Ben Howard first came to my attention at a local music festival called Lemon Fest in a town called Newton Abbot in September 2010. Even then, in the early stage of his career, you knew he had something special to share as on that summer-like evening as the sun was nearly setting he managed to captivate the crowd in silent awe. Not a house hold name by any stretch of the imagination but something was happening and we all knew it.
Two years later this theory came to light. Mainstream exposure for Ben is currently at large with his debut album 'Every Kingdom' experiencing full critical acclaim. In February I got my second chance to see this talented Devonian perform live, only this time both his reputation and the venue were more established.
It was a sell out gig at Bristol's O2 Academy, some 1600 people descended with tingling expectation dutifully placed in the pits of their stomachs, and after plenty of highly complementary reviews based on recent shows around the country you could understand why. Anticipation for the arrival of Ben and band soared with every track change from the resident DJ, then finally in standard gig protocol the main lights dimmed and the stage lights raised to reveal the entrance of the main act.
Ben humbly welcomed the crowd to the show with a croaked and retiring whisper and in unison we leaned in with eagerness to gladly welcome an already growing itinerary of crowd pleasers.
Fantastically aided by his band consisting of multi-instrumentalist India Bourne, who changed from bass guitar to cello to drums throughout the entirety of the show, all the while, filling the room with soaring backing vocals. Percussionist and backing vocalist Chris Bond, aided and accompanied by an electric guitarist using an array of techniques to keep every song within its aura. Together they burned through a thick set of songs changing pace with slow and high tempo numbers. Stoking the fire with a majestically captivating ending to 'The Wolves' sending the crowd into bedlam, then letting the embers tentatively glow with songs such as 'Bones' and 'Gracious'.
