Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.
Live at Leeds Metropolitan University on Wednesday, 24th January 2007
Walter Schreifels (ex- Quicksand and Rival Schools) is up with his acoustic guitar. A charming New Yorker, now residing in Berlin, he has many songs revolving around bicycles that mend themselves, friends ('Distressed Friends'), people he meets and things he eats.
The person with the most random name-to-work connection comes onto the stage and shows off the confidence he has built from years travelling the UK sharing his emo-tinged tunes. Joining Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. are drummer Andy Theakstone, who starts by providing the beat to a melody produced by a Mac laptop, and then a two-man brass section including Mike Glenister, then Sam Duckworth himself.
While some songs are left up to the 20 year old and his strings, the real treats are when the drum and bass breakbeats kick in, topped off by Theakstone and some hand claps from the brass boys. The back wall shows video projections of GCWCF music videos ('Call Me Ishmael', I Spy'), all perfectly in time with the live sound. You can tell Billy Bragg is a huge influence, with topics about fair trade and the recent Big Brother events both mentioned. As Duckworth says, the videos mean that he doesn't have to speak as much and can get on with preaching less and playing more.
The greatest cheer of the night is for 'The Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager (Part 1)', just before the encore. Whether it's down to all the hype, GCWCF's internet fans out in full force, or just the fact that young people can relate to a lad of his years, the show is a sold out success. The guy deserves it; lets hope he goes on spreading his worthy words well into old age.
