It doesn’t matter when you latched onto Simone Felice, the
results will always be the same. Whether you have been there right at the start
with the Felice Brothers or through his latest acclaimed production and writing
work with The Lumineers and Bat for Lashes, an extraordinary creative talent
will be looming over the music being made. Away from his sibling collaboration
and new found major producing role, there was a significant growth in his
appeal in the UK with the branching out in the duo Duke and the King,
subsequently followed by two stunning solo album releases. Since the tour to
support his most recent album STRANGERS in 2014, which did feature a full band,
the appearances in the UK have been trimmed to a solo status, although last
year’s gig at The Glee Club did tag the excellent Anna Mitchell along for
support.
This evening’s Birmingham return to the same venue, also
promoted by the established East Midlands guys at Cosmic American, was billed as
‘An Evening with Simone Felice’, thus presenting one man and a multitude of
marvellous music. Edging onto the stage at half eight, Simone cuts a quirky
figure, painting a unique portrait of an artist totally wrapped up in the
sanctity of song. This is a performer tapping into a poetic licence to deal
with the seemingly endless stream of song writing ideas. Sharing his songs with
often committed audiences in such as profound style adds to the zest of
catching Simone live and over the course of a near hour and half on stage, a
well-attended studio room at The Glee Club was caught in the spell of a
mesmerising performance.
Non-conformity is the defining observation of Simone’s stage
presence, and probably what makes many left of centre performers stand out. The
first half a dozen songs were reeled off without comment and then just as you
get settled into the mode of ‘it’s only the delivery of the song that matters’,
the show evolves into a sphere of interactivity with Simone temporarily opening
up. This is followed by three invited singalongs culminating in a wonderful encore
rendition of his hometown ode ‘Bye Bye
Palenville’. By then the process of mutual artist-audience affinity had
been sealed.
If the STRANGERS album had been your peak interest of his
career to date then apart from the encore number, you would have been moved by ‘
Lady of the Gun’, the highly catchy
alternative love song ‘Molly-O’ and
another invited singalong tune in the emotively pleasing ‘Running Through Your Head’. The only regret from the evening was
not hearing album favourite ‘If You Go to
LA’, but there is only one person in charge and a common feeling of ‘in
Simone we trust’.
Older fans had their moments too, with Simone reflecting on
the decade passing since setting out on the road with his brothers and thus
featured ‘Radio Song’ alongside other
favourites like ‘Don’t Wake the Scarecrow’.
‘Union Street’ and ‘If You Ever Get Famous’ reflect the Duke
and the King days, while ‘New York Times’
and ‘Hey Bobby Ray’ gave a feel for
his debut solo album. The second of these from the 2012 self-titled album
proposed an angle of social justice and paved the way for the audience to become
an apocalyptic choir for five minutes.
While expecting a reveal all performance from Simone Felice
is not going to happen, you can learn much from his songs and how a person
raised in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York has grown into a revered
song writing musician in the world of Americana, contemporary folk and alternative
music. Taking in the music of this intense, dark and mysterious character can
be an absorbing experience but the riches of his deeply penetrating songs hang
like accessible ripe fruit. Enigmatic performers are often the source of
rewarding musical experiences and Simone Felice makes this analogy quite real.
