Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly @ Cambridge Junction
29.1.07

It was pretty obvious by the number of shivering, excited teenagers in skinny jeans and converses waiting outside the Junction, that GCWCF had already gathered an impressive following. In fact, it was only around 18 months ago that Sam Duckworth played the Man On The Moon, Cambridge, where he met his manager; it was obvious that this was a special gig for him.

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly are probably the hardest working live act around at the moment, keeping perfectly in time not only with the electro beats, but with the music videos on the projector screen that were played in sync with their singles War Of The Worlds, Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager and Call Me Ishmael. He also used this idea to spread the word of Fair Trade, with a video too about the injustices that many workers in third world countries face. Obviously his heart was in the right place here, but it seemed slightly pointless, as he was pretty much preaching to the converted/not bothered.



The biggest highlight of the set was definitely his most popular song, Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager. The yearning, powerful vocals, coupled with the beautiful guitar melody, and the lonely trumpet stopped the audience in their tracks, but when the electro beats came in, the song changed pace to an eclectic pop ballad, and the show turned into one huge house party, with the fans spurred on by a live feed of themselves, causing them to jump as high as they could to try and catch a glimpse of them on the big screen.
Some new songs were also played, which show a better understanding of the technology he uses, as well as some more complex, darker melodies; although he stuck mainly to the "acoustic guitar with trumpets and electro backing, with big singalong at the end" formula.
Although each song was played to perfection, and the show was probably the most inventive and imaginative gig I've ever seen, there was something lacking in Sam Duckworth's performance, and he never seemed to truly connect with the audience, maybe this is because he's used to the more intimate secret shows and smaller venues, and the lonely, quietly yearning nature of his songs didn't translate well to a larger stage. Aside from that, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly is going to be a hard act to follow in 2007.

Support act TANAOU (or inappropriately long The All New Adventures Of Us) were pretty mediocre, with a couple of great moments, generally spoiled by singer Paul Macefield's strange brand of nasal, sarcastic not-quite-singing. Frequent unnecessary guitar changes and lazy performances from most of the band didn't go down greatly either.
Second act Walter Shreifels, however, was probably one of the wittiest, most original, heartbreakingly honest singer-songwriters I've seen in a long time. With lines like "Audrey, anything is possible/coffee will overcome these obstacles" (a song about making up over breakfast), and songs about his missing bicycle, he couldn't help but win the audience over. His vocals were spot on, sounding like a slightly less intoxicated Neil Young, and his wonderfully catchy, instantly memorable Johnny Cash style folk guitar melodies were perfect. If bland, clichéd, boring singer-songwriters like James Morrison followed his example, the world would be a better place.

Cobie