four minutes of 'Something's Gonna Give Way' - the opening track from the new album - to stake their claim as pretenders to the folk and acoustic throne and what a treat it is to be there at the start of a career which you can already see is going to have the sort of longevity that some of his peers can only dream. Two albums to his credit, the songwriting prowess, guitar playing and live delivery is quite remarkable for a young man of 22.

Virtually the whole of the new album got an airing alongside a few nods to the debut album 'Bright & Blossom', the band based notably around the creative touches on fiddle and mandolin of Kat Gilmore, adding an understated backing. The songs featuring Blair knocking out chords on the electric guitar contrasted nicely with his deft finger picking when he picked up the acoustic and provided a timely reminder of what an adept guitarist he actually is.

It would be churlish to pick highlights, yet when Blair took the stage alone to deliver a couple of acoustic pieces, including his own 'Song Of Two Bridges' and quite tellingly, 'Vincent Black Lightning' by Richard Thompson, together with a final encore of an instrumental guitar piece, it started to hit home that when you're looking at reference points, influences and comparisons, there are some big names which come to mind. Not wanting to tempt fate or saddle the poor young lad with being a copycat in anyway, the guitar playing, especially on the acoustic when he's playing solo, bring to mind the aforementioned Richard Thompson, maybe not surprising considering his dad's background and his own personal influences and some of the playing, in particular, the way in which he knows when not to play, are very reminiscent of the master who is Martin Simpson. He also has that look about him which isn't far from a cross between George Harrison and the fresh faced McCartney appearance. Having said all of that, it's the originality of Blair Dunlop and his songwriting which is the attraction and when he stands and delivers the likes of 'Bright & Blossom' and one of, if not the highlight of his new album, 'The Station', it's not hard to see what all the fuss is about.

Mike Ainscoe