Newton Faulkner 12 Mar 08
On Sunday night we caught Newton Faulkner’s Belfast gig at St. George’s Market. I’d bought the tickets for Sarah for her birthday in December, but I was more than happy to tag along.
Newton is certainly a very talented musician and I can appreciate that even more so now that I’ve seen him live. From his recordings, its not as clear just how much of the music he plays himself. On stage, at any one time he can be strumming chords and playing percussion (by slapping the guitar body or strings) with his right hand, picking individual notes with his left hand and adding in some bass/keyboards with a specially designed foot keyboard. He really is quite amazing to watch.
However, its not just his music that makes him a great entertainer, he’s also very humourous. From observational humour that reminded me of Eddie Izzard to musical tricks and jokes (including funny covers of well known songs and alternative versions of his own), very much in the style of Bill Bailey, he seems to be a genuinely funny guy and certainly appears to enjoy every minute of his shows.
My highlights of the show have to be the Disney style sing-a-long version of ‘She’s got the time’, the ‘UFO’ dance and his closing number, a solo, acoustic version of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
If you ever get a chance to go and see this guy play live, I’d certainly recommend it.
NB: Thanks to the wonder that is the Internet, I’ve been able to include some links to videos from this very gig. If you’d like to see some more, try YouTube.
Posted by Nev in Music with tags belfast, funny, music, newton faulkner
