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The Paperboys

Venue: Queens Hall
Town: Hexham
Date: 7/6/14
Website: http://www.paperboys.com

Having only seen The Paperboys on You Tube and heard them on the radio I was excited to see them live, performing at the Queens Hall in Hexham.

And what a performance it was, if you are familiar with these guys then you will know that they are on another level as far as the genre of the folk music goes.

Coming from Vancouver, America and Germany mixed with Irish, Celtic and Mexican heritage that mix of culture was translated into their music that was played tonight in Northumberland.

The four part band that was their tonight (though there should have been more) started kicked of the gig with a few Irish jigs, with that Irish music flowing through my veins I was in the mood for a good night of folk music.

From Ireland to America, in particular California - a song from their live album it was a nice calming yet empowering song, I loved the acoustic guitar in it and even though I am not a California gal it made me feel proud to be a part of this culture.

Hexham was the first leg of their tour, after being in Ireland they admitted that they were a bit tiered from the long journey but that did not prevent them from putting on a high energy performance.

I wish there has been a dance hall in the Queens Hall, as I really wanted to get out f my seat and dance. Instead I was reduced to clapping, waving my hands in the air and shimmying my shoulders but The Paperboys seemed to appreciate that.

Since the guys were taking us on a world tour with their songs and they were performing in the country, they took an ode to this and performed Country Life. This was a good old folk song, telling a story about how they were city people and in the country they did not know how to build a fence but boy could they learn, they could learn in this country life. I could very well imagine this song being performed in some sort of outdoor festival, maybe in a field around a fence that they had built.

From fence to tower, they performed their own version of Jimmy Hendricks's Watch Tower. I had only ever heard Ed Sheeran's version so this was a little difference in comparison.

El Baile Del Puma which closely translates to Dancing Puma is a Mexican/ Irish folk influence on the music. Imagine your favourite salsa dip infused with 1000 vuvuzela's during the world cup and that is what the song would taste/sound like.

That sort of Spanish/ Mexican theme continued towards the end of the concert, under the red stage lights, they took us to Spain and played La Primavera and again with Irish undertones, using a piece of Irish music called The Irish Hunter's Purse it finished the performance off with that sort of carnival/ siesta/ Irish jig vibe.

Gemma Hirst