Lizotte’s, New Lambton, Newcastle
SUnday April 7 :
It is a hard time to play in the Lizotte’s room as the audience eat their dinners and some were starting dessert, but as Jolan began the audience settled. The lead singer’s voice was interesting, it was different to the usual sound I would listen to. They sang mostly originals with a few covers thrown in. Both Rhys and Sam donned acoustic guitars and sang, they were clearly competent on their guitars and playing and I didn’t mind the harmony of their voices together.
Morgan Joanel stepped out with a vibrant smile and a strong stage presence. With a drum sampler and multiple percussion items as well as the guitar over her shoulder, I was very impressed at her varied sounds, along with her sweet voice and diverse vocal range. I thoroughly enjoyed her whole set and would love to see her live again.
It was a lovely setlist that included covers he has played in his career, samples of new tracks and all the way back to his first album. An established performer, Newton Faulkner’s stage presence was clear and strong, everyone was hypnotised.
Throughout the whole show, his ability to get a percussion sound out of the pickups in the body of his guitar while still getting the full sound of the chords from just his fingers on the neck of the guitar showcased his talent and strength. This was particularly done during ‘Soon’ where he seemed to be really adventurous with his playing.
For ‘Clouds’ the audience was broken up into groups to sing along, it failed miserably unfortunately, but on the second attempt with ‘Write It On Your Skin’, we succeeded with great pride.
There is a strong theme throughout his music – we all go through tough times, and no matter what, we can and will make it through. If you’re looking for or love an artist with a catalogue of songs that can inspire, challenge and encourage you, then Newton is worth your time.
At the beginning of ‘Dream Catch Me’, it was an instant reaction that all the phones in the room went up to record. He changed it up a bit for this version of the song, and followed it with Kings of Leon and Bob Dylan sounding versions, to which he quickly apologised and moved on, but he had the audience laughing again.
It came to encore time, and the confession that he just isn’t a fan of the going off stage and coming back on, and stated that “it’s kind of stupid and it has become institutionalised”, so we pretended he did as he went into his final song, ‘I’m Not Giving Up Yet’. Lyrically this song is strong, but despite this I think he could have chosen something better to end on like ‘Dream Catch Me’. Given it is a more well known song and a more memorable ending to a fantastic night.
Lizotte’s never fails to host a great night out for artists that walk through their doors, and Newton Faulkner is no exception.