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Benjamin Francis Leftwich Review (The London Acoustic Guitar Show)
Indie | Monday 24th September 2012 | Osh
The 23 year old singer-songwriter from York provided a unique set that was undoubtedly the highlight of a weekend rammed full of talent.
In a room used primarily for conference speeches under half of the chairs are full, but this is no bad thing, it provides a sense of intimacy to the very unique experience which each of the full chairs will be enthralled in. Leftwich takes to the stage firstly thanking the event and then Martin guitars. There’s a sense of fragility or what could be mistaken for insecurity about the young artist as he begins tuning his guitar, but from the very first chord the crowd are entranced lost in an elegant voice which conveys the melancholy within his undeniably individual guitar lines often as effectively as his simplistic but touching lyrics.
Leftwich plays his first single ‘Pictures’ amongst a set filled with emotional tunes such as ‘Shine’, ‘Boxs of Stones’ and ‘1904’. The intimacy of the surrounding, means each pain-felt lyric and wonderfully written guitar melody resonates individually, never leaving your conscience until the next line and note enters somehow eclipsing the brilliance before without removing its remnants.
The singer finishes another mesmerising number before taking to the microphone to thank the organizers once again and to state: ‘I don’t know much about acoustic guitars but I do know they’re not meant to be played like this through an amp’, as he removes the jack lead from his guitar tossing it aside. The crowd applaud the gesture and it is from this point onwards, that the performance turns into something exceptionally special.
A silence like none other I’ve ever heard (well not heard) befalls the crowd, you could literally hear a pin drop as Leftwich begins to gently pluck the strings for his next number, from this point on he continues to play like this adding a further sense of privacy to a gig which already feels like friends gathered in a small bedroom. He then falls into number ‘Maps’, a beautifully written number dedicated to the impossibility of fulfilling the desires of a partner, the quieter format furthers the emotion and turmoil as you’re forced to strain to hear each syllable from a song that weakens even the most stonehearted of listeners.
"Cheers", says Leftwich as he raises his bottle of water to the crowd and is instantaneously greeted by laughter, it’s as if he has chosen to break the amazed silence that greets him in between songs from an audience that are truly captivated.
It is with absolute certainty that I can state in the current musical climate which has seen several break through acoustic artists in recent months, Leftwich doesn’t just deserve a place amongst them he is owed it.
By Joe Longhurst
